Lesson #19

ISAIAH 19-20
Lesson #19
THE BURDEN OF EGYPT

• MEMORY VERSE: 1JOHN 2:15

• THIS “BURDEN” CONCERNS EGYPT, THE NATION WITH THE LONGEST HISTORY IN THE BIBLE. TWO OF JUDAH’S KINGS, AHAZ AND HEZEKIAH, MADE UNSOUND ALLIANCES WITH EGYPT DESPITE ISAIAH’S WARNINGS. A VERY STRONG PRO-EGYPTIAN POLITICAL PARTY IN JUDAH PRESSURED THESE KINGS INTO THE ALLIANCES. HOWEVER, BOTH OF THESE KINGS FOUND EGYPT AN UNRELIABLE ALLY.

• READ ISA 19:1-25 AND ISA 20:1-6
• WHAT IS GOD’S CHIEF TARGET OF CONDEMNATION IN JUDGING EGYPT?
• READ ROM 1:21-23
• ALONG WITH THE BABYLONIANS, THE EGYPTIANS WERE TOTALLY SUBMERGED IN IDOLATRY. THE EGYPTIANS HAD THOUSANDS OF GODS. FOR EXAMPLE, IN EXODUS WE FIND MOSES BEFORE THE PHARAOH PLEADING FOR HIS PEOPLE’S FREEDOM FROM SLAVERY. GOD PERFORMS A MIRACLE FOR MOSES AND AARON BY TURNING MOSES’ ROD INTO A SNAKE. THE COURT MAGICIANS ALSO TURNED THEIR RODS INTO SNAKES. (EXO 7) THE EGYPTIANS GAVE THEMSELVES OVER TO THE POWER OF SATAN SO THAT THEY, TOO, COULD PERFORM MIRACLES.
• EVERY PLAGUE THAT GOD SENT UPON THE EGYPTIANS TO PRESSURE THEM TO FREE THE ISRAELITES WAS DIRECTED SPECIFICALLY AT ONE OF EGYPT’S GODS.
• THE TEN PLAGUES: (EXO 7-
• #1 WATER TURNED TO BLOOD
• THEY WORSHIPED THE GOD OF THE NILE RIVER CALLED “HAPI”.
• #2 FROGS COVERED THE LAND
• THEY WORSHIPED THE GOD OF FERTILITY CALLED “HEKA”
• #3 A PLAGUE OF GNATS
• THEY WORSHIPED GNATS AS GODS.
• #4 A PLAGUE OF FLIES
• THEY WORSHIPED FLIES OR BEETLES. THE “SCARAB” BEETLE IS A SYMBOL OF THE SUN GOD “RA”.
• #5 THE LIVESTOCK WAS STRICKEN.
• THEY WORSHIPED THE RAM, THE GOAT, AND THE BULL AS SACRED.
• REMEMBER WHEN THE ISRAELITES MADE A GOLDEN CALF IN THE WILDERNESS INSTEAD OF WORSHIPING GOD? THIS WAS A BULL WITH HORNS CALLED AN “APIS”. IT REPRESENTS THE EGYPTIAN GOD, OSIRIS. (EXO 32)
• #6 THE PLAGUE OF BOILS
• THIS PLAGUE WAS AGAINST THE EGYPTIAN PRIESTS THAT WORSHIPED CLEANLINESS.
• #7 THE PLAGUE OF HAIL AND FIRE
• ELEMENTS OF NATURE WERE WORSHIPED AS GODS.
• #8 THE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS
• LOCUSTS WERE CONSIDERED GODS.
• #9 THE PLAGUE OF DARKNESS AND LIGHT
• THE MOON AND THE SUN WERE GODS. THE SUN GOD WAS CALLED “RA”.
• #10 DEATH OF THE FIRSTBORN
• PHARAOH WAS CONSIDERED A GOD.
• THE FIRSTBORN OF THE PHARAOH WAS TO BE THE NEXT REIGNING GOD.
• NOTICE IN 19:1 THE REFERENCE TO THE DEATH ANGEL THAT KILLED THE FIRSTBORN (THE LORD RIDETH UPON A SWIFT CLOUD).
• NOTICE THAT 19:5-10 ARE SIMILAR TO THE 10 PLAGUES IN EXODUS.
• IT IS INTERESTING THAT EGYPT DID NOT BEGIN IN IDOLATRY. THERE WERE PERIODS WHEN THEY WORSHIPED ONLY ONE GOD, THOUGH A FALSE ONE. HOWEVER, AT THE TIME OF MOSES THEY HAD THOUSANDS BECAUSE EGYPT BECAME A DECADENT SOCIETY THAT FOLLOWED THE PATTERN IN ROM 1:21-23. TODAY THEY NO LONGER WORSHIP MANY GODS, BUT ONLY THE FALSE GOD, ALLAH OF THE MUSLIM RELIGION.

