Continuing in Isaiah chapter 18 and the Bible reads woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia
That sendeth ambassadors by the sea even in vessels of bulrushes upon water saying go
East with messengers to a nation scattered and peeled to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto a
Nation meted out and trotted down whose land the rivers have spoiled all ye inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth
See ye when he lifteth up and ensign on the mountains and when he bloweth the trumpet hear ye for so the Lord said
Onto me I will take my rest and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs
And like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest
For for the harvest when the bud is perfect and the sour grape is ripening in the flower
He shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks and take away and cut down the branches
They shall be left together onto the fowls of the mountains and to the beasts of the earth and the foul shall summer upon them
And the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them in that time shall the present be brought unto the Lord of hosts of a
people scattered and peeled and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto a
Nation meted out and trodden underfoot whose land the rivers have spoiled
The place of the name of the Lord of hosts the Mount Zion. Let's pray
Thank you Heavenly Father for the King James Bible. Dear God, we thank you for this wonderful church
You've given us thank you for our pastor
We pray that you please fill them with your holy spirit tonight as he preaches your word in Jesus name. Amen
So as you very well may have noticed chapter 18 is a very short chapter with only seven verses
And so tonight I'm actually going to use that as the introduction
Chapter 18 and then I'm going to preach through chapter 19 because it's more extensive there
But let me just get a little bit of review from last week. And in fact, I'm only going to cover
One verse from chapter 17 if you remember in chapter 17
It was essentially a judgment against Damascus, which is the capital of Syria and then a judgment on Ephraim
Which is just another way of saying Israel and the reason God is coupling both of these nations
For judgment is because of the fact that they were making affinity one with another to fight against Judah
And so God is punishing Damascus. He's punishing Israel because they are
Confederate one with another against the southern kingdom of Judah and I want you to notice verse number 10
We're just gonna look at one verse here in chapter 17 that I didn't get a chance to cover last week
But I felt it was important to to just touch on this
It says here verse number 10 because that was forgotten the God of thy salvation and has not been
mindful of the rock of thy strength
Therefore shall thou plant pleasant plants and shall set it with strange slips now
I mentioned last week that when it says that they've forgotten the God of that of their salvation
It's just another way of saying that they've apostatized
And in fact, we went through a couple scriptures particularly in the New Testament in first Corinthians 15
Talking about keeping the gospel in memory, right?
and the reason they forgot the God of their salvation or the reason God says that they forgot is because they're worshiping false gods and so
They are serving, worshiping, believing in idols and false gods. And so they don't know the God of the Bible
They've essentially apostatized referring to the northern kingdom. They've apostatized. They don't
Worship or serve the true God of the Bible. And so that is very much something that we see throughout the Old Testament
But I want you to notice this towards the latter end of verse number 10
It says therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants. Now, what does that mean exactly?
Well, what I believe it's referring to is that they're going to produce future generations. Okay, so if they were to be
Likened unto a vineyard
Trees there. He's basically saying you're gonna plant plant pleasant plants your children your great-grandchildren
So on and so forth, but I want you to notice this it says and shall set it with strange slips
Now what is a slip? Well slip is essentially a soft wood cutting or shoot. It's that which is used for
Grafting. Okay, if you're to graft a branch into a tree
You would essentially grab that branch from a different tree put it with a new tree and bind it
Until eventually it would fuse with that particular tree and become a part of it, right?
And it's saying here that they will be set with strange slips
So these future generations that are coming
Years after they've apostatized will be grafted in with strange slips. And what's another way of saying strange foreign, right?
That which is foreign and obviously what's being indicated here is that Israel would eventually mix themselves with
the foreign nations and become like the foreign nations
Permanently and this is very much something that took place because the ten tribes that make up that northern kingdom
When they were scattered did intermingle with the heathen to the point that when Jesus Christ came in the first century AD
They were no longer referred to as Israel. And in fact, they were described as the Samaritans
So those ten tribes no longer existed
They were now addressed as the Samaritans and it's pretty it's somewhat poetic, right?
Because of the fact that instead of being grafted into Jesus Christ by their faith in Jesus
They were instead grafted into a foreign nation into unbelief into the heathen and therefore by the time Christ came
They were no longer even recognized by Jesus as being Israelites or of the ten tribes
Why because they were grafted in with strange slips now hold your place or go to Hosea chapter 7 Hosea chapter 7
This is of course in chapter 17 of Isaiah is just describing the judgment that's gonna come upon Ephraim
Israel and he is prophesying of the fact that that northern kingdom would no longer be existent in the future
It says in Hosea chapter 7 and verse number 8
Ephraim referring to Israel, of course, he hath mixed himself among the people. Ephraim is a cake not turned
Strangers have devoured his strength and he knoweth it not
Yay, great hairs are here and there upon him yet
He knoweth not and the pride of Israel testifies to his face and they do not return to the Lord their God nor seek him
For all of this Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart. They call to Egypt
They go to Assyria when they shall go. I will spread my net upon them
I will bring them down as the bowels of the heaven
I will chastise them as their congregation hath heard so even in Hosea chapter 7 we see that Israel already had this
Propensity to just kind of intermingle with the heathen and they don't even know that it was to their detriment
They would eventually not only lose their ethnic identity
So to speak but also their religious identity to the point where they were no longer
Worshipping the God of the Bible they're worshiping false gods and idols and this is why he says that they're essentially
Being set up these pleasant plants of the future will be set up with strange slips foreign slips
Granted into the heathen no longer referred to as the Israelites and that's important because you know people today think that these 12
Tribes still exist
Whereas 10 of those tribes for sure don't exist
I mean they they weren't even around at the time of Christ and it's because of their decision to reject the God of the Bible and
essentially inherit
observe worship false gods and idols and so I just want to make that point there because I felt like it was a
An important point to make in the decline of the nation of Israel now look at chapter 18
Let me say this regarding chapter 18. This is probably one of the hardest chapters to actually interpret in my opinion in the book of Isaiah
It's very cryptic. It's very difficult to interpret and so I'm gonna give you what I believe it's referring to and
Obviously you can come to your own conclusions
But at the end of the day, I think it's safe to say that it's simply a judgment upon
Ethiopia and keep in mind that these chapters leading up to where we're at here. They're all
Endicaments they're all maledictions against the surrounding nations
And so it follows the pattern that a nation is being judged here specifically Ethiopia
Which is also referred to in the Bible as Kush. Okay, it says in verse number one
Woe to the land shadowing the wing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia that sendeth
ambassadors by the sea even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters saying go ye swift messengers to a nation scattered and peeled
to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto a
Nation meted out and trotted down whose land the rivers have spoiled now what I believe this is talking about here
Is that he's judging Ethiopia and from what it seems?
