In that day shall there be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking the language of Canaan, and swearing by Jehovah of hosts one shall be called, The city of Heres.
Isaiah has spent this chapter on Egypt's collapse. Then, without warning, five Egyptian cities speak Israel's language and swear loyalty to Israel's God. When does that happen, and does "the language of Canaan" mean a tongue or a turned heart?
"In that day" points forward. Some of this did begin in the prophet's own time. One writer allows that much, and no more.
We should be willing to allow a measure of fulfilment in the prophet's own time. Only do not let that measure shut out the complete fulfilment that still has to come. This seed-like, all-inclusive style, as we have seen, is Isaiah's habit, and the habit of the prophets. Enough happened then to steady the faithful. But it was no more than a down payment on the exact and full payment God will yet make. He will make it in honour of His own words and of the Lord Jesus, when His glory appears and His world-kingdom comes.
Start with the phrase itself. The Old Testament has more than one name for this language.
The term Hebrew language does not, however, occur in the Old Testament. There it is called the language of the Jews, as in 2 Kings 18:26, or the lip of Canaan, as in Isaiah 19:18.
The name carries more than grammar. One writer sets Egypt's language against God's own.
He speaks as identifying Himself with His people, for Egypt's language was strange to God. The language of Canaan — His Canaan — was the one He was familiar with, and owned.
Judah has a part in this. One writer links the five cities to the fear Judah brings on Egypt.
The land of Judah, now inhabited by the revived nation of Israel, will terrify Egypt. It seems it will also hold or rule over five of their cities, for they will "speak the language of Canaan, and swear allegiance to the LORD of hosts." God's government will have its intended effect: "they shall cry to the LORD … and He shall send them a savior." There will be a genuine acknowledgment of Jehovah, a divine preparation in their souls in view of the healing and blessing that awaits them.
The verse singles out one of the five and names it. Older Bibles put a second name in the margin.
The same name occurs in the margin of Isaiah 19:18 as the name of the "city of destruction," or "city of the sun" in Egypt.
People have long tried to place this promise in past history. One writer reviews their ideas and rejects them.
The efforts of interpreters to explain these verses are as many as they are useless. Those who do not see the link with Christ are rightly left in darkness, if they despise Him now. For with Christ comes the glory of His people Israel in that day. Origen, Eusebius and others took it of the flight into Egypt, and of the overthrow of idolatry and the spread of Christianity there. Others have tried to find it fulfilled in the temple which Onias persuaded Ptolemy Philometor to build, to keep the Jews and their worship in Egypt.
The chapter does not stop with five cities. One writer follows the story to its end.
Out of all this discipline, which is still to fall on the land of Egypt, some spiritual good will come. In the past Egypt has been full of altars to their false gods. It has been full of pillars raised in honour of their tyrant kings. It is going to have an altar to the Lord in its midst and a pillar to the Lord on its border. Not many of either, you notice, but one only, for by then they will acknowledge the one true God. Though He strikes them for their sins, He will heal them and send them a deliverer. At the last Egypt will know and honour Jehovah.
- Down payment — some of this came true in Isaiah's day. It was only an instalment. God will pay in full when Christ's kingdom comes.
- Discipline — judgment on Egypt is not the end. Out of that discipline comes spiritual good. The God who strikes them will heal them.
- Language — "the lip of Canaan" is the Old Testament's name for Hebrew. God owned that speech as His own. Egypt's was strange to Him.
- Oath — the five cities do more than pick up words. They swear allegiance to the LORD of hosts, a real acknowledgment prepared in their souls.
- Altar — the land once crowded with idol-altars will hold one altar and one pillar to the Lord. By then Egypt will know the one true God.
In that day shall there be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to Jehovah
Most of Isaiah 19 shows Egypt under God's hand: idols trembling, wisdom failing, people struck. Then the chapter turns: Egypt will have an altar and a pillar of its own, set up for the Lord.
Egypt has never lacked religious monuments. What changes is who they belong to, and how many there are.
Out of all this discipline, which is still to fall on the land of Egypt, some spiritual good will come. Egypt has in the past been well filled with altars to their false gods and with pillars set up in honour of their despotic kings. It is going to have an altar to the Lord in its midst and a pillar to the Lord on its border. Not many of either, you notice, but one only, for by then they will acknowledge the one true God. Though He strikes them for their sins, He will heal them and send them a deliverer. At the last Egypt will know and pay homage to Jehovah.
