mh_parser/vol_split/23 - Isaiah/Chapter 19.xml

<div2 id="Is.xx" n="xx" next="Is.xxi" prev="Is.xix" progress="7.33%" title="Chapter XIX">
<h2 id="Is.xx-p0.1">I S A I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Is.xx-p0.2">CHAP. XIX.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Is.xx-p1" shownumber="no">As Assyria was a breaking rod to Judah, with which
it was smitten, so Egypt was a broken reed, with which it was
cheated; and therefore God had a quarrel with them both. We have
before read the doom of the Assyrians; now here we have the burden
of Egypt, a prophecy concerning that nation, I. That it should be
greatly weakened and brought low, and should be as contemptible
among the nations as now it was considerable, rendered so by a
complication of judgments which God would bring upon them,
<scripRef id="Is.xx-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.1-Isa.19.17" parsed="|Isa|19|1|19|17" passage="Isa 19:1-17">ver. 1-17</scripRef>. II. That at
length God's holy religion should be brought into Egypt, and set up
there, in part by the Jews that should flee thither for refuge, but
more fully by the preachers of the gospel of Christ, through whose
ministry churches should be planted in Egypt in the days of the
Messiah (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.18-Isa.19.25" parsed="|Isa|19|18|19|25" passage="Isa 19:18-25">ver. 18-25</scripRef>),
which would abundantly balance all the calamities here
threatened.</p>
<scripCom id="Is.xx-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19" parsed="|Isa|19|0|0|0" passage="Isa 19" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Is.xx-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.1-Isa.19.17" parsed="|Isa|19|1|19|17" passage="Isa 19:1-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.xx-p1.5">
<h4 id="Is.xx-p1.6">The Doom of Egypt. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xx-p1.7">b. c.</span> 710.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.xx-p2" shownumber="no">1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xx-p2.1">Lord</span> rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come
into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence,
and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.   2 And
I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall
fight every one against his brother, and every one against his
neighbour; city against city, <i>and</i> kingdom against kingdom.
  3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof;
and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the
idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits,
and to the wizards.   4 And the Egyptians will I give over
into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over
them, saith the Lord, the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xx-p2.2">Lord</span> of
hosts.   5 And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the
river shall be wasted and dried up.   6 And they shall turn
the rivers far away; <i>and</i> the brooks of defence shall be
emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.   7
The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and
every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and
be no <i>more.</i>   8 The fishers also shall mourn, and all
they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that
spread nets upon the waters shall languish.   9 Moreover they
that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be
confounded.   10 And they shall be broken in the purposes
thereof, all that make sluices <i>and</i> ponds for fish.   11
Surely the princes of Zoan <i>are</i> fools, the counsel of the
wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto
Pharaoh, I <i>am</i> the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
  12 Where <i>are</i> they? where <i>are</i> thy wise
<i>men?</i> and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xx-p2.3">Lord</span> of hosts hath purposed upon
Egypt.   13 The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes
of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, <i>even they
that are</i> the stay of the tribes thereof.   14 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xx-p2.4">Lord</span> hath mingled a perverse spirit in the
midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work
thereof, as a drunken <i>man</i> staggereth in his vomit.   15
Neither shall there be <i>any</i> work for Egypt, which the head or
tail, branch or rush, may do.   16 In that day shall Egypt be
like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the
shaking of the hand of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xx-p2.5">Lord</span> of
hosts, which he shaketh over it.   17 And the land of Judah
shall be a terror unto Egypt, every one that maketh mention thereof
shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xx-p2.6">Lord</span> of hosts, which he hath determined
against it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xx-p3" shownumber="no">Though the land of Egypt had of old been a
house of bondage to the people of God, where they had been ruled
with rigour, yet among the unbelieving Jews there still remained
much of the humour of their fathers, who said, <i>Let us make us a
captain and return into Egypt.</i> Upon all occasions they trusted
to Egypt for help (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.2" parsed="|Isa|30|2|0|0" passage="Isa 30:2"><i>ch.</i> xxx.
2</scripRef>), and thither they fled, in disobedience to God's
express command, when things were brought to the last extremity in
their own country, <scripRef id="Is.xx-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.43.7" parsed="|Jer|43|7|0|0" passage="Jer 43:7">Jer. xliii.