What it what the passage seems to be saying here is that they are taking advantage of a vulnerable nation
Which would be Judah and they're trying to make alliances with a very wicked and strong nation, which is Syria now
You say where do you get that from well verse 1 tells us here that that land referring to Ethiopia is
Being shadowed with wings and this could potentially be referring to the fact that Ethiopia is just
consistently known as a nation that has a lot of insects for example, and that could be
symbolic of the fact that
Ethiopia is constantly having these diplomatic activities with other nations. Okay, because it says in verse number two
That it says go ye swift messengers referring to those ambassadors to a nation scattered and peeled
Well, what nation has been scattered and peeled over the last couple of chapters?
It's Judah. Judah's been punished by God through the Assyrians and the Assyrians came and essentially scattered them
You know taking them captive and so we see there that they're possibly taking advantage of this vulnerable nation of Judah
By just kind of picking them off. They're scattered and peeled but then it also says to a people terrible
From their beginning hitherto and I believe this is referring to the Assyrians. We'll see later on that that's potentially what it's talking about
Towards the latter end of the chapter. This is a nation made it out and trotted down whose land the rivers have spoiled
so if we were to surmise why Ethiopia is being judged it
Potentially is because of the fact that they are making affinity with the wicked nation all the while trying to take advantage of Judah
Which is scattered and peeled and obviously the principle there is that God doesn't want us to kick our enemies when they're down
Right. If you have Judas scattered and peeled have been destroyed by foreign nations
He doesn't want other nations to kind of see that as an opportunity
To take advantage of them for wicked means for resources for slavery
Whatever it may be, you know God views that and he sees that as being a very wicked device
And so he's gonna punish Ethiopia for that and then to add insult to injury
They're also making affinity with Assyria, which is also a wicked thing
We've touched on that in weeks past, you know joining the wicked in their devices. It says in verse number three
He begins to talk about the judgments that's gonna come upon
Ethiopia he says all ye inhabitants of the world and
dwellers on the earth see when he lifted up an end sign on the mountains and when he bloweth a trumpet
Hear ye so the first thing we're gonna see here is the fact that God's judgment
Will be heard about all around the world because he says all ye inhabitants of the world
So whatever judgment came upon Ethiopia, you know
The word spread quickly that this was gonna be a very destructive judgment that was gonna come upon them
It was as if a trumpet is blown. Everyone's listening to it
It's the shot that's heard around the world so to speak, right?
Everyone knows about it and so and you say well
Why would God want all the world to know about what he's doing in Ethiopia if he has nothing to do with them
The others may fear of course, right when destruction comes upon a nation
God wants us to observe that to learn from it and so that we would be prudent and hide ourselves from the evil and
Prevent ourselves from doing that which that particular nation has done. This is a verse number four for so the Lord said unto me
I will take my rest and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs and like a cloud of dew in
the heat of
Harvest and I think this is referring to the fact that the judgment upon Ethiopia will be gradual because he's saying there
He's that the Lord's gonna rest
He's gonna consider in his dwelling place and he likens it unto clear heat upon herbs as
Well as a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest it seems to give this indication that this judgment will be gradual
Until reaches this apex of just complete and utter destruction
Which we see in verse number five for a for the harvest before the harvest
When the bud is perfect and the sour grape is ripening in the flower
He shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks and take away cut down the branches. What is this talking about?
It's basically communicating the fact that the judgment will be timely. So it's like perfect because you know, the sour grapes are just ripe
that's when judgment comes right and
You know the he's gonna cut off the springs with the pruning hooks take down the branches
It's almost as if everything's beautiful in his time. So God knows exactly when to strike exactly went to chest eyes
Exactly went to prune and to destroy and so his judgments are timely
He goes on to say in verse number six and it gets a little it gets a little morbid here
But hey God's judgments are often morbid. Okay, it says in verse six
They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains
And to the beasts of the earth and the fowls shall summer upon them and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them
So well, how's that morbid? Well, he's basically saying that
Carcasses are just gonna be laid out in Ethiopia. No one's gonna bury them
You say well, how do you know because he's giving these carcasses for the fouls of the mountain of fouls
Just another way of saying birds. Okay
So the birds have their buffet of carcasses for the entire summer and then it says that the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them
So there's enough carcasses to last up until the winter time where the beasts will come and feast upon them. He said man
Is it really saying that? Yeah, and you know
this is not the first time that God gives the carcasses of the land to the beasts of the field nor will it be the last, okay, and
You know if you read Revelation 19, for example, he gives all of these
You know the Antichrist his false prophet in the armies
They die a horrible death and the armies their bodies are given to the the fowls of the air
This is why the whole Tibetan, you know, you know a funeral ceremony is wicked, right?
