The Book Of Isaiah. Day 81, A Prophecy Against Egypt, Part Five

Yesterday's study ended on a hopeful note, with Isaiah predicting that the people of Egypt would turn to the Lord. This prediction was somewhat fulfilled in ancient times when many in Egypt heard and believed the gospel message. But a lot of scholars believe that the majority of Isaiah's prediction is yet to come true.

We will pick back up with the verse we ended with yesterday and move on from there. "In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and a monitor to the Lord at its border. It will be a sign and witness to the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt." (Isaiah 19:19-20a) As we discussed yesterday, a temple to the Lord was built in Alexandria during the Ptolemy (Greek) Dynasty of Egypt. But a number of scholars believe that there will be a day when a vast percentage of the people will turn to the Lord and worship Him in the way the descendants of Jacob worship Him.

"When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, He will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them." (Isaiah 19:20b) Some identify this savior and defender as the rulers of the Persian Empire and Greek Empire, during whose eras Egypt enjoyed freedom from her former oppressors such as Assyria and Babylon, and during which era the Egyptians, Judeans, and Assyrians were at peace with each other. In a larger sense, the Lord has also sent them a Savior and Defender in Christ, and some students of prophecy interpret verse 20b to be a reference to how there will be a turning to Christianity in Egypt in the last days.

"So the Lord will make Himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the Lord. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and keep them. The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague; He will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the Lord, and He will respond to their pleas to heal them." (Isaiah 19:21-22) Whatever is meant by these two verses, we know that the Lord's ultimate goal in bringing hardship to anyone is that they would repent. He does not want to destroy anyone; He wants people to turn to Him and be saved. Likewise, when He allows hardship in the lives of those who already belong to Him, it is to accomplish a purpose in our lives. It is to help us, not to hurt us. As Job said in his time of distress: "For He wounds, but He also binds up; He injures, but His hands also heal." (Job 5:18)

"In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, 'Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.'" (Isaiah 19:23-25) This is something no one of Isaiah's day could have imagined! They could imagine an alliance with Egypt against Assyria but no one in Israel or in Judah could imagine any sort of fellowship with the Assyrians who threatened their very existence at the time.

Some of this was fulfilled during the Persian and Greek Empires, as we've already mentioned, when these nations were at peace with one another. But we still don't, today, see the Israelites and the descendants of the Assyrians and Egyptians worshiping the Lord together at the same altar. This part remains to be fulfilled, but isn't it a beautiful prophecy? Those whose ancestors bowed to false gods will bow to the one true God. Those whose ancestors hated and persecuted the Israelites will someday worship the one true God with the Jewish people.