Day 203, Isaiah 17-21

An Oracle concerning Damascus

Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city
and will become a heap of ruins.
-Isaiah 17:1

In that day man would look to his Maker, and his eyes would look on the Holy One of Israel. He would not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he would not look on what his own fingers had made, either the Asherim or the altars of incense.

In that day their strong cities would be like the deserted places of the wooded heights and the hilltops, which they deserted because of the children of Israel, and there would be desolation.

For you have forgotten the God of your salvation
and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge…

At evening time, behold, terror!
Before morning, they are no more!
This is the portion of those who loot us,
and the lot of those who plunder us.
-Isaiah 17: 10, 14

An Oracle Concerning Cush

All you inhabitants of the world,
you who dwell on the earth,
when a signal is raised on the mountains, look!
When a trumpet is blown, hear!
For thus the Lord said to me:
“I will quietly look from my dwelling
like clear heat in sunshine,
like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
-Isaiah 18:3-4

They shall all of them be left
to the birds of prey of the mountains
and to the beasts of the earth.
And the birds of prey will summer on them,
and all the beasts of the earth will winter on them.
-Isaiah 18:6

At that time tribute would be brought to the Lord of hosts
from a people tall and smooth,
from a people feared near and far,
a nation mighty and conquering,
whose land the rivers divide,
to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the Lord of hosts.

An Oracle Concerning Egypt

Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud
and comes to Egypt;
and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,
and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
-Isaiah 19:1

The Lord would stir up the Egyptians so they would fight against each other. The Lord would empty their spirit so they would seek counsel with the idols and sorcerers, and mediums and necromancers. The Egyptians would be given over into the hands of a hard master, and a fierce king would rule over them.

The waters of the sea would be dried up, and the river would be dry and parched. The canals of Egypt’s Nile would become foul and the branches would diminish and dry up.

The princes would be foolish and the wisest counselors of Pharaoh would give stupid counsel. The Lord would mingle with Egypt’s spirit of confusion and make her stagger in all deeds.