They have this Tibetan funeral where if you want your carcass can be your your corpse can be taken
The thing is to the Tibetan Mountains and they'll give your carcass to the fowls of the air to come and eat the vultures are coming
Just feast upon you and it's just like well, you know, it's really great because you know, they obey you basically go back into the earth
No, you're you're eaten by birds and then they crap you out. Okay, it's a very dishonorable death
And when you compare it to the depths of the Bible, that's something that God did to people that he wanted to dishonor and disrespect
that was
essentially a token of
Judgment upon a nation because they're not given a proper burial understand
And so there's no honor there and God is obviously trying to dishonor
Ethiopia to the point where no one's burying these bodies from summer all the way up until winter and
He's just kind of giving it to the fouls of the air
It's for sure now we see what Jesus said when he when he talks about, you know that he thinks about
Birds, you know, he's like, you know, he knows when they have to eat and you know, it's like hey, he's taking care of him
Even even with the bodies of of wicked people who have perished and so you say why would he put that there?
well as as you know as a testimony unto us of what happens to a nation that
Rejects the Lord takes advantage of the innocent and joins affinity with the wicked nation
says in verse 7 in that time shall the present be brought into the Lord of Hosts of a people scattered and peeled and
From a people terrible from their beginning hitherto a nation meted out and trotted underfoot
Whose land the rivers have spoiled to the place of the name of the Lord of Hosts the Mount Zion now
What is this referring to? Well, this is essentially a promise of the Lord receiving recompense and it's somewhat figurative of the millennial reign
But it's saying what's what's interesting about this particular passage comparing other passages talking about the millennial reign is that often?
The passages that we've seen in times past often focus on how God's gonna recompense us
How God's gonna restore the land and bless the people and they shall experience peace
Whereas in this particular verse it's talking about the present that shall be brought unto the Lord, right?
so it's more so focused on the Lord receiving the recompense and
You know, he's receiving those presents and who does he receive them of the people scattered and peeled which is referring to Judah and
From a people terrible from the beginning hitherto which I believe is referring to Assyria and we're gonna see that in chapter
19 in just a bit a nation meted out trotted underfoot whose land the rivers have spoiled the place of the name of the
Lord of hosts the Mount Zion
It's basically saying there will come a time in the future where these nations will be in unity one with another
Because of the Lord right they will have that common ground and they will bring presence unto the Lord
Of course, it's referring to Mount Zion referring to Jerusalem when Jesus Christ rules and reigns there and at the end of the day
It's it's simply saying that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father
Every knee shall bow every tongue shall confess no matter what nation you are a part of so that's a very cryptic chapter
But I believe that's what it's referring to there now. Let's look at chapter 19
We're gonna spend the rest of the sermon here in this particular chapter now
This chapter highlights the judgment as well as the salvation of Egypt and that's kind of interesting is it not because you know
Egypt doesn't seem like a nation that would be a candidate for salvation, right?
Like throughout biblical history Egypt has just always had a bad rap, you know, there were constantly the enemies of God
You know, they had a good run with Joseph, but thereafter they're just warring with Israel
They're oppressing the Israelites to the point where Egypt in general is symbolically representing the world
Pharaoh's often symbolic representation of Satan anytime
God is trying to communicate to his people not to go to the world or not to adhere to the world's
Philosophies or trust in the world's riches
He often uses Egypt as a picture of that, right?
And in fact in the book of Revelation when describing the physical nation of Israel
He calls it spiritual Sodom and Egypt. Okay, so it obviously has a very negative connotation to it
But in chapter 19, we see that you know what the Lord still loves a lot of those Egyptians and he wants them to be saved
Okay, and even though you know, Egypt is a picture of the world
The Bible does say for God so loved the world and so he wants them to be saved and he loves many of the Egyptians
And that's one of the reasons why many of the Egyptians were
Permitted to join the Israelites during the exodus right that mixed multitude that came out
They were permitted to go with them and worship the Lord. And so he has a heart for the Egyptians
But first comes judgment though. Okay, so before we talk about the salvation of Egypt, there's always judgment first
Okay, so let's look at the burden of Egypt in verse number one
It says the burden of Egypt behold the Lord righteth 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
So the first thing I want you to notice is that term burden basically saying hey buckle your seat belts
This message is gonna be heavy on
Egypt and he describes the Lord riding upon a swift cloud. Why is that? Well, you think of a cloud that
Overspreads upon a city. It's often an indicator that it's going to rain
Well, if the Lord is riding upon that swift cloud, it's symbolically representing that God's gonna reign judgment upon that nation
He's gonna bring wrath upon them
You know is not Israel, but Egypt is pretty much accustomed to that
You know
They were a nation that was greatly destroyed of the Lord by the hand of the prophet Moses and his brother Aaron
When they were seeking to release the Israelites from the bondage of Egypt and so he's coming upon a swift cloud and it says there
That the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence
Now this should come as no surprise because of the fact that we know that Egypt in
General was a nation that was very much pagan
polytheistic
Worshipping a plethora of false gods
worshipping cats, you know
worshipping animals and
Even dogs as well, you know
Worshipping just every you know, just just turning the the the glory of God into four-footed beasts and creeping things
They were very much a pagan
polytheistic nation and
It says there that the idols will be moved out of presence. Why is that?
