IN a most dramatic manner the prophet, continuing the thought of the final victory and deliverance of Israel, looked toward the southeast and addressed the nation of Ethiopia as we see in chapter 18, verse 1. This country is described as being "beyond the rivers of Ethiopia," as "the land of the rustling of wings," and the land which the rivers divide or encompass or drain. The rivers of Ethiopia are the Blue Nile and the White Nile which drain the tableland of Ethiopia and which flow through the Egyptian Sudan. They unite at Khartoum to form the Nile proper. Thus the land which is addressed is beyond these two rivers and is spoken of as Cush or Ethiopia. It is furthermore designated, as stated above, as "the land of the rustling of wings." Travelers tell us that Ethiopia swarms with flies and insects as well as with tropical birds and fowls. This is largely due to the fact that it has a tropical climate and the rainfall is indeed great. A survey of the best commentaries shows that the consensus of sound, sane scholarship is to the effect that the country of Ethiopia is here spoken of by the prophet. Unfortunately many wild guesses have been made and this language has been interpreted in different ways. Some take the position that it refers to the land between the Euphrates and the Nile rivers, especially Palestine. There are others who say that this prophecy refers to the United States of America. Such interpretations are fanciful and built upon slim and flimsy foundations.

Isaiah saw Ethiopia sending her ambassadors in vessels of papyrus upon the waters of the Nile. The word in the Hebrew rendered papyrus is derived from a word which indicates to swallow and in the Hiphil verb stem it means to cause to drink water. The papyrus plant grows only in soil that is well saturated with water. Because of this fact it was given the name in the Hebrew tongue which indicates this fact. Some very fanciful interpretations have been suggested because of the use of this Hebrew word. For instance, these vessels of papyrus of which Isaiah speaks are interpreted as being steamboats. The reason for such an explanation is that sailboats do not use water but steamboats do use it as a propelling power; therefore these are called steamboats. One has to play upon his imagination and read into the text much in order to arrive at such an interpretation. Boats made of papyrus were in constant use in ancient Egypt and Ethiopia. Isaiah's audience would naturally think that the prophet meant what he said since there is nothing in the context to indicate a departure from the literal meaning of the word. We should go and do likewise and avoid all spectacular theories and interpretations, taking every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning, unless the facts of the context indicate clearly otherwise. Since there are no such indications, we must accept the position that Isaiah was talking about literal boats made of papyrus.

In the Revised Version the translators have supplied the word saying before the words, "Go, ye ..." (vs. 2). This fact is indicated by their putting the word saying in italics. They thought that the context demanded their inserting this word, but they have been true to us in letting us know that they have supplied it. In my judgment they made a mistake in doing this. They changed the meaning of the entire passage thereby. When this word is supplied, the oracle means that the authorities in Ethiopia send messengers to a nation "tall and smooth, to a people terrible from their beginning." Thus understood, the nation tall and smooth is different from the Ethiopians. When one looks at verse 7, he sees that the Ethiopian people are the ones who are said to be tall and smooth and terrible from their beginning and who send an offering to Zion in worship to Jehovah. By adopting the interpretation demanded by the word saying, we have the people tall and smooth a race different from the Ethiopians; but, according to verse 7, they themselves are the tall and smooth people. Thus this interpretation makes the passage contradict itself. Since there are no contradictions in the Word of God, this interpretation must be discarded.

When we remember that chapter 18 is a part of the oracle begun in chapter 17 and also recall the fact that the first of the prophecy foretells the aggressive campaigns of the Assyrian king, Sennacherib, against Syria, Israel, and Judah, and when we also remember that Judah was in southern Palestine and close to Egypt, the military campaigns of the Assyrian against these small countries would be a threat against Egypt. We must also recognize the fact that Ethiopia and Egypt were very closely allied one with the other during their history. Moreover, we must keep in mind the fact that after Isaiah's time the Ethiopian kings conquered Egypt, which became a part of the Ethiopian Empire. The aggressiveness of Assyria in the countries so very close to Egypt would create great concern on the part of the Ethiopian king. Isaiah, therefore, looking forward into the future and seeing the approach of Sennacherib's forces toward the Egyptian borders, foretold the consternation at the Ethiopian court that would be caused by this aggressiveness. In the days of Esarhaddon, the son and successor of Sennacherib, the danger became real, for he overran Egypt and conquered it as we shall see later. Moreover, Isaiah saw that the Ethiopian king would dispatch messengers throughout all his realm in preparation for defensive action against the aggressor. This feverish activity of mobilization is what is seen in 18:1 and the first part of verse 2. A period should be placed after the word, waters, because the sentence closes there.