7</scripRef>. Rabshakeh upbraided Hezekiah with this, <scripRef id="Is.xx-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.36.6" parsed="|Isa|36|6|0|0" passage="Isa 36:6"><i>ch.</i> xxxvi. 6</scripRef>. While they kept
up an alliance with Egypt, and it was a powerful ally, they stood
not in awe of the judgments of God; for against them they depended
upon Egypt to protect them. Nor did they depend upon the power of
God when at anytime they were in distress; but Egypt was their
confidence. To prevent all this mischief, Egypt must be mortified,
and many ways God here tells them he will take to mortify them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xx-p4" shownumber="no">I. The gods of Egypt shall appear to them
to be what they always really were, utterly unable to help them,
<scripRef id="Is.xx-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.1" parsed="|Isa|19|1|0|0" passage="Isa 19:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. "<i>The Lord
rides upon a cloud, a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt.</i>
As a judge goes in state to the bench to try and condemn the
malefactors, or as a general takes the field with his troops to
crush the rebels, so shall God come into Egypt with his judgments;
and when he comes he will certainly overcome." In all this burden
of Egypt here is no mention of any foreign enemy invading them; but
God himself will come against them, and raise up the causes of
their destruction from among themselves. He comes upon a cloud,
above the reach of the opposition or resistance. He comes apace
upon a swift cloud; for their judgment lingers not when the time
has come. He <i>rides upon the wings of the wind,</i> with a
majesty far excelling the greatest pomp and splendour of earthly
princes. He <i>makes the clouds his chariots,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xx-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.18.9 Bible:Ps.104.3" parsed="|Ps|18|9|0|0;|Ps|104|3|0|0" passage="Ps 18:9,104:3">Ps. xviii. 9; civ. 3</scripRef>. When he
comes <i>the idols of Egypt shall be moved,</i> shall be removed at
his presence, and perhaps be made to fall as Dagon did before the
ark. Isis, Osiris, and Apis, those celebrated idols of Egypt, being
found unable to relieve their worshippers, shall be disowned and
rejected by them. Idolatry had got deeper rooting in Egypt than in
any land besides, even the most absurd idolatries; and yet now the
idols shall be moved and they shall be ashamed of them. When the
Lord brought Israel out of Egypt he <i>executed judgments upon the
gods of the Egyptians</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Num.33.4" parsed="|Num|33|4|0|0" passage="Nu 33:4">Num. xxxiii.
4</scripRef>); no marvel then if, when he comes, they begin to
tremble. The Egyptians <i>shall seek to the idols,</i> when they
are at their wits' end, and consult <i>the charmers and wizards</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.xx-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.3" parsed="|Isa|19|3|0|0" passage="Isa 19:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>); but all in
vain; they see their ruin hastening on them notwithstanding.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xx-p5" shownumber="no">II. The militia of Egypt, that had been
famed for their valour, shall be quite dispirited and disheartened.
No kingdom in the world was ever in a better method of keeping up a
standing army than the Egyptians were; but now their heroes, that
used to be celebrated for courage, shall be posted for cowards:
<i>The heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it,</i> like wax
before the fire (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.1" parsed="|Isa|19|1|0|0" passage="Isa 19:1"><i>v.</i>
1</scripRef>); <i>the spirit of Egypt shall fail,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xx-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.3" parsed="|Isa|19|3|0|0" passage="Isa 19:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. They shall have no
inclination, no resolution, to stand up in defence of their
country, their liberty, and property; but shall tamely and
ingloriously yield all to the invader and oppressor. The Egyptians
<i>shall be like women</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.16" parsed="|Isa|19|16|0|0" passage="Isa 19:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>); they shall be frightened and put into confusion by
the least alarm; even those that dwell in the heart of the country,
in the midst of it, and therefore furthest from danger, will be as
full of frights as those that are situate on the frontiers. Let not
the bold and brave be proud or secure, for God can easily <i>cut
off the spirit of princes</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.76.12" parsed="|Ps|76|12|0|0" passage="Ps 76:12">Ps.
lxxvi. 12</scripRef>) and <i>take away their hearts,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xx-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.24" parsed="|Job|12|24|0|0" passage="Job 12:24">Job xii. 24</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xx-p6" shownumber="no">III. The Egyptians shall be embroiled in
endless dissensions and quarrels among themselves. There shall be
no occasion to bring a foreign force upon them to destroy them;
they shall destroy one another (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.2" parsed="|Isa|19|2|0|0" passage="Isa 19:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): <i>I will set the Egyptians
against the Egyptians.</i> As these divisions and animosities are
their sin, God is not the author of them, they come from men's
lusts; but God, as a Judge, permits them for their punishment, and
by their destroying differences corrects them for their sinful
agreements. Instead of helping one another, and acting each in his
place for the common good, <i>they shall fight every one against
his brother and neighbour,</i> whom he ought to love as
himself—<i>city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.</i>
Egypt was then divided into twelve provinces, or dynasties; but
Psammetichus, the governor of one of them, by setting them at
variance with one another, at length made himself master of them
all. A kingdom thus divided against itself would soon be brought to
desolation. <i>En quo discordiâ cives perduxit miseros!—Oh the
wretchedness brought upon a people by their disagreements among
themselves!</i> It is brought to this by <i>a perverse spirit,</i>
a spirit of contradiction, which the Lord would mingle, as an
intoxicating draught made up of several ingredients, for the
Egyptians, <scripRef id="Is.xx-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.14" parsed="|Isa|19|14|0|0" passage="Isa 19:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>.