Well, it's because of the fact that idols are simply devils, right?
You know when we think of idols a statue some sort of molten or graven image
Physically, that's what it looks like but from a spiritual perspective, there's actually a devil behind that demon
Okay, there's actually a demon a devil that is essentially
You know promoting the worship of that particular idol
You know, the New Testament tells us that it says what say I then that the idol is anything or that which is offered to idols
Is anything but I say that the things which which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice unto devils and not to God
And I would not that you should have fellowship with devils
He says so the Apostle Paul saying hey when you look at these Greeks and these Romans and all of these four nations
Doing sacrifice to these physical images these physical
Graven images you think of them as idols and yeah
They're nothing but at the end of the day from a spiritual perspective
They're devils and it's interesting because he says that they sacrifice to devils and not to God
So this is showing us that there's people who will sacrifice
Pay homage to pray to an idol that they may think is God, but it's not a God
It's a devil. So just because you call a God just because you call him Jesus
Just because you call her Mary just because you call her Saint whatever
Joseph st. Mark, whatever doesn't mean that's what it is because he says they're actually devils and you're not doing it unto God
Okay
and so the principle that we can learn here is the fact that
Idols the reason idolatry is such a wicked sin especially in the New Testament is because at the end of the day if a Christian
Possesses a physical idol of a false. God even if it's for
Sentimental value because it was given to you by whoever, you know
You're basically in possession of a devil and I would not be you should have fellowship with devils
The Bible says now with that being said the reason the idols are moved at his presence is because if these idols are devils
Devils are greatly afraid of the Lord Jesus Christ, right?
They're afraid of God and in fact throughout his ministry
You see that devils would fall before him and say, you know
thou art the Son of God are thou here to torment us before the time and
They were greatly afraid of the Lord because he is their judge and the Bible tells us in James chapter 2
It tells us thou believe is that there is one God I'll do as well the devil's believe and what?
tremble the Bible says so as terrifying as devils and demons are and as
Terrifying as people make them out to be at the end of the day
They're terrified of the Lord and we should obviously be more
terrified of the Lord as well. In fact, the Bible says that God is terrible and he is
Greatly, he should be greatly feared not just reverence but actually greatly feared because he's almighty all-powerful
I think there was a sermon preached on that on Sunday or something. And so we see here that this judgment will be so
Replete and so severe that even the idols of Egypt will be moved at his presence
They're like, oh man, we're about to be judged. God is gonna come down on us
He's gonna come down and obviously if we were to just surmise why the idols or the devils are moved at his presence
It's because of the fact that they have presence there in Egypt
And so if God comes and just destroys their religious, you know cult they're no longer going to worship these devils
And so these devils are out of a job. They need to find a new nation to take over and deceive and so that's important
So he says there he's gonna come upon them like a cloud
Even the idols will be moved at his presence
It says in verse number two and I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians now
We're gonna look here from verses 2 to verses 15 verse 15 is
It's gonna highlight the eightfold judgment of God upon Egypt
So he's gonna highlight eight specific judgments that's gonna come upon them
And I don't think we need to know exactly why he's judging them. I mean, it's Egypt
It's always Egypt is always in season to be judged
You know, he's just like you could always find something wrong with Egypt, especially during Bible times, you know
Even if they're not fighting against Judah or Israel, they're doing something wicked there
I mean, they just always been that way. So it's just it's not like well, you know, it's just you know
They're good at during this. They're never a good nation. They're always pagan and anytime a nation
Is just blatantly worshiping false gods. It's an indicator that that nation has rejected the Lord
So that's reason enough to judge that nation. So he's bringing up a full judgment upon Egypt
Judgment number one is civil war and disorder because when we think of God's judgments, what do we think of?
We think of hail fire and brimstone diseases plagues, you know, we like the supernatural stuff
You know God is creative. Okay, and that's not the only way to destroy a nation
Sometimes he allows a nation to crumble and be destroyed from within and that is also
indicative of God's judgment civil war and disorder look at verse 2 and I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians and
They shall fight everyone against his brother and everyone against his neighbor city against city and kingdom against kingdom
So instead of raining fire and brimstone
He's just gonna allow themselves to be destroyed from the inside out part of God's judgment is when a nation is divided by its own
People, right, you know when a polarization is established and civil war ensues
Why because you know, obviously the pattern of a good nation is that the inhabitants or the citizens of that nation?
Actually are in unity. They agree with one another. They're part of the same country. They're part of the same nation
They should agree upon their laws and their beliefs. So when you have a division of that, well now you got a problem here
Right, and you say well, you know, why is he doing that? Well, obviously he's dividing the nation so that he can set forth people
Against one another not have unity, you know, just just be contrary one to another
But obviously this is very much reflecting what we have today in the United States of America
I mean our nation is very much divided right and not even into two parties
It's just like hundreds of different parties. We cannot agree as a nation
I mean we can't like there's states that are just against each other. We're just constantly at war with one state with another whether politically
culturally
Religiously we are divided, you know, and even though maybe there's not a physical civil war that's breaking out
Although, you know things might change in the next couple months, you know this this year might be a little wild
We might actually see a legitimate civil war in our lifetime
I would end out it because you know, you know
There's just a lot of stuff that I've never seen before that's happening in our lifetime and I'm like wow, you know
President trying to be you know, they're trying to assassinate the president and whatnot
I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw civil war but you know more so than that
It's just a heart to turn against one another right where people cannot come together in unity
Now, why would God do this to a nation? Why would God do this to our nation?