A new paragraph should begin with the words, "Go ye ..." From this sentence to the close of the chapter Isaiah is speaking to these ambassadors who have gone to every part of the Egypto-Ethiopian Empire. He gives them a message for them to take back to the king in Ethiopia. The political and military situations which are reflected in these oracles of Isaiah furnish the background for an additional revelation relating to the distant future. This oracle of Isaiah, chapter 18, is an example of the law of double reference--the blending of the description of a near event with that of one remotely in the future. That this is an illustration of this law becomes abundantly evident to a person who remembers that chapter 18 is an enlargement of 17:12-14 when he sees the real import of the message of chapter 18--as we shall presently learn.

Now let us note that in 18:2b the prophet addresses these ambassadors who have been dispatched from the Ethiopian court and tells them to return home and deliver the message found in verse 3: "All ye inhabitants of the world, and ye dwellers on the earth, when an ensign is lifted up on the mountains, see ye; and when the trumpet is blown, hear ye." This verse is indeed dramatic. When these ambassadors return to the imperial court of Ethiopia, they are to announce the oracle to the world which the prophet Isaiah utters. They are to call upon the inhabitants of the world to watch for the lifting up of an ensign and to listen to the blowing of the trumpet.

Various fanciful interpretations have been placed upon this verse. There are those who tell us that the lifting up of the ensign and the blowing of the trumpet is a prediction of the return of the Jews to Palestine in the end of the age. Others inform us that it refers to the hoisting of the Zionistic flag and the blowing of the shofar by the Jews at the conclusion of World War I when the children of Israel were permitted by the terms of the Balfour Declaration and the Versailles Treaty to return to the land of their fathers. But will the grammar of this passage justify such interpretations? My answer is a most emphatic negative. We must remember that "a text apart from its context is a pretext." Look at verse 4. It begins with the coordinating conjunction "for." This word introduces a sentence which is explanatory of verse 3--a prediction the meaning of which we wish to learn. Verse 5 likewise is joined to verse 4 with the same conjunction "for." This fact proves that verse 5 is a further explanation of the prophecy. An examination of verse 6 shows that it is still discussing the subject introduced in verses 4 and 5. Verses 4, 5, and 6 therefore constitute a grammatical and logical unit which is explanatory of the prophecy the meaning of which we are seeking.

In order that the reader might more readily understand this prophecy, I am quoting verses 4, 5, and 6:
4 For thus hath Jehovah said unto me, I will be still, and I will behold in my dwelling-place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. 5 For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the flower becometh a ripening grape, he will cut off the sprigs with pruning-hooks, and the spreading branches will he take away and cut down. 6 They shall be left together unto the ravenous birds of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth; and the ravenous birds shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.

In verse 4 the prophet speaks as God's personal representative, using the personal pronouns, I and my. But in verse 5 the point of view is shifted. The prophet speaks for himself in explaining the actions of Jehovah. In verse 6 he presents the result of the actions of Jehovah.

A reading of these verses shows that God is represented as being seated in the heavens and looking upon the earth and observing the normal movement and development of the nations which are allowed, without any divine intervention, to move in their regular manner and to carry out the natural program of their choices. This situation is compared to the Lord's looking upon the growth of grapevines during the growing season--from the time of the blossom until the grapes begin to ripen. During the summer weather--the growing time--the heat is seen to rise during the daytime but the moisture is observed in the form of dew during the cool of the nights. Such weather in the summer is conducive to the normal growth and development of the grapes from the time of blossom to that of the ripening fruit.

Just before the grapes become ripe, Jehovah prunes the vines, cutting off all the branches and allowing them to fall upon the ground to wither and die. Then the ravenous birds of the heavens and the beasts of the fields come and feed upon them and roost upon them, according to verse 6.

