64. When the LORD Shall Come (2)

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Hymns: RHC 538 In the New Jerusalem 542 Saved by Grace 543 Face to Face

Isaiah 19:1-25

1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. 2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. 3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. 4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts. 5 And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up. 6 And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither. 7 The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more. 8 The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish. 9 Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded. 10 And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish. 11 Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? 12 Where are they? where are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. 13 The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof. 14 The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. 15 Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do. 16 In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which he shaketh over it. 17 And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he hath determined against it.

 18 In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction. 19 In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD. 20 And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them. 21 And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and perform it. 22 And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them. 23 In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. 24 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: 25 Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.

When the LORD Shall Come (2)

OUTLINE

  • Discomfiting and Confounding (v1-17)
  • Convicting and Converting (v19-25)

INTRODUCTION

When the Holy Spirit is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.

John 16:8 (KJV) And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

John 16:9-11 (KJV) Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

The proliferation of evil will not go on perpetually, the Lord will by His Holy Spirit deal with the evil that is in the world. The evil of human hearts, the evil of human systems, and the devil.

When the Holy Spirit brings conviction to the hearts of men, they are convicted of their sins they turn to God. The culmination of world events is in the Lord’s coming sovereign rule on earth for 1000 years. Human kingdoms will give way to Christ’s kingdom. There is a quiet, confident expectation for the people of God as they await the coming of the Lord, which we believe is at the doors. Christ is coming very soon! Its nearer than you think!

Daniel 7:27 (KJV) And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

Daniel 2:44-45 (KJV) And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

The prophet Isaiah prophesied of the nation of Egypt turning to Christ – 19 In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD. 20 And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them. 21 And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and perform it. 22 And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them.

Isaiah 19 described the judgment of God upon the land of Egypt and their eventual turning to the LORD. That it should be greatly weakened and brought low, and should be as contemptible among the nations as now it was considerable, rendered so by a complication of judgments which God would bring upon them (v1-17). That faith in the living and true God should be brought into Egypt, and set up there, in part by the Jews that should flee thither for refuge, but more fully by the preachers of the gospel of Christ, through whose ministry churches should be planted in Egypt in the says of the Messiah (v18-25), which would abundantly balance all the calamities here threatened.

  • Discomforting and Confounding (v1-17)

1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.

Isaiah moulds his description with a figure taken from the storm, and depicts the Lord riding upon a light cloud, that He may speedily execute His work of judgment.

It is to Egypt that the Lord comes and Egypt occurs 4 times in this verse – will feel the effect of His judgment.

Fear fills the hearts of the idols and they sway because of the Lord, for His coming means their complete destruction.

Not only will the idols sway, but, personifying the nation, Isaiah declares that the very heart of Egypt will melt. The judgment is to affect the whole country, so that its heart will melt, not being able to withstand, and being terrified by fear of the oncoming Lord. It is a figure that Isaiah has used previously when speaking of the Day of the Lord.

Isaiah 13:7 (KJV) Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:

When in the very midst of the nation the heart has melted there is nothing left to withstand the coming of the Lord.

Just as the Apostle John described Christ’s return in Revelation 1:7 (KJV) Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.

He will bring about a civil war in Egypt. The Lord will stir up Egypt so that it will be set in opposition to itself. True unity we learn from this passage comes from the Lord, and when He sets a nation against itself, there can be no unity. The Lord, therefore, is the source of unity. The Egyptian’s disunity appears in that a man will fight against his brother.

3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.

The external confusion with which Egypt is to be characterized could possibly be controlled if the heart of the land were itself sound. That heart is not sound, however, for it will melt, and the very spirit of the land will fail. The external confusion is to be accompanied by an internal one so that in its entirety, the country will fall to pieces. Egypt is to be overcome and subdued. She will have no strength left to resist the Lord or in any way to assert herself in opposition to Him.

The failure of the spirit of Egypt appears in that Egypt no longer has any counsel.

4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.

