His Enemies Becoming His People

In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the LORD at its border. It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them. So the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the LORD. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the LORD and keep them. They LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.

In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and the Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.”

Isaiah 19:19 – 25

It might be kind of hard to appreciate how bizarre all this would have sounded in the context in which Isaiah gave this prophecy. Egypt and Assyria were the two big baddies. They were not the chosen people of God; they were their enemies. “Blessed be Egypt my people”? A blessing on the earth?

But if we think about it today … are there Egyptian Christians? Are there Assyrian Christians? Why yes, yes there are!

That Surreal Feeling

They set the tables, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink! Get up, you officers, oil the shields!

O my people, crushed on the threshing floor, I will tell you what I have heard from the LORD Almighty, from the God of Israel.

What troubles you now, that you have all gone up on the roofs, O town full of commotion, O city of tumult and revelry? Your slain were not killed by the sword, nor did they die in battle. All your leaders have fled together; they have been captured without using the bow. All you who were caught were taken prisoner together, having fled while the enemy was still far away. Therefore I said, “Turn away from me; let me weep bitterly. Do not try to console me over the destruction of my people.”

The Lord, the LORD Almighty, called you on that day to weep and wail, to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth. But see, there is joy and revelry, slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine! “Let us eat and drink,” you say, “for tomorrow we die!”

Is. 21:5, 10; 22:1 – 4, 12 – 13

Can I get an Amen?