Isaiah 19:1-13
Isa 19:1
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.
Egypt once held Israel as slaves in their land and it
wasn’t until God performed the ten plagues that Pharaoh let them go.
Now once again Egypt will come under God’s condemnation.
The swift cloud means that he will come to perform judgment on Egypt very
swiftly. There is nothing written
that this judgment would come by any foreign power but by the Lord himself.
The idols of Egypt had become a snare to Israel while they were there for
many years. This is why they made a
golden calf in the desert which was the Egyptian bull god Apis.
Now some living animals were considered idols such as dogs and cats, and
some of the idols were just the type which was fashioned by man’s hands.
The word “moved” can be understood as removed or scattered.
In the case of living animals, they would flee from the danger.
Then the heart of Egypt will melt which means that their army which was
supposed to have all the strongest and bravest men would now melt like wax under
a flame. Now there would be a
spirit of fear among the Egyptians.
Isa 19:2
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.
Just as God stirred up the armies of Moab, Edom, and
Ammon who came against Jehoshaphat and caused them to fight against each other
(2 Chronicles 20) now the Egyptians will face the same internal strife.
This happened in the 740s and 730s B.C. There will be like a civil war
among them. After this internal
strife, Egypt was then divided into twelve provinces which reigned about 15
years and then went into war against each other.
Isa 19:3
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 spirit of Egypt which was once a unified strength
will now become a fragmented and devastated place.
No matter what counsel is given by or to the Egyptians it will come to
nothing being under the judgment of God.
Then the Egyptians will seek their false gods and idols and the charmers
which are the false prognosticators.
They will also seek those who believe they are contacting the dead.
The familiar spirits are demons and not spirit guides of past Pharaohs or
wise men of Egypt. The wizards are
the shamans who attempt to contact and manipulate the spirits for their benefit.
Let me just digress for a moment from Egypt to today.
There are TV programs like Ghost Hunters, Celebrity Ghost Stories and
Paranormal Survivor. These shows
have people programmed into believing that ghosts are actually those of their
departed loved ones. The reality is
that they are biblically called “familiar spirits” which are demons who are
portraying themselves as those who have departed us.
They have knowledge of them, their voice, characteristics, and events in
their lives. Attempting to contact
the occult and have dialogue with them should never be attempted or even sought.
They are demons who could kill you and they will deceive you.
No one should have anything to do with the occult especially seeking to
contact them.
Isa 19:4
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.
Then just as the Egyptians were fierce in their cruelty
of holding Israel in bondage, they too will now face the tyranny of some cruel
leaders. The Cushite Pharaoh
Piankhi took control of all Egypt.
He ruled from 744-714 B.C. Then
after his reign he was succeeded by Shabako who was the third Cushite Pharaoh
who reigned about 714-690 B.C. In
671 B.C. Esarhaddon of Assyria conquered Egypt’s Delta to Memphis.
In 663 B.C. Ashurbanipal took Thebes, Egypt’s capital.
God kept giving them over to fierce rulers.
Isa 19:5
And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river
shall be wasted and dried up.
The Nile River is probably one of the most famous rivers
in the world and Egypt had depended upon it for its sustenance of the land to
grow their crops. Here the prophecy
is that the Nile River will no longer be able to bring water to the land of
Egypt instead it will be wasted which is decayed and it will dry up and no
longer be a life-sustaining river.
Isa 19:6
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.
There were many streams, canals, and rivulets which were
fed by the Nile River and now since they will be dried up, they will no longer
bring water to the areas needed.
The brooks which also were a defense line for Egypt will now be dried up making
it easy for any army to cross. When
the Nile overflowed, these brooks would be a natural deterrent.
The reeds and flags is speaking about the papyrus plants which were used
for boats and for writing will wither away and be of no use.
Isa 19:7
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.
The paper reeds which grew on the sides of the brooks and
within the brooks along with every useful plant such as hemp or flax and every
other type of plant will be done away with.
In other words from the needed irrigation by the Nile to writing paper
will be under God’s judgment.
Isa 19:8
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.
The Egyptians consumed a great amount of fish which was
taken from the Nile and the canals which it fed.
In fact, the fishing trade was so lucrative that the profits from Lake
Moeris amounted to about a talent of Silver a day.
A talent was about 57 Pounds.
At today’s prices of $26 an ounce, that would come out to $17,784 per
day. Then it mentions angle fishing
which was with a hook and bait. Then the verse mentions nets which was a large
“drag-net” that had floats on one end and weights on the other.
Isa 19:9
Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave
networks, shall be confounded.
The making of linen from flax was a huge industry in
Egypt. Even today many people buy
only Egyptian cotton sheets for their beds.
They will be confounded which is mystified and confused because they will
have no raw materials to work with which means this industry along with the
fishing industry will suffer and many will be out of work.
The networks are those that weave white linens which were normally for
the ruling class.
Isa 19:10
And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all
that make sluices and ponds for fish.
These people who worked in the industries which were
sourced in the Nile River will be broken which carries with it the meaning of
“crushed or destroyed.” A sluice is
like an artificial passageway which has a door behind it and is used for the
purpose of regulating the flow of water and whatever is swimming in it like
fish. In other words, even the day
to day laborers will suffer when the Lord brings judgment to Egypt all the way
up to the nobles. There will be
much business failures and unemployment.
Isa 19:11
Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel
of the wise counsellers of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I
am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
Zoan was Tanis which was the capital of the Delta in
Egypt and near it was one of the gates of the Nile called the Tanitic Gate.
The counselors of Pharaoh were thought to be the wisest men of Egypt but
now they have become as fools and destructive to themselves.
They had told Pharaoh that they were very wise men because they have
descended from the wise men of ancient times.
In fact, they claim to have records of their succession from ancient
times back 10,000 years.
Isa 19:12
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.
They all claim to have such great knowledge and wisdom so
let them tell Pharaoh what has been determined in the counsels of Heaven to come
upon Egypt. Are they so wise that
they can figure out the Lord’s plans for Egypt?
These wise men would have been involved in astrology or occultic magic to
prognosticate and would not come up with any correct answers for Pharaoh.
Isa 19:13
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.