The climax of the Lord’s judging action is seen in that He gives Egypt over to hard rulers. Isaiah employs an expressive word which suggests the locking up of Egypt so that there will be no escape. The hard ruler was probably a foreigner who would not have true love of the country at heart, and so would deal with it in a cruel manner, being concerned only with his own welfare. [EJ Young]

5 And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.

In line with the political disturbances that will come to Egypt, the basic conditions for human existence also disappears. Isaiah brings this tragic condition of immediately before our eyes. What gives and sustains life of the country fails. First the water from the sea. The sea refers to the Nile River. Egypt is dependent for her daily existence upon the Nile. The melting snows in the mountains of central Africa produces a steady supply of water.

6 And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.

As Isaiah designated Egypt’s life-giving river a “sea”, so he now speaks of the canals or branches of the Nile as “rivers”. When these arms of the main river are deprived of water they become swampy and consequently give off a bad odour. The water is practically gone; the rivers become low and finally dry. The choice of words, rivers, brooks, reed, and rush is designed to point to an abundance of water, so that the severity of the calamity will stand out in greater contrast.

7 The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.

Not only will the bare places dry up, but also those that are sown with grain. It shall wither. It has been driven away. First the Nile herself, then her canals, then the grass, and finally the meadows. Gradually the shadow of drought creeps over the entire land and the once greatly blessed country perishes.

8 The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.

It is not only the reeds growing by the river that wither but those who must derive their livelihood from the river will also suffer. To them the tragedy is come. The rich river is dry, and haunting death faces them.

9 Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded.

Not only is the Nile dry and its fish dead, but the land also no longer watered so that plants may grow. Those who derive their livelihood from the growth of the land suffer as well as do the fishermen who depend directly upon the river.

10 And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish.

This section of the prophecy closes with a general statement of the extent of the distress to come over Egypt, when the pillars of the land will be crushed. The sorrow that characterizes the workers is deep penetrating to the inmost part of their being. For them there is no hope, the whole foundation of the land has been destroyed. [EJ Young]

11 Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?

Isaiah now reverts to the theme introduced in v3 in order to substantiate what he had said there – 3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.

Turning from the suffering caused by material destruction in the land, he now looks to the intellectual life of Egypt. Those who should exhibit wisdom in seeking a way out of difficulties were the princes of Zoan, but the princes are fools. The word Isaiah stresses, and may be rendered literally, surely fools. The wise men who serve as counsellors for Pharaoh give him stupid counsel. More likely Isaiah is speaking in general terms to show that those who advise the government prove to be useless in the time of crisis.

12 Where are they? where are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt.

With a Pauline triumph, Isaiah ask where the wise men of Egypt are – Philippians 3:5 (KJV) Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Acts 23:6 (KJV) But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.

To ask such a question is tantamount to saying that the wise men do not exist and that the only wisdom is that found in the Lord of hosts.

13 The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof.

Isaiah now gives the answer to the questions which he has just raised. The wise men are nowhere to be found because God has rendered them foolish. The disastrous consequences of this state of affairs appear in that these men will lead Egypt astray.

14 The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.

Isaiah now goes back to the ultimate causes. He does not begin this sentence with a verb but with a noun, the LORD. The word is placed first for emphasis, and immediately brings us to the cause of all that has been described. It is the LORD and no other; He whom the wise this world despise.

1 Corinthians 2:1-16 (KJV) And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

15 Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do.

Isaiah now asserts that there will be no work at all for Egypt. Verse 14 had taken up the thought of v2-3 and shown the reason why the Egyptians were set one against the other. V15 now gives the consequences of the condition that prevails when a cruel lord is over the people. The work of Egypt, all that she as a united Egypt must do, will stop. Her daily life will cease, for she cannot perform the toil necessary to keep her in existence; not will she be able to stand as a unit against any invading army. To show universality in Egypt of this lack of work the prophet employs language that he had already used in Isaiah 9:14 – Isaiah 9:14 (KJV) Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.

To be continued…