Since the prophet was dealing with the political and military situations which he saw in prophetic vision, we know that he was not talking about literal grapevines. The facts of the entire prophecy demand that we understand by this dramatic language an oracle concerning God's destruction of the many nations and peoples that will invade Palestine in the end of the age as set forth in chapter 17, verses 12-14. In chapter 10, as we have already seen, the Lord compared Sennacherib and his army to a forest of trees which He himself would cut down (Isa. 10:15-19,33,34). This prediction was fulfilled in the destruction of the Assyrian army as is seen in Isaiah 37:36-38. The Lord destroyed the Assyrian forest then, but that was just a little sample of the wreckage in the overthrow of the nations, which will eventually invade Palestine in the end-time. At that time He will remain seated in the heavens and will allow these nations to carry out their plans and purposes unrestricted by the divine hand--up to a given point. He will allow the grapes to develop from the blossom stage to that of beginning to ripen. Speaking differently, I would say that He will allow the nations to follow their own course up to a given point; then He will intervene, will become the true husbandman, will cut off the branches with their ripening grapes, and will destroy the vines of the nations. Such is the message of Isaiah 18:4-6. This description of the destruction of the nations in the end-time is an explanation of the oracle found in 18:3 which the Ethiopian ambassadors who return to their native court are to announce to the world--according to the dramatic language of verse 3.

When we study other passages which deal with the same future events, we see that the nations will send their armies into Palestine and will besiege Jerusalem. The war will be fought very ferociously. Blood will flow as never before. At the critical moment Jehovah himself will appear upon the scene, will take the situation in hand, and will cause all wars to cease. (See Zech., chap. 14, and parallel passages.) At that time Jehovah will become King over all the world. He will lift the curse from the earth and establish His glorious reign.

When that is done, Jerusalem will become the capital of the world. The nations will go there to worship Jehovah of hosts, the great King, and to be taught of Him. (See Isa. 2:1-4; Micah 4:1-8; also Ps. 72.)

In that day the Ethiopians, "a people tall and smooth, even ... a people terrible from their beginning onward," will send their offerings to Jehovah of hosts at Jerusalem. Such is the message of Isaiah 18:7. This prediction is in perfect agreement with the one found in Psalm 68:29-35. A close examination of Psalm 68--especially verses 19-35 shows that this passage deals with the great Millennial Age when the Lord Jesus Christ will be reigning upon the earth. The princes of Ethiopia are here represented as stretching their hands out to Him in worship. Zephaniah, who prophesied in the days of King Josiah, likewise foretold that the Ethiopians will come and will bring offerings in worship to God (Zeph. 3:10). An examination of this context shows that the prophet was speaking of the great Millennial Age. Thus all those passages which speak specifically of Ethiopia and her worshiping God refer to the conversion of the Ethiopians during the Millennial Age.

Why are the Ethiopians singled out in such a conspicuous manner and presented as being worshipers of God during the Millennium? The answer seems to be that they were on the farthest horizon of the political heavens of the prophet's day. This fact must not be confused with the additional truth that the prophet realized the rotundity of the earth. Isaiah knew that the world was round, for he declared this conviction in chapter 40, verse 22.

In Isaiah, chapter 19, we have an oracle concerning the land of Egypt. This country plays a very important role in the Scriptures. There the chosen race developed into a nation. There were continual commercial relations between Palestine and Egypt throughout the centuries. Palestine was the bridge of the nations of antiquity. Babylon, Assyria, and Syria crossed through Palestine on their way to Egypt and vice versa. Thus both commercial caravans and military expeditions passed through Palestine during the past. In view of these facts we are not surprised to hear the prophet speaking of Egypt as well as other prominent countries and foretelling their future and their ultimate doom. In connection with our study of Isaiah, chapter 19, we should read carefully Jeremiah, chapter 46, and Ezekiel, chapters 29-32.