One party shall be for a thing for no other reason than because the
other is against it; that is a perverse spirit, which, if it mingle
with the public counsels, tends directly to the ruin of the public
interests.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xx-p7" shownumber="no">IV. Their politics shall be all blasted,
and turned into foolishness. When God will destroy the nation he
will <i>destroy the counsel thereof</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.3" parsed="|Isa|19|3|0|0" passage="Isa 19:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), by taking away wisdom from the
statesmen (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.20" parsed="|Job|12|20|0|0" passage="Job 12:20">Job xii. 20</scripRef>),
or setting them one against another (as Hushai and Ahithophel), or
by his providence breaking their measures even when they seemed
well laid; so that the <i>princes of Zoan are fools:</i> they make
fools of one another, every one betrays his own folly, and divine
Providence makes fools of them all, <scripRef id="Is.xx-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.11" parsed="|Isa|19|11|0|0" passage="Isa 19:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. Pharaoh had his wise
counsellors. Egypt was famous for such. But their <i>counsel has
all become brutish;</i> they have lost all their forecast; one
would think they had become idiots, and were bereaved of common
sense. Let no man glory then in his own wisdom, nor depend upon
that, nor upon the wisdom of those about him; for he that gives
understanding can when he please take it away. And from those it is
most likely to be taken away that boast of their policy, as
Pharaoh's counsellors here did, and, to recommend themselves to
places of public trust, boast of their great understanding ("<i>I
am the son of the wise,</i> of the God of wisdom, of wisdom
itself," says one; "my father was an eminent privy-counsellor of
note in his day for wisdom"), or of the antiquity and dignity of
their families: "I am," says another, "<i>the son of ancient
kings.</i>" The nobles of Egypt boasted much of their antiquity,
producing fabulous records of their succession for above 10,000
years. This humour prevailed much among them about this time, as
appears by Herodotus, their common boast being that Egypt was some
thousands of years more ancient than any other nation. "But
<i>where are thy wise men?</i> <scripRef id="Is.xx-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.12" parsed="|Isa|19|12|0|0" passage="Isa 19:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. Let them now show their wisdom
by foreseeing what ruin is coming upon their nation, and preventing
it, if they can. Let them with all their skill <i>know what the
Lord of hosts has purposed upon Egypt,</i> and arm themselves
accordingly. Nay, so far are they from doing this that they
themselves are, in effect, contriving the ruin of Egypt, and
hastening it on, <scripRef id="Is.xx-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.13" parsed="|Isa|19|13|0|0" passage="Isa 19:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>. <i>The princes of Noph</i> are not only deceived
themselves, but they <i>have seduced Egypt,</i> by putting their
kings upon arbitrary proceedings" (by which both themselves and
their people were soon undone); "the governors of Egypt, that are
the stay and cornerstones of the tribes thereof, are themselves
undermining it." It is sad with a people when those that undertake
for their safety are helping forward their destruction, and the
physicians of the state are her worst disease, when the things that
belong to the public peace are so far hidden from the eyes of those
that are entrusted with the public counsels that in every thing
they blunder and take wrong measures; so here (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.14" parsed="|Isa|19|14|0|0" passage="Isa 19:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): <i>They have caused Egypt to
err in every work thereof.</i> Every step they took was a false
step. They always mistook either the end or the means, and their
counsels were all unsteady and uncertain, like the staggerings and
stammerings of a drunken man in his vomit, who knows not what he
says nor where he goes. See what reason we have to pray for our
privy-counsellors and ministers of state, who are the great
supports and blessings of the state if God give them a spirit of
wisdom, but quite the contrary if he hide their heart from
understanding.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xx-p8" shownumber="no">V. The rod of government shall be turned
into the serpent of tyranny and oppression (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.4" parsed="|Isa|19|4|0|0" passage="Isa 19:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): "<i>The Egyptians will I give
over into the hand of a cruel lord,</i> not a foreigner, but one of
their own, one that shall rule over them by an hereditary right,
but shall be a fierce king and rule them with rigour," either the
twelve tyrants that succeeded Sethon, or rather Psammetichus that
recovered the monarchy again; for he speaks of one cruel lord. Now
the barbarous usage which the Egyptian task masters gave to God's
Israel long ago was remembered against them and they were paid in
their own coin by another Pharaoh. It is sad with a people when the
powers that should be for edification are for destruction, and they
are ruined by those by whom they should be ruled, when such as this
is the manner of the king, as it is described (<i>in terrorem—in
order to impress alarm</i>), <scripRef id="Is.xx-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.8.11" parsed="|1Sam|8|11|0|0" passage="1Sa 8:11">1 Sam.
