Text: Isaiah 19 & 20
If I were going to give today’s teaching a title, it would be “In Whom Do You Hope?” These chapters are a prophecy of the worthlessness of false gods in whom believers and unbelievers place their hope, and of a time when all nations will turn to the true Hope, Jesus Christ. I am doing these two chapters together because they are linked by who hopes in whom.
Chapter 19
Verse 1 —
Isaiah begins with an oracle about Egypt. The LORD is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt. He Himself will inflict swift judgment on the false gods in which Egypt places its hope — in this chapter, He focuses on the Nile god. Hapi. But all of the idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence.
The Egyptians would have remembered Moses and the ten plagues with which the LORD struck them, judgments against all the gods they worshiped, recorded in the Book of Exodus —
the Nile’s water turned to blood (7:20),
the frogs (8:6),
the gnats (8:17),
the flies (8:24),
the death of all livestock (9:6),
the boils (9:9),
the hail (9:23),
the locusts (10:12),
the darkness (10:21-22),
and the death of the firstborn (11:4-5).
Verses 2-4 —
The LORD will incite (set) Egyptian against Egyptian, and they will fight each other, brother against brother and neighbor against neighbor, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. Their social and political systems will be in continual upheaval.
The result will be that the Egyptians will be demoralized (made void, emptied). All their strategies will be destroyed. They will resort to their idols and ghosts of the dead, to mediums and wizards, but there will be no answer. Their idols, ghosts of the dead, mediums and wizards are nothingness and foolishness.
And the Lord will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel master — Assyria. A mighty king will rule over them, declares the LORD of hosts, the Captain of the armies of God! And it happened, from 673 B.C. to 663 B.C., during the reign of Esharaddon, King of Assyria, and then his son, Ashurbanipal.
If the LORD says it, surely it will be done! That is a glorious word to believers who love and obey Him, but should strike terror into the hearts of those who feign obedience to Him.
Verses 5-10 —
The striking of the Nile, a judgment on the Nile god Hapi, is described by the LORD of hosts —
Waters from the sea will dry up
Canals will dry up and stink
Streams will thin out and dry up
Reeds and rushes rot
Bulrushes by the Nile’s shore (the source of their paper for writing) will dry up
Sown fields by the Nile will dry up, be driven away (by wind), and disappear
The fish will die
The fishermen who fish in the brooks will mourn
Those who cast nets into the Nile will pine away (droop, be feeble)
There will be no flax with which to make linen, and nothing to weave, so the manufacturers will be utterly dejected
And the pillars of Egypt — all they trusted in — will be crushed
All the hired laborers will be crushed and crumble
Verses 11-13 —
The LORD judges the princes of Zoan, where Moses performed wonders before the Pharoah. Those who lead in Zoan in the days of Isaiah are mere fools, relying on false gods and man’s wisdom. The advice of the current Pharoah’s advisors has become like fire that consumes.
The LORD mocks each prince, for one says to Pharoah, I am wise, a son of ancient kings! The LORD asks, “How can he say that?”
Then He says, If you are so wise, where are your wise men? Let them tell you wisdom. Here is what they will understand and tell you, if they are really wise — they will announce what the LORD of hosts has determined for judgment against Egypt.
The princes of Zoan have acted foolishly, the princes of Memphis are deluded (led astray by their false idols). Though they are the cornerstone in which Egypt hopes, the foundation upon which they rely — the leaders of Zoan and Memphis — have led Egypt astray! How foolish are many leaders in today’s church, men and women who place their hope in man’s wisdom and man’s ways, instead of the LORD!
Verses 14-15 —
The LORD has mixed into Egypt a spirit of distortion (perversity) — an evil spirit to mislead those who seek counsel from ghosts and mediums and wizards. So it is in much of today’s church, where perverse behavior is celebrated and elevated.
So, they have led Egypt astray in all that it does — in every way! They are like drunken men that stagger in their own vomit.
There will be no work for Egypt — their wisdom, in which they place all their hope, will not work. It will not make any difference if they are a head or a tail (great or small), even the palm branch (held as sacred by the Egyptians) or bulrush (used to make paper for their sacred writing) will fail them. All their great ancient writings are foolishness, and all they hold sacred is nothingness.
Verses 16-17 —
All it takes is a wave of the hand of the LORD of hosts, to make the Egyptians like weak women, trembling and in dread. The land of Judah will become a terror (source of awe) to Egypt — they will stand in awe of Judah, for Judah belongs to the LORD, the One who is coming against Egypt.
Verses 18-20 —
Now Isaiah sees and speaks of the future conversion of the remnant of Egypt. Conversion? Yes! They will come to Christ! But Isaiah also sees mass conversion of the Egyptians before the final judgment (see Revelation 7:9-10).
The Christian Coptic Church of Egypt was founded in 42 A.D. — just a few short years after Christ died and rose. But now Islam is the predominant religion, and Christians are severely persecuted.
Yet there will be a day when ALL Egyptians worship the Lord! In that day of the conversion of all Egyptians, five cities (the meaning here is “all cities”) of Egypt will be speaking Hebrew and swearing allegiance to the LORD of hosts.