Why would he do it to any nation? Why would he create civil war and disorder where people just can't get along?
Well, it's to kind of help us to realize that the only time we will see perfect unity is through Jesus Christ
Unity perfect unity can only be found through Jesus Christ, you know, not through a political party not through
cultural identity
Not through ethnicity because you know ethnic groups. They don't even get along with each other
I mean, I'm Mexican those Mexicans don't even like me, you know
If I identify as white there's gonna be white people that don't like me if I you know
There's there's black people don't like black people
Mexicans that don't like Mexicans Hispanics that don't like Hispanics Salvadorans that hate
Mexicans and vice versa, right? It's like people just don't get along
But if you were to look at a local New Testament church, you have all of those here, right? Like our church
We have a diversity of people. I mean the minority here
Actually, we've got a good amount of white people here. Yeah, I was gonna say white people are minority, but we got a good amount
Amen, brother, you know, we got Mexicans. We got white people. We got Asians
You know, you're like don't you mean Chinese and just Asians. Okay. See this you're the person I'm talking about
You know, we have
Syrians
Syrian right here
You know, we have all kinds of people and you know what honestly outside of Christ, we would have no dealings with one another
We have an Armenian here. I probably would not be hanging out with Armenians
We're not for Christ. All right, and some of you like yeah, there's some people groups
I would definitely have nothing to do it brother if it wasn't for the Lord Jesus Christ bringing us together
Gather amen, but it's true, right? Why you say wow, I'm just saying what everyone thinks and knows. Okay, it's true
Okay, let's just be honest. So some of you probably wouldn't have any views of certain ethnic groups
If it wasn't for the Lord Jesus Christ, you know, what brings us together is the Lord, right?
because then at that point our ethnicity doesn't really matter right because you know, you know my
Ethnic group or whatever if they're not safe, they're splitting hell wide open and I don't want to have that in common with them
I don't want to have hell in common with people
Okay
I want to have salvation the Lord Jesus Christ the Bible and so, you know the reason he brings
disorder and civil war and
disunity within nations is because he's trying to help us to realize that truly a nation will never truly have unity and peace
Until the Lord Jesus Christ returns who unites all nations together through salvation, right?
And so that is judgment number one judgment. Number two is the citizens will be demoralized
It says in verse number three the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof
In other words that the pride of one's own nation will begin to decay and this is another way of saying that hopes gonna be removed
You know Egypt is obviously a very much a nation. There was a powerhouse
Was very much strong. It was
Prosperous fruitful it had very powerful armies and leadership
But the you know God is able to just remove that hope from them
Another way that the Bible puts this is that their hearts will begin to melt the spirit is removed
They no longer have that umph or that belief that everything is gonna be okay
He's removing that hope from them
And again that happens with nations as well so that people can place their hope in Christ
He goes on to say in verse number three judgment number three is
Council will be destroyed says the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof and I will destroy the council thereof now
What is that talking about? Well, you know when a nation is in disarray, there's civil war
There is disorder the spirit the pride of the nation is being removed people are hopeless
They're gonna look for people to give them wisdom and counsel on how to reconcile these things, right?
They're gonna look to the wise man and say what should we do?
But you know God can literally just hit a switch in someone's brain and say no wisdom no counsel
He can literally give us a Joe Biden right the leader of the nation obviously he's not even here
I mean he's not here anymore. He's not he already he is here, but you know
He's only he's just trying to finish up his term and that's it and no I don't believe that he's a he's a clone or whatever
Don't come at me with that nonsense. I think they're making clones you watch too much Star Wars
You know God can remove the wise counsel make it
Non-existent amongst those who claim to have it to the point where he did there is no answer
but what should we do is just like go to the wise men go to the the wizards and the counselors and
The magicians and they just don't have the answer
So obviously we see a pattern here, right?
The reason he's removing these things is so Egypt could look unto the Lord who is the source of wisdom
Where all the council can come from he's gonna and even if they do give some counsel of some sorts
He can bring it to not and just show how it doesn't work because you know, even in our nation
there are people in high places or people with a lot of influence on the internet and social media that seem to give good solutions to
the problems that we have but many of those just come to not and at the end of the day a
Solution for one people group is fighting words for another so it's still not creating unity, right?
The Bible tells us you don't have to turn their progress 1522 says without counsel purposes are disappointed
But in the multitude of counselors, they are established
So a nation needs counsel in order to know how to operate correctly and and and you know be a strong nation
The Bible tells us in first Corinthians 119 for it is written
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent
Where is the wise where is the scribe?
Where is the disputer of this world has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
For after that in the wisdom of God listen to this the world by wisdom knew not God
It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them to believe
So if you think of Egypt that Egypt's councils being removed all the words of wisdom are being removed
Now the soul owners can come in the preachers can come in because you know that wisdom didn't help them seek after God
They're worshiping cats and dogs didn't really help you that well that much right you're worshiping all these false gods and
You have all these wicked laws and wicked rules, and you know these man gods known as pharaohs or whatever
You're worshiping man
Hasn't really helped you much and so if counsels removed wisdom is removed
He destroys that it gives an opportunity for the man of God for a prophet a preacher of the word of God to come in and
And by the foolishness of preaching save them that believe look at verse number three again
Judgment number four is that they will seek idols that cannot save he says in the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst
Thereof and I will destroy the council thereof and they shall seek to the idols and to the charmers and to them that have
familiar spirits and to the wizards now
This is very much a judgment why because you know during a time of despair and chaos
The worst thing you could do is seek after idols wizards charmers, you know
Harry Potter and the like right because there will be no solution. Just further judgment. You're just caking on the wrath
That's judgment and you know what we have this today
Where when our nation is in disarray the last thing they go to is the Lord Jesus Christ
But you know, the last thing they go to is a Bible believing church this preaching the Word of God
He said where do they go the Roman Catholic Church? That's a punishment
You know
What a waste of a life to pray to a statue your entire life die and go to hell and be like well
What about all the times I pray to Mary and Mary's in heaven like bro, like I didn't hear nothing, right?
