Isaiah 19 – God’s Love for Egypt

Currently, I’m reading through the book of Isaiah when I’m not doing Bible study or Sunday prep. I wanted to go through this book, because there’s a ton of prophecies where God is explicitly talking to His people and other nations. There’s also a lot of imagery of God’s wrath and His love. The most interesting chapters that I find in this book are the ones where God judges a nation for their sins but also immediately talks about His promise to restore them. It’s an interesting paradox, but it’s a very clear image of God’s love for us today. To give an example of this, I wanted to talk about Isaiah 19.

The first 17 verses of this chapter talk about God’s judgment on the Egyptians. The verses are broken up into three specific judgments. Verses 1 mentions that the idols of Egypt will tremble at God’s presence. Verses 2-4 talk about God’s judgment to turn the people against each other and be delivered to a cruel master. Verses 5-10 talk about judgment on the land and how the people will have a lack of resources. Verses 11-15 talk about how the wise leaders have been distorted and have led Egypt astray. The result of these judgments have caused the Egyptians to tremble and to fear the land of Judah because of God mentioned in verses 16 and 17.

The prophecy could end here. God could give the Egyptians the punishment that they deserved, and there would be no consequences for Him. However, God shows His heart for the Egyptians and continues the prophecy. Verses 18-22 talk about how the Egyptians will call on the name of the Lord and return to Him. They will worship the Lord and God will strike them but heal them. On top of that, verses 23-24 talk about how not only the Egyptians will worship God but that the Assyrians will worship alongside the Egyptians. Then, God ends the chapter with this statement ““Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”

This love that God has for the Egyptians is the same love that God has for mankind. The state of mankind is no different from the state that the Egyptians were in. Mankind continues to live in sin, and God continues to reveal Himself to mankind. God has given mankind a way to come back to Him through Jesus Christ. Look at verse 20 of Isaiah 19: “It will become a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will deliver them.” This Savior that Isaiah talks about is Jesus.  The Savior for the Egyptians is the same Savior for mankind. Those who call on His name and believe in Him will be saved.

So yep.. That’s Isaiah 19 in a very short summary. That’s just one chapter! There’s 66 chapters in Isaiah, and 66 books in the Bible! Imagine how much more you can learn of the love of God reading the Bible. I hope this has been encouraging to you as it has been encouraging to me, if not more!