viii. 11</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xx-p9" shownumber="no">VI. Egypt was famous for its river Nile,
which was its wealth, and strength, and beauty, and was idolized by
them. Now it is here threatened that <i>the waters shall fail from
the sea</i> and the river shall be <i>wasted and dried up,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.xx-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.5" parsed="|Isa|19|5|0|0" passage="Isa 19:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. Nature shall
not herein favour them as she has done. Egypt was never watered
with the rain of heaven (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.14.18" parsed="|Zech|14|18|0|0" passage="Zec 14:18">Zech. xiv.
18</scripRef>), and therefore the fruitfulness of their country
depended wholly upon the overflowing of their river; if that
therefore be dried up, their fruitful land will soon be turned into
barrenness and their harvests cease: <i>Every thing sown by the
brooks will wither</i> of course, will <i>be driven away, and be no
more,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xx-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.7" parsed="|Isa|19|7|0|0" passage="Isa 19:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. If
the paper-reeds by the brooks, at the very mouth of them, wither,
much more the corn, which lies at a greater distance, but derives
its moisture from them. Yet this is not all; the drying up of their
rivers is the destruction, 1. Of their fortifications, for they are
<i>brooks of defence</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.6" parsed="|Isa|19|6|0|0" passage="Isa 19:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>), making the country difficult of access to an enemy.
Deep rivers are the strongest lines, and most hardly forced.
Pharaoh is said to be a <i>great dragon lying in the midst of his
rivers,</i> and guarded by them, bidding defiance to all about him,
<scripRef id="Is.xx-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.29.3" parsed="|Ezek|29|3|0|0" passage="Eze 29:3">Ezek. xxix. 3</scripRef>. But these
<i>shall be emptied and dried up,</i> not by an enemy, as
Sennacherib with the <i>sole of his foot dried up mighty rivers</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.xx-p9.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.37.25" parsed="|Isa|37|25|0|0" passage="Isa 37:25"><i>ch.</i> xxxvii. 25</scripRef>),
and as Cyrus, who took Babylon by drawing Euphrates into many
streams, but by the providence of God, which sometimes <i>turns
water-springs into dry ground,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xx-p9.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.107.33" parsed="|Ps|107|33|0|0" passage="Ps 107:33">Ps. cvii. 33</scripRef>. 2. It is the destruction of
their fish, which in Egypt was much of their food, witness that
base reflection which the children of Israel made (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p9.8" osisRef="Bible:Num.11.5" parsed="|Num|11|5|0|0" passage="Nu 11:5">Num. xi. 5</scripRef>): <i>We remember the fish
which we did eat in Egypt freely.</i> The drying up of the rivers
will <i>kill the fish</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p9.9" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.29" parsed="|Ps|105|29|0|0" passage="Ps 105:29">Ps. cv.
29</scripRef>), and will thereby ruin those who make it their
business, (1.) To catch fish, whether by angling or nets (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p9.10" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.8" parsed="|Isa|19|8|0|0" passage="Isa 19:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>); they shall
<i>lament</i> and <i>languish,</i> for their trade is at an end.
There is nothing which the children of this world do more heartily
lament than the loss of that which they used to get money by.
<i>Ploratur lachrymis amissa pecunia veris—Those are genuine tears
which are shed over lost money.</i> (2.) To keep fish, that it may
be ready when it is called for. There were those that <i>made
sluices and ponds for fish</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p9.11" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.10" parsed="|Isa|19|10|0|0" passage="Isa 19:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>), but <i>they shall be broken
in the purposes thereof;</i> their business will fail, either for
want of water to fill their ponds or for want of fish to replenish
their waters. God can find ways to deprive a country even of that
which is its staple commodity. The Egyptians may themselves
remember <i>the fish they have formerly eaten freely,</i> but now
cannot have for money. And that which aggravates the loss of these
advantages by the river is that it is their own doing (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p9.12" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.6" parsed="|Isa|19|6|0|0" passage="Isa 19:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): <i>They shall turn the
rivers far away.</i> Their kings and great men, to gratify their
own fancy, will drain water from the main river to their own houses
and grounds at a distance, preferring their private convenience
before the public good, and so by degrees the force of the river is
sensibly weakened. Thus many do themselves a greater prejudice at
last than they think of, [1.] Who pretend to be wiser than nature,
and to do better for themselves than nature has done. [2.] Who
consult their own particular interest more than the common good.
