Wed.’s Devo - The Fate of Egypt

Read: Isaiah 19:1-27:17; Galatians 2:1-16; Psalm 59:1-17; Proverbs 23:13-14 Today we read what God said about the future of Egypt. The present looked bleak but their future is amazing. God brought his army to fight the gods of Egypt. He brought the Assyrians to fight the people. There are always two war fronts: the one in the spiritual realm which is fought first and then the one in the physical realm. The battle on the earth was one of complete confusion as they ended up fighting themselves. God gave them over to a cruel task master, Nebuchadnezzar. Egypt that prided itself in its knowledge of wisdom and science would be humbled. “In that day” is used four times but it is not necessarily talking of the same time. The first one happened then but the last three have yet to happen. There will come a time when all of them will happen at the same time. Egypt will be humbled and Jews will stream to Egypt to live. There will be so many Jews that the language will become Hebrew. Prophetically, this means that they will speak the language of salvation and hope in the same God - Jehovah. The Assyrians will also become a godly nation and join with Egypt in their worship of God. Israel, Egypt and Assyria will become godly nations. In Chapter 20, Assyria attacked the Philistine city of Ashdod. Ashdod was the first of five Philistine cities on the way to Egypt. When it fell, Egypt started trembling. God spoke to Isaiah and told him to take off his sandals and his burlap and walk around naked. He did this for three years to warn the people that this would be their fate. They would be captured by the Assyrians and taken naked to Babylon as prisoners. In Chapter 21, Isaiah saw the future of Babylon. They would be taken over by the Persians. It would be on a day that they prepared a great feast and everyone was eating and drinking. He was referent to the day that Belshazzar saw the writing on the wall and the Persians took the kingdom that night. While Babylon felt totally secure and safe within their thick walls, the Persians had dammed up the water and were able to march under the gates and easily take the city. In verse 13, God spoke to the Arabians in the dessert to have mercy on the refugees and give them water and food. In Galatians, Paul called out the “church plants”. These were people who had been planted in the church to stir up trouble and try to get them to go back to following the law. They wanted to get back control over the people. Paul also called out Peter who was acting hypocritically. He ate with the Gentiles until some of his Jewish friends came to town, then he refused to eat with the Gentiles as it didn’t please the Jewish law. Paul called him out in front of the whole church for this. Paul defended the freedom of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Lord, help us to stand for truth like Paul and not be afraid of man. We pray for truth and justice for our nation and the world.