Some have used this verse to point to a building that already stands in Egypt — the Great Pyramid. The tense of the promise rules that out, and the next verses show what the altar and pillar are for.
Scripture does not say there IS an altar there. That would have been the only correct thing to say if the pyramid were meant. It says, "There SHALL BE." It shall be there in the day this chapter foretells, and we have only to read the chapter to see that it is plainly not this day. Scripture explains itself. It tells of a day when the land of Egypt will cry to the Lord because of oppression. He will send them a Saviour, and in gratitude they will set up an altar and worship Him (vv. 20-21). An altar is for sacrifice and worship, and the pyramid is certainly not this. A pillar is a witness, and this God will have in Egypt. There shall be worship upward to Him and witness outward to men as to His righteousness and delivering power.
The Hebrew word behind "pillar" is plain. It names anything a person sets up.
matstsebah, from "to set, put, place"; and so anything that is set up. It is used for the stone that Jacob had for a pillow, which he set up, and on which he poured oil and made his vow.
Some writers read the altar and pillar as pointing to a Person, not to a building.
The "Sign" is called in verse 19 "AN ALTAR" and "A PILLAR." Only one Person answers to this striking twofold description of the "Sign." That Person is Christ. He stooped to the unmeasured depth of sorrow and suffering at Calvary, where He offered Himself without spot to God as a sacrifice. He has been raised again from among the dead and exalted to the height — to the throne. … This "Sign" surely explains the secret of Egypt's future fullness. … He is the Altar and the Pillar.
Commentators differ sharply over whether anything in the past has answered to this promise. Several ancient and later readings have been offered — and firmly rejected.
We should not refuse to allow a measure of fulfilment in the time of the prophet. Only do not let that measure shut out the complete fulfilment which is still to come. … Enough was accomplished then to steady the faithful. But it was no more than a pledge of the full payment God will yet make, when the glory of the Lord Jesus appears and His kingdom comes. … Origen, Eusebius and others took it as the flight into Egypt (Matt. 2:13-14), and as the overthrow of idolatry and the spread of Christianity there. Others have looked to the temple that Onias persuaded Ptolemy Philometor to build, to keep the Jews and their worship in Egypt. After 200 years it was destroyed under Vespasian, like the one in Jerusalem. … These speculations do not seem to call for refutation: to state them is to condemn them enough.
The altar in Egypt is part of something larger. The chapter closes with three nations named together in one blessing.
"In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land. The Lord of hosts will bless them, saying, Blessed be Egypt, My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance" (vv. 24, 25). The whole chapter is one of the deepest interest in connection with the glory and blessing of the earth.
- Discipline first. The altar stands at the end of a chapter of blows; God strikes Egypt, then heals it, and good comes out of the discipline.
- One, not many. A land crowded with altars to false gods and pillars to its rulers ends with one altar and one pillar. By then Egypt will acknowledge one true God.
- Upward and outward. The altar is for sacrifice and worship toward God. The pillar is a witness before men to His righteousness and delivering power.
- A Person behind the sign. Some read the altar and pillar as Christ Himself: the sacrifice at the depth, the risen One at the height.
- Still ahead. The promise says "there will be," not "there is." A measure came in the prophet's day; the full blessing of Egypt, Assyria and Israel is still ahead.
and it shall be for a sign and for a witness to Jehovah of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they shall cry unto Jehovah because of the oppressors, and he will send them a saviour and defender, who shall deliver them.
Isaiah 19 opens with judgment falling on Egypt. By verse 20 that same land is crying to God, and God sends it a rescuer. Three questions follow. What is the sign and witness? Who is the Saviour He sends? And when does this happen?
The cry in this verse is not spontaneous. God's own dealings with Egypt produce it.
God's government will have its desired effect: "When they cry to the LORD … He will send them a savior." There will be a genuine acknowledgment of Jehovah, a divine preparation in their souls for the healing and blessing that awaits them.
That discipline has a purpose. The God who strikes is also the God who heals.
Out of all this discipline, which is still to fall on the land of Egypt, some spiritual good will come. In the past Egypt was full of altars to its false gods and pillars put up to honour its harsh kings. It is going to have an altar to the Lord in its midst and a pillar to the Lord on its border. Not many of either, you notice, but one only, for by then they will acknowledge the one true God. Though He strikes them for their sins, He will heal them and send them a deliverer. At the last Egypt will know Jehovah and honour Him.
