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.
William KellyIt 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.
William KellyThe 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.
F. B. HoleThe 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.
F. B. HoleIn 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.
William KellyJehovah 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.
William KellyInstead 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.
William KellyBoth 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:
William KellyIt 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:
William KellyThe 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:
F. B. HoleThe 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:
William KellyOld 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:
William KellySo 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:
William KellyIn 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:
H J VineVerse 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:
The Bible TreasuryFor 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:
H J VineVerse 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:
F. B. HoleTo 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.
William KellyIt 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.
An Outline of Sound WordsHis 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.
William KellyHas 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:
H. J. VineWhat 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.
F. B. HoleEgypt 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:
H. J. VineVerse 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.
William KellyWhen 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.
An Outline of Sound Words"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.