In Isaiah 19:1 the prophet saw Jehovah riding upon a swift cloud and coming against Egypt in judgment. This description is similar to that which is found in Psalm 18:10-19. At His second coming Jehovah will appear upon the clouds of heaven and will fight against the nations gathered to Jerusalem as He fought in the day of battle (Zech. 14:3). Thus the strong Son of God in His prenatal state has, according to this verse, gone forth and fought at various times against enemies. He delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage. He is the one who is spoken of as "the angel of Jehovah." He always veiled His presence in clouds of glory. Nahum spoke of His coming to the earth in judgment, in chapter 1, verses 2-8. Thus Isaiah's representation of the coming of the Lord to Egypt is in perfect accord with the usual representation of His coming in judgment.

According to Isaiah 19:1, when the Lord does come in judgment, the heart of Egypt will melt in the midst of it. This language evidently describes the terror that is caused to the people of the land under the sledgehammer blows of Almighty God's strokes of judgment.

Isaiah 19:2,3 refers to a civil war which would affect Egypt from end to end. God would stir up Egyptian against Egyptian; city against city; kingdom against kingdom. These expressions refer to a civil war that would affect the entire nation, since the oracle was one pertaining specifically to Egypt. In Matthew 24:7 the Lord used the same idiom when He was looking out upon the world at the end of this age. Since the expression refers to a war that affects all the territory before the speaker's vision at the time of his utterance, and since Jesus had a world outlook, His language therefore indicated a world war as the sign of the end of the age. (For a full discussion of the "Olivet Discourse" see my volume: Future Events Revealed.)

According to this oracle the spirit of Egypt would fail. This is the biblical way of speaking of the decline of the morale of the people. Moreover, in this connection the prophet foretold that God would destroy "the counsel" of the nation. There upon the people would resort to fortune-tellers, charmers, witches, and wizards, all of which things are simply a manifestation of demonism--spiritism.

The outcome of this civil war would be that there would arise a king who would be "a cruel lord ... a fierce king" over the country.

The war here foretold is possibly that which broke out all over Egypt after the overthrow of the Ethiopian king, Taharka, in 672 B.C. The country fell to pieces and was ruled by twelve princes whose administration is called the Dodekarchy. This state of affairs continued for about half a century. Then Psammetichus united these various political fragments into a strong kingdom. He established a totalitarian dictatorship of the severest kind. It is quite likely that he is the one who is here called the cruel lord and fierce king. According to the old chronology he ascended the throne in 616 B.C. and continued until 597.

An examination of Isaiah 19:5-10 discloses the fact that in addition to the civil war which would wreck the country, there would also be the drying up of the Nile River which would prove to be a national calamity. The Nile ceased to flow several centuries before the days of Joseph. Then in his time there was a famine in the land for seven years, caused by the drying up of the Nile. Isaiah, in this special paragraph which we are studying, likewise foretold the ceasing of the yearly inundation of Egypt by the Nile. As a result the fisheries would be stopped, the manufacture of linen cloth for the priests and for the wrapping of mummies, and the manufacture of cotton for the great masses of Egypt would cease. General distress would be the result. All industry alike would cease. The waters would no longer be in the canals, the fields would be reduced to dust, and the topsoil would be blown off by the wind. The country from end to end would be one great desolation and waste.

In the paragraph consisting of verses 11-15 inclusive, we have a record of the judgment of God that would fall upon the king and his advisors. Mention is made of the princes of Zoan who were the advisers and counselors of Pharaoh. They would be unable to foretell events or advise the king what he should do under each circumstance. Isaiah, seeing them thus baffled, asked them where was their wisdom and challenged them to disclose to Pharaoh the purpose of God relative to Egypt.

Finally, in verses 14 and 15, he explained why it was that these counselors would be unable to advise their sovereign. The reason is stated as follows: God would put a spirit of perverseness in the midst of Egypt and the counselors of the king, being unable to see the correct situation, would improperly advise the king. Thus nothing but wreckage and ruin could result from such an administration of affairs.

Verses 16 and 17 constitute a transitional paragraph between the threat of judgment in verses 1-15 and the promise of blessing in verses 18-25. Isaiah said that in the days when the prophecy which he had just been giving would be fulfilled, the Egyptians would become like women and would tremble and fear because of the shaking of the hand of Almighty God over the country in judgment. Moreover, the Egyptians would become afraid of the little kingdom of Judah because in some way or other they would connect their predicament with the judgment of the God who was known in Judah.

