A Message of Salvation for Egypt (Isaiah 19:1-25)
Rev. Myung-Sin Choi
“1 The burden against Egypt. Behold, the Lord rides on a swift cloud, And will come into Egypt; The idols of Egypt will totter at His presence, And the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst. 2 'I will set Egyptians against Egyptians; Everyone will fight against his brother, And everyone against his neighbor, City against city, kingdom against kingdom. 3 The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst; I will destroy their counsel, And they will consult the idols and the charmers, The mediums and the sorcerers. 4 And the Egyptians I will give Into the hand of a cruel master, And a fierce king will rule over them,' Says the Lord, the Lord of hosts. 5 The waters will fail from the sea, And the river will be wasted and dried up. 6 The rivers will turn foul; The brooks of defense will be emptied and dried up; The reeds and rushes will wither. 7 The papyrus reeds by the River, by the mouth of the River, And everything sown by the River, Will wither, be driven away, and be no more. 8 The fishermen also will mourn; All those will lament who cast hooks into the River, And they will languish who spread nets on the waters. 9 Moreover those who work in fine flax And those who weave fine fabric will be ashamed; 10 And its foundations will be broken. All who make wages will be troubled of soul. 11 Surely the princes of Zoan are fools; Pharaoh's wise counselors give foolish counsel. How do you say to Pharaoh, 'I am the son of the wise, The son of ancient kings?' 12 Where are they? Where are your wise men? Let them tell you now, And let them know what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt. 13 The princes of Zoan have become fools; The princes of Noph are deceived; They have also deluded Egypt, Those who are the mainstay of its tribes. 14 The Lord has mingled a perverse spirit in her midst; And they have caused Egypt to err in all her work, As a drunken man staggers in his vomit. 15 Neither will there be any work for Egypt, Which the head or tail, Palm branch or bulrush, may do. 16 In that day Egypt will be like women, and will be afraid and fear because of the waving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which He waves over it. 17 And the land of Judah will be a terror to Egypt; everyone who makes mention of it will be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts which He has determined against it. 18 In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear by the Lord of hosts; one will be called the City of Destruction. 19 In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border. 20 And it will be for a sign and for a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of the oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Mighty One, and He will deliver them. 21 Then the Lord will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day, and will make sacrifice and offering; yes, they will make a vow to the Lord and perform it. 22 And the Lord will strike Egypt, He will strike and heal it; they will return to the Lord, and He will be entreated by them and heal them. 23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians. 24 In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria--a blessing in the midst of the land, 25 whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, 'Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.'”
Introduction
In France, there is a famous philosopher named François-Marie Arouet, also known as Voltaire. Voltaire was famous for denying God and this person said, after 100 years, there will be no one who believes in Jesus Christ. Many French people who followed him applauded what he said. He received more encouragement for this and yelled to the sky, and even went to the point to say, “If there is God, may God strike me from the sky right now.” As we know, when he died, he died from a disease. His final words to his doctor was, “If you can extend my life to 6 months, I will give you all of my fortune.” The doctor responded to him, “Your life cannot be extended to 6 months and it cannot even be extended to 6 hours.” After he heard this, Voltaire said, “I am going to hell.” I think he finally opened his spiritual eyes during his final hours. One of the theories that he had was that Christianity will die after 100 years but it continued to flourish after 100 years. This is because God is truly alive. Those who cannot believe in God, they will face these kinds of unfortunate events. Today’s Biblical Scripture has an important meaning. Last week we spoke about Ethiopia (Cush) who received God’s word and the blessings that they received after they gave worship to God. Today’s sermon is about the decision of salvation that came upon the land of Egypt. Just like Cush who received salvation, we can see that Egypt made a resolution to give the blessing of worship to God. In order to give salvation to Egypt, we can see what God did to Egypt to make that happen.
1. God's Hand toward Egypt
1) When God gives us a societal issue
Verse 1 - God made a swift cloud, ride to Egypt. This means that God was heading to Egypt in an urgency. He was in a hurry to give salvation to Egypt. There are three events that God did first.
Verse 2 - In order to save Egypt, God placed a huge problem upon Egypt. He made brothers fight against brothers, and kingdoms against kingdoms as well as nations against nations. God made it to the point where people couldn’t communicate with and encourage each other at all. They would fight with each other, and everything became a problem, whether you tried to encourage or help others. Does this happen to you right now? Do you have conflicts with people around you? You need to hear this as God’s voice. God is trying to give you salvation,so He is causing conflicts with people for a reason. The Egyptians will lose heart, this means that God will break down the plans of the Egyptians. Even if they tried to make plans, it will all be blocked. What is the reason for all of this?
Verse 3 - In order to solve their problems, they would search after sorcerers, mediums, and idols. But this was the source of all of their problems. It may seem like the sorcerers and mediums were solving their problems, but it was causing more problems. None of their situations and problems were being solved or working out, this means that this is all part of God’s voice. This is a sign for you to hear God’s voice.
