In Isaiah 19-20, the God of Israel reveals that the He has the nation of Egypt in the palm of His hand. One day, Egypt, along with Assyria and Israel, will be reconciled to the Lord and to each other (Is. 19:19-25). In these chapters, the Lord is building the case for why His people should not put their ultimate trust in Egypt: “(for) the Egyptians are men and not God; their horses are flesh and not spirit” (Is. 31:3a).
The Haplessness of Misplaced Trust
In Isaiah 19, the prophet gives a detailed account of all those things that the Egyptians put their trust in, and from which the nation derives its strength and glory. Isaiah reveals the ultimate powerlessness and vanity of these man-made idols. For example, their well-developed religion (Is. 19:1-3) will not prevent their defeat by the mighty Assyrian army (Is. 19:4).
In Is.19:5-10, the prophet addresses how the Nile-based economy of the Egyptians is not worthy of god-like trust. Egypt is a strong nation because of the water provided by the Nile River. It gets very little rain most of the year. But through the irrigation canals from the Nile River, it has rich farm land, a vibrant fishing industry, and prosperous linen-making from flax. But these are all a gift from the Lord. When the waters of the Nile River don’t flow, Egyptians greatly suffer. Ultimately, their well-being depends on the Lord.
Only God Knows The Future
Even the wise men of Egypt, whom the Egyptians put much stock in, are powerless in determining what the Lord will do next (Is. 19:11-15). The future of even a foreign nation such as Egypt is ultimately in the hands of the Lord (Is. 19:12). In Is. 20:1-6, the Lord gives a specific historical example of the inability of the Egyptian wise men to predict what will happen to Egypt. But Israel’s God knows what will happen in the future of Egypt, and He gives a prophetic word of the impending invasion of the Assyrians.
The Lord is pleading with the Israelites to place their ultimate trust in Him, rather than in the political and military alliances with strong nations, like Egypt and Babylon (Is. 21:1-10). These nations ultimately depend on the Lord for their existence and they are all under God’s judgment. They are not eternal. Despite its boasts, powerful nations like Babylon will eventually fall (Is. 21:9). They can’t keep themselves alive, so why should God’s people trust them more than their eternal God.
Not only that, these same nations will one day come and worship the God of Israel (Is. 19:16-25). “It is foolish for Judah to turn to Egypt when Egypt is one day going to turn to Judah’s God” (John Oswalt). Judah already has the only good thing that Egypt will one day have. There is a warning here for God’s people here that recurs throughout the Book of Isaiah: whatever we trust in place of God will eventually turn on us and destroy us.
QOTD: What are some of the idols that North American Christians are tempted to trust more than the Lord?