That's a punishment. Now, you know, thankfully, you know in the years to come
People who have reason and logic and actually seeking the truth and maybe deceived a little bit in the Roman Catholic Church or the
Eastern Orthodox Church, you know, they'll come to their senses when they realize that these idols aren't doing anything for them
You know
They will come to the senses that when they pray to these dumb idols that cannot speak they cannot hear they cannot see
They must be born. They got to be carried. They'll realize this is stupid
Let me just seek out the true God of the Bible who must be worshiped in spirit and in truth
Not by bowing down before a statue and so they begin to seek idols that cannot save that's happening today
And in fact a lot of our leaders are converted to Catholicism. They're paying, you know lip service to Catholicism, you know
Candice Owens became Catholic, you know, and here's things like yeah
But she's you know against the Jews or whatever and she's speaking out against the Jews. She's being punished though
And you know what, you know preaching or talking against the Jews should have led her to the Lord Jesus Christ
The greatest preacher against the Jews but instead, you know
she goes to the to the Catholic whore of a church and really what it is is it's a it's a it's a
pseudo-christian
Institution that may make the unbeliever think that they're saved but they're not because they cake on all the religious practices
Cake on all the religious talk and all that and so that's very much a punishment
When people begin to seek after idols instead of the Lord, okay judgment number five is
Subjection and captivity verse four says and the Egyptians will I give over into the land of a cruel Lord and a fierce king shall
Rule over them save the Lord the Lord of Hosts. Obviously that's self-explanatory
Basically saying, you know, someone's gonna rule over you someone's gonna punish you
You're no longer gonna be the head honcho the big cheese
You will now be in subjection to another nation
What does this create humility when you are in subjection by force and the carpet is removed from under you
You're you're knocked off of your high horse. You are a base. There's nowhere to go but up
So now you've been humbled you've been that your pride has been removed
Well, that is, you know a good place to be in to seek after the Lord is in humility
Judgment number six is severe drought says in verse number five the water shall fail from the sea and the river shall be
Wasted and dried up and they shall turn the rivers far away and the bricks of defense shall be emptied and dried up
The reeds and flags shall wither so aside from the fact that he creates civil war
Disorder people are seeking after false gods he removes
Their spirit as in they no longer have that national pride
He removes their counsel that it comes to not he humbles them now
He's gonna remove their resources
One of the best ways to get someone's attention is to hit their pocketbook, right?
And then this time obviously the seas the rivers is what provides a lot of their income and we'll see that in the coming
Verses here, but let me read to you from Isaiah chapter 3
If you remember this from from chapter 3 verse 1 it says for behold the Lord the Lord of hosts
Doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff
The whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water
What does that mean, you know when God judges the nation in order to get their attention. He removes food and resources
Obviously, so then at that point it'll provoke them motivate them to seek after the Lord judgment number seven a result of judgment
Six is economic devastation
Look at verse seven. It says the paper reads by the Brooks by the mouth of the Brooks and everything sewn by the Brooks shall
wither be driven away and be no more so, you know all of their
expensive reads and and paper reads and all of their documentation that's gonna wither away they won't have that
venture anymore verse 8 says the fishers also shall mourn and all they that cast angle into the Brooks shall lament and
They that spread nets upon the water shall languish. So, you know, obviously if they're
Capturing fish to sell in the Nile River and things of that nature that's removed
Well now fishers are out of business out of a job, you know, God's not putting fish in the pond anymore
He's not putting fish in the river. And so that goes away
He's removing their stay in their staff verse 9 moreover they that work in fine flax and they that weave networks
Shall be confounded. Okay. In other words, you know a guy comes in
He's he has like all these clothings that he has to make but God confounds him
So he's like I forgot how to do this. That's scary
What if like you are an owner of a business and it's your job to make a certain product
And you're the only one who knows how to do it
You're the expert at you've been doing it for years and all of a sudden you come to work
You're just like I don't know how to do this
It's like, you know, if God were to punish me, you know Lord willing this never happens, but it could you know
And I just come up here and preach. I'm like, I don't know. I don't know any Bible like it's just fled for me
I'm not talking about a brain fart either because that might happen. You know, I mean you get a brain fart
I'm just like I forgot what I was saying. I'm talking about just God removes the knowledge. He confounds me
You know God can do that. And so God can easily just hit a switch in your brain where you're incapable of
Fulfilling your duty of your livelihood and you're no longer know how to do that skill. He just removes that skill from you
That's what he did to these guys. They're confounded
He didn't say they're just he's destroying the work. He just you know removes the ability to be able to know how to do it
They're all verse 10 and they shall be broken in the purposes
They're of all that makes sluices and pawns for fish. So aside from the
The necessities that he's removing he's even removing the luxuries
Because the the sluices and the pawns of fish is just referring to you know
Walls of damp for dams in order to maintain water and then of course pawns for fish. That's not a necessity
That's a luxury. And so those are being removed as well
Luxuries as well as necessities. He just bringing it to knob. Okay. Why is he doing that?