Verse 4 - It was already so hard for them already but now the Egyptians ended up with a cruel leader. This actually happened in Egypt. When Kush was in control of Egypt, an Egyptian rose up within a region of Egypt called Sais and rebelled against and attacked the Kushites. Through this army, the Kushites ended up getting pushed out of Sais and surrendering to the Egyptians. But this caused absolute division and chaos in Egypt and ended up causing Egypt to be divided into 12 regions. There was another leader in Sais named, Psammetichus, who was the governor of Egypt who brought the reunification of Egypt again. This caused Kush to be pushed out from Egypt completely and allowed Egypt to be reunified once again. But during this time period, there was so much suffering and problems upon Egypt and the Egyptians.
2) When God gives us a financial problem
Verses 5-10 - There was a severe economic problem that arose in Egypt. Why did this all happen? God was telling them to return back to Him. When only good things happen to people, people tend to not think that they need God. That is why God caused all of these problems so that they could return to God. The Nile River was the pride of Egypt and everything and financial profits came from the Nile River, but God dried up the Nile River. Not only that but God made the Nile River have a foul smell and it started to rot. Since all of the grassland was drying up, they couldn’t raise livestock and no food was left.
Verse 9 - The food for idol worship and idols couldn’t be made because they had no food and water. Also, priests had no clothes to wear because there were supplies and resources. The pillars of leadership were all falling apart at this. All of the laborers and civilians had no jobs due to the famine that was occurring in Egypt at this time. God made it to the point where they had no choice but to return to God. But God gave another problem.
3) When God gives us a problematic leader
Verses 11-15 - Zoan was a region where the kings resided. A lot of wise and intellects lived in Zoan. When the king would make a decision or had a problem, the king would gather all of the intellects to make a decision. But whenever these problems or times of decisions had to be made, no decisions or wise discernments were able to be made at that time. Every policy and plan would fail. Egypt that was once a powerful nation, everything was falling apart in Egypt.
Verse 12 - Egypt was considered an intellectual nation but it was starting to face mockery from other nations. Nothing was working out even with the intellectuals in Egypt. Isaiah was saying that the wise discernments will be made when the Egyptians return to God and make decisions with God.
Verse 13 - A lot of intellectuals, scholars, and wise individuals were living in Zoan and Egypt but when they were making decisions for Egypt, they kept giving answers and decisions that brought Egypt further into failure, destruction, and chaos.
Verse 14 - All of the confusion and chaos that was caused in Egypt was because God allowed all of it. This was because God poured the spirit of chaos onto Egypt. All of the leaders in Egypt would seek after idols and intellectuals to make decisions but Isaiah was saying that these things could not give clarity and wisdom but would drive them further into chaos. If you look at other people, many people seek after mediums and fortune tellers for advice and wisdom to make decisions, but you are being deceived. People who follow after these things, this was what God was saying will happen to you. These people were the ones who brought destruction, confusion, and chaos to Egypt. The Egyptians and leaders thought they were following after these “wise” mediums and idols but instead, they were following after these people who were leading their nation like drunken men who are staggering.
God was saying not to rely on these idols and mediums. Because it was God who caused the Nile River to completely dry up for the Egyptians. The Nile River was the main source of income for the Egyptians, but God was telling them not to rely solely on the Nile River. These three things are the things that nonbelievers are holding onto. None of these things will help you in any way. No matter how wise or profitable these people and materialistic things may be, it will not help you at all in the end. We can see that God’s grace was coming upon Egypt.
2. God's Amazing Grace toward Egypt
1) God lets one realize who He is
Verse 16 - Egypt was becoming lethargic and powerless. The Egyptians finally realized that their intellectuals and idols were causing their lethargy and powerlessness. They realized that God was the one who was shaking Egypt and them right now. They finally realized and remembered the event of the Exodus and the 12 plagues that came upon Egypt. They remembered that the 12 plagues came upon Egypt because they failed to hold onto God’s word. At that time, they remembered this and finally realized, and started trembling in fear. Those who tremble in fear before the Lord will live. Those who mock and challenge God, they will die. Those who realize and remember God’s word, you will live.
Verse 17 - The Egyptians heard what happened in the land of Judah, so they became more afraid. They heard that the land of Judah was falling into destruction because they fell into idols and failed to worship God. They heard these rumors and reports. They realized that God is making them suffer and have hardships in Egypt because God allowed it and they failed to worship God. When they looked at their situation and problems, they resolved to come before God and started trembling in fear. They started to see God’s plan. They realized that the land of Judah was falling into destruction because they fell into idol worship. Then, what is the way to live? They realized that they must return to God and repent.
