BLESSED BE EGYPT MY PEOPLE

BLESSED BE EGYPT, MY PEOPLE

   This statement in Isaiah 19:25 seemed kind of odd. I always got the impression that Egypt was the very personification of evil and they could never be saved. How arrogant that is. John 4:16 says:
“For God so loved the world (including the Egyptian people) that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever (you and me and everyone else) believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Yet it seemed I was being taught Egypt was doomed.

   Verse 1---“The Lord rides on a swift cloud” into Egypt and all the idols are moved at His coming. The Egyptian hearts shall melt in the middle of it all.” Everything they believed in was destroyed before their very eyes. Then God said He would set the Egyptians against each other. Their spirit shall fail. He would give them over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them.”(verse 4) Sounds like you reap what you sow. As they had treated the Israelites, so God has treated them.

   Verses 5-13 tell all that God was going to do to them. Verse 14 “The Lord has mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof…” God even uses evil spirits to humble a once proud nation. They were brought down low. Isaiah 45:7 “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: the Lord does all these things.”

   Verse 16: “In that day, shall Egypt be like unto women, and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which He shakes over it.” What is going on? They were never afraid before. They were the ones who did all the shaking . Verse 17 “And the land of Judah shall be a terror to Egypt.”

   The story changes from one of fear and destruction to a beautiful future for Egypt just like it is for us. Verse 19 “In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord IN THE MIDST OF THE LAND OF EGYPT”, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord.” God stands right in the middle of sin to rescue those He loves right out of the hands of Satan. Satan has no power over God’s plans. Verse 20 “And it shall be a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they (the Egyptians) 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.” Does this excite you as it did me when I first read and understood this chapter? No man is exempt from God’s love and mercy.

   Verse 20 tells us that the Egyptians shall know the Lord in those days. They shall make sacrifices to God and make vows and do them.

   What a merciful God. But He has to break them and us down first before He can rebuild us in His image. Verse 22 “And the Lord shall smite Egypt: He shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the Lord, and He shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them.”

      Let us back track a little. God’s chosen people weren’t any better than the Assyrians or the Egyptians. They too left the only true God and followed after idols. Read Isaiah 10:5-13. The topic for this section is “Assyria, the Instrument of God”. God was angry with His people. Verse 5 “O, Assyrian, the rod of my anger and the staff in their hand is my indignation.” He used them to bring His people to their knees. Verse 12 “Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the LORD has performed His whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.”

   Why would God punish someone who did the work He commanded him to do? Verse 13 tells us that the king of Assyria took credit for his own strength to bring about what God intended for him to do. God used him like He uses us. When we do His will, we are not doing it under our own power. We have nothing at all that we can boast about. God gives us the gifts necessary to do what God wants done. He can also take them away and give to someone else to accomplish the work if we don’t do it. We are not indispensable.

   The following verse is the gem of the whole chapter. Verses 23-25 “In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptian shall serve with the Assyrian. In that day shall ISRAEL BE THE THIRD WITH EGYPT AND ASSYRIA, even a blessing in the midst of the land: Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt, my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance. Proverbs 4:12 comes to mind: “And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him, and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

   To sum this up: I get newsletters from Michael Youseff. He is Egyptian. One letter stated that he was going to Egypt to preach. Before he left he asked God to give him a very large number of souls.
He was pleased to report that God saved way beyond what he had asked for. God cannot be undone. The Egyptians were eager to hear the WORD. It made it more realistic to them when a brother Egyptian told them about Jesus and the way to salvation.

   Great are the wonderful works of the Almighty God. May God bless you.