Day 202. Isaiah 17-21

All nations nourish the myth that they are eternal, but nations, however rich and powerful, are mortal as we are. They live longer than we do, but eventually the LORD "rebukes" them and they "flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind" (17:13). In our reading for today we continue with the prophet Isaiah's series of oracles against the nations that have oppressed Judah and Jerusalem. Each in turn—the nations that Judah had feared or had looked to for protection--is "rebuked" and "chased away" by the hurricane force wind of the Almighty.
Syria with its capital at Damascus (often call Aram in our text) was a powerful and aggressive state in Isaiah's time. It had joined in an alliance with the northern kingdom of Israel (called Ephraim in our text) to overthrow Ahaz, the king of Judah, and set up a puppet regime in Jerusalem. This assault against God's people and Jerusalem will not be forgotten. On "the day" of the LORD's vengeance, both Syria and Israel will be conquered and depopulated (17:6). "Damascus will cease to be a city," and will become "a heap of ruins" (17:1). On "that day" the people of Israel will turn their backs on their pagan altars and "their eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel" (17:7). But to no avail-- "the day" will be for them "a day of grief and incurable pain" (17:11)
Ethiopia was another power to be reckoned with Isaiah's time. The armies of the powerful Nubian empire at the headwaters of the Nile were "feared far and wide" (18:2). The Nubians are described in our text as "a people tall and smooth" (18:7), because they were tall by ancient standards and smooth-shaven. But for all its strength, Nubia, "mighty and conquering" will itself fall victim to the all-prevailing Assyrian army.
As will Egypt, in the Bible a symbol of oppression. The LORD will stir up civil war among them (19:2) to empty out "the spirit of the Egyptians." Then he will deliver then "into the hands of a hard master, a fierce king will rule over them" (19:4) and oppress them, as Pharaoh once oppressed the children of Israel in the time of Moses. The Lord will dry up the ancient source of Egyptian prosperity, the waters of the Nile ( (19:5-6), and the wisdom of Egypt, legendary in ancient times, will be reduced to "a spirit of confusion." The wise advisers of pharaoh will stagger "as a drunkard staggers around in vomit" (19:14).
All these things will happen to the nations that have despoiled and plundered the kingdom of Judah (17:14) and harassed the house of David, but on "that day" the "land of Judah will become a terror" not only to the Egyptians, but "to everyone to whom it is mentioned . . . because of the plan that the LORD of hosts is planning against them" (19:17). The LORD is about to do terrible things to the nations—but not all of his acts will be destructive.
On 'that day," Isaiah says, there will be five cities in Egypt, including Heliopolis, the City of the Sun." that will "swear allegiance to the LORD" (19:18). In an unprecedented oracle, Isaiah says that on "that day" the LORD will send the Egyptians "a savior, and will defend and deliver them" (19:20), and they will "know he LORD." This new universalism is quite a startling development in the history of Israel's religion. Isaiah predicts a day when the LORD will not only "strike and heal" Egypt (19:22), but also Assyria—the hated aggressor. The terrible and ruthless Assyrians will worship the LORD with the Egyptians. Israel, God's chosen people, on "that day" will be a third with Egypt and Assyria. And the LORD of hosts will say, "Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my heritage" (21:24). These are titles reserved in the past for the children of Abraham alone. Now it appears that
God's love and concern extend beyond Israel and the house of David to the whole world.
But the time of turmoil is not over. In Chapter 20 Isaiah is instructed by the LORD to make a visual parable of himself, walking "naked and barefoot" (20:2) in order to show what the Assyrians will do to the Egyptians and Ethiopians, when they are conquered and led away into captivity. The wealthy desert tribes of Arabia and the Negeb will not escape; they too will be swept before the onslaught of the Assyrian host (21:16). News comes that Babylon has fallen to them (21:9). All in Jerusalem who see what has happened to the nations they had feared and hoped would protect them will ask—"And we, how shall we escape?" (20:6)--because they will realize that they are as defenseless against the powers the LORD has unleashed upon the world as the naked prophet.