The Book Of Isaiah. Day 76, A Prophecy Regarding Cush, Part Three

The Cushite king of Egypt will want to make an alliance with King Hezekiah of Judah against the growing threat of the Assyrian Empire. But time and time again in the book of Isaiah we will find the prophet warning Hezekiah to trust no one but the Lord. As long as the people of Judah look to the Lord for help and are faithful to Him, no nation can conquer them. The Lord promised the children of Israel, before He brought them into the land of Canaan and gave it to them, that no nation would ever be able to stand before them if they would remain faithful to Him.

Not only should the people of Judah not make alliances with heathen nations or pay "protection money" to other nations, but someday other nations will bring their gifts to the land of the descendants of Jacob. "At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord Almighty from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers---the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty." (Isaiah 18:7)

Previously in our chapter we found the Cushite people (Ethiopians/Nubians) referred to as "tall" and "smooth-skinned". They were taller and longer-limbed, generally speaking, than the Jewish people. They shaved their faces, unlike the Jewish people. Also they were "feared far and wide" because they were a very powerful nation in Isaiah's day. They were not able to keep Assyria from conquering Egypt but Assyria did not, according to anything I can find, decide to invade and conquer Cush. 

Whenever the Bible says something like "at that time" or "in that day" it is often a reference to the end times or to the church age. We can clearly see when we arrive at the New Testament that Isaiah's prophecy regarding the Ethiopians began coming true in the book of Acts when an Ethiopian convert to Judaism became a believer in Christ after speaking with the Apostle Philip. This convert went back to Ethiopia with his testimony of how the Lord Jesus Christ saved him.

The prophecy regarding Ethiopia has continued to come true as the primary religion of Ethiopia has become Christianity. I believe the prophecy will continue to come true in the end times as more and more people of that land (and of many other nations) turn to Christ in the church age and in the last days. And certainly, in the eternal kingdom of Christ when He sits on the throne of David at Jerusalem and reigns over the world from there, all the people of all the nations of the earth will bring gifts to Mount Zion, thus completely fulfilling the words of Isaiah which we have studied today.

This concludes Chapter 18, which was a prophecy about Cush rather than a prophecy against Cush. In contrast to what Isaiah said about Cush, Chapter 19 will involve a prophecy against Egypt and its idolatry. However, there will be a future message of hope for Egypt when the hearts of its people turn to the Lord.