Isaiah 19, Be Careful What You Hope In
1. Humanity’s Strongest Strength Will Fail (v1-4)
2. Humanity’s Overflowing Resources Will Fail (v5-10)
3. Humanity’s Wisest Wisdom Will Fail (v11-15)
4. God’s Promises Will Be Fulfilled (v16-25)
Isaiah 19, Be Careful What You Hope In
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Well, as we look at Isaiah Chapter 19 this evening I've titled the Message, Be careful what you hope in.
Be careful what you hope.
In, because here as we look at Chapter 19 of Isaiah, we have the prophet of the Lord speaking on behalf of the Lord.
Really, against the nation of Egypt, but it's not so much a message for Egypt. It's a message about Egypt for the nation of Judah, where Isaiah is prophesying now. At this time during Isaiah's Administ.
Three, the nation of Judah.
First of all, the nation of Israel has been split into for a couple 100 years, and so the Northern Kingdom Israel has really gone on and rebelled against the Lord severely and then the Southern Kingdom, Judah, where Isaiah is, where the city of Jerusalem is.
They have mostly been.
Rebelling against the Lord.
Also, they've had a couple bright spots of revival that have taken place, but overall the people, the Kings, the nation as a whole has been.
Rebelling against God, running away from God, refusing to surrender to God, and so God has allowed as a result of that, both the northern and the southern kingdoms, he's allowed them to experience difficulty from other surrounding nations as a means of correcting them and calling them to repentance.
Then back to right relationship with him.
The current threat for both kingdoms is the nation of Assyria, and Assyria has risen to great power over the past couple 100 years and is now the dominating world empire.
There's just a couple holdouts there around.
Judah is the superpower of Egypt, just down the.
To the to the South of it.
And so Egypt and Assyria are at odds, and Egypt is refusing to submit to Assyria, and so there is this battle that is kind of been.
It's been leading up to this, and there is some skirmishes that have been going on.
And during the Ministry of Isaiah, the Northern Kingdom gets conquered by the nation of Assyria, and many of the strongholds of the southern Kingdom of Judah get conquered by Assyria as well as they just start to take more and more territory in the region, and in their attempt to take over the whole world.
And so there's this.
Looming threat Assyria is rising to power and more and more nations around them more and more territory is being lost to the nation of Assyria, and so you can kind of imagine with this great threat coming what the city of Jerusalem must be like.
During Isaiah's ministry, that Whole Nation was primarily reduced to the City of Jerusalem, is a decent size city, but all of the other cities have been conquered, and so people have taken up residence in Jerusalem and and they're holding out there and and they're wondering what's going to happen. There's a lot of tense.
Is Assyria going to try to take Jerusalem, and will they be successful, and will this Kingdom align with that Kingdom in order to stand a defence against Assyria and try to prevent the plans and purposes that Assyria has there?
There was during this time much political maneuvering.
Of different nations trying to link arms with each other to stand against Assyria or to conquer other nations around them while they thought they were vulnerable and had the opportunity.
Within the city of Jerusalem, within the nation of.
Judah there were.
Many different ideas about how to handle the threat of Assyria.
And there was many different fears about everybody elses ideas and plans for how to handle Assyria.
And so you can imagine the conflict and the turmoil the unrest that was going on.
And that's why a couple weeks ago we looked at Isaiah Chapter 8 when the Lord tells Isaiah don't worry about all those conspiracies, all those you know talks of fear and plans and plots, and this people aligning with that people and trying to take over that other people or stand against that part like God was instructing Isaiah Isaiah.
That's how the rest of the people.
Or operating, but you're not to operate like that and be caught up and consumed with all of this political maneuvering.
And all of these different ideas and strategies you Isaiah need to trust in.
And me and that continues to be the message of the Lord as there are all these different things going on.
Now the major players of the day, of course, Assyria is rising to power.
You have also another nation similar name, Syria.
So Syria was north of Israel, and so they were trying to prevent the.
Coming of Assyria into the region they have, we have the nation of Israel involved.
We have the nation of Judah as well as Egypt and Ethiopian, and some of the other smaller nations around them as well.
So there's all these major players, and there's all these negotiations and talks about who is going to team up with who and how are they going.
To accomplish, you know the the safety of everybody that they're trying to protect and and so there's some wanting to link up with Egypt, some wanting to link up with a serious and wanting to link up with different people and and so there's all of this maneuvering that's going on, and these tensions and fears are continuing to rise.
In rise and Rise, commentator John Martin says some people wanted to look to Egypt for protection against the Assyrian threat.
