Isaiah |
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Isaiah Chapter 19
The vain worship of idols will profit nothing. The Lord will prevail in the end. Idols move at the presence of our Almighty God. The hearts of men melt at His presence. False religion which is headed up by a supposed prophet, ruler, or religious figure is vain and will also be brought to nothing. They may seem to prevail now but they will fail in the end.
This is a prophecy of judgment against Egypt so severe that they fight one against another. They seem to be so confused and disoriented that they begin to slay one another. Evil is brought to confusing in the end. Only are those that follow the Lord in spirit and in truth are on solid ground. Sometimes division in religions is a good thing for it keeps them from uniting in evil purposes and becoming too powerful. Perhaps that is why we have so many different denominations. If we were all a great big world wide church it would ruin us. In fact it use to be united and they became corrupt among the leadership. They became another religion instead of having Christ as the head, man became the head. So many are striving for unity and it may sound good but until Jesus Himself returns, we would only mess up everything if we got too big and powerful. Look at what happened with the Roman church in the Middle ages. Church and state will never work righteousness in this life. The kingdom of Jesus Christ is not of this world and can never be. He will come and set up His kingdom at the right time. Until then we are to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and occupy faithfully until He returns. We are not to try to set up religious governments and use force to make people become Christians. That is not true Christianity anyway. Being born again by the Spirit of God has to be done by God. We can not convert someone to Christ. The spirit of God draws them and when they respond willingly, that is when they are born again. Its not a religion, it is having God's holy Spirit within us and our sins washed away by the blood Jesus that was shed when He died for the sins we committed.
They are going to be faint-hearted at this judgment which causes them to turn to their idols and fortune tellers instead to turning to the Lord. How much better it is to follow the Lord always and never be even tempted to trust in any other way.
This may be one of those prophecies that are either form a pattern of some kind or is a double prophecy which was fulfilled when a Assyrian king who knew not Joseph came to power in an earlier time period, The rise of Islam came to Egypt in more modern times but the final judgment will be a latter day fulfillment when the antichrist comes to power. A cruel king in latter times is the antichrist himself because in the latter days the antichrist or beast as he is called in Revelation does extend his rule over Egypt. There is now a revival of image worship in many places even among Christian churches that wouldn't have anything to do with images before. I used to read the book of Revelation and wondered about the judgment on idol worship since I didn't know anyone who worshipped idols. However, since then I have learned that many religions and even some Christian religions are into image worship. Some believe the antichrist comes from the Muslim religion and some believe he comes from Catholicism. Finis Dake believes that he will not be either one but head of a new religion in the latter days. The one world religion in my opinion will be used to unite the people but then the man of sin we call the antichrist most probably will use it to gain power but will destroy it so the he could be the supreme head of all people. The book of Revelation seems to give us a preview of that time.
The results of the judgment upon them is that rivers are dried up, the fishing industry is in jeopardy. Idolatry is destroyed throughout the land.
The knowledge of the true God and seeking His ways could have avoided all this. They were in confusion and reeling like drunkards. All this could have been avoided by the knowledge of the Lord. The wise men they trusted in could not help or deliver them in this time of great trouble and turmoil. There are times when only God himself can deliver and save. The help of man is vain.
Egypt is to be fearful and afraid because of the judgment of God. They will fear those in the land of Judah.
The judgment will cause Egypt to turn to the Lord and serve Him. The latter day attitude toward the nation of Israel will also change. Instead of being despised and persecuted, Israel will be a nation everyone looks up to and respects. The Lord will rule the whole earth from Israel. Don't be fooled though by the first ruler who is to come. There will be a false leader who proclaims peace and appear to bring stability in Israel and the whole world, but this one will be false. He will turn against and start to persecute, even kill the Jewish people. Only at the second coming of Jesus Christ the only true Messiah, will there be everlasting peace to Israel and the rest of the world. Where does other nations enter into this picture. That depends upon whether they are sheep nations or goat nations. The sheep nations are those that believe, support and defend Israel and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord. The goat nations are persecutors of Israel and supposed believers in Jesus Christ. Goat nations are anti God, anti Jesus Christ and anti Jew. The goat nations are the ones that will attempt to surround Jerusalem with armies in the latter days to destroy the nation of Israel. They will not succeed.
A great savior will be sent to deliver them and they shall be saved from the antichrist and his armies. This savior I believe is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Although the Lord allows the enemies to destroy and defeat the Egyptians because of their sin and idolatry, they are not totally defeated. A remnant is saved in the latter days and they turn to the Lord. They are smitten by God but also healed by God. We see here that Egypt will be part of those that believe in Jesus Christ, support Israel and be followers of the true Lord in the latter days but this is after severe judgment which comes first.
Peace will reign during the reign of Christ. They will have safe travel from one place to another. This verse is the biggest proof that this part of scripture is not yet fulfilled for the countries south, north, east and west of Israel are enemies of Israel at this present time. In fact they go so far as to desire to wipe Israel off the map. Some believe verses 18 through 24 refer to Egypt coming into the church. The church has been around for 2000 years and Egypt has not come into the church so this refers to the end times, the tribulation and then the reign of Jesus Christ on earth. He is the only true peace maker. Much misinterpretation of scripture results when we try to put the Gentile Christian church back in the Old Testament, try to replace Israel with the church and so many other mistakes we make in trying to put things into scripture that just isn't there. There is no excuse for this after 1948. God knows who Israel is and when the bible says Israel, I believe it means Israel.
Talk about Middle East peace. This will become a reality. Only through Jesus Christ will this be possible. We may have temporary peace deals and treaties but they will not last. Jesus will bring in everlasting peace. DC
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