Such may gratify themselves, but surely they can never satisfy
themselves, who to serve a turn contribute to a public calamity,
which they themselves, in the long run, cannot avoid sharing in.
Herodotus tells us that Pharaoh-Necho (who reigned not long after
this), projecting to cut a free passage by water from Nilus into
the Red Sea, employed a vast number of men to make a ditch or
channel for that purpose, in which attempt he impaired the river,
lost 120,000 of his people, and yet left the work
unaccomplished.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xx-p10" shownumber="no">VII. Egypt was famous for the linen
manufacture; but that trade shall be ruined. Solomon's merchants
traded with Egypt for linen-yarn, <scripRef id="Is.xx-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.10.28" parsed="|1Kgs|10|28|0|0" passage="1Ki 10:28">1
Kings x. 28</scripRef>. Their country produced the best flax and
the best hands to work it; but <i>those that work in fine flax
shall be confounded</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.9" parsed="|Isa|19|9|0|0" passage="Isa 19:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>), either for want of flax to work on or for want of a
demand for that which they have worked or opportunity to export it.
The decay of trade weakens and wastes a nation and by degrees
brings it to ruin. The trade of Egypt must needs sink, for
(<scripRef id="Is.xx-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.15" parsed="|Isa|19|15|0|0" passage="Isa 19:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>) <i>there
shall not be any work for Egypt</i> to be employed in; and where
there is nothing to be done there is nothing to be got. There shall
be a universal stop put to business, <i>no work which either head
or tail, branch or rush, may do;</i> nothing for high or low, weak
or strong, to do; <i>no hire,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xx-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Zech.8.10" parsed="|Zech|8|10|0|0" passage="Zec 8:10">Zech. viii. 10</scripRef>. Note, The flourishing of a
kingdom depends much upon the industry of the people; and
<i>then</i> things are likely to do well when all hands are at
work, when the head and top-branch do not disdain to labour, and
the labour of the tail and rush is not disdained. But when the
learned professions are unemployed, the principal merchants have no
stocks, and the handicraft tradesmen nothing to do, poverty comes
upon a people <i>as one that travaileth</i> and <i>as an armed
man.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xx-p11" shownumber="no">VIII. A general consternation shall seize
the Egyptians; they <i>shall be afraid and fear</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.16" parsed="|Isa|19|16|0|0" passage="Isa 19:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>), which will be both an
evidence of a universal decay and a means and presage of utter
ruin. Two things will put them into this fright:—1. What they
hear from <i>the land of Judah;</i> that <i>shall be a terror to
Egypt,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xx-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.17" parsed="|Isa|19|17|0|0" passage="Isa 19:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>.
When they hear of the desolations made in Judah by the army of
Sennacherib, considering both the near neighbourhood and the strict
alliance that was between them and Judah, they will conclude it
must be their turn next to become a prey to that victorious army.
When their neighbour's house was on fire they could not but see
their own in danger; and therefore every one of the Egyptians that
makes mention of Judah shall be afraid of himself, expecting the
bitter cup shortly to be put into his hands. 2. What they see in
their own land. They shall <i>fear</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.16" parsed="|Isa|19|16|0|0" passage="Isa 19:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>) <i>because of the shaking of
the hand of the Lord of hosts,</i> and (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.17" parsed="|Isa|19|17|0|0" passage="Isa 19:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>) <i>because of the counsel of
the Lord of hosts,</i> which from the shaking of his hand they
shall conclude <i>he has determined</i> against Egypt as well as
Judah. For, if judgment begin at the house of God, where will it
end? <i>If this be done in the green tree, what shall be done in
the dry?</i> See here, (1.) How easily God can make those a terror
to themselves that have been, not only secure, but a terror to all
about them. It is but shaking his hand over them, or laying it upon
some of their neighbours, and the stoutest hearts tremble
immediately. (2.) How well it becomes us to fear before God when he
does but shake his hand over us, and to humble ourselves under his
mighty hand when it does but threaten us, especially when we see
his counsel determined against us; for who can change his
counsel?</p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.xx-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.18-Isa.19.25" parsed="|Isa|19|18|19|25" passage="Isa 19:18-25" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.xx-p11.6">
<h4 id="Is.xx-p11.7">Promises to Egypt. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xx-p11.8">b. c.</span> 710.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.xx-p12" shownumber="no">18 In that day shall five cities in the land of
Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xx-p12.1">Lord</span> of hosts; one shall be called, The city of
destruction.   19 In that day shall there be an altar to the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xx-p12.2">Lord</span> in the midst of the land of
Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xx-p12.3">Lord</span>.   20 And it shall be for a sign and
for a witness unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xx-p12.4">Lord</span> of hosts
in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xx-p12.5">Lord</span> because of the oppressors, and he shall
send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.