But Isaiah pointed out that Egypt would be no help because she too would be overwhelmed by God's judgment. From their perspective, many people saw the nation of Egypt as this. This is our guaranteed protection. They're a superpower. No way. Is Assyria going to dominate them?
And so if we link up with Egypt.
Now we think of Egypt today, perhaps?
And we're not, you know, thinking of it in terms of a superpower, but Egypt in those days was, well, it wasn't too long before this that Egypt was the dominating world power, and so they they had a serious army.
They were a serious threat to the nation of Assyria.
And they.
Held out against us.
Syria, they they were conquered but not completely.
And it wasn't until leader with Babylon that they were actually taken out and conquered completely.
And so they they were strong in many ways.
And yet at the same time, the Lord here is warning his people about trusting in them to protect them and save them in this situation.
Because, well, they are also going to be experiencing the judgment of God just like the nation of Judah is.
Now as we look at this in Chapter 19 this evening, it kind of couples with the chapter before and after each chapter.
18 of Isaiah addresses the nation of Ethiopia and makes reference to ambassadors sent from Ethiopia. Ethiopia's a little bit South of Egypt, and so Ethiopia and Egypt were.
Synonymous sometimes, but they were allies most of the time, and so they were joining forces and they're seeking to get Judah to join forces with them to to link up to to make a treaty, and to stand together.
And so chapter 18 refers to those ambassadors.
Chapter 19 refers to Egypt and then chapter 20.
Is that classic?
Passage if you only know one thing about Isaiah, you probably know that he walked around naked for three years as a prophet of the Lord, and so that's found in chapter 20.
And God explains why in Isaiah Chapter 20, and I want to read that to you for just a moment.
Isaiah Chapter 20, verse five and six.
It says then they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia.
Their expectation, and Egypt their glory and the inhabitant of this territory will say in that day.
Surely such is our expectation.
Wherever we flee for help to be delivered from.
The king of Assyria, and how shall we escape?
The illustration of Isaiah being naked for three years was to be a clear message to the people.
Those people that you're trusting in the.
Nation of Egypt.
They're going to be LED away into captivity.
They're going to be stripped and carried off.
They are going to be conquered.
They are not worth your trust.
And your faith, you should not be relying upon them.
They should not be your as he puts it here in chapter 20 verse five.
Your expectation, your hope should not be in Ethiopia and Egypt.
But there was.
A great desire and a great pressure for the people to hope and trust in Ethiopia and Egypt during this time.
And so the Lord sends Isaiah the Prophet.
And it's not just here, but you'll will encounter this a few more times in the Book of Isaiah, where he is calling to.
Attention they're hoping that they're trusting so much in Egypt instead of trusting in God.
So God here says this evening, be careful what you hope in.
We have this same kind of opportunity today.
There's lots of ways in our lives for us to hoop in and put our expectations on.
Things that are not from the Lord.
Things that are not of the Lord and.
Things that are not.
But the Lord himself and we need to be careful what we hope in.
If we put our hope in our political system or our political party.
And you know, as there was all this political maneuvering in Isaiah Day, we see all that political maneuvering today, and it can be very unsettling if we put our hope in and our expectation.
Is in the financial system or our financial reserves?
Then we're going to be in trouble because we're hoping in the wrong thing.
If we're hoping and trusting in our career and our family, and you know whatever it might be, some of those things God has given to us and put.
In our lives for certain perp.
This is but they are never to take that place of hope and expectation, as the Lord is, and the position that he deserves in our lives.
And so.
This message about Egypt to Judah is really relevant to us as we consider it this evening.
In fact, throughout Scripture, Egypt is often looked at and understood as a symbol of the world, and so many times you can talk about Egypt and understand and ask the questions about.
The the account that is being given in the passage and and relate it to the world, and so it's not a requirement that every time Egypt is mentioned, you have to kind of force the world in there.
It's not like that, but it's definitely an opportunity for us to consider our alliances with the world later on in the New Testament we find.
That friendship with the world is enmity against God, and when we put our hope in this world in the world system in the world plan.
And those kinds of things we are allying ourselves against, the Lord, and trusting in things that are going.
To fail, Pastor David Guzik says whenever our expectation is in something wrong or our glory is in something wrong, the Lord will find a way to make those things disappoint us.
Judah set their expectation on Ethiopia and looked at Egypt for glory.
But now they are left, afraid and ashamed, and anything that we trust in in place of the Lord.
Will leave us in that same condition, and so let's consider this message about Egypt to Judah to help us be careful.
What we hope and point number one found in verses one through 4 is that humanity's strongest strength will fail. Humanities strongest strength will fail, verse one says.
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.