2) Repentance movement in Egypt
Verse 18 - Those who realize and repent, they will speak the language of Canaan, which means that they were seeking after God. They were accepting God, who was the Lord of Israel. They started confessing of the Lord, Jehovah and started yelling out, “Amen. Hallelujah.” These were the words that the Canaanites spoke. Anyone who started speaking and believing like this was saved. Those who are saved, they say these words and confessions. They will confess that the Lord God is the True God and my True God. There were five cities in Egypt who made this confession. Of course, there are many cities in Egypt, but these five cities made this confession. This was what was most important to God. Among the five cities, there was a city called the City of Destruction.
Verse 19 - There will be followers and believers of God in the capitol of Egypt. There will be pillars in the city and burnt sacrifices made to God. Jacob had a dream and after his dream, he gave a blood sacrifice to God. After this dream, he was trembling in fear and made pillars. Jacob was sleeping on a rock when he was dreaming a dream from God and after he woke up, on that rock, he built a pillar on it and gave a blood sacrifice to God. The fact that they built a pillar meant that they were giving sacrifice and a confession of faith just like Jacob. If a household had a pillar set up, this meant that they were a family who believed in God. They were raising pillars within their homes and we could see the spiritual flow changing within the homes and lands of Egypt. When God saw all of these changes, God was so happy and started blessing Egypt.
Verse 20 - Many Egyptians suffered due to wrong and incorrect leaders being raised. The Egyptians started crying out to God because of their cruel leaders. They were pleading to God for an answer. God heard their prayers, and we can see that the cruel leader was eventually kicked out of his reign. The Egyptians started realizing that God was truly alive at this time. They were able to enter into the correct faith. When God saw all of this, God blessed the Egyptians even more.
Verse 22 - They were in the midst of many sufferings and problems but the moment they returned to God; God restored all things. When you truly repent and realize before God, God will restore all things. God responded to their pleas and healed them. This was a blessing that came upon the Egyptians and Israelites. God commanded the Israelites as well to always return back to them. The Egyptians were receiving the same blessing and answer. Whoever returns back to God, you will receive the same blessing.
The Egyptians gave blood sacrifices to God for a long time, but the Egyptians stopped giving blood sacrifices until to the point where the temple of God was destroyed. Many Christians started leaving Egypt after the sanctuaries in Egypt started disappearing and closing down. Apollos also came from the region of Egypt.
3. God's Masterpiece through Egypt
1) Salvation for all people through Egypt
Verses 23-25 - Assyria and Egypt were once enemies and were in constant battles with each other. The pathways for battles now became pathways for evangelism within the two nations. There was an event that allowed the translation of the Bible from Hebrew to Greek in Egypt. This translation occurred through the Greek King, Alexander the Great who truly respected and valued the holy temple of Jerusalem and the word of God. You can see that great works occurred in Egypt during the Old Testament. The translation took place when Alexander was conquering many nations around the world, and everything was being translated to Greek during that time. Since the Bible started being translated to Greek, people were starting to be able to read the Bible and was able to receive salvation. Egypt made a great and big influence. God was so happy with this.
Verse 24 - Since the translation of the Bible took place through Egypt, Egypt received tremendous blessing from God.
Verse 25 - Amazing blessings. God calls Egypt His people. This means that they were people of the covenant. God was saying that Egypt was His masterpiece. Back then when they were in the midst of idolatry, they were being cursed by God but now, they were being used by God. God was saying that Egypt was His mediator. God blessed them tremendously and called Egypt, “…The work of My hands…[His] inheritance.” May you also receive this blessing.
2) Change yourselves
We must change ourselves. We must conquer our past. We are being controlled by our past, habits, and scars.
Conquer the past (John 19:30 “So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, 'It is finished!' And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.”) - Jesus said that it was all finished and after He made this confession, He died. This means that our past is dead. Enjoy this. In order to enjoy this, you must enjoy the 393 prayer. This is how you can conquer your past.
Conquer the present (Ephesians 5:18 “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.”) - All of your problems and events are all part of the blessings that we will receive. You must open your spiritual eyes to see this. Egypt faced problems so that they could eventually be blessed by God. That is why God gave them problems so that God could bless them. Don’t be deceived by your present problems. We who are saved, we must only be filled with the Holy Spirit as people of God. The blessing that we must receive is the blessing of the pilgrim, conqueror, and the remaining one.
Conquer the future (Isaiah 60:22 “A little one shall become a thousand, And a small one a strong nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time.”) - After 50 years, we must become the main figures and heroes of this age. We are the healers who will heal the world within the next 50 years.
Isaiah 60:22 - Hold onto this gospel and enjoy this blessing. We must enter into the answer as the scattered and remaining one.
Conclusion
Romans 14:8 “For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” - When you listen to this word, don’t you find joy? You belong to the Lord. You should be so joyful and happy. Whether you live or die, you belong to the Lord. What is our hope? Our hope should be in Romans 14:8. May you receive answers in the name of Jesus Christ.
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