The dark picture thrown upon our figurative screen in verses 1-15 disappears and gives way to a brighter and more glorious one in verses 18-25. In verse 18 we see a prediction that there would be five cities in the land of Egypt that would speak the language of Canaan, the Hebrew language, and swear by Jehovah of hosts. One of these cities was, according to Isaiah, to be called "the city of destruction" or the city of the sun. Isaiah looked out into the future from his day and saw the colonization of certain Jews in Egypt. That there were Jews in Egypt after the overthrow of the Jewish state by Nebuchadnezzar is confirmed by the messages of Jeremiah. Those who fled at the time of the Babylonian captivity into Egypt are the ones who constitute the subject of this prophecy. Profane history tells us of the settlement of Jews in Lower Egypt under the leadership of the high priest Onias IV and of a temple to Jehovah in which the Jews of that section worshiped. We also know that at Aswan in Upper Egypt there was a colony of Jews who also had a temple that proved almost a rival to the one in Jerusalem. Much information has been gathered from the papyrus fragments recovered from that ancient Jewish community.

In verses 19 and 20 the prophet declares that "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. And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto Jehovah of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they shall cry unto Jehovah because of oppressors, and he will send them a saviour, and a defender, and he will deliver them!" Unfortunately many good, sincere people have erroneously identified the altar and pillar mentioned in this passage as referring to the great pyramid at Gizeh in the western outskirts of Cairo. Isaiah was looking out into the future. In his day the pyramids were hoary with age. If we allow the language to give its real message, we cannot by even the greatest stretch of the imagination interpret the prophet as referring to any of the pyramids, or to the great one of Gizeh. His statement is that there would be an altar in the midst of Egypt, and a pillar at the border of the same. The pyramid is neither an altar nor an obelisk, a memorial shaft dedicated to Jehovah. In view of the fact that there has been nothing that could logically be interpreted as the fulfillment of these verses, we must look into the future for the fulfillment of this prediction. It is quite likely that Jews will yet colonize in Egypt and will set up some kind of special worship similar to that of the temple service in Jerusalem and there attempt to worship God. Moreover they will probably erect an obelisk or an altar similar to the one which was made by the two and a half tribes of Israel at the time of their settlement in Canaan (see Joshua 22:10-12).

These Jews who will yet settle in Egypt will have a certain amount of influence on the Egyptians in pointing them to the worship of the true God. This seems to be intimated in 19:21,22.

These developments will be followed by the judgments of the great Tribulation for we are told that at that time God will smite and will also heal Egypt, and that He will be entreated by her.

The oracle concludes by foretelling that there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria which undoubtedly will lead through Jerusalem. Isaiah, in chapter 35, spoke of a highway. From the context we see that one will be in existence during the millennial reign of our Lord--after He has come and has delivered Israel. It is most highly probable that this highway mentioned in Isaiah, chapter 19, is the same one as the one spoken of in chapter 35.

At that time the Assyrians will be converted to God and Messiah and so the Egyptians will also be. Thus we are told in verses 24 and 25 that the Egyptians and the Assyrians will be accepted along with the Israelites by the God of the universe. Thus closes this marvelous oracle concerning the future which awaits the Egyptians.

This oracle concerning Egypt found in chapter 19 has chapter 20 as an appendix. This is an oracle that deals with a situation which is now past. It was uttered in the year that the Tartan of the Assyrian army came to Ashdod when Sargon, king of Assyria, sent and fought against that city. In this oracle Isaiah was commanded to remove his outer garments and the sackcloth which he, like Elijah, had worn and to retain nothing but his short tunic. He was to dress thus as a captive and walk about the streets of Jerusalem at certain periods for three years. This conduct was a prophecy being enacted before the people. The significance of this action was that the Ethiopians and the Egyptians would be carried captive into the land of Assyria by the king of Assyria. Neither Sargon nor Sennacherib invaded and conquered Egypt. Esarhaddon and his son Ashurbanipal did this and fulfilled the prophecy. The peoples of the coastlands would become disappointed in that the empire upon which they had depended for deliverance was to be taken into captivity.