As there is this great movement to trust in Egypt and to ally themselves with Egypt, and to think that Egypt will protect them and preserve them, God says I want you to know there is a burden against Egypt.
8 an announcement of woe that is heavy against Egypt, the Lord.
Is coming in.
He's riding on a swift cloud.
And he is going to topple all of their idols.
The Egyptians in those days worshiped a multitude of various false gods.
And so God is going to show himself to be the true and living God in their midst, and all of their idols are going to topple similar to earlier in Egypt history when God dealt with the idolatry of Egypt at the coming out of the children of Israel with all the plagues.
The 10 plagues that happened at the Exodus.
Those were all dealing with the various idols and gods that the people of Egypt worshiped.
Well, this is a long time after that, but they've.
Continued to worship these various gods and so once again these idols are going to be toppled.
Now all of the prophecies here against Egypt have been fulfilled, except for the last part of the chapter, and we'll see that this evening the question that many people have is when exactly which?
Event in history fulfills the things that are mentioned here and I'm not going to get into or try to resolve all of those, but here's a a quick list from Pastor Thomas.
Table he says the fulfillment may have been the Ethiopian pharaoh Piankhi and 7:15 BC one of the Assyrian king, Sargon Sennacherib Air Schaden, or another one I can't pronounce it in 668. The Persian Arctic Xerxes, the third in 343 BC. There's there's a multitude of different events.
In Egypt, history that.
Can be the fulfillment of these things and so you can kind of wrestle with that if you want to be a historian and go back and look at those things.
And compare them to what the Lord says here.
Understand what the Lord was saying and and have you know your own ideas about when exactly it was fulfilled.
But the point is, you can look at Egypt today and you can look at Egypt throughout history and you can see that these things were fulfilled.
That God did write in on a swift cloud and and bring destruction to Egypt.
In the midst of their idolatry, one of the ways that he did that he goes on in verse two is he says I will set Egyptians against Egyptians.
Everyone will fight his brother.
Everyone against his neighbor, city against City Kingdom against Kingdom.
In Isaiah's day, Egypt was made-up of it was one nation, but there was a a lot of different provinces.
42 different provinces, and they began to fall apart. All of these provinces that were joined together began to fight against one another later on the nation of Egypt was split.
Into 12 kingdoms.
And they were all constantly fighting against each other.
And many you know, wanting to rise to power and reunites, of course, under their own authority.
And so there was this constant battle.
And so the Egyptians being set against Egyptians was fulfilled as they progress.
Verse 3 the spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst.
I will destroy their Council and they will consult the idols and the charmers.
The medium.
And the sorcerers, as they continue to experience trouble, they continued to resist looking to the Lord and responding to the Lord, and so they consulted their idols, or charmers, or medians and sorcerers.
They they continued to persist in their ways in disregarding God call.
To repentance to them.
He says the Egyptians I will give into the hand of a cruel master and a fierce king will rule over them again.
You can see this played out in many different times.
The king of Assyria did hit a great blow against them again.
The nation of Babylon did as well, and so these are things that have been fulfilled and taken place.
As they looked at Egypt, the nation of Judah.
Egypt was strong.
But we need to be reminded this evening.
The strongest of the strong.
The best that we can produce.
The best that our unity can produce.
The best that any nation can become the the strongest strength.
Will fail.
And it is not reliable. Later on in Isaiah Chapter 36, God addresses this whole situation and issue again as they are 36 six.
He says look, you are trusting in the staff of this broken Reed, Egypt.
On which of a man leans, it will go into his hand.
And Pierce it.
So is Pharaoh King of Egypt to all who trust in him?
This is a strong warning to us when we are tempted to trust in and rest in our own strength or the strength of humanity around us, it's.
Putting ourselves in a position of trusting in a broken staff.
And what a visual picture that is right?
You're trying to lean on a staff and it and it pierces into the hand.
It looks like it's going to help, but instead it actually hurts and causes more pain and leaves a mark because.
Men strongest strength will fail the best of the best of the best.
We must not look to the Lord or to man or humanity or our things for strings, but we must look to the Lord for strength.
He's the only one that we can trust in and rely upon without harm to ourselves. Moving on to versus 5 through 10, we get point #2 this evening and.
That is humanities.
Overflowing resources will fail.
Humanity's overflowing resources will fail. Verse five and six.
Says the waters will fail from the sea and the river will be wasted and dried up.
The rivers will turn foul the Brooks of defence will be emptied and dried up.
The reeds and rushes will wither.
Here God moves on to address.
Their commerce system, which was really based upon.
The waters of the Nile River.
