Isaiah 19: 18-22

¹⁸ In that day five cities in the land of Egypt 
will be speaking the language of Canaan and 
swearing allegiance to the Lord of hosts; 
one will be called the City of Destruction.
¹⁹ In that day there will be an altar to the Lord 
in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord near its border.
²⁰ It will become a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; 
for they will cry to the Lord because of oppressors, 
and He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will deliver them.

²¹ Thus the Lord will make Himself known to Egypt, 
and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day. They will even worship with 
sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the Lord and perform it. 
²² The Lord will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the Lord, 
and He will respond to them and will heal them.

We are coming to the close of another chapter in Isaiah, and you can sense it with our passage today. There is a change in tone. It resonates with me, in the midst of my celebrating this Advent season, as a passage that rings out with hope.

"In that day," says Isaiah, the first of three appearances of this phrase in our passage. We have already encountered one before this, which continues to suggest that this is a time yet to come. "Five cities" in Egypt will speak the "language of Canaan," (vs. 18) which is what is spoken in Judah. There are not five cities actually named in this verse, but it is more the notion that any city in Egypt might speak what is spoken in Judah. It is a strong statement to say that all speak the same language. I was reminded, in looking at a cross-reference verse, that after "the Lord confused the language of the whole earth," (from Genesis 11:9), that people used interpreters. Obviously, we still do. But, "in that day," there will be those in Egypt who will speak as in Judah. Nothing lost in translation.

Not just speak, either, mind you, but "swearing allegiance to the Lord of hosts." Care to top that off, God? Why, yes! Because now we have a hint that one of those God-speaking cities might by Heliopolis, the "City of the Sun," also called Beth-shemesh in Hebrew, "the house of the sun-god." But that's not what it says in verse 19. Interesting footnote in the Reformation Study Bible: "Jewish scribes parodied the name by changing the Hebrew word for 'sun' to the almost identical Hebrew word for 'destruction.'" The prophet Jeremiah also points to a time in which Heliopolis actually will face destruction.

"He will also shatter the obelisks [stone pillars] of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt; and the temples of the gods of Egypt he will burn with fire."

--Jeremiah 43:13 (brackets mine)

"In that day," again, says Isaiah in verse 20, there will be "an altar to the Lord" and "a pillar to the Lord" in Egypt. For all their gods and all their colossal structures, Egypt has not had anything dedicated to God Almighty. I highlighted the explanatory reference to stone pillars in the Jeremiah passage above (and put in a picture, as well), because Egypt was not short on its monuments. If someone needed honoring, there was some physical structure created in recognition.

That the Egyptians would build an altar and a pillar to the Lord of hosts would align them even more with the Israelites--not just in language, but in their worship. Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua--it was commonplace for the Israelites of old to remember their encounters with God, His instructions to them, His demonstration of faithfulness to them by creating a marker (a collection of stones, an altar). The Egyptians will set up altars "to be a sign and witness" of God and for "sacrifice and offering" in worship of God. Egypt "will know the Lord in that day." (vs. 21)

"In that day...." when Egypt cries out to God because of their oppressors. (vs. 20) Back in the day of this prophecy, even a threat like Assyria did not become such an oppressor as to make Egypt cry out to God for deliverance. It seems most plausible that we are speaking of the Day still to come:

 

"Many prophecies of this book point to the days of the Messiah; and why not this? It is no unusual thing to speak of gospel graces and ordinances in the language of the Old-Testament institutions. And, in these prophecies, those words, in that day, perhaps have not always a reference to what goes immediately before, but have a peculiar significancy pointing at that day which had been so long fixed, and so often spoken of, when the day-spring from on high should visit this dark world."

--Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible

"He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will deliver them." (vs. 20) That would be some serious hope right there! Savior and a Champion, or, more literally a "Mighty One." As Egypt begins to look more like Judah in its speaking and mannerisms, reflecting the Lord in their heart and worship, God treats those believers as a brother nation.

"And all flesh will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior
And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."

--Isaiah 49: 26

Egypt doesn't know this hope by its own wisdom. Let's not forget where we started with this chapter. One of the nation's biggest issues is its reliance on its own thinking. I might go so far to say that none of us can know true hope in merely humanly thinking about it. Hope comes through faith, and a journey of progression. One of my favorite Bible verses of all time:

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."

--Romans 5:1-5

As verse 22 says, "The Lord will strike Egypt, striking but healing." There is no question that the Lord will bring both. And in this, Egypt will, again, know what Judah and all of Israel proper have experienced in their faith journey with the Lord. With this life come choices. With poor choices comes discipline. With forgiveness and repentance come new life and the opportunity to make right choices. All of this, presuming that there is a "return to the Lord."

"Come, let us return to the Lord.
For He has torn us, but He will heal us;
He has wounded us, but He will bandage us."

--Hosea 6:1 (Israel's response to God's discipline)

"All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness."

--Hebrews 12:11

Chapter 19 concludes. ...'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: amstutzfamily.blogspot.com

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Next week:  Isaiah 19: 23-25
 
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: 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).