Isaiah 19
EGYPT fell from the high place it held during much of Old Testament history, when Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian Empire rose. It then suffered after the order of Isaiah’s prophecy, but chapter 19 awaits the last days, for its fulfilment, as we believe, now near at hand. Jeremiah 43, verses 8-13, and chapter 46, and Ezekiel, chapters 29 to 32 give the description of the early judgments carried out under Nebuchadnezzar.
For many centuries Egypt lay under Turkish misrule, but since 1879, largely through British interest, it has recovered some of its former importance. From December, 1914, it has had a king of its own, under British protectorate, and a movement is on foot to secure complete independence.
Our chapter reveals that greater calamities are coming on Egypt than befell when Nebuchadnezzar conquered the country about B. C. 590. A land without rain, Egypt depends upon the river Nile which every year has supplied the moisture for the crops; canals carry the water the width and length of the fertile valley.
So although the river failed them in Joseph’s time (Genesis 41:5454And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. (Genesis 41:54)), the Egyptians became proud, self-sufficient, boastful (Ezekiel 29:3, 93Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself. (Ezekiel 29:3)
9And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the Lord: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it. (Ezekiel 29:9). See also Exodus 5:22And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. (Exodus 5:2)). They rejected the only true God, and worshiped idols. In due time God will visit Egypt in swift and unsparing judgment (verse 1).
A picture of an awful state of things is presented in verses 2-10; civil war; the failure of the spirit of the people; the loss of men of counsel, and the Egyptians seeking vainly for help from their idols and from the sorcerers and wizards; a cruel lord and fierce king (believed to be the Assyrian of the last days, “the king of the North”—Daniel 11:40-4340And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. 41He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. 42He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. (Daniel 11:40‑43)) ruling over them; added to all this, the Nile failing with disastrous results to the country. Surely the cup of the people of Egypt will seem full!
In verse 5, the word translated “the sea” may mean either a sea or a large river, —in this case it is the Nile. Verses 6 and 7 have been retranslated:
“And the rivers shall stink, and the streams of Egypt shall be diminished and drain away; the reeds and sedges shall wither. The meadows by the Nile, on the banks of the Nile, and everything sown by the Nile, shall be dried up, be driven away and be no more.”
In verse 8 “the brooks” is read— “the Nile,” and in verse 10 the correct translation is believed to be “And her pillars shall be broken in pieces and all workers for hire shall be sad of soul.” (These variations from our excellent King James translation are not mentioned in criticism of its general accuracy which has not been questioned, nor could it be. No serious error has ever been found in it).
Zoan, verse 11, was a city in lower Egypt, the capital city where Moses and Aaron met Pharaoh. Noph, verse 13, is Memphis, another of the capital cities which Egypt had.
Out of the tribulation which the Egyptians will have to endure, there will come blessing (verses 18-25), for there will be repentance at last (verses 20-22), and in the Millennium the land of Israel, God’s inheritance, will be flanked on the south by Egypt, and on the north and east by Assyria, peopled by Gentiles, who have been born again, and whose delight it will be to serve the Israel of God.
ML 07/09/1933