The nation of Egypt was situated in such a way that it was a kind of a an array of rivers that flowed into and from the Mediterranean Sea.
And so this Nile river was the primary river, and and it provided much.
Of the resources, the wealth, a substance, and everything that they needed to survive, and one of the reasons.
Why Egypt thrived?
In the way.
That it did was because of what was provided to them.
In the Nile river.
It was such an important and vital resource for them.
One of the situations that would happen with the Nile River is that very regularly it would overflow.
Because of its connection to the Mediterranean Sea because of the the things that were going on around the Nile River, there would be the the seasonal overflowing of the banks and it would flood over and it would pour into the Mediterranean Sea and it would kind of churn up things right and and there was this constant flow that was happening.
And you can imagine that was quite a nuisance.
You know, to have that overflowing, it's always, you know, going over its bounds, but.
In retrospect, they they ended up putting a dam on the Nile River to try.
To control that.
But it caused a lot of issues and this was not in Isaiah's day.
This is later on in history in the 1960s, I think 1960, nineteen, 70 and and so it was supposed to solve all kinds of problems to protect them.
But but also it did solve some problems, but also caused a bunch of other problems and so.
That there was that challenge.
But the whole point is what I'm trying to say is that this overflowing river, which provided all these resources for them and their whole system of commerce.
It seemed abundant.
It seemed that there was unlimited supply that they had everything that they needed.
And yet God says those abundant resources, their their great strength of their economy, their great strength of their sustenance, and all that they need.
Verse 5 the waters will fail from the sea and the river will be wasted and dried up.
And So what they trusted in, and this natural resource, that they you know, had for such a long time and felt like, was something that would always be there.
The Lord says that is going to be drained. It's going to dry up and not be the provision that it once was and that you rely upon Pastor David Guzik says the Nile River was the key to Egypt's agriculture and economy. For it to suffer a severe drought or lowering would have devastating effect on the lives of Egyptians and God.
Promise is this will happen as a judgment again.
Since Egypt, he goes on to give a couple examples of the impact that it will have.
In verse seven, he says the papirus reads by the river by the mouth of the river and everything so and by the river will wither be driven away and be no more.
So at one time there was this abundance of papyrus right there on the banks of the Nile, and as well as a variety of other things, and says everything that was sown by the river.
All of those plants and vegetation that they.
Good place there next to the river to have that resource and to have the the constant watering the continual minerals and enrichment that came along with the Nile River.
So all of these things are going.
To fade out.
They're going to wither, and that's true.
There's not the the popular papirus.
Reeds, there's you know, not that abundance.
Even today, as there once was.
Is in the prime of Egypt history in verse 18 says 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.
So it's going to affect the vegetation that they have and rely upon along the edge of the Nile, but also the fishermen.
And there was a mixture the the Nile River was fresh water, but then the there was the Mediterranean Sea.
That was saltwater and and so there was different kinds of fishermen.
Different fishing in different areas depending on if they were going for saltwater fish or freshwater fish, right?
But but both were affected by this.
Is the idea that.
That wherever they spread their Nets, wherever they tried to catch fish that they were going to be really reduced in the population of fish and and so there was going to be this languishing this morning, this woe and and.
Sadness by the fishermen because their whole industry would be screeching to a halt.
Verse 9 moreover, those who work in fine flax, those who we find fabric will be ashamed and its foundations will be broken.
All who make wages will be troubled of soul.
It was going to affect every kind of commerce, every kind of industry that they had.
The paper industry.
The fishing industry, the clothing industry, all of their resources, and all of their strengths commercially.
At one time they seemed to be just overflowing, and just like the banks would overflow of the river, they just had an abundance of commerce, abundance of resources, abundance of opportunity to provide for themselves, to enrich themselves.
But God says humanity's overflowing resources will fail.
Pastor Thomas Constable says the economy would suffer and the people would become weak.
How foolish then to trust in a nation that cannot control its own destiny?
But which Yahweh controls?
You know there's.
Economical systems around us.
That seems so big that.
From some perspectives it can kind of feel like they've always been there and they will always continue to be there.
But the reality is, economies come and go.
Resources come and go, and and it doesn't have to take a long time, right?
It it can just be a couple generations of people.
And then it feels like this is always.
This is for sure, this is always going to be there.
Even for us as a nation, you know the nation of America so.
So young in the history of the world.
Well, we're we always feel like we are you know the the superpower in the center of the world and we feel like everything is about us and we're always going to continue and people say where is America in Bible prophecy?
Because, well, of course we have.
To be there, we're the most important.
Nation in the planet, right?
But that's not.