• THE FIRST FULFILLMENT IN 670 BC.
• EGYPT WAS OVERRUN AND DESTROYED BY THE ASSYRIANS. AT THAT TIME EGYPT WAS NOT AS STRONG AS IT HAD BEEN DURING THE TIME OF MOSES. IT HAD BROKEN INTO WEAKER INDEPENDENT STATES AND WAS A WEAKER TARGET FOR ASSYRIA. THAT IS WHY VERSE 2 SAYS THAT EGYPTIANS WOULD BE AGAINST EGYPTIANS.
• THE COUNSEL OF EGYPT (19:3)
• EGYPT WAS KNOWN FOR ITS WISDOM AND COUNSEL HAVING BEEN A NATION ENDURING FOR CENTURIES.
• THE CRUEL LORD (19:4)
• THIS IS THE ASSYRIAN KING, ESAR-HADDON.
• THE NILE RIVER (19:5)
• FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE NATION OF EGYPT, THE NILE RIVER WAS THE SOURCE OF LIFE. WITHOUT IT THE LAND WAS A DESERT. IN BIBLE TIMES, THE LAND AROUND THE NILE RIVER WAS FORESTED, PRODUCTIVE, AND LUSH. THE RIVER WAS FILLED WITH FISH. WE KNOW FISH WAS A MAIN PART OF THE DIET BECAUSE IT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS THE ISRAELITES IN THE WILDERNESS MISSED ABOUT EGYPT. (NUM 11:5)
• THE DESTRUCTION OF EGYPT WAS SO GREAT THAT TODAY THE LAND IS NO LONGER FORESTED AND PRODUCTIVE. THERE ARE VERY FEW FISH IN THE NILE RIVER TODAY, AND EGYPT IS A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY.
• THE REEDS BY THE BROOKS SHALL BE NO MORE (19:7)
• PAPYRUS WAS MADE FROM THESE REEDS AND BECAME A BIG WORLD MARKET. THE PHOENICIANS IMPORTED IT FROM EGYPT AND INTRODUCED IT TO THE WORLD. TODAY THESE REEDS DO NOT EXIST ON THE BANKS OF THE NILE.
• FLAX SHALL BE CONFOUNDED (19:9)
• EGYPTIAN LINEN WAS THE FINEST IN THE WORLD SURPASSING THAT OF IRELAND. TODAY IT IS NON-EXISTENT.
• THE DESTRUCTION KILLED THE 3 MAJOR INDUSTRIES OF EGYPT: FISHING, PAPYRUS, AND LINEN FROM FLAX.
• THE PRINCES OF ZOAN ARE FOOLS (19:11)
• THE ROYAL LINE OF PHARAOHS INTERMARRIED TO SUCH AN EXTENT (BROTHER WITH SISTER) THAT EVENTUALLY THE OFFSPRING WERE MENTALLY DEFICIENT MORONS.
• EGYPT SEDUCED (19:13)
• THIS IS A REFERENCE TO CLEOPATRA, A GREEK, WHO SEDUCED EGYPT TO BECOME THE LAST PHARAOH.
• SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING WHAT HUMAN ATTITUDE DO YOU THINK “EGYPT” REPRESENTS IN THE BIBLE? WHY? ALSO READ NUM 11:4-6
• THROUGH THE BIBLE, EGYPT REPRESENTS THE WORLD OR WORLDLINESS.
• THE SECOND FULFILLMENT:
• WHEN IS THE SECOND FULFILLMENT?
• ANOTHER DESTRUCTION PROBABLY OCCURS IN THE GREAT RUSSIAN BATTLE OF EZE 38 AND 39.
• THEN, IN THE TRIBULATION, THE ANTI-CHRIST (THE CRUEL LORD OF 19:4) WILL POSSESS EGYPT AND ENSLAVE THE PEOPLE. HE WILL MAKE EGYPT A SLAVE COLONY FOR THE JEWS.
• DEU 28:64-68 MOSES PREDICTED THIS SECOND ENSLAVEMENT IN EGYPT.
• AS A RESULT OF THIS ENSLAVEMENT, 5 EGYPTIAN CITIES WILL SPEAK HEBREW. (19:18)
• THIS WAS ONCE FULFILLED AFTER THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY WHEN MANY JEWS SETTLED IN EGYPT. AT THAT TIME ALEXANDRIA WAS PREDOMINATELY JEWISH.
• THE HEALING OF EGYPT OCCURS IN THE MILLENNIUM.
• EGYPTIANS WILL WORSHIP JESUS DURING THE MILLENNIUM ALONG WITH ALL OTHER NATIONS.
• HOWEVER, FOR ABOUT 40 YEARS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MILLENNIUM, EGYPT WILL BE DESOLATE.
• READ EZE 29:8-16
• AFTER THE FORTY YEARS, GOD WILL RESTORE IT AND THEN WILL BE THE HEALING OF THIS NATION.
• THEN THERE WILL BE “HIGHWAY” THAT WILL BE FROM EGYPT TO JERUSALEM AND FROM ASSYRIA TO JERUSALEM TO ENABLE THESE IDOLATROUS NATIONS TO FINALLY WORSHIP THE TRUE GOD, JESUS CHRIST. (19:24)
• THIS PART WAS FIRST FULFILLED IN CHRIST’S MINISTRY. THEN THE HEBREW NATION WAS PART OF 3 MAJOR SECTIONS:
• EGYPT, ISRAEL, AND MESOPOTAMIA (ASSYRIA). THESE SECTIONS WERE CONNECTED BY A HIGHWAY AND WERE THE FIRST PARTS OF THE WORLD TO RECEIVE THE NEW TESTAMENT GOSPEL.

