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In each of the oracles today, imagine the prophet overcome with a vision that overpowers him with passionate imagery. In the oracle against Egypt in chapter 19, you’ll notice themes of foolishness and confusion. When the LORD comes to Egypt, He “will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians… and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their counsel.” In the vision regarding Babylon, the watchman stands at his post, awaiting riders who will bring the news that “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the carved images of her gods He has shattered to the ground.”

And in Jerusalem, there is confusion and tumult, as Isaiah envisions the city under threat, “a day of tumult and trampling and confusion in the ‘Valley of Vision.’” The prophet watches as houses are toppled to fortify the wall, as water is pooled to prepare for siege, while agonizing that its inhabitants refuse “…to look to Him who did it, or see Him who planned it long ago…” For it is the LORD, not Assyria, who will “seize firm hold on you…and throw you like a ball into a wide land.”

Yet once again, in the midst of this, there is hope far beyond that which any son of Abraham could imagine. For there is coming a day when “the LORD will make Himself known to the Egyptians… and they will return to the LORD…” And “In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria… in that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth.”

Listen closely for how this hope extends both backward and forward, before the nation of Israel and beyond it. In Genesis 12, the LORD promised that Abram “will be a blessing,” and that in him “all the families on earth will be blessed.” Isaiah foresees the day when Judah’s purpose will be fulfilled, and Israel, Egypt, and Assyria will bow to the LORD.

Our verse for this week is James 1:22: But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Isaiah 19 through 22. Now let’s read it!