The the reality is you look at history and we can become.
An insignificant nation in very short time that that is the way that history happens, and so there are these resources many times.
That we can look at as overflowing and and because they're overflowing, they feel so certain.
But we need to be careful.
What we hope in.
We need to be careful.
Because those things are not promised and not guaranteed.
And of course.
We pray that there's no economic tragedies that strike our nation.
That's appropriate to pray for that, but at the same time we we cannot rest.
Our souls.
Upon the prosperity.
Of our nation.
We can't rest our souls on the.
Blessings that we have received as a nation economically.
Overflowing resources, the best of the best.
They're going to fail.
And history is the story of nations being.
Blessed and overflowing with resources, and overflowing with strength, and and being you know the pinnacle of might, and then declining.
And and that is.
Seen all throughout his that you.
See Nation After Nation after Nation rise to power and crumble, rise to power and crumble.
Rise to power and crumble.
You scale that down.
You can look at within our nation within our nation's history. You can see companies rise to power and then be crumbled and then rise to power and crumbled. Rising power and like it is. It is the ongoing flow.
Where we invest everything.
We are impressed by what we can produce and our strength and our resources seem immeasurable and infinite.
And we need to be reminded they're not.
And sometimes we're reminded by those things drying up.
And those things coming to an end.
And where we thought the technology sector could save us and preserve us, and we thought that the stock market would always, you know, continue and preserve everything that we'd invested into it.
And we thought that you know all of these things there.
There is going to be failures of all of these things that we put to.
Mother and so our faith and our trust cannot be in what humanity has produced.
That is our own selves and.
What we have done our.
Own efforts and our own resources, or.
US as a nation?
Worldwide us as humanity.
Our strengths will fail, even the strongest ones.
Our resources will fail, even the ones that are overflowing and that seem infinite.
Thirdly, as we move on to verses 11 through 15, we also see that humanity's wisest wisdom will fail.
Our wisest wisdom will fail, verse 11 says.
Surely the Princess of zone 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.
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.
The Princess of Zone have become fools.
The Princess of Nofar deceived.
They have also deluded Egypt.
Those who are the mainstay of its tribes.
Verse 14.
The blood is mingled.
He perverse spirit in her midst, and they have caused Egypt to air and all her work as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
Neither will there be any work for Egypt.
Which is the head or tail?
Palm branch or bulrush may do.
Here the Lord addresses the wisdom.
Of Egypt
For a great period of time, Egypt was known.
For having great wisdom.
And acts Chapter 7 when Stephen the first martyr is giving his closing address right before he's about to be stoned to death.
He makes reference to Moses in acts Chapter 7, verse 22, and how that Moses was.
Learned in all the.
Wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.
It was noteworthy it was, you know, like going to the the best schools of the time to be to be learned in all the wisdom.
Of the Egyptians.
If you wanted wisdom, you went to Egypt.
You went to Egypt, schools.
You learned from the Egyptians.
You learned their ways.
If you wanted counsel, you know you sought out the Egyptians, that this was.
Their reputation.
This was their position.
They were wise.
They had the best counselors.
The most wisdom and this heritage of it.
In verse 14 or verse 11, he's making reference to these counselors saying, I'm the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings, that that there is this long line of.
Wisdom that has been passed down from generation to generation and we.
Are those who are wise and we come from wise descendants who came from wise descendants and and from.
From the ancient kings.
There has been this prevailing wisdom.
The nation of Egypt during Isaiah's day.
They had the wisest of the waffles.
They had great wisdom.
But the Lord says in verse 12.
Where are they?
You had this reputation of having.
The the most wise, but where are they in the midst of this?
Situation and and great turmoil and tension that's going on.
Where are they?
All of these advisors who could give you, you know the the best answer is in the.
Right course the.
Right direction where are they?
Let them tell you now.
Verse 11 he says, let them know what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt.
The best wisdom, true wisdom.
Is from the Lord.
Proverbs tells us the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
And to know what the Lord has purpose.
That's the best wisdom.
That's the best insight that you can have, but the Egyptians were never going to attain real wisdom because they were not looking to the Lord they were.
Looking to their own gods their.
Own idols, their mediums, their sorcerers.
And so God is now allowing them to be revealed for the fools that they've always been.
They they had the appearance of wisdom and and to a limited extent in the world and.
Humanity's view, they were very wise, but the reality was as wise as they seemed, and that reputation and impression that they gave.
Did not really measure up in reality.
And so God is defeating.
This facade that has been in place for a long time.
It says in verse 14 he's mingled, a perverse spirit in her midst.
A perverse spirit to reveal.
That they would air in all their work.