• READ ISA 20:4-6
• WHO WAS TARTAN? (20:1)
• HE WAS A FAMOUS GENERAL IN THE ASSYRIAN ARMY. HE IS MENTIONED IN 2KINGS 18:17. IT IS CALLED THE ASHDOD REBELLION OF 711 BC.
• ASHDOD WAS A CITY IN THE NORTHERN KINGDOM. IT WAS TAKEN BY SARGON (SHARRUKIN IN ASSYRIAN) WHO WAS THE ASSYRIAN LEADER FOLLOWING SHALMANESER (2KINGS 17:3).
• ISAIAH’S DRAMATIC WARNING (2)
• AS I HAVE MENTIONED BEFORE, THE PROPHET’S WHOLE LIFE AND WARDROBE WERE PART OF HIS MESSAGE. WE SEE THAT IN THIS VERSE. GOD TOLD ISAIAH TO GO WITHOUT CLOTHES AND DRESS AS A PRISONER OF WAR FOR THREE YEARS (THE THREE YEARS PRIOR TO THE ASHDOD REBELLION). IT WAS TO BE A WARNING TO JUDAH THAT THE FATE OF EGYPT AND ETHIOPIA WOULD BEFALL THEM AS WELL.
• SOME COMMENTATORS SAY HE DID WEAR A LOIN CLOTH, OTHERS SAY HE DID NOT BUT WAS COMPLETELY NAKED. VERSE 4 SEEMS TO INDICATE COMPLETE NAKEDNESS JUST LIKE THE EGYPTIANS AND ETHIOPIANS WHEN THEY WOULD BE TAKEN CAPTIVE BY ASSYRIA. EITHER WAY, IT SERVED AS A STRONG WARNING TO JUDAH AND TO THE STRONG PRO-EGYPTIAN POLITICAL PARTY TO GET RIGHT WITH GOD.
• THIS POLITICAL PARTY HATED ISAIAH AND GAVE HIM MUCH TROUBLE. (ISA 30:1-7 ISA 31:1-3)
• THE PHILISTINES ARE MENTIONED IN 20:5.
• THEY WERE AFRAID AND ASHAMED BECAUSE THEY WERE ANTICIPATING HELP FROM EGYPT TO FIGHT AGAINST ASSYRIA.
• THEIR CRY WAS, “HOW SHALL WE ESCAPE?” WE KNOW FROM OUR STUDY OF ISA 18 THAT THEY DID NOT ESCAPE THE ASSYRIAN ARMY.
• WHEN IS THE SECOND FULFILLMENT OF 20:4-6?

