Isaiah 19: 8-10

 

⁸ And the fishermen will lament,
And all those who cast a line into the Nile will mourn,
And those who spread nets on the waters will pine away.
⁹ Moreover, the manufacturers of linen made from combed flax
And the weavers of white cloth will be utterly dejected.
¹⁰ And the pillars of Egypt will be crushed;
All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul.

Economy lessons in the Bible? You betcha! Building upon the collapse of Egypt's government comes the collapse of Egypt's economy. God has brought His punishment to the nation through nature--and from nature, back through the business of everyday living.

We read last week how God planned to dry up the Nile, the mainstay of Egypt's water supply. No longer will riverside grasses grow, nor will the river's flooding awash the farmers' fields to give their crops a drink. The stench from the dried-up tributaries, streams and rivulets will also yield up dead, smelly fish. It is here, with Egypt's fishing industry, that we pick up with verse 8.

Whether fishermen who cast from the side of the mighty river or those who spread fishing nets out on the larger bodies of water, all will mourn the loss of the fish due to the change in environment. Fish was a staple food in Egypt. Recall the grumbling Israelites in the wilderness, who sought a gourmet alternative to their daily manna:

"We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic...."

--Numbers 11:5

Devastation of the fishing business would not only affect the fishermen and their families, but the state of the nation at large.

Another big economic hit caused by the lack of water in the Nile would strike the linen production industry. Egypt was famous for its production of linen from flax, as well as its production of fine clothing and furnishings made from that linen. The Bible mentions the use of linen for boat sails and sophisticated home accoutrements; Solomon was known for his purchase of fine linen. I admit to not knowing about how flax plants grow nor about how flax is transformed into linen. (Though I have baked with flax seeds before, and, if you have used linseed oil or another type of industrial cleaner, you have likely come across flax.) This description, from the "Tour Egypt" website, provides a wonderful explanation:

"The Egyptians usually planted their flax very close together, to encourage it to grow tall. Harvesting could be done by any person who could pull the plant up by its roots [see picture above], unlike wheat, which had to be cut and was harvested by men. Choosing when to harvest the flax depended upon the quality of linen you wanted to weave. The finest or "royal linen" came from young flax that was pulled up before the seeds had even sprouted at the top of the plant. The process of making linen cloth from flax required many steps. The plants were combed, soaked in water, and beaten to separate the fibers from the plant's woody core. These fibers were then loosely twisted together before being sent on for spinning into the thread that would be woven into linen cloth. Flax thread does not hold dye very well, so linen cloth was usually left in its natural golden state or bleached white."

--http://www.touregypt.net/egypt-info/kids-family-flax-flax.htm#ixzz2lCiqg9hk 
(picture reference, mine)

This ties in so perfectly with the words in verse 9. The dry river kills the flax. No flax means there is no thread to make to weave into cloth, which is why "the weavers of white cloth will be utterly dejected." White cloth is mentioned, because the bleachers would be left without work, as well. No linen meant no new sails, home goods or clothing. The importers of such manufactured items would turn to others in the marketplace. With the reputation Egypt had in this area, this, too, would be a devastating loss.

With verse 10, we come to an interesting passage, since it has been translated quite differently by Bible publishers:

"And the pillars of Egypt will be crushed;
All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul."

--NASB

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

--King James Version

My study Bible, which uses 'pillars', makes the case that, "The word refers either generally to the economic structure of the society or specifically to the upper class which organized the businesses of the land." With what I've gleaned over 10 verses of reading, that is not an untrue statement. We are reading that Egypt will be punished at all levels of society due to the crumbling infrastructures of the nation, the environment and the economy--it all works together.

But, given what we have read in Isaiah today, I appreciate the reference in the King James, as there would certainly be a correlation among the loss of the water and fish; the plight of the fishermen; and, those whose job it is to stem the flow of the water to fill the ponds and stock the fish. Their "purposes," as "pillars," would be "broken."

Perhaps you can see that what is most broken in Egypt is not the economy, but, rather, the heart of a nation that has not relied on--much less given any credence to--the God who is the Maker and Authority over all things. Judah and greater Israel can attest that this faulty belief system is a self-made product.

"God can find ways to deprive a country even of that which is its staple commodity. The Egyptians may themselves remember the fish they have formerly eaten freely, but now cannot have for money. And that which aggravates the loss of these advantages by the river is that it is their own doing."

--Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible

The prophet rebukes the princes of Egypt. ...'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: en.wikipedia.org

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Next week:  Isaiah 19: 11-13
 
Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation,
specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).
I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
(with notes from the King James Version).

