Sharper Iron — The Fifth Evangelist - Isaiah 19:1-20:6: The LORD's Word to Egypt

Isaiah speaks the burden concerning Egypt because the LORD desires His people to know that looking to Egypt for help is futile. Egypt’s idolatry is useless. Egypt depends on the Nile River, and yet, the Nile is under the LORD’s command. Egypt’s wisdom is foolish. To show the reality of the judgment coming upon Egypt, God commands Isaiah to preach naked and barefoot for three years. In all these ways, God shows His people not to trust in Egypt. Not only will Egypt be judged like all the nations, but ultimately the one true God will call even Egyptians to worship Him alone. Therefore, Israel should trust in the LORD for help.

Rev. James Preus, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Ottumwa, IA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Isaiah 19:1-20:6.

“The Fifth Evangelist” is a series on Sharper Iron that goes through Isaiah 1-39. The prophet proclaims to the people of his day and throughout history that the Holy One of Israel alone is exalted. Those who put their trust in the strength of man will be brought low, but those who trust in the LORD will see that He is their Immanuel. Jesus is God with us who reigns over the kingdom of God forever and ever!

Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen. Submit comments or questions to: listener@kfuo.org

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Isaiah 19:1-20:6

An Oracle Concerning Egypt

19 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.
²And 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;
³and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out,
    and I will confound^[a] their counsel;
and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers,
    and the mediums and the necromancers;
⁴and 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.

⁵And the waters of the sea will be dried up,
    and the river will be dry and parched,
⁶and its canals will become foul,
    and the branches of Egypt’s Nile will diminish and dry up,
    reeds and rushes will rot away.
⁷There will be bare places by the Nile,
    on the brink of the Nile,
and all that is sown by the Nile will be parched,
    will be driven away, and will be no more.
⁸The fishermen will mourn and lament,
    all who cast a hook in the Nile;
and they will languish
    who spread nets on the water.
⁹The workers in combed flax will be in despair,
    and the weavers of white cotton.
¹⁰Those who are the pillars of the land will be crushed,
    and all who work for pay will be grieved.

¹¹The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish;
    the wisest counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
    “I am a son of the wise,
    a son of ancient kings”?
¹²Where then are your wise men?
    Let them tell you
    that they might know what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt.
¹³The princes of Zoan have become fools,
    and the princes of Memphis are deluded;
those who are the cornerstones of her tribes
    have made Egypt stagger.
¹⁴The Lord has mingled within her a spirit of confusion,
and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds,
    as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
¹⁵And there will be nothing for Egypt
    that head or tail, palm branch or reed, may do.

Egypt, Assyria, Israel Blessed

¹⁶In that day the Egyptians will be like women, and tremble with fear before the hand that the Lord of hosts shakes over them. ¹⁷And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians. Everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the purpose that the Lord of hosts has purposed against them.

¹⁸In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts. One of these will be called the City of Destruction.^[b]

¹⁹In 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. ²⁰It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. ²¹And 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. ²²And 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.

²³In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.

²⁴In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, ²⁵whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”

A Sign Against Egypt and Cush

20 In the year that the commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought against it and captured it— ²at that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet,” and he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

³Then the Lord said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush,^[c] ⁴so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt. ⁵Then they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast. ⁶And the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, ‘Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?’”

Footnotes

Isaiah 19:3 Or I will swallow up
Isaiah 19:18 Dead Sea Scroll and some other manuscripts City of the Sun
Isaiah 20:3 Probably Nubia

Rev. Timothy Appel

Although a mathematics degree may not be incredibly helpful to (proudly born-and-raised Texan) Rev. Timothy Appel while hosting Sharper Iron, his love of CFW Walther and the season of Easter will come in handy. His Call is shepherding the flock at Faith Lutheran Church in Godfrey, Illinois, and he’s also husband to wife Kristin and dad to their growing basketball team of children. When he’s not carrying out pastoral duties, you may find him reading “The Lord of the Rings,” snacking on Reese’s peanut butter cups, playing dominoes with his boys, or studying up on Texas history (including Sam Houston, of course).