Isaiah 19 - 22

The burden of Egypt. "Behold, Jehovah rides on a swift cloud, and comes to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence; and the heart of Egypt will melt within it. I will stir up the Egyptians against the Egyptians, and they will fight everyone against his brother, and everyone against his neighbor; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. The spirit of the Egyptians will fail within them. I will destroy their counsel. They will seek the idols, the charmers, those who have familiar spirits, and the wizards. I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord. A fierce king will rule over them," says the Lord, Jehovah of Armies. The waters will fail from the sea, and the river will be wasted and become dry. The rivers will become foul. The streams of Egypt will be diminished and dried up. The reeds and flags will wither away. The meadows by the Nile, by the brink of the Nile, and all the sown fields of the Nile, will become dry, be driven away, and be no more. The fishermen will lament, and all those who fish in the Nile will mourn, and those who spread nets on the waters will languish. Moreover those who work in combed flax, and those who weave white cloth, will be confounded. The pillars will be broken in pieces. All those who work for hire will be grieved in soul. The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish. The counsel of the wisest counselors of Pharaoh has become stupid. How do you say to Pharaoh, "I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings"? Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you now; and let them know what Jehovah of Armies has purposed concerning Egypt. The princes of Zoan have become fools. The princes of Memphis are deceived. They have caused Egypt to go astray, those who are the cornerstone of her tribes. Jehovah has mixed a spirit of perverseness in the middle of her; and they have caused Egypt to go astray in all of its works, like a drunken man staggers in his vomit. Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which head or tail, palm branch or rush, may do. In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble and fear because of the shaking of Jehovah of Armies's hand, which he shakes over them. The land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt. Everyone to whom mention is made of it will be afraid, because of the plans of Jehovah of Armies, which he determines against it. In that day, there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan, and swear to Jehovah of Armies. One will be called "The city of destruction." In that day, there will be an altar to Jehovah in the middle of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to Jehovah at its border. It will be for a sign and for a witness to Jehovah of Armies in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to Jehovah because of oppressors, and he will send them a savior and a defender, and he will deliver them. Jehovah will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know Jehovah in that day. Yes, they will worship with sacrifice and offering, and will vow a vow to Jehovah, and will perform it. Jehovah will strike Egypt, striking and healing. They will return to Jehovah, and he will be entreated by them, and will heal them. In that day there will be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. In that day, Israel will be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing within the earth; because Jehovah of Armies has blessed them, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance." In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and took it; at that time Jehovah spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, "Go, and loosen the sackcloth from off your waist, and take your sandals from off your feet." He did so, walking naked and barefoot. Jehovah said, "As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder concerning Egypt and concerning Ethiopia, so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. They will be dismayed and confounded, because of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory. The inhabitants of this coast land will say in that day, 'Behold, this is our expectation, where we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria. And we, how will we escape?'" The burden of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it comes from the wilderness, from an awesome land. A grievous vision is declared to me. The treacherous man deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam; attack! I have stopped all of Media's sighing. Therefore my thighs are filled with anguish. Pains have seized me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am in so much pain that I can't hear. I am so dismayed that I can't see. My heart flutters. Horror has frightened me. The twilight that I desired has been turned into trembling for me. They prepare the table. They set the watch. They eat. They drink. Rise up, you princes, oil the shield! For the Lord said to me, "Go, set a watchman. Let him declare what he sees. When he sees a troop, horsemen in pairs, a troop of donkeys, a troop of camels, he shall listen diligently with great attentiveness." He cried like a lion: "Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime, and every night I stay at my post. Behold, here comes a troop of men, horsemen in pairs." He answered, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the engraved images of her gods are broken to the ground. You are my threshing, and the grain of my floor!" That which I have heard from Jehovah of Armies, the God of Israel, I have declared to you. The burden of Dumah. One calls to me out of Seir, "Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?" The watchman said, "The morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire. Come back again." The burden on Arabia. You will lodge in the thickets in Arabia, you caravans of Dedanites. They brought water to him who was thirsty. The inhabitants of the land of Tema met the fugitives with their bread. For they fled away from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the heat of battle. For the Lord said to me, "Within a year, as a worker bound by contract would count it, all the glory of Kedar will fail, and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, will be few; for Jehovah, the God of Israel, has spoken it." The burden of the valley of vision. What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops? You that are full of shouting, a tumultuous city, a joyous town, your slain are not slain with the sword, neither are they dead in battle. All your rulers fled away together. They were bound by the archers. All who were found by you were bound together. They fled far away. Therefore I said, "Look away from me. I will weep bitterly. Don't labor to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people. For it is a day of confusion, and of treading down, and of perplexity from the Lord, Jehovah of Armies, in the valley of vision, a breaking down of the walls, and a crying to the mountains." Elam carried his quiver, with chariots of men and horsemen; and Kir uncovered the shield. Your choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array at the gate. He took away the covering of Judah; and you looked in that day to the armor in the house of the forest. You saw the breaches of David's city, that they were many; and you gathered together the waters of the lower pool. You counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. You also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you didn't look to him who had done this, neither did you have respect for him who planned it long ago. In that day, the Lord, Jehovah of Armies, called to weeping, to mourning, to baldness, and to dressing in sackcloth; and behold, there is joy and gladness, killing cattle and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: "Let's eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die." Jehovah of Armies revealed himself in my ears, "Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die," says the Lord, Jehovah of Armies. The Lord, Jehovah of Armies says, "Go, get yourself to this treasurer, even to Shebna, who is over the house, and say, 'What are you doing here? Who has you here, that you have dug out a tomb here?' Cutting himself out a tomb on high, chiseling a habitation for himself in the rock!" Behold, Jehovah will overcome you and hurl you away violently. Yes, he will grasp you firmly. He will surely wind you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a large country. There you will die, and there the chariots of your glory will be, you disgrace of your lord's house. I will thrust you from your office. You will be pulled down from your station. It will happen in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him with your robe, and strengthen him with your belt. I will commit your government into his hand; and he will be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. I will lay the key of David's house on his shoulder. He will open, and no one will shut. He will shut, and no one will open. I will fasten him like a nail in a sure place. He will be for a throne of glory to his father's house. They will hang on him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, every small vessel, from the cups even to all the pitchers. "In that day," says Jehovah of Armies, "the nail that was fastened in a sure place will give way. It will be cut down and fall. The burden that was on it will be cut off, for Jehovah has spoken it."

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