The sign of verse 20 is the altar and pillar named in verse 19. Each faces a different way.
It tells of a day when the land of Egypt will cry to the Lord because of oppression, and He will send them a Saviour, and in gratitude they will set up an altar and worship Him. An altar is for sacrifice and worship. A pillar is a witness, and this God will have in Egypt. There will be worship going up to Him, and witness going out to people about His righteousness and His delivering power.
Others read the altar and pillar as a picture of a Person.
Verse 19 calls the "Sign" an altar and a pillar. Only one Person answers to this striking twofold description of the "Sign." That Person is Christ. He stooped to a depth of sorrow and suffering no one can measure, and at Calvary He offered Himself to God as a sacrifice without spot. Then God raised Him from among the dead and lifted Him to the height — to the throne… He is the Altar and the Pillar.
Some point to the Great Pyramid as this altar. The wording of the verse rules that out.
The Scripture does not say there IS an altar there. That is the only thing it could have said if it meant the pyramid. It says "There SHALL BE." The altar will be there in the day this chapter foretells, and we only have to read the chapter to see that this is not that day.
Other explanations have been tried, and one writer refuses them all.
The efforts of interpreters to explain these verses are as many as they are useless. Those who do not see the link with Christ are rightly left in the dark. And with Christ they miss the glory of His people Israel in that day, if they despise Him now.
The rescue in verse 20 is not the end of the chapter. It opens out into a lasting peace between old enemies.
Old jealousy and long-standing hatred will disappear quickly and for ever. Closeness, generous trust, and mutual love will bind together an alliance that rests on truly knowing Jehovah… "In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria." Israel will be one of the three named here, marked out for special favour in the millennial day.
The three titles God gives at the end are not equal.
Egypt will be blessed as "My people," Assyria as "the work of My hands," Israel acknowledged as "My inheritance." To be Jehovah's inheritance is something greater than to be His people or the work of His hands… it does deepen our sense of God's mercy when we notice that in the end He will bless both these peoples. In the past they were Israel's bitter enemies, and they will be again.
- Pressure — God's dealings press Egypt until it cries to the LORD. The acknowledgment that follows is genuine.
- Sign — the altar and pillar face two ways. Worship goes up to God; witness goes out to people about His delivering power.
- Saviour — one writer reads the sign as Christ Himself: the Altar in His sacrifice, the Pillar in His exaltation. Commentators differ on whether the sign is a structure or a Person.
- Tense — the promise says "there shall be," not "there is." Readings that put it in the past miss the link with Christ.
- Trio — it ends with Egypt called "My people," Assyria "the work of My hands," and Israel "My inheritance." God blesses old enemies together, and Israel still holds the highest name.
And Jehovah shall be known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians shall know Jehovah in that day, and shall serve with sacrifice and oblation; and they shall vow a vow unto Jehovah, and perform it.
Isaiah 19 spends most of its length announcing ruin on Egypt, then promises that Egypt will worship the God who struck it. Two questions follow: when does this happen, and how do the Egyptians come to know Him?
The tense of the promise matters. Some claimed the Great Pyramid was the altar of verse 19. One writer answers that Scripture speaks of what will be, not what already stands:
Scripture does not say there IS an altar there. That would have been the only correct thing to say if the pyramid were meant. It says, "There SHALL BE." It will be there in the day this chapter foretells. We only have to read the chapter to see that it is plainly not this day. Scripture explains itself. It tells of a day when the land of Egypt will cry to the Lord because of oppression. He will send them a Saviour, and in gratitude they will set up an altar and worship Him. An altar is for sacrifice and worship... and a pillar is a witness, and this God will have in Egypt. Worship will go up to Him, and witness will go out to men about His righteousness and delivering power.
The next verse puts Egypt's healing after its wounding. One writer compares Egypt with Assyria:
Two things should be considered here. First, both nations lay near the "glorious land," as in the old days — one on the north, the other on the south. Second, God had used both as rods to chasten His people. A third thing should be noticed: both of these nations will be judged before they are blessed. Of Egypt it says, "And 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." (Isaiah 19:22.) We have the fullest details of the judgment of Assyria... but Scripture gives no account of its repentance and turning to the Lord, as it does for Egypt.