Isaiah 19: 4-7

 

⁴ “Moreover, I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel master,
And a mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord God of hosts.

⁵ The waters from the sea will dry up,
And the river will be parched and dry.
⁶ The canals will emit a stench,
The streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up;

The reeds and rushes will rot away.
⁷ The bulrushes by the Nile, by the edge of the Nile
And all the sown fields by the Nile
Will become dry, be driven away, and be no more.

Moving forward in Chapter 19, Isaiah continues to bring forth the word of judgment upon Egypt. Last week, we looked at how the nation would crumble from the inside out, with poor judgment and internal strife ruling over wisdom. This week, we look at the effect God's judgment will have upon His Creation in this part of the world.

But, first, verse 4 [which, in hindsight, should have been included with last week's bundle of verses]. Not only will conditions be ripe for a takeover at the top realms of government, but God will bring forward a "mighty" and "cruel master" of a king to rule the nation. If we remember back to the days of Moses' calling, we know that Egypt's ruler, Pharaoh, fits the bill for a cruel master. The people of God were slaves to this leader, who treated them unfairly and caused them great suffering. Now, in Isaiah's prophecy, we see a turning of those tables.

"Now the barbarous usage which the Egyptian task masters gave to God’s Israel long ago was remembered against them and they were paid in their own coin by another Pharaoh. It is sad with a people when the powers that should be for edification are for destruction, and they are ruined by those by whom they should be ruled...."

--Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible

 
Indeed, Egypt would be ruled by tyrants and by foreign rulers--among them, kings from Assyria and Babylon--with like mightiness and fierceness. Though God does not condone cruelty, He has allowed its use as a punishment.

Creation does not lie still in response to the work of God. It responds to God as part of His work in a given situation. I'm guessing that if you asked people on the street for three facts about Egypt, one of those would contain mention of the Nile River. One of the world's longest rivers, the Nile flows from southern Africa up north, emptying into the Mediterranean Sea. The mouth of the the Nile is in Egypt.

Every year, the Nile River has a period of great rising due to changes in climate. Back in the day, it was flooding. When the waters receded, after scaling the river's banks, nutrient-rich soil deposits remained. The farmers took advantage of the prime condition of the land to plant their crops. In fact, Egypt was known as the "bread basket" of the world, as it was a chief exporter of crops. (Reformation Study Bible)

It is with this background that we look at the conditions to come, beginning with verse 5. The "sea," "waters," "river," will "thin out" and "dry up." Making the Nile run dry is the job of only One! God is knocking out the tributaries and connecting waters that the Nile feeds, too. The "canals will emit a stench." (vs. 6) If you have ever walked near a drying river bed that is still a bit damp, there is a smell from the mud and whatever natural or unnatural deposits remain on the soil, not to mention the foul odor of the standing water itself. There would be an even stronger scent over time:

"'...The fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will become foul, and the Egyptians will find difficulty in drinking water from the Nile.'"

--Exodus 7:18

More on the loss of the fish next week. Verse 6 also says that "the reeds and the rushes will rot away." 

"'...Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh?
Can the rushes grow without water?....'"

--Job 8:11

The swamp plants and grasses that make their home along the river will die. In these times, these plants were used judiciously in making baskets, mats and papyrus--as the verse in Job points out--which was used as a paper and building material. Nothing was wasted. These plants usually self-seed and grow continuously with the wealth of water and its resources at the river's edge. God's drying up of the Nile will affect this unmaintained blessing.

Then, verse 7, "all the sown fields of the Nile...," will face the impact of God's hand. If the Nile no longer floods and God refuses to send rain, the result is obvious, and the repercussions of that result enormously difficult on the health and economy of the nation--of which we'll explore more next week.

"Yet this is not all; the drying up of their rivers is the destruction...of their fortifications, for they are brooks of defence (Isa. 19:6), making the country difficult of access to an enemy. Deep rivers are the strongest lines, and most hardly forced. Pharaoh is said to be a great dragon lying in the midst of his rivers, and guarded by them, bidding defiance to all about him, (Ezekiel 29:3)."

--Matthew Henry

Although it might have been easy for an Egyptian of this day to consider God Himself the "cruel master," for the resident of Judah hearing this prophecy, it might well have served as a plea of remembrance for whom to best maintain an alliance. Who saved the Israelites? The "cruel master" or the Lord God of hosts?

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

--Romans 8:31

  

Egyptian industry will suffer in the wake of the loss of the Nile. ...'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: www.thedailystar.net

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Next week:  Isaiah 19: 8-10
 
Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation,
specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).
I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
(with notes from the King James Version).