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Overview 

Egypt. Israel has quite the history with this nation. Isaiah 19 is another round of prophetic judgments, now focused on their southern enemy. But there is hope. No nation is beyond the mercy of God. 

Isaiah 19:1

An oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

700 years before Isaiah wrote down his vision, Egypt ruled over Israel. For centuries actually. It was a very dark time in Israel’s history. They forgot about YHWH. They believe YHWH forgot about them. But God showed up—bringing Egypt to their knees. 

Many scholars see great significance in the plagues, even the number ten. The imaginary gods of Egypt were humbled before the only real God. Guzik argues convincingly: 

The LORD knocked down the god Khnum, the guardian of the Nile, the god Hapi, the spirit of the Nile, and the god Osiris (who had the Nile as his bloodstream) when the waters were turned to blood.

The LORD knocked down the goddess Heqt, the frog-goddess of fertility, with the plague of frogs.

The LORD knocked down the goddess Hathor, a cow-like mother goddess, with the plague on livestock.

The LORD knocked down the god Imhotep, the god of medicine, with the plague of boils.

The LORD knocked down the god Nut, the sky goddess, with the plague of hail.

The LORD knocked down the whole system of Egyptian worship of their gods with loathsome lice and swarms of insects.

The LORD knocked down the god Seth, thought to be the protector of crops, with the plague of locusts.

The LORD knocked down the god Ra, thought to be the sun god, with the plague of darkness.

The LORD knocked down Osiris, the Egyptian god thought to be the giver of life, and the supposed deity of Pharaoh himself, with the plague against the firstborn.

Idolatry was always the achilles heel of Egypt. Quite frankly, idolatry is the achilles heel for every human. We often exchanged the truth of God for a lie, worshipping the creature rather than the Creator (Rom. 1:25). 

Isaiah 19:2-4

And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, each against another and each against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom; and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their counsel; and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers, and the mediums and the necromancers; and I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a hard master, and a fierce king will rule over them, declares the Lord God of hosts.

God often uses the thing we lean on, whatever manifestation of human wisdom, to humble us. Verses 2-4 reveal this. Egypt leaned on their idols, their sorcerers, their mediums and their necromancers, but God confounded their counsel. They began to fight, distrust each other and inevitably distrust their gods. They did what humans do. They began to consume each other. As the maxim goes “a house divided cannot stand”. 

Isaiah 19:21-22, 24-25

And the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them. And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the Lord, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them. In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”

These verses should shock you, stir you, humble you. How gracious is our God! Egypt, the people who enslaved His people will someday be His people. How merciful! How forgiving! 

This type of forgiveness is foreign to the world, but common to the followers of Jesus. He forgave us, how dare we not forgive others! No person, no nation, no matter how far away they seem to be—are beyond the gracious love of God. Remember that. Pray for that.