Isaiah 19:14-25
Isa 19:14
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.
Since the leaders of Egypt were leading the people
astray, the Lord sent among them a spirit which would increase their straying.
This is also done in the New Testament where God promised to send a
strong delusion to those who want to believe a lie.
Just like a drunk man who has vomited up the alcohol and walks in it and
then eventually slips and falls on it or in it, that is how bad Egypt will get
with all its delusions. A person in
that condition could never make any wise or rational decisions.
Isa 19:15
Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which
the head or tail, branch or rush, may do.
With all their businesses and crafts now taken from them
because of the dried up Nile River, they will have no work which means they will
become idle thus destroying the economy.
There will also be no way to escape their dilemma in which the
unemployment will reach even to those in high office.
This would include the King and his nobles.
Isa 19:16
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.
Isaiah now looks to the future when Egypt will no longer
be a dominant power. They will
become like a fearful woman who would be trembling in fear as to what will be
coming upon them by the hand of God.
Isaiah is making the case to Judah that it would be vain and useless to
expect help from a nation which is going to come under the judgment of God.
Isa 19:17
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.
Now the tables are turned.
Instead of Egypt being a terror unto Judah, Judah will now be a terror
unto Egypt. Even the very
mentioning of the name Judah will strike fear in the hearts of the Egyptians.
This will happen when Judah is taken by Sennacherib in 701 B.C. when the
Assyrian army invades Judah. The
Egyptians will fear that they are next on the conquer list of the Assyrians.
The counsel of the LORD may be speaking dually here and has both Judah
and Egypt in view.
Isa 19:18
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.
The number five in Scripture is normally the number of
grace. So here we have another
future prophecy of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Egypt is also a symbol of the world.
So here we see that grace will permeate the world when the gospel will be
sent forth on Pentecost. The
language of Canaan will be the language of salvation.
And these signs shall follow them
that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new
tongues; (Mark 16:17) The new
tongues will be the language of the Bible and not the world.
The swearing or oath to the LORD will come by means of salvation when the
LORD indwells a believer by means of the Holy Spirit.
Then Isaiah states that one of the cities will be called a city of
destruction. Since the body of
believers is called the New Jerusalem and is symbolized by a city, the city of
destruction will be the kingdom of Satan that will be destroyed on the last day
along with all of its followers.
Isa 19:19
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.
Many dispensational prophecy preachers erroneously
interpret this as meaning the Pyramids.
The altar which is spoken of here is the Lord Jesus Christ himself who
shall be in the midst of Egypt or the world. He is our altar.
We have an altar, whereof they
have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. (Hebrews 13:10)
He was our sacrifice for sin and for sins we commit when we come to him
seeking forgiveness for a specific sin and reconciliation.
Not that we lose our salvation but we lose fellowship with the Lord as a
temporary problem when we choose to sin and when we get into trouble because of
it. Then the pillars at the border
would be those who have become saved and have come into the kingdom of God.
But if I tarry long, that thou
mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is
the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. (1 Timothy
3:15)
Isa 19:20
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.
Then those true believers who are ordained for salvation
will cry unto the Lord in the land of Egypt which is the world.
The world oppresses the true believer and the great savior that will come
will be the Lord Jesus Christ who will die for the Elect within the world.
But when the fulness of the time
was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
(Galatians 4:4) When the
fulness of time will come, God will send forth His Son as the final sacrifice
for sin for those whom he has chosen out of the world system.
They shall be delivered forever and never have to see Satan’s evil again.
And Pharaoh said unto him, Get
thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in
that day thou seest my face
thou shalt die. (Exodus 10:28)
Right before the Exodus Pharaoh told Moses not to see his face anymore or else
he would die. After the Christian
is saved, we never see the face of Satan again in the same way we did before we
became saved, as his servants because if we have been deceived into thinking we
are saved when we are not, then we will die eternally from the second death.
Isa 19:21
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.
Then the LORD will be known by those Egyptians who have
become saved and in turn they will know the LORD.
Prior to this about 700 years, the Egyptians would have known about the
exodus from Egypt of the Hebrews.
Now instead of knowing God as one who only sends judgments, they will know the
LORD as their Savior. There was no
sacrifice and oblation in Egypt which was according to the law of God but these
sacrifices and oblations would be of the spiritual kind.
By him therefore let us offer the
sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of
our lips giving thanks to his
name. (Hebrews 13:15) The vows
which they perform would not be the type which the Israelites would do but are
also of the spiritual nature where they would dedicate themselves to the LORD
after salvation and then do his will.
Isa 19:22
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.
The LORD shall smite Egypt, the first time he did it with
the ten plagues but now he will smite the consciences of the Elect and then when
he makes a person aware of their sins, he will heal them by means of salvation.
In the midst of the street of it,
and on either side of the river, was
there the tree of life, which bare twelve
manner of fruits,
and yielded her fruit every
month: and the leaves of the tree were
for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:2)
Once a person becomes saved, no matter what condition they are in or what
they are doing, they will return unto the LORD and they will seek him because
only the saved will seek the LORD and not the unsaved.
There is none that understandeth,
there is none that seeketh after God. (Romans 3:11)
Then God promises to heal them.
But he
was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised
for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace
was upon him; and with his
stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
The healing is not of the physical kind although God does heal our bodies
when they become sick until we come to that time when the LORD is calling us
home. The healing in view is that
of a spiritual nature where our sin sick souls are healed and made completely
clean after the LORD removes all sin from the soul.
Isa 19:23
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.
Here we see the principles of salvation in action.
In the physical realm Assyria and Egypt were enemies but there is going
to come a time when they shall become friends when all animosity between them
will be removed. That can only
happen within the kingdom of God where people of different nationalities that
are normally at odds with each other have been brought together by the blood of
Christ. This is what is in view
where Assyria and Egypt will serve together.
Who will they serve? They
will serve the Lord as his children, the Elect found in both of those nations
which represents the nations of the entire world where the people of God will be
diverse yet as one.
Isa 19:24
In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with
Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land:
Then when Assyria and Egypt become one in the LORD, then
Israel shall be made the third with them which represents the three-fold cord
which is not easily broken. Egypt
and Assyria were enemies of Israel as they both assaulted that nation and
subjugated it. Here we are told
that they will become as brethren, a blessing in the midst of the land.
The true body of believers is a blessing to any country that does not
persecute them. The Israel that
will be a blessing will be the Israel of God which is the body of believers.
Isa 19:25
Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be
Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.