Well, because when God hits the pocketbook then he gets our attention
So the goal is as Christians obviously not to put your faith in riches not to esteem riches
But to esteem the God of the riches who gives us all things richly to enjoy serve God and not mammon
So you don't suffer the consequences like Egypt here and then judgment number eight lastly is that he gives them
Incompetent leaders. Why are we laughing because we can make application to that for ourselves today because we have incompetent leaders
And you know people get mad at that but it is God's judgment
Republicans and conservatives could get mad all they want of what happened over the last four years
But it's because we deserve Joe Biden
We got the stupidest leader in the in the history of mankind and you know what it was God's judgment on us
It's what we deserve. Oh, it's cuz they rigged the elect the elections. I mean the the Republicans rigged it, too
They're trying to do dirty work too and do all that. It's God allowed it
He says in verse 11 surely the princes of Zoan are fools the council the wise counselors of pharaohs become brutish
How say you into Pharaoh? I am the son of the wise and the son of ancient kings
Where are they? Where are the wise men? Let them tell thee now and let them know what the Lord of Hosts has purposed upon Egypt
Oh, he's like bring forth the greatest wise men you have and let's see if they can prophesy what I'm about to do
You guys right now. I love that that gives me goosebumps. The Lord is just so gangsters
He's like where's the wise you go tell them right now and let's see if they can get what I'm about that
Let's see how wise they really are. Oh, yeah
Verse 13 says the princes of Zoan are become fools. The princes of Naf are deceived
They have also seduced Egypt even they that are the stay of the tribes
They're of but keep in mind prince is referring to just these higher ups
These men are being paid by the government leaders to lead the people
I mean, these aren't just your regular Joshua. These are scholars
These are men who are esteemed by the government as being people who are supposed to know what they're doing, right?
What what the nation should do making wise decisions, but the Lord says they're fools. They're deceived
They're seducing Egypt verse 14 says the Lord hath mingled the perverse spirit in the midst thereof
And they have caused Egypt to err in every word thereof as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit
So the reason and by the way, some of these princes might have had wisdom because you know
Egypt was a prosperous nation for a long time
So if there are prosperous because God allowed them to have a certain level of knowledge and competence
To have a powerful nation right as it came from the Lord. The devil doesn't give knowledge to people
Okay, he doesn't infuse people with knowledge. The Lord allows people to have those things
But here it says that he mingled the perverse spirit in them
so it's just like he kind of gave them a dumb spirit an unclean spirit and
They're just kind of like I don't know what to do
You know, and I don't want to keep bringing Joe Biden up
But it's kind of like the same thing or some certain interviews and I haven't seen them all I just seem like bits and pieces
But the bits and pieces that I see is it's like it's he sounds drunk
He can't like form a sentence and he speaks incoherently. You're just like this is crazy
But you know, he has a perverse spirit verse 15 says neither shall there be any work for Egypt
Which the head or the tail branch or rush may do and you know
Once the leadership is removed then the nation is incomplete this array is giving them incompetent leaders
why so that they are brought down to a point of
Need for the Lord where they have nothing else but the Lord. Okay, so even though these are judgments that are coming upon Egypt
It's what the intent that they would seek out the Lord and you know what in a very small way
God can often remove all of these things from one individual one Christian
with the intent that they would seek out the Lord and sometimes, you know
If a Christian is backslidden they're out of God's will they're out of church
Sometimes we need to pray for these things to come upon them
even though it's severe, even though it seems excessive maybe even
you know it does work because sometimes you just got to remove all those things
from a person's life in order to get their attention
they can seek out the Lord and not just save people but how about unsaved people
and it's scary to pray that for an unsafe person because you just don't know what
decision they're gonna make
but just pray Lord remove everything from this person's life
everything that stands in the way of them listening to the gospel and
humbling themselves before the Lord so that they may be saved
bring judgment upon them you know remove the counselors that are
causing them to err in the ways right remove their
health or their finances or resources do what's necessary to get this person's
attention so that they might be saved
okay and so that is the eightfold judgment of God upon Egypt in the
next five minutes I'm just gonna cover
the sixfold promises to Egypt look at verse 16
so after he does all that promise number one is that Egypt shall fear like a
vulnerable woman
as in verse number one in that day by the way you'll see this six times over in
that day
and the reason it says in that day is for two reasons one
he's referring to an immediate fulfillment in their day
but this is also referring to a future fulfillment in the millennial reign
okay in that day shall Egypt be like a woman
be like unto a woman and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking
of the hand of the Lord of hosts
which he shaketh over it and the land of Judah shall be a terror to Egypt
everyone that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself
because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts which he had determined against it
so how's that a good thing saying that they shall fear like unto a woman
well because they now fear the Lord because shouldn't we all fear the Lord
shouldn't we all have you know people call a healthy fear of God
we should just fear God be afraid of God
why because the fear when men fear the Lord they depart from evil
and according to this passage the fear in Egypt will be so deep
and so severe that they will be shaking
or excuse me they will be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord
which shakeeth over it. It says they'll be like a woman you know
if I crank this AC mostly they're just going to be shaking in here
because they don't have a whole lot they don't have that much testosterone running
through them right
so you know he's not dissing women here by the way he's just
he's just stating a fact okay a woman who is defenseless and vulnerable
will be afraid and fear over someone who's more powerful than her
and in like manner this is how Egypt shall be okay and that is a good thing
