Egypt’s Judgment Results in Egypt’s Salvation

Isaiah 19:17-25

The glowing center of these chapters, however, is not a word of judgment but rather a word of salvation. Isaiah 19:17-25 are some of the most delightfully clear prophecies in the Old Testament of God’s saving intentions for the whole world. God chose Abraham and called him out of Ur of the Chaldees, promising that through him all peoples on earth would be blessed (Gen 12:3). God has never forgotten that intention to save a remnant from every tribe, language, people, and nation (Rev 7:9). In these magnificent verses God goes so far as to bless Egypt by calling her “my people” (Isa 19:25). How that must have shocked any narrow-minded, Gentile-hating Jews throughout history as they read the bold words of this visionary prophet!

Having leveled Egypt’s pride by his comprehensive judgments, God speaks clearly of his intention to send a Savior to Egypt (vv. 20-22):

When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and leader, and he will rescue them. The Lord will make himself known to Egypt, and Egypt will know the Lord on that day. They will offer sacrifices and offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and fulfill them. The Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing. Then they will turn to the Lord and he will be receptive to their prayers and heal them.

This is such an amazing passage! God’s judgments on Egypt have the ultimate purpose of calling his chosen people among the Egyptians to saving faith in him. God promises to send the humbled Egyptians “a Savior and Leader.” By capitalizing these words, I show my interpretation: it must be Jesus Christ. Perhaps these words may be fulfilled by some human king who will later deliver them from the bondage of Assyria. But the vision here is so sweeping—including a perfect harmony between Egypt, Assyria, and Israel (vv. 23-25)—that only salvation in Christ can work it. There is no record in history of these verses being fulfilled by any human governmental leader. Isaiah 19:17-25 pictures a transformation so spectacular, reaching to the core of people’s hearts, that only Jesus by the Holy Spirit can bring it about. He alone is the “radiance of God’s glory” (Heb 1:3) who will perfectly make God known to the peoples of the world, including Egyptians (Isa 19:21). Jesus is the Transformer!

And what are the transformations? Isaiah 19:17 pictures a fear of the God of Israel, a “fear of the Lord [that] is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov 9:10). Isaiah 19:18 pictures transformed cities that will speak the language of Canaan and swear loyalty to Yahweh. Verses 19-20 speak of a transformed religion, with an altar built to the Lord in the heart of Egypt and a pillar to the Lord erected near her border. Verses 20-21 speak of the transformed hearts of the Egyptians, calling on the name of the Lord for salvation, making vows and offering sacrifices to the true God.

Ultimately these transformations (which are also going on in Israel and Assyria) will end the terror of one nation moving out militarily to conquer another. Isaiah 2:4 predicts the day when nations will forge their swords into plows and will never again attack other nations. Isaiah 19:23-25 predicts the same thing, with a highway uniting Egypt and Assyria so they can worship together with Israel, all worshiping the one true and living God. Some commentators think these words will be fulfilled in the millennial reign of Christ on earth, while others simply extend them into eternity in the new heaven and new earth. In either case, they stand as a magnificent answer to the problems of this present age of national arrogance, idolatry, and empire-building militarism. And they show that God’s adopted people include Gentiles, as the apostle Paul makes plain in Romans 9:25: “I will call Not My People, My People, and she who is Unloved, Beloved.” Egypt was at one time excluded, but God will call the elect from that nation and every nation “my people” for all eternity.

This chapter teaches us again God’s power to judge even the mightiest nations comprehensively. God can touch any nation’s economic lifeline (the Nile River, in Egypt’s case) and render her a pauper nation. God can level any nation’s politics and send her into civil war. God can strip any nation of military power and render her totally weak. God can humble any nation’s wise counselors and reveal them to be fools. Thus it is vital for the people of God not to trust in any human power but in God alone. This is a warning to all arrogant empire-builders on earth to fear the Lord alone and humble themselves before him.

This chapter also teaches the redemptive purposes of God’s judgments, how God strikes in order to heal (19:22), to cause previously independent people to cry out to him for deliverance. It shows that God’s saving intention through Christ extends to all Gentile nations on earth.

Therefore, Christians in every nation should learn to look on their nation’s political enemies differently than unbelieving policy makers do. God will put an end to the strife of all nations by slaughtering his unbelieving enemies all over the world and by redeeming his elect to become one people. Thus we should pray for the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth and show how, in Christ, ancient foes can become brothers and sisters.