Everything that they're doing is crumbling.
Everything that they're doing.
All the wisdom that they've been trusting in, and the course that they've been.
On it's all falling apart.
They're staggering like a drunken man, he says.
There's not going to be anything left.
Because they are seeking their wisdom just in their own resources, and they're not looking to the Lord. Proverbs chapter 21 verse 30 says there is no wisdom or understanding or counsel against.
The Lord.
The Egyptians.
Would be taking counsel to try to figure out a way to not submit to the Lord.
Or not submit to Assyria, who God was bringing down to deal with the sin of the land in Israel and Judah as well as Egypt.
But there was no wisdom that they could come up with no strategy, no, you know, brilliant idea, no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that they could get to defeat the Lord's plans.
It's always going to be the case. Humanity's wisest wisdom will fail.
In our day we.
Really can relate to these things quite well.
We have great monuments of strength, great examples of strength within our society.
And they can be strength that we would easily trust.
In our economy we have abundant resources in many ways.
Let me not be true of every moment of our lives, and there are many occasions where us as individuals we lack and we struggle right at the same time we recognize in the society that we live there.
Is this celebration of incredible wealth.
And great resources.
And there is this great optimism.
Many times in the wisdom of leaders.
There is mostly not political leaders, but mostly of you know sports leaders or business leaders.
You know there's the idea that, well, our our tech system.
And and our.
You know high tech companies, they'll they'll come up with a solution and they'll be able to figure out a way to resolve this and they'll.
Have a solution.
And and there can be this great expectation and hope that's placed in.
Our wise among us.
Our resources among us, our strengths among us and all counts Egypt had as well, and the Lord has said over and over again.
You need to understand you can't trust you can't run to Egypt for your hope and for your security because all of those things.
Are going to fail.
Don't run to Egypt again.
Egypt can be many times in scripture a picture of the world.
We need to understand we we cannot run to the world, our society to determine wisdom.
We need to run to the Lord.
Pastor Warren Brisby says God people get their wisdom from God, not from the world.
The wisdom of Egypt would lead them to staggering and humiliating.
Now the problem that we face with that is many times initially, the wisdom that we trust in that we receive from the world doesn't result in staggering and humiliating defeat.
Sometimes the wisdom seems to work out OK for a while, and so we don't see those end results right away.
But we need to walk by faith and not by sight and not just base our decisions on immediate results, but to look ahead and understand. This is what God said. Humanity's wisest wisdom will fail. We can't trust.
In many ways man ideas man.
Thoughts we can't throw.
Out gods word and what God has clearly said.
And substitute our own ideas and our own.
Concepts and our own.
Our own preferences.
Say, well, you know it's.
2022 you know these things are ancient and.
Old, they don't apply anymore.
All of that wisdom that supposer wisdom, even the wisdom that seems to work out.
OK, right now, that wisdom of man is.
Going to fail.
There's a difference.
There's a different kind of wisdom.
James Chapter 3 differentiates between the wisdom that is from above and the wisdom that is.
Not, and there is a wisdom that is of this world that we are not to partake in and participate in and receive from and live our lives by.
But there is a wisdom from above and he.
James tells us some clear attributes of that wisdom, the wisdom that is.
From above is.
First pure than peaceable, gentle, willing to yield full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisy.
Right?
When you when you get wisdom from God.
Think about any situation that you are needing wisdom in.
Think about any course that you're wondering about.
Any direction that you're you're trying to figure out.
When you get wisdom from God.
About a situation about a path about a course.
It is going to have these kinds of attributes there is going to be a purity there is going to be a a peaceable nacina gentleness.
There's going to be a humility and a willingness to yield there.
There is going to be evidence of mercy, and there's going to be the production of good.
Route from it and it's going to be without partiality that I'm not picking and choosing my favorite people and other people I hate, and it's not going to be with hypocrisy and and falsehood, and faking things it.
It is going to be genuine and real and and when we have God's wisdom about our situations and about our life.
These are the characteristics that will follow.
A lot of times these are long term characteristics.
Again, the wisdom of this world may look good for a season and may seem to work out for a bit.
And the wisdom from above may not immediately evidence all of these fruits.
All of these characteristics, but.
But we could identify the wisdom from above with these things unrecognize.
When there's things, decisions, courses, actions, attitudes that are contrary to these things, it is not the wisdom from God. It is not God's instruction or direction towards us. It is something different entirely.
And so humanity's strongest strength will fail humanity's overwhelming resources.
Will fail.
Humanity's wisest wisdom will fail. And finally versus 16 through 25. We kind of changed direction a little bit.
