Egypt will be punished. Egypt will be controlled by Israel. Egypt will know the LORD God. Peace on earth begins.

EGYPT WILL BE PUNISHED

VERSE 1. The burden of Egypt. “Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud, and comes to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence; and the heart of Egypt will melt within it.

word. The message of the LORD God came to Isaiah. But how?

Egypt. It looks like it is Egypt’s turn to get condemned. But then, as we keep reading, we see that its actually Egypt’s turn to get saved. They will convert to faith in the One God of the Jewish people!

VERSE 2. I will stir up the Egyptians against the Egyptians, and they will fight everyone against his brother, and everyone against his neighbor; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.

I will stir up. The LORD God will trigger a conflict.

Egyptians against the Egyptians. The conflict will be internal to Egypt. It will be a civil war.

VERSE 3. The spirit of Egypt will fail within it. I will destroy its counsel. They will seek the idols, the charmers, those who have familiar spirits, and the wizards.

NLT translation. The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will confuse their plans. They will plead with their idols for wisdom and call on spirits, mediums, and those who consult the spirits of the dead.

idols … spirits … mediums … spirits of the dead. In ancient times, the Jewish people were forbidden from going to a Medium or a Necromancer. Why was that? Read more »

VERSE 4. I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord. A fierce king will rule over them,” says the Lord, the LORD of Hosts.

a cruel lord. The king of Assyria was a cruel man.

VERSE 5. The waters will fail from the sea, and the river will be wasted and become dry.

VERSE 6. The rivers will become foul. The streams of Egypt will be diminished and dried up. The reeds and flags will wither away.

VERSE 7. The meadows by the Nile, by the brink of the Nile, and all the sown fields of the Nile, will become dry, be driven away, and be no more.

VERSE 8. The fishermen will lament, and all those who fish in the Nile will mourn, and those who spread nets on the waters will languish.

VERSE 9. Moreover those who work in combed flax, and those who weave white cloth, will be confounded.

VERSE 10. The pillars will be broken in pieces. All those who work for hire will be grieved in soul.

VERSE 11. The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish. The counsel of the wisest counselors of Pharaoh has become stupid. How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?”

NLT translation. What fools are the officials of Zoan! Their best counsel to the king of Egypt is stupid and wrong. Will they still boast to Pharaoh of their wisdom? Will they dare brag about all their wise ancestors?

The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish. Just because someone is in a position of public leadership does not mean they are wise.

Whether secular leader or church leader, possessing the office of leader does not guarantee wisdom.

Not at all.

stupid and wrong. These are harsh words! And yet they are true.

The LORD God is truth. His servants the true prophets sometimes say things that are quite harsh, yet also true.

Some modern-day ministers portray themselves as actual prophets of God, modern-day Isaiahs.

They go around condemning others in the name of God. But they just make things up, in order to sound impressive.

John 14:6. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.

I am the son of the wise. That is, “I am a disciple of wise men” (NAB translation).

VERSE 12. Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you now; and let them know what the LORD of Hosts has purposed concerning Egypt.

VERSE 13. The princes of Zoan have become fools. The princes of Memphis are deceived. They have caused Egypt to go astray, who are the cornerstone of her tribes.

They have caused Egypt to go astray. Public leaders are usually the ones who lead people astray.

VERSE 14. The LORD has mixed a spirit of perverseness in the middle of her; and they have caused Egypt to go astray in all of its works, like a drunken man staggers in his vomit.

a spirit of perverseness. The LORD sent a spirit of foolishness on the public leaders. All their ideas were wrong.

Often public leaders are concerned only for themselves, and their own power. They make policy around themselves and their own private interests.

This makes all their ideas wrong, when it comes to promoting the common good.

they have caused Egypt to go astray. They cause Egypt to stagger like a drunk in his vomit.

This is a marvelous statement. It captures the essence of what many public leaders do to the communities they lead.

VERSE 15. Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which head or tail, palm branch or rush, may do.

This verse uses idioms. They are used to distinguish “leaders” from “the people.”

Here is how they are used:

The leaders are the head; the people are the tail.

The leaders are the palm branch; the people are the rush.

EGYPT WILL BE CONTROLLED BY ISRAEL

VERSE 16. In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble and fear because of the shaking of the LORD of Hosts’s hand, which he shakes over them.

the Egyptians will be like women. This is an insult to women.

VERSE 17. The land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt. Everyone to whom mention is made of it will be afraid, because of the plans of the LORD of Hosts, which he determines against it.

VERSE 18. In that day, there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of Hosts. One will be called “The city of destruction.”

NLT translation. In that day five of Egypt’s cities will follow the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. They will even begin to speak Hebrew, the language of Canaan. One of these cities will be Heliopolis, the city of the sun.

five of Egypt’s cities will follow the LORD. This will be a massive conversion of the people of Egypt!