Isaiah is predicting the downfall of ancient Egypt. As we learned in our last study session, invaders will come, drought will come, the fishing industry will fail, and the crops will fail.
Ancient Egypt has already been on the decline for some time by Isaiah's day, which is why the nation was taken over by the Cushites. The pharaohs of Egypt in Isaiah's lifetime are Cushites, not Egyptians. But even though these people were able to subjugate the Egyptians, their leaders will not be able to defend Egypt against Assyria or against Babylon after that or against Persia after that. Their leaders won't be able to prevent civil unrest or the civil wars that will come not long after Isaiah's lifetime. Their leaders won't be able to do anything about the lack of rain, the lack of crops, the lack of fish, and the lack of flax and other materials that will be affected by the drought.
The prophet says: "The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; the wise counselors of Pharaoh give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, 'I am one of the wise men, a disciple of the ancient kings?'" (Isaiah 19:11)
The central government will break down in the face of adversity. There will be disagreements over what to do and over whose advice to follow. None of the advice will be good since none of it comes from the Lord. The "wise men" of the cultures surrounding Judah and Israel were men who sought counsel by various means of pagan divination. They called upon idols, upon the dead, and upon unseen spiritual forces of wickedness. They practiced the occult and at times could perform signs and wonders through demonic influences, such as the magicians of Pharaoh did in the days of Moses. Nothing told to these "wise men" by fallen angels (demons) will be of any use. Neither will any interpretations from any fortune-telling methods they may use. At best, such things are nothing but fraudulent charades; at worst, they are messages from Satan and his minions. Either way, no one can thwart the plans of God, and whatever He purposes is what is going to happen.
Satan and the fallen angels who rebelled against God along with him cannot read the mind of God or of man. They don't know exactly when or how the Lord is going to bring things to pass. They can't predict with one hundred percent accuracy what man is going to do either. Even if the forces of darkness want to help the land of Egypt, their knowledge and power are limited. Satan is not the Lord's counterpart, for he is a created entity, and he cannot know the mind of the Lord and he is not powerful like the Lord. "Where are your wise men now? Let them show you and make known what the Lord Almighty has planned against Egypt." (Isaiah 19:12)
"The officials of Zoan have become fools, the leaders of Memphis are deceived; the cornerstones of her peoples have led Egypt astray. The Lord has poured into them a spirit of dizziness; they make Egypt stagger in all that she does, as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit. There is nothing Egypt can do---head or tail, palm branch or reed." (Isaiah 19:13-15) Zoan and Memphis were the capitals of Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. These cities were where a person would go when seeking the most learned and wise of counselors. But no one will be found who can avert the coming disaster. In fact, not only was their ungodly advice bad to begin with, but the Lord will frustrate their advice further so that it's even worse than it normally is.
The Lord is not forcing the leaders or the citizens of Egypt to be ignorant and confused. He's simply not doing anything to prevent them from making poor decisions. He's not protecting them from making poor decisions from the sinful desires of their hearts or from the foolishness of fortune-tellers. They strayed from the truth long ago and preferred to serve idols rather than the living God. He is going to let them have their way and do their own thing---and the result of that will be the dissolution of their government and the fall of their nation.
It is the Lord who gives wise counsel. It is the Lord who directs our steps along the right paths. When we follow our carnal human heart or when we follow the foolish counsel of ungodly men and women, we are bound to make mistakes and we will have to face the consequences of those mistakes. I'm not saying it's possible to lose our salvation but that when we make ungodly decisions we make life unpleasant for ourselves and for our loved ones. Some mistakes can have far-ranging consequences, not only for ourselves but for our descendants. While it's true that we cannot live completely sinless lives as long as we live in the flesh in this fallen world, it's also true that we can certainly avoid some very costly mistakes if we will submit all of our plans to the Lord, pray for His guidance, and obey whatever He tells us.
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