  21 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xx-p12.6">Lord</span> shall be
known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xx-p12.7">Lord</span> in that day, and shall do sacrifice and
oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xx-p12.8">Lord</span>, and perform <i>it.</i>   22 And the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xx-p12.9">Lord</span> shall smite Egypt: he shall
smite and heal <i>it:</i> and they shall return <i>even</i> to the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xx-p12.10">Lord</span>, and he shall be intreated of
them, and shall heal them.   23 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 the Egyptians shall serve
with the Assyrians.   24 In that day shall Israel be the third
with Egypt and with Assyria, <i>even</i> a blessing in the midst of
the land:   25 Whom the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xx-p12.11">Lord</span> of
hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed <i>be</i> Egypt my people, and
Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xx-p13" shownumber="no">Out of the thick and threatening clouds of
the foregoing prophecy the sun of comfort here breaks forth, and it
is the sun of righteousness. Still God has mercy in store for
Egypt, and he will show it, not so much by reviving their trade and
replenishing their river again as by bringing the true religion
among them, calling them to, and accepting them in, the worship of
the one only living and true God; and these blessings of grace were
much more valuable than all the blessings of nature wherewith Egypt
was enriched. We know not of any event in which this prophecy can
be thought to have its full accomplishment short of the conversion
of Egypt to the faith of Christ, by the preaching (as is supposed)
of Mark the Evangelist, and the founding of many Christian churches
there, which flourished for many ages. Many prophecies of this book
point to the days of the Messiah; and why not this? It is no
unusual thing to speak of gospel graces and ordinances in the
language of the Old-Testament institutions. And, in these
prophecies, those words, <i>in that day,</i> perhaps have not
always a reference to what goes immediately before, but have a
peculiar significancy pointing at that day which had been so long
fixed, and so often spoken of, when the day-spring from on high
should visit this dark world. Yet it is not improbable (which some
conjecture) that this prophecy was in part fulfilled when those
Jews who fled from their own country to take shelter in Egypt, when
Sennacherib invaded their land, brought their religion along with
them, and, being awakened to great seriousness by the troubles they
were in, made an open and zealous profession of it there, and were
instrumental to bring many of the Egyptians to embrace it, which
was an earnest and specimen of the more plentiful harvest of souls
that should be gathered in to God by the preaching of the gospel of
Christ. Josephus indeed tells us that Onias the son of Onias the
high priest, living an outlaw at Alexandria in Egypt, obtained
leave of Ptolemy Philometer, then king, and Cleopatra his queen, to
build a temple to the God of Israel, like that at Jerusalem, at
Bubastis in Egypt, and pretended a warrant for doing it from this
prophecy in Isaiah, that there shall be an <i>altar to the Lord in
the land of Egypt;</i> and the service of God, Josephus affirms,
continued in it about 333 years, when it was shut up by Paulinus
soon after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans; see
<i>Antiq.</i> 13.62-79, and <i>Jewish War</i> 7.426-436. But that
temple was all along looked upon by the pious Jews as so great an
irregularity, and an affront to the temple at Jerusalem, that we
cannot suppose this prophecy to be fulfilled in it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xx-p14" shownumber="no">Observe how the conversion of Egypt is here
described.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xx-p15" shownumber="no">I. They shall <i>speak the language of
Canaan,</i> the holy language, the scripture-language; they shall
not only understand it, but use it (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.18" parsed="|Isa|19|18|0|0" passage="Isa 19:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>); they shall introduce that
language among them, and converse freely with the people of God,
and not, as they used to do, <i>by an interpreter,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xx-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.42.23" parsed="|Gen|42|23|0|0" passage="Ge 42:23">Gen. xlii. 23</scripRef>. Note, Converting
grace, by changing the heart, changes the language; <i>for out of
the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Five cities in
Egypt</i> shall speak this language; so many Jews shall come to
reside in Egypt, and they shall so multiply there, that they shall
soon replenish five cities, one of which shall be the city of
Heres, or of the sun, Heliopolis, where the sun was worshipped, the
most infamous of all the cities of Egypt for idolatry; even there
shall be a wonderful reformation, they shall speak the language of
Canaan. Or it may be taken thus, as we render it—That for every
five cities that shall embrace religion there shall be one (a sixth
part of the cities of Egypt) that shall reject it, and that shall
be called <i>a city of destruction,</i> because it refuses the
methods of salvation.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xx-p16" shownumber="no">II. They shall swear to the Lord of hosts,