• APPLICATION:
• JUDAH WAS TRUSTING EGYPT TO HELP THEM AGAINST ASSYRIA.
• BECAUSE EGYPT IS A SYMBOL OF “WORLDLINESS” IN THE BIBLE, THE MESSAGE IS THAT WHEN WE TRUST IN THE THINGS OF THE WORLD, WE WILL BE DISAPPOINTED BECAUSE THEY CAN EASILY FAIL US WHEN WE NEED THE MOST HELP. THE ONLY TRUE, SUBSTANTIAL SOURCE OF HELP IS GOD.
• THE THINGS OF “EGYPT” (THE WORLD) ARE:
• THE ECONOMY
• WISDOM
• IDOLS
• A LONG HISTORY OF STABILITY
• THE “GOOD LIFE”

• APPLICATION OF ISA 19 & 20
• LOOK BACK THROUGH THE LESSON AND DECIDE IN WHICH ASPECTS OF “WORLDLINESS” IN YOUR PERSONAL LIFE HAVE YOU BEEN TRUSTING THAT GOD WANTS YOU TO CHANGE?
• PREPARATION FOR ISAIAH 21
• READ ISA 21:1-10 THE BURDEN OF MEDIA (MEDES)
• IDENTIFICATION OF NAMES:
• MEDIA = THE MEDES (TODAY THE KURDS)
• ELAM = A REGION BETWEEN BABYLON AND PERSIA (TODAY PART OF IRAN)
• READ DANIEL 5:1-9; 18-31
• WHAT VERSE IN ISA 21:1-10 PARALLELS THE STORY IN DANIEL?
• WHAT NATION IS BEING CRUSHED BY THE COMING OF THE MEDES AND THE PERSIANS?
• READ ISA 21:11-12 THE BURDEN OF EDOM (DUMAH)
• WHO WERE THE EDOMITES? (GEN 15:24-25,30)
• LOCATE THEM ON A BIBLE MAP IF YOU HAVE ONE.
• IN THE SECOND FULFILLMENT, TO WHOM DO YOU THINK THE “TREACHEROUS DEALER” REFERS? (21:2)
• WHAT DO YOU THINK 21:12 MEANS?
• READ ISA 21:13-17 THE BURDEN OF ARABIA (TODAY SAUDI ARABIA)
• IDENTIFICATION OF NAMES:
• TEMA = ONE OF ISHMAEL’S SON WHOSE DESCENDANTS SETTLED A PLACE IN ARABIA MID-WAY BETWEEN DAMASCUS, SYRIA AND THE CITY OF MECCA.
• KEDAR = HE WAS ISHMAEL’S SECOND SON. HIS FAMILY AND DESCENDANTS SETTLED IN KUWAIT.
• MEMORY VERSE: 1THESSALONIANS 5:6