because they should fear God especially considering that they haven't
feared him for centuries okay promise number two is that the
cities of Egypt shall convert to the Lord
says in verse 18 in that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt
speak the language of Canaan and swear to the Lord of hosts
one shall be called the city of destruction now uh this is obviously a
prophecy of future fulfillments in the millennial reign because
you know the millennial reign all nations shall be in the millennial reign
right including Egypt itself but I believe this is also something that
took place in the future and respective to Isaiah and I
think this is out this is actually referring to the first century AD
because obviously the language of Canaan he's referring to the Hebrew language
and I think this is partially fulfilled in Acts chapter 2
because if you remember in Acts chapter 2 is the day of Pentecost
and there was all nations under heaven that had
come to Jerusalem for the day of Pentecost and one of the nations that
was there was Egypt okay proselytes of Egypt were there
in Pentecost hearing the word of God worshiping the Lord
and many of them got saved now there's a supposed tradition
that Mark was a missionary to Egypt you know somewhere around 40 50 AD
and that he established churches there and I don't really know if I believe
that I probably would lean towards that probably didn't happen you say
why well because every source where you look that up
says Saint Mark you know went and established churches
and let me just teach you something okay you know anytime you look at
resources and they always address the apostles
as Saint whatever it's probably a Catholic has a Catholic bent to it
okay now I'm not saying that Mark didn't go there
I'm just saying that you know you just got to keep in mind that
one of the biggest Christian quote unquote Christian
religious groups in Egypt are the Coptic Orthodox
Christians that are not Christians okay it's a it's a cult it's a false
religion it's a bastardization of Christianity
okay and so you know obviously there were Christians there
we can point to Acts chapter 2 and see that that those of Egypt came from
Pentecost they probably took that back to Egypt
and they probably did start churches and unfortunately over the years of course
as the as the years go by decades and even centuries they begin to
apostasize and one of the reasons I know that the
Mark probably did not do that is because you know they always talk about
300 400 AD and anytime you hear that window of time they're referring to
Catholicism that's when Catholicism really came about
okay no Catholicism started with Jesus
he got nothing to do with that why how would it start with Jesus
why didn't Jesus even mention it it's like no mention of Catholic in the
Bible and so you know he's saying that these
five cities will become in the land of Egypt lands or cities
that will convert into the Lord and obviously we don't have any historical
documentation because people say well prove that you
know some of these were like at the churches
well you know I'll just prove from the Bible I don't need anything after that
to prove that that happened because God's saying that it happened
and obviously it's not telling us a window of time it's not telling us
how long they were Christian for but obviously these five cities were
cities that were Christianity the word of God was
being preached for who knows how long maybe a couple
generations and then they apostatized because that's typically what happens
over the years is that churches will begin to apostatize and that's the
sermon for another day. Promise number three the Egyptians shall
call out unto the Lord this is obviously all
millennial reign it says in that day there shall be an altar to the Lord in
the midst of the land of Egypt and a pillar at the border thereof to the
Lord then it shall be for a sign and for a
witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt
for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors and he shall
send them a savior and a great one and he shall deliver them. Promise number four
the Egyptians shall serve the Lord the Lord shall be known verse 21
to Egypt and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day
and shall do sacrifice and oblation yea they shall vow a vow unto the Lord and
perform and skip down to verse 23 all nations will dwell in unity around
worshiping the Lord verse 23 says in that day there shall be a highway out
of Egypt to Assyria and the Assyrians shall come into Egypt
and the Egyptian into the Assyrian and the Egyptians shall serve
with the Assyrians and lastly number six is that this is a big one
Israel shall finally bless the nations due to it being the capital of the Lord
Jesus Christ because it says in verse 24 in that day
shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria
even a blessing in the midst of the land now why does it have to tell us that
it's going to be a blessing because it's currently not a blessing
it's actually a curse into the nations according to first Thessalonians chapter
two that the wrath has come upon them and to
the uttermost that's what the bible says however in the millennial reign that will
change why oh it's because of the land no it's
because Jesus will be there and so once Jesus sets up his government
there hallelujah praise God then we're all
going to take a missions trip to Israel at that point
and it will be the third with Egypt and with Assyria
what is he telling us you know Egypt was a powerhouse Assyria was a powerhouse
both against each other and against Israel but there will come a time where
they will all dwell together in unity says in verse 25 listen to this is a
beautiful verse whom the lord of hosts shall bless
saying blessed be Egypt listen to this my people
that's wonderful huh and Assyria the work of my hands
and Israel mine inheritance it's obviously referring to the fact that
these nations will be believers in the lord and there will be no more war
between these nations no more trying to take them into captivity
they will finally dwell in unity not because
they have the same political views or they love each other's food
same cultural views why it's because of the lord Jesus Christ
amen and so great chapter there Egypt's going to get theirs but they're also
going to be saved one day and God is very much interested in saving the
Egyptian let's pray father we thank you so much
for your word thank you for chapter chapters 18 and 19 lord help us to take
these principles to heart to think upon them lord and to realize
that lord if if we ever stray from the path you're
willing to go to uh to some extreme lengths to get our
attention and get us back on the on the right road lord and i pray that
we would judge ourselves so that we would not be judged of you
and may you bless us be gracious to us merciful thank you for
uh this church lord thank you for our people may you give us a great weekend
to follow we love you we thank you pray this
in Jesus name amen song number 259