Verse 20 promises a Saviour and calls the altar and pillar a sign. One writer reads that sign as a Person:
There is only one Person who answers to this striking twofold description of the "Sign." That Person is Christ. He stooped to a depth of sorrow and suffering no one can measure, at Calvary, where He offered Himself without spot to God as a sacrifice. Then God raised Him again from among the dead and exalted Him to the height — to the throne... This "Sign" explains the secret of Egypt's future fullness. Our Lord Jesus Christ alone makes all these things clear to us, in the greatness of His work and the excellence of His glory. He is the Altar and the Pillar.
Egypt's worship here includes a vow made and kept. One writer, commenting on vows in the Psalms, ties them to this verse:
Israel has utterly failed in her legal vow, as we know, and is still suffering the consequences of that failure. But there are thanksgiving vows that will be fulfilled in the day of coming blessing. (Ps. 56:12; Isa. 19:21.) They carry no legality. They come from knowing what grace has done, and from the praise that fills and empowers the heart... These vows belong to the gospel alone. They are connected with the "cup of salvation," and Another's work — the joyful assurance of what that work means for them.
Egypt is a surprising nation to bless, and one writer says why:
Surely these statements apply to a time when God will bring Egypt into blessing. We might not have expected this, since Egypt is a type of the world — the place where nature gratifies its desires, and out of which the Christian is brought. But in the millennium God will bring the earth into blessing. Then no nation will be blessed except as they own Jehovah and His King, who will reign over all the earth.
Others have placed the fulfilment in the past. One writer sets those attempts aside and describes what Isaiah foretells:
These speculations hardly need an answer: to state them is to condemn them. That nation, so proud of its natural wisdom, the old oppressor and frequent trap for Israel, will be humbled to the dust. Out of the dust it will cry to Jehovah, the God of Israel, and He will send them a mighty deliverer. They will know Him and worship Him acceptably — He struck them, but He will heal them with a great salvation.
- Smitten — Egypt is judged before it is blessed. The hand that strikes also heals, and Scripture records Egypt's turning back to the LORD, not Assyria's.
- Sent — a Saviour answers the cry of the oppressed. One writer reads the altar and pillar as Christ, who went down to the depth and was raised to the height.
- Known — knowing the LORD makes the worship real. The altar looks upward in worship; the pillar looks outward as witness to His delivering power.
- Vowed — the vow kept here is thanksgiving, not law brought back. It flows from what grace has done and from Another's work.
- Blessed — Egypt pictures the world, and even Egypt is brought in. But no nation is blessed except as it owns the LORD and His King.
And Jehovah will smite Egypt; he will smite and heal and they shall return to Jehovah, and he will be entreated of them, and will heal them.
Isaiah's message of judgment on Egypt turns a corner here. The same hand that strikes the nation is the hand that heals it. So why does God wound a people? And how does Egypt, Israel's old oppressor, end up turning to Him and finding mercy?
The blows in this chapter are not the end of Egypt's story. One writer sees the striking as discipline with a result. He ties it to the single altar and single pillar Egypt will have:
Out of all this discipline, which is yet to fall on the land of Egypt, some spiritual good will come. In the past Egypt was full of altars to their false gods, and of pillars raised in honour of their tyrant kings. It is going to have an altar to the Lord in its midst and a pillar to the Lord on its border. Not many of either, you notice, but one only, for by then they will acknowledge the one true God. Though He strikes them for their sins, He will heal them and send them a deliverer. At the last Egypt will know and pay homage to the LORD.
Egypt is not alone in this pattern. Assyria stands beside Egypt here. One writer notes what the two nations share, and where the record about them differs:
Consider two things here. First, they lay close to the "glorious land," as they did in the old days — the one on the north, and the other on the south. Second, God had used both as rods to chasten His people. Notice a third thing: God will judge both of these nations before He blesses them... We have the fullest details of the judgment of Assyria, along with the deliverance of Israel in the last days. But Scripture gives no account of Assyria's repentance and turning to the Lord, as it does in the case of Egypt — unless Jonah 3 is taken as prophecy as well as history.
"They will return to the LORD" describes a real change in a proud nation. One commentator follows the move from humiliation to worship, and names the One who heals:
That nation is so proud of its natural wisdom. It is the old oppressor and frequent snare of Israel. Yet it will be humbled to the dust, and out of the dust it will cry to the LORD God of Israel, who will send them a mighty deliverer. They will know Him and worship Him in a way He accepts — He who struck them, but will heal them with a great salvation.
