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| Isaiah Part 1, p. 5: Precept Upon Precept, Precept Ministries. |
BACKGROUND
The Daily Walk (July 18, 2008, p.23) calls Isaiah 17-20 a continuation of Isaiah's "Tale of Woes for Judah's Foes." I like that!
Prophecy and Fulfillment for Judah's Foes
Isaiah said Damascus (Syria) would be a "fallen ruin." Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria captured Damascus, the capital of Aram, Syria in 732 B.C. Many of them were deported.
The "fortified city" of Ephraim (Israel) would "disappear." They turned to the Lord, but it was too late. In 722 B.C. Assyria conquered the kingdom of Israel and it ceased to exist. Ahaz, King of Judah, ended up paying tribute to Tiglath-Pileser III (2 Kings 16:1-4).
Isaiah 18 starts with a prophecy against "Cush" believed to have been given during the days of Hezekiah (2 Kings 19:20). Cush is southern Egypt, northern Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia today. The "land of whirring wings" may refer to locusts. The king of Cush heard of the Assyrian army coming and sent messengers up the Nile asking other nations to form an alliance. Judah was asked, but Isaiah told the messengers that God would help them. Assyria was God's instrument in the punishment of Israel. Once this was accomplished, He would also intervene and cut them off (18:5, Isaiah 37:21-38; 2 Chronicles 32:20-23). The prophecy about gifts and worship being brought to Mt. Zion is probably for a future time. Sadly, there is not an extra-biblical account of what happened with Cush.
No REFLECTION and APPLICATION today. Please keep reading.
PRAYER
Pray meditatively through these chapters.
1 comment:
I'm getting battle weary and ready to get to the "hope" part of Isaiah!
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