not only swear by him, giving him the honour of appealing to him,
as all nations did to the gods they worshipped; but they shall by a
solemn oath and vow devote themselves to his honour and bind
themselves to his service. They shall swear to cleave to him with
purpose of heart, and shall worship him, not occasionally, but
constantly. They shall swear allegiance to him as their King, to
Christ, to whom all judgment is committed.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xx-p17" shownumber="no">III. They shall set up the public worship
of God in their land (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.19" parsed="|Isa|19|19|0|0" passage="Isa 19:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>): <i>There shall be an altar to the Lord</i> in the
<i>midst of the land of Egypt,</i> an altar on which <i>they shall
do sacrifice and oblation</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.21" parsed="|Isa|19|21|0|0" passage="Isa 19:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>); therefore it must be
understood spiritually. Christ, the great altar, who sanctifies
every gift, shall be owned there, and the gospel sacrifices of
prayer and praise shall be offered up; for by the law of Moses
there was to be no altar for sacrifice but that at Jerusalem. In
Christ Jesus all distinction of nations is taken away; and a
spiritual altar, a gospel church, in the midst of the land of
Egypt, is as acceptable to God as one in the midst of the land of
Israel; and spiritual sacrifices of faith and love, and a contrite
heart, <i>please the Lord better than an ox or bullock.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xx-p18" shownumber="no">IV. There shall be a face of religion upon
the nation, and an open profession made of it, discernible to all
who come among them. Not only in the heart of the country, but even
in <i>the borders</i> of it, <i>there shall be a pillar,</i> or
pillars, inscribed, <i>To Jehovah,</i> to his honour, as before
there had been such pillars set up in honour of false gods. As soon
as a stranger entered upon the borders of Egypt he might perceive
what god they worshipped. Those that serve God must not be ashamed
to own him, but be forward to do any thing that may be for a sign
and for a witness to the Lord of hosts. Even in the land of Egypt
he had some faithful worshippers, who boasted of their relation to
him and made his name their strong tower, or bulwark, on their
borders, with which their coasts were fortified against all
assailants.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xx-p19" shownumber="no">V. Being in distress, they shall seek to
God, and he shall be found of them; and this <i>shall be a sign and
a witness for the Lord of hosts</i> that he is a <i>God hearing
prayer</i> to <i>all flesh</i> that <i>come to him,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xx-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.20" parsed="|Isa|19|20|0|0" passage="Isa 19:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. See <scripRef id="Is.xx-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.65.2" parsed="|Ps|65|2|0|0" passage="Ps 65:2">Ps. lxv. 2</scripRef>. When they cry to God by reason of
their oppressors, the cruel lords that shall <i>rule over them</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.xx-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.4" parsed="|Isa|19|4|0|0" passage="Isa 19:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>) he <i>shall
be entreated of them</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.22" parsed="|Isa|19|22|0|0" passage="Isa 19:22"><i>v.</i>
22</scripRef>); whereas he had told his people Israel, who had made
it their own choice to have such a king, that they should <i>cry to
him by reason of their king,</i> and he <i>would not hear them,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.xx-p19.5" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.8.18" parsed="|1Sam|8|18|0|0" passage="1Sa 8:18">1 Sam. viii. 18</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xx-p20" shownumber="no">VI. They shall have an interest in the
great Redeemer. When they were under the oppression of cruel lords
perhaps God sometimes raised them up mighty deliverers, as he did
for Israel in the days of the judges; and by them, though he had
smitten the land, he healed it again; and, upon their return to God
in a way of duty, he returned to them in a way of mercy, and
repaired the breaches of their tottering state. For repenting
Egyptians shall find the same favour with God that repenting
Ninevites did. But all these deliverances wrought for them, as
those for Israel, were but figures of gospel salvation. Doubtless
Jesus Christ is <i>the Saviour and the great one</i> here spoken
of, whom God will send the glad tidings of to the Egyptians, and by
whom he will <i>deliver them out of the hands of their enemies,</i>
that they may <i>serve him without fear,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xx-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.1.74-Luke.1.75" parsed="|Luke|1|74|1|75" passage="Lu 1:74,75">Luke i. 74, 75</scripRef>. Jesus Christ delivered the
Gentile nations from the service of dumb idols, and did himself
both purchase and preach liberty to the captives.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xx-p21" shownumber="no">VII. The knowledge of God shall prevail
among them, <scripRef id="Is.xx-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.21" parsed="|Isa|19|21|0|0" passage="Isa 19:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>.