The same writer insists this scene has not yet happened, and marks off what it is not:
It is not a heavenly scene, but earthly. It is not the present church condition, where there is neither Jew nor Gentile and Christ is all and in all. It is a future state in which God blesses nations widely, yet in different degrees. It is not this present age, where weeds grow mixed in with the wheat. It is the coming age, when God clears every cause of stumbling from the scene where the Great King reigns in righteousness.
Commentators differ over whether this healing was already fulfilled. Kelly lists the older attempts and rejects them all:
Origen, Eusebius and others applied it to the flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-14), and to the overthrow of idolatry and the spread of Christianity there. Jerome adds to this an application to the ruin of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar... Modern writers mostly apply it as Jerome did. In part they read it as history: the disasters under Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, Psammetichus, or the Romans. In part they read it as symbol: the triumphant spread of the gospel, past, present, or future. These speculations do not seem to need refuting. To state them is to condemn them.
The healing opens into the blessing at the end of the chapter. There God names three nations, each with a different word. One writer weighs the three titles:
In the last days all the enmity between Egypt and Assyria will be gone. A highway with free travel will run between them, and Israel will be in the centre. God will bless Egypt as "My people"; Assyria as "the work of My hands"; Israel He acknowledges as "My inheritance." To be the LORD's inheritance is greater than to be His people or His handiwork. Yet everything here belongs to God's purpose for earthly blessing... it does deepen our sense of the mercy of God. In the end He will act in blessing towards both peoples — peoples who have been in the past, and will yet be, Israel's bitter enemies.
Not every oppressing power is treated this way. One writer sets Egypt's future beside another nation's to show the contrast:
We should also notice that there is a vast difference between the destinies of Egypt and those of Babylon. Isaiah 19 sets before us the blessings that are in store for Egypt.
- Struck. The blow is real judgment on a real nation. It lands before any blessing does.
- Healed. The striking is discipline aimed at spiritual good; He wounds the nation He intends to make whole.
- Returned. Egypt falls to the dust, cries out from it, and comes to know and worship the very One who struck it.
- Named. The healing ends in a title. God calls Egypt "My people," Assyria "the work of My hands," Israel "My inheritance" — real blessing, in different degrees.
- Future. This is an earthly scene in the coming age of the Great King. It is not a past fulfilment, and not the present church age — though commentators have differed.
In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria; and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and Egypt shall serve with Assyria.
Isaiah has spent this chapter announcing ruin on Egypt. Now the tone turns, and a road runs between the two empires that oppressed Israel for centuries. When does this road appear? What has to happen first, and why do old enemies travel it together?
The promise is tied to "that day." Commentators say this points forward, not back. One writer places the closing verses of the chapter in the future age of Christ's reign on earth.
It is not a heavenly scene, but earthly. It is not the present church condition, where there is neither Jew nor Gentile, and Christ is all and in all. It is a future state of wide blessing for the nations, though not all in the same rank. It is not this present age, where weeds grow mixed in with the wheat. It is the coming age, when nothing is left in the scene to trip people up, and the Great King reigns in righteousness.
Down the years readers have taken the verse other ways. The same writer lists these views and dismisses them.
The efforts of interpreters to explain these verses are as many as they are useless. Origen, Eusebius and others applied it to the flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-14), and to the end of idolatry and the spread of Christianity there. Jerome adds to this the ruin of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar. Others have tried to find it fulfilled in the temple that Onias persuaded Ptolemy Philometor to build in Egypt, to keep the Jews and their worship there.
Egypt and Assyria are not random names. Both powers held Israel down: one at the start of her story, one much later. The highway reverses that history.
The three closing verses of this chapter are a remarkable prophecy, for Assyria — the king of the north, of Daniel 11 — was the great oppressor of Israel in the days of their kingdom, just as Egypt was the oppressor in the days of their early servitude. In the last days all the hostility will be gone. A highway will run between them, open for free travel, and Israel will be in the centre.
The road does not open by diplomacy. In the verses just before it, God disciplines Egypt, heals her, and Egypt turns to the one true God.
In the past Egypt was full of altars to their false gods, and full of pillars raised in honour of their tyrant kings. It is going to have an altar to the Lord in its midst and a pillar to the Lord on its border. Not many of either, you notice, but one only, for by then they will acknowledge the one true God. Though He smites them for their sins, He will heal them and send them a deliverer. At the last Egypt will know and do homage to Jehovah.
One writer traces the change to Jehovah being truly known: that is what turns old jealousy into friendship.