Verse 16 through 25 point #4 God promises will be fulfilled in contrast to humanity and all that we have and all that we can produce and all that we want. It's all going to fail.
But what God has said and what God has declared that will be fulfilled.
Verse 16 and 17 says in that day Egypt will be like women and will be afraid and fear because of the weaving of the hand of the Lord of hosts which he waves over it.
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 Council of the Lord of hosts, which he has determined against.
Now there's a radical change that takes place here in verse 16 for the rest of the chapter, the Lord, through Isaiah, is going to be addressing Egypt in the future, not just in the future from Isaiah's day, but in the future from right now.
So the prophecies that we saw in the first half of the chapter Isaiah prophesied, they were future from Isaiah's perspective and his point in.
History, but they were soon fulfilled in the years that followed and we see the fulfillment of verses one through 15.
Again, there's multiple points in history where you can kind of argue that they were fulfilled.
Or maybe God meant all of them and he's just addressing all of those situations, but but the point is they were all fulfilled throughout history.
But 16 through 25 the end these have not yet been fulfilled. These are things that are still outstanding and still going to take place.
And when are they going to take place is an interesting question to consider.
Five times in these closing verses.
Isaiah uses the phrase in that day.
The phrase in that day is a way that Isaiah will often refer to.
The Kingdom of the Lord. What we would perhaps refer to as the millennial Kingdom when Jesus returns the second coming of Jesus and establishes his reign and rules and reigns here upon the Earth for 1000 years. During that time period, Isaiah will often refer to that as in that day.
It's just a way for him to kind of refer to all of that without giving all that detail right.
But but it's in that day.
He's always looking ahead at that time when the Messiah is on the throne and raining on this world.
And so five times, he says in that day.
And So what he is doing here is he's addressed the nation of Egypt and instructed Israel.
This is why you should not be trusting in them.
All of their strength and resources and wisdom.
It's all going to fail and come to an end, but also listen.
I have bigger plans than this and there is going to be a future for the nation of Egypt.
And so here's a little glimpse of that in that day in the future, Egypt will be submitted to the Lord.
They will fear the Lord.
When the Lord waves his hands, they they will.
Be afraid and fear. They will shudder. They they will pay attention. In other words, when the Lord moves. When the Lord speaks and the land of Judah will be a terror to Egypt right now in Isaiah's day, the land of Judah is not a terror to Egypt.
Egypt is seeking to ally with them, but they're not afraid of Judah.
They're not threatened by Judah, they're just trying to get every ounce of strength they can get to stand against Assyria, but.
The roles are going to be reversed later on.
And everyone who makes mention of Judah will be afraid in himself, he says.
Because of the Council of the Lord of hosts, which has, he has determined against it.
Egypt is going to survive.
God says all the way into that millennial Kingdom of the Lord and and Egypt will know its place and be submitted to.
And they will fear the Lord in the way that every nation is to fear the Lord.
Verse 18 and that day, five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language.
Of Canaan and swear by the Lord of hosts 1.
Will be called the city.
Of destruction.
In that day.
During that reign of Christ, there's going to be even five cities in the land of Egypt that are devoted to the things of Israel, so much so that they'll speak the language of Canaan.
Now how this will be fulfilled?
We don't know exactly, but perhaps you know it'll it'll be schools in the land of Egypt you know that teach Hebrew and are devoted to the things of the Lord.
And because the nation of Israel is God, represent representative to the earth, especially in the millennial Kingdom, when the.
The church is time is done and then God begins to work amongst the Earth through his people once again.
Then there's going to be this devotion to the things of the Lord, as carried out by and seen in the nation of is.
And so they'll speak the language.
They will swear by the Lord of hosts.
That is, they'll be.
In making promises and and in allegiance to the Lord, and there is going to be this devotion to God within the nation of Egypt.
Verse 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.
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.
There's going to be a time in Egypt future where they will call out to the Lord for a savior.
They'll be in a situation.
They'll be in a circumstance.
Needing help, they will recognize the reality and truth of who God is.
And they'll call out to him and he will respond. Verse 21 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.
And the Lord will strike Egypt you.
Will strike and heal it.
They will return to the Lord and he will be entreated by them and heal them.
So there is going to be this restoration of them as a nation.
They're going to survive the oncoming.
Attacks from Assyria.
The oncoming attacks from Babylon that are going to be conquered and defeated, but they will be restored.
They will become a nation again and even as we read these things today, they are a nation they have not yet turned to the Lord.
And so that's yet future.
And we can continue to look forward to that being fulfilled.
But God has laid all this out and advanced thousands of years in advance, and his word will be fulfilled. Verse 23 and that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria.