1. They shall have the means of knowledge. For many ages in
<i>Judah only was God known,</i> for there only were the lively
oracles found; but now <i>the Lord,</i> and his name and will,
<i>shall be known to Egypt.</i> Perhaps this may in part refer to
the translation of the Old Testament out of Hebrew into Greek by
the LXX., which was done at Alexandria in Egypt, by the command of
Ptolemy king of Egypt; and it was the first time that the
scriptures were translated into any other language. By the help of
this (the Grecian monarchy having introduced their language into
that country) <i>the Lord was known to Egypt,</i> and a happy omen
and means it was of his being further known. 2. They shall have
grace to improve those means. It is promised not only that the Lord
shall be known to Egypt, but that <i>the Egyptians shall know the
Lord;</i> they shall receive and entertain the light granted to
them, and shall submit themselves to the power of it. The Lord is
known to our nation, and yet I fear there are many of our nation
that do not know the Lord. But the promise of the new covenant is
that <i>all shall know the Lord, from the least even to the
greatest,</i> which promise is sure to all the seed. The effect of
this knowledge of God is that <i>they shall vow a vow to the Lord
and perform it.</i> For those do not know God aright who either are
not willing to come under binding obligations to the Lord or do not
make good those obligations.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xx-p22" shownumber="no">VIII. They shall come into the communion of
saints. Being joined to the Lord, they shall be added to the
church, and be incorporated with all the saints. 1. All enmities
shall be slain. Mortal feuds there had been between Egypt and
Assyria; they often made war upon one another; but now <i>there
shall be a highway between Egypt and Assyria</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.23" parsed="|Isa|19|23|0|0" passage="Isa 19:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>), a happy
correspondence settled between he two nations; they shall trade
with one another, and every thing that passes between them shall be
friendly. <i>The Egyptians shall serve</i> (shall worship the true
God) <i>with the Assyrians;</i> and therefore the Assyrians shall
come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria. Note, It becomes
those who have communion with the same God, through the same
Mediator, to keep up an amicable correspondence with one another.
The consideration of our meeting at the same throne of grace, and
our serving with each other in the same business of religion,
should put an end to all heats and animosities, and knit our hearts
to each other in holy love. 2. The Gentile nations shall not only
unite with each other in the gospel fold under Christ the great
shepherd, but they shall all be united with the Jews. When Egypt
and Assyria become partners in serving God <i>Israel</i> shall
<i>make a third with</i> them (<scripRef id="Is.xx-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.24" parsed="|Isa|19|24|0|0" passage="Isa 19:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>); they shall become a
<i>three-fold cord, not easily broken.</i> The ceremonial law,
which had long been the partition-wall between Jews and Gentiles,
shall be taken down, and then they shall become <i>one sheep-fold
under one shepherd.</i> Thus united, they shall be <i>a blessing in
the midst of the land, whom the Lord of hosts shall bless,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.xx-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.24-Isa.19.25" parsed="|Isa|19|24|19|25" passage="Isa 19:24,25"><i>v.</i> 24, 25</scripRef>. (1.)
Israel shall be a blessing to them all, because of <i>them, as
concerning the flesh, Christ came,</i> and they were the natural
branches of the good olive, to whom did originally pertain <i>its
root and fatness,</i> and the Gentiles were but <i>grafted in among
them,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xx-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.11.17" parsed="|Rom|11|17|0|0" passage="Ro 11:17">Rom. xi. 17</scripRef>.
Israel lay between Egypt and Assyria, and was a blessing to them
both by bringing them to meet in that word of the Lord which went
forth from Jerusalem, and that church which was first set up in the
land of Israel. <i>Qui conveniunt in aliquo tertio inter se
conveniunt—Those who meet in a third meet in each other.</i>
Israel is that third in whom Egypt and Assyria agree, and is
therefore a blessing; for those are real and great blessings to
their generation who are instrumental to unite those that have been
at variance. (2.) They shall all be a blessing to the world: so the
Christian church is, made up of Jews and Gentiles; it is the
beauty, riches, and support of the world. (3.) They shall all be
blessed of the Lord. [1.] They shall all be owned by him as his.
Though Egypt was formerly a house of bondage to the people of God,
and Assyria an unjust invader of them, all this shall now be
forgiven and forgotten, and they shall be as welcome to God as
Israel. They are all alike his people whom he takes under his
protection. They are formed by him, for they are the <i>work of his
hands;</i> not only as <i>a</i> people, but as <i>his</i> people.
They are formed for him; for they are his inheritance, precious in
his eyes, and dear to him, and from whom he has his rent of honour
out of this lower world. [2.] They shall be owned together by him
as jointly his, his in concert; they shall all share in one and the
same blessing. Note, Those that are united in the love and blessing
of God ought, for that reason, to be united to each other in
charity.</p>
</div></div2>