Jehovah will bring the proud rival of the north and east into His rich blessing. Old jealousy and long hostility will flee fast and for ever. Closeness, generous trust and mutual love will hold the alliance together, and that alliance rests on truly knowing Jehovah.
The verse says the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. Older translations read "serve with." The point is not that Egypt serves Assyria. Both bow to the same God, and Israel's place among them costs her nothing.
Instead of fighting each other, and each trying to master Israel, Egypt will serve with Assyria. Both will be subject to the God of Israel... Israel is so near to Him that being named third takes nothing away from her.
Both nations earned judgment. One writer weighs what mercy will do for them instead.
Both did countless evils to people; both sinned shamelessly against God. But what will God's mercy not do, even for the enemies of His guilty and disciplined people? What a monument these three will be "in that day"!
- In that day — future. Writers place this in the coming age of Christ's reign on earth, not in the present church period. Some earlier readers applied it to the spread of Christianity in Egypt, and the writers quoted here reject that.
- In that day — healed. Egypt is struck and then healed, given a deliverer, and left with one altar and one pillar to the one true God.
- In that day — opened. The highway ends centuries of hostility. Israel's first oppressor and her later one now travel freely both ways.
- In that day — shared. Egypt and Assyria serve together because both bow to the God of Israel. The peace rests on knowing Him, not on treaties.
- In that day — ranked in mercy. Israel is named third and loses nothing by it. The two former enemies stand as a monument to mercy over judgment.
In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth;
Isaiah has just announced ruin on Egypt. Yet the chapter ends with Egypt, Assyria and Israel sharing one blessing — and Israel, of all nations, is named third.
Commentators read this as prophecy still waiting for its day. One writer marks off what it is not:
It is not a heavenly scene, but earthly. It is not the present church condition, where there is neither Jew nor Gentile, and Christ is all and in all. It is a future state of large but graduated blessing of nations. It is not this present age, where weeds are mixed in with the wheat. It is the coming age, when all offences are removed from the scene where the Great King reigns in righteousness.
The same writer places this blessing in the order of events:
The blessing follows the judgment of Jehovah which that day opens. Instead of fighting each other, and each seeking mastery over Israel, Egypt will serve with Assyria — both subject to the God of Israel.
The shock of the verse lies in the company Israel keeps. Both names carry a history of cruelty toward Israel:
The three closing verses of this chapter are a remarkable prophecy. Assyria — the king of the north, of Daniel 11 — was the great oppressor of Israel in the days of their kingdom. In the same way, Egypt was the oppressor in the days of their early slavery. In the last days all the enmity will be banished. A highway with free communication will extend between them, and Israel will be in the centre.
The old rivalry between the two great powers themselves also ends:
Old jealousy and long-held hatred will flee quickly and for ever. Closeness, generous trust and mutual love will cement the alliance, which rests on Jehovah truly known.
The wording "a blessing" is not new language. It reaches back to what God said when He first called Abraham. Writers hear that promise coming true here:
So once again Abraham's blessing is proved true and displayed: "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
Being named after Egypt and Assyria might look like a demotion. One writer answers that:
In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria. This certainly does not weaken Isaiah 11, 12, 14 and 24-27. It assures each of them of the divine mercy to all who are still in unbelief, when all Israel will be saved and He will have mercy upon all (Romans 11)... So near is Israel to Him that being named third takes nothing from it.
The phrase marks a place as well as a state. Their land is the natural centre of the earth, and blessing spreads out from there:
Verse 24 shows that these three nations together, restored under Christ Jesus, will be a means of blessing "in the midst of the earth." Under our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, they will form a threefold power that keeps blessing spread wide. Their territory forms the natural centre also.
The old order between Israel and the nations flips:
For here it is not, as of old, Egypt oppressing Israel, but Israel admitting Egypt to share in his blessing... The Gentile will serve Israel, and Israel will bless the Gentile.
The next verse gives each nation its own title. One writer sets Israel's earthly place beside the church's heavenly one:
Verse 25 shows that Israel will surely be the special earthly, national "inheritance" of the Lord. The church, of which we form part through surpassing grace, will be His heavenly possession, His bride. But how precious to see that He will call Egypt "My people," and Assyria "the work of My hands"! How it magnifies His mercy! How it teaches us of Himself, of His goodness!
The three titles are not equal, and one writer weighs them:
To be Jehovah's inheritance is something greater than to be His people or His handiwork, yet all of this belongs to God's purpose of blessing on earth.
