Fri.’s Devo - Egypt’s Future

Read: Isaiah 19:1-21:17; Galatians 2:1-16; Psalm 59:1-17; Proverbs 23:13-14 God had a message for Egypt. God was coming for Egypt. The people and their gods will tremble as he draws near. There will be internal fighting and none of their gods will be able to help. God would turn them over to an evil task master to rule over them (probably Nebuchadnezzar). *** God would cause the waters of the Nile to not rise sufficiently to water their crops creating a famine. It would affect every business as all their business was dependent on the Nile. *** The advisors to the king would be given the spirit of stupid which would lead to Egypt’s downfall. The fear of the Lord would cause five of their cities to follow Him. They would even begin to speak Hebrew. One of these cities would be Heliopolis. *** An altar would arise in the heart of Egypt where God would be worshiped. The Lord would strike Egypt, but the people would look to him and He would heal them. *** Egypt and Assyria would be connected by a highway and they would both worship God. Israel would also join them in their worship of God. This is yet to happened which tells us things are not over yet. *** The year that Assyria captured the Philistine city of Ashdod, God told Isaiah to walk around barefoot and naked. He did this for three years, then God had him explain to the people that he did this to show them as a symbol of the terrible times that were coming. The Assyrians would attack them and cause them to walk naked and barefoot to their shame. *** The Philistines panicked when Ashdod was taken. They had thought the Egyptians would protect them from the Assyrians. *** God had a message for Babylon. Disaster was coming to them from the desert. It was so devastating that Isaiah was afraid to look at it. He saw in his spirit, the people of Babylon preparing a great feast when all of a sudden they were attacked. He warned Babylon to post watchmen to watch for an approaching army but all they saw was a man in a chariot with a pair of horses. The next thing the watchmen are saying is that Babylon was fallen. It was sudden and unexpected. *** What happened was that Cyrus opened the dykes and confined the Euphrates into one channel. It caused the water to overflow in Babylon and they entered through the river channel under the gates. They were in the midst of the city without the watchmen on the towers seeing them. The king of Babylon was preparing a great feast and oblivious to what was happening. The takeover was swift and took them by total surprise. *** The people of Edom who were greatly affected by the battles between Egypt and Assyria asked how long would this continue. Isaiah told them they would stop temporarily and then resume. He could ask him again then. *** Arabia was right in the line of march of the Assyrians and the Egyptians. They offered food and water to the refugees but within a year, only a few of their warriors survived. *** Paul went back to Jerusalem after being away for 14 years. He wanted to make sure they were walking in grace and not law. He was unimpressed with the reputation of their great leaders because he understood that God has no favorites. He was pleased to see that they accepted the fact that Paul was called to the Gentiles and Peter was called to the Jews. He was glad to find them walking in grace and their welcome and acceptance was refreshing. *** In Antioch, Paul had to rebuke Peter for his hypocrisy with the Gentiles. He was one way with them and another when Jews were around. Paul put the Jews and the Gentiles on the same level playing field. They are both reconciled to God by their faith, not their works. *** Lord, may our faith please you. Thank you for all you have done for us, all you do for us daily and all you have promised to do for us in the future. May we bless you back with our praise, thanksgiving and obedient love.