And the Assyrian will come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Syria, and the Egyptians will serve with this Syrian.
And that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land whom the Lord of hosts shall blessing, bless it is Egypt, my people, and Assyria the work of my hands and Israel my inheritance.
God says look right now, you guys are all freaked out.
Nation of Israel and Judah.
You're all freaked out about a Syrian the coming you know, threatened attack and you're trying to maybe ally with Egypt.
But you're also fearful of Egypt trying to take over you and take your territory and and so there's all this positioning and maneuvering and and, and back and forth.
And there's all this drama that's happened.
But in the future, you guys are going to be.
Equals in many ways.
You are going to be blessed as my people, Egypt, he says, are my blessed people.
Assyria is the work of my hands.
There's going to be a day in a.
Time where you're all all three nations.
Are submitted to the Lord are right with the Lord are walking with the Lord again.
This is going to take place during that time when Christ is ruling and reigning here upon the Earth.
That's the future that you have.
You know it's one of the things.
This kind of.
Makes me think about those battles that sometimes Christians have with one another.
And we forget that we're going to be spending the rest of eternity together, right?
We we get so caught up with and consumed with the temporary things distracted by those things and.
Now it says look, look at the bigger picture.
There is this series of things that are going to unfold right now, yes, but your trust can't be in each other.
Your trust can't be in one against.
The other there.
That's not the point here, not not to be focused on those things, or to be focused on me and in the future you'll all be joined together in right relationship with me.
And so the best thing for you to do is right now, engage in that relationship.
This is what the Lord has laid out and all the previous prophecies have been fulfilled in the chapter.
And so you can count on.
All the.
The following prophecies verses 16 through 25 to be fulfilled as well. In fact, as you look through the scriptures, you can see thousands of prophecies.
Throughout history, God declared it in advance and they have taken place.
And so.
In baseball terms, God batting 1000.
And so you look at any one of these prophecies and it's, you know, 1001 time up to that.
There's no reason to start doubting now he's hit the last thousand in a row.
He's going to hit this one too.
His word is going to be fulfilled.
His promises will be fulfilled just as he said.
Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my word will not pass away.
The Lord said, and so we can trust him.
We can count on these things.
He is the one that we can hope in.
He is the one that we can find strength and he is the one that we can look to for resources and wisdom.
He is the one.
That we need to be securing our lives too.
Not to Egypt, not to the world.
Not to technology, not to finances.
Not to careers, not even to friends and family.
We are to secure ourselves to the Lord.
Campbell Morgan says there is no place of security for the people of God other than to be found in the rule of God.
All expectation not centered in God is doomed.
To disappointment.
If my hopes and my expectations are centered on anything else that are not of God, not from God, not where God has directed me to trust and to walk and to place my my focus and my attention.
It's doomed to disappoint.
The only one that will not disappoint is.
The Lord and I want to finish with that quotation from leader on and Isaiah again. Isaiah Chapter 36 verse six look.
You are trusting in the staff.
Of this broken Reed, Egypt.
On which, if a man leans.
It will go into his hand and Pierce it.
So is Pharaoh King of Egypt to all who trust in him?
It's a good opportunity for us.
Check our hearts.
Be careful.
What you hope in, are you hoping in something that will Pierce your hand, cause harm, bring more pain?
Yes, there's anxiety.
Yes, there's stress in the situation you face, but scrambling and running to these things that.
Are not of God.
Will wind up hurting us and causing greater disappointment in the end.
We need to learn to find our strength, our wisdom, and our resources in the Lord.
So, Lord, we look to you this evening and I pray that you would help us.
What if we are in any part of our lives, trusting in a broken staff?
But would you help us to see it?
Help us to recognize it?
God that we could learn from your word from Judas mistakes, Lord.
To take our hope and our trust off of those things that are temporary and those things that will fail.
And to place our hope and our expectation and pawn you.
It would help us to entrust ourselves to you.
To really allow you to be Lord.
To direct our lives to direct our hearts, to have the final say.
About everything that we do.
About every way that we behave.
About every course that we take.
Would help us.
To rely upon you for all that we need, and we do have need.
And so Lord, we present those to you.
We do have anxiety and struggles and would much like the nation of Judah.
There's much turmoil.
There's much.
Posturing and maneuvering and stress.
And wondering and fear.
Lord, may we not allow?
Those things to drive us.
To things that will disappoint.
But every occasion of fear, stress and trouble Lord help us to run to you.
To drink again of that living water that we might find refreshing.
Fulfillment and restoration and healing for our souls.
We pray this in Jesus name.