- Blessing promised. God told Abraham that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed. This verse shows that promise on display.
- Blessing delayed. Writers place this in a coming age on earth under Christ's reign — not in heaven, and not now.
- Blessing reversed. Egypt enslaved Israel and Assyria crushed it. In that day the hatred is gone, and Israel blesses the nations that once oppressed it.
- Blessing centred. Israel stands between the two, in the centre. The three together carry blessing out from the middle of the earth.
- Blessing named. Egypt is "My people," Assyria "the work of My hands," Israel "My inheritance." Three titles come from one God, and Israel stays as near to Him as ever.
whom Jehovah of hosts will bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance!
Isaiah's message against Egypt does not end in ruin. It ends with God blessing Egypt and Assyria — the two nations that hurt His people most — and naming Israel third with them.
Commentators place this promise in the coming reign of Christ, and are careful to say what it is not.
It is not a heavenly scene, but an earthly one. It is not the present church condition, where there is neither Jew nor Gentile, and Christ is all and in all. It is a future state of wide blessing for the nations, given in different measures. It is not this present age, where weeds grow among the wheat. It is the coming age, when nothing that causes sin remains in the scene where the Great King reigns in righteousness.
The words of blessing arrive only after the chapter's judgments have done their work in Egypt.
His discipline of Egypt will have the desired effect, for "The Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the Lord" (verse 22). All the hostility that we see today will pass away.
Egypt is not the only old enemy in view. The blessing reaches Assyria too, and the long feud between them ends.
Has the Lord only one blessing for the foreign foe? Has He not kept a blessing for the Assyrian? Yes, for the Assyrian too. The Lord will bring the proud rival of the north and east into His rich blessing... Old jealousy and long-lasting hostility will flee fast and for ever. Closeness, generous trust and mutual love will seal an alliance built on truly knowing the Lord.
That two lifelong enemies of God's people should end up inside His blessing is read as a display of His character:
What a glorious display it will be of the sovereign mercy as well as of the wisdom of our God.
The verse gives each nation a different title, and the difference is deliberate.
Egypt will be blessed as "My people"; Assyria as "the work of My hands"; Israel acknowledged as "My inheritance." To be the Lord's inheritance is something greater than to be His people or His handiwork. Yet all of this belongs to God's purpose for earthly blessing. What is said here does not rise to the height of Ephesians 1:18 or Colossians 1:12. Still, it deepens our sense of the mercy of God. In the end He will act in blessing to both peoples, who have been in the past, and will yet be, Israel's relentless enemies.
That title belongs to Israel as a nation on earth. Another people has a different portion:
Verse 25 shows that Israel will be the special earthly, national "inheritance" of the Lord. The church, of which we form part through surpassing grace, will be His heavenly possession, His bride. But how precious to see that He will call Egypt "My people," and Assyria "the work of My hands." How it magnifies His mercy! How it teaches us of Himself, of His goodness!
Israel is listed last of the three. That order costs it nothing.
When the Lord of hosts has blessed them, it will be in large mercy, saying, Blessed be My people Egypt, and the work of My hands Assyria, and My inheritance Israel. Israel is so near to Him that being named third takes nothing away.
The blessing traces back to what God swore to Abraham, and forward to the One through whom it comes.
"In you and in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed." God will certainly bring this about when Israel is blessed under Christ in the coming day. Even the persistent enemies of Israel, Egypt and Assyria, will be blessed in relation to the offspring of Jacob... it is under Christ's reign, and because of His death on the cross, that the blessing comes to Jew and Gentile, both now and in the world to come.
- Struck, then healed. Egypt's judgment is not the end of the story. God strikes the nation, then heals it. Only then does the blessing of verse 25 come.
- Healed, then reconciled. The two powers stop fighting and serve side by side, both subject to the God of Israel. The friendship that replaces the old feud rests on knowing the Lord.
- Reconciled, then named. Each nation gets its own title: Egypt "My people," Assyria "the work of My hands," Israel "My inheritance." Being God's inheritance is the highest of the three.
- Named, not ranked down. Israel stands third in the list and loses nothing by it. Nearness to God, not place in a list, decides Israel's standing.
- Earthly, and still future. Commentators read this as the coming reign of Christ on earth. It is not the present age, and not the heavenly portion of the church. It rests on the promise that all families of the earth would be blessed through Abraham's offspring.