One of the cities will be called the City of Destruction (demolition, utterly thrown down), for all of Egypt’s gods will be utterly thrown down, cast away to the moles and the bats (Isaiah 2:20)!
In that day, the Egyptians will build an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD near its border. The altar will be for worship, and the pillar a sign and a witness indicating to all who enter Egypt that all Egyptians follow the LORD and no other.
The Egyptians will cry to the LORD because of their oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will deliver them. Who is this Savior? Jesus Christ! The remnant of Egypt will become believers.
Verse 21 —
Through all that the LORD does to judge Egypt, He will make Himself known to them, and the Egyptians will know the LORD! This “know” is intimate knowledge of Him. They will be filled with His Holy Spirit!
They will worship with sacrifice and offering — even offering themselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing (Romans 12:1) — and will make a vow to Him and perform it. They will be obedient to Him.
Verse 22 —
The LORD’s purpose in striking Egypt is to heal the Egyptians of their sin. They will return (convert) to the LORD, and He will respond to them and heal them in their relationship with God, fill them with His Spirit, and crucify their sin nature (Galatians 5:24). He will do the same for you, if you will believe and obey Him, O believer!
He died on a cross not just for the Jew, but for all who would believe into Him — whosoever! And He was glorified and poured out His Spirit to anyone who would obey His command to stay (Luke 24:49) and wait (Acts 1:4-5)!
Verse 23-25 —
In that great day, Egypt and Assyria will no longer be enemies. They will worship the Lord together! This is the first mention of Gentile salvation in Isaiah!
In that day, Israel will not be the only people who worship Him, but Egypt and Assyria will worship with them! Jew and Gentile believers will worship the LORD together!
They will all be purified, filled with the Holy Spirit! And Israel, Egypt and Assyria will together be a blessing on the earth!
All — Jew and Gentile — who convert and believe into Jesus Christ will not only bless, but Gentiles will be blessed by the LORD by becoming His people. Gentiles will be seen as the work of His hands, and Israel will remain His inheritance (possession)!
The Father says of His Son, Jesus Christ —
Isaiah 49:6 “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
Chapter 20
Verses 1-2 —
Isaiah records the particular time when he received this next vision; specifically, in the year when an Assyrian commander was sent by Sargon, king of Assyria, to Ashdod, a coastal city-state in Philistia. Ashdod had rebelled against Assyria and was captured.
At that time, Isaiah was instructed by the LORD to loosen the sackcloth which he wore around his hips, and take the shoes off his feet, as a sign to Egypt and Cush. Sackcloth was a sign of mourning, and Isaiah mourned with the LORD, who does not want any to perish, but all to come to repentance (2Peter 3:9)!
Isaiah obeyed the LORD by performing this sign, going naked (nude) and barefoot. I believe he was entirely naked, because of the prophecy the LORD then gave Isaiah, to interpret his actions. Exiles were taken captive and stripped completely, to shame them.
The LORD sometimes commands His prophets to act out a future event, and then speak a prophecy to explain their actions. It was the same with the prophecy by Agabus of Paul’s arrest (Acts 21:11), and many times, Ezekiel and Jeremiah did signs and then prophesied by the Spirit.
Verses 3-4 —
And the LORD said, even as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot three years as a sign and token against Egypt and Cush, so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old. They will be naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, to the shame (nakedness) of Egypt.
It is a warning to Egypt and Cush. Egypt will be naked, stripped of its power. They fought against Assyria and continually were defeated, until they were carried into exile, with just a remnant remaining. But Isaiah is a prophet for Judah and Jerusalem, so it is also a warning to Judah, who will go into Babylonian exile the same way, 150 years later.
Verses 5-6 —
Who did Ashdod hope in? Egypt and Cush. They did not know nor did they seek the LORD. Instead, their hope was in Cush and Egypt, to defend them against the Assyrian onslaught. Cush was their hope, and Egypt was their boast. Whenever you hope in man, you will find that man will fail you, sooner or later.
It is true today, O believer, O church. If you hope in and boast about man’s wisdom and man’s ways, and rely on them to protect you and make you prosper, you will be exiled from the presence of the Lord (Isaiah 59:1-2) and become a captive of the enemy of your soul, Satan. Beware! I see it happening even now.
Ashdod, the inhabitants of the coastland, hoped in Egypt and Cush. But Egypt and Cush will fall to the Assyrians. Therefore, Ashdod will be led away. And as they go, they will say, Behold, such is our hope! They hoped in those who could not save them. They will say, We fled to Egypt and Cush for help, to be delivered from the king of Assyria, but now we are captured. How shall we escape?
Indeed, beloved, if your hope is in anything but Jesus Christ, you will find yourself a captive. How will you escape? First, you must repent from your heart and ask the Lord to forgive you!
But hear this. Just like Ephraim and Judah, you cannot depend on His deliverance while you willfully disobey Him. Repent, while it is still today.
He will heal you of your sin, and set you free from captivity to your sin nature by crucifying it and filling you with His Holy Spirit and His divine nature. Then His kingdom will be established in you! And no one defeats Him!
Lord, may believers hear this word and take to heart Your warning that hoping in man’s wisdom and man’s ways — idolatry of self — is hopeless and foolish. You are their Hope, if they will simply repent of their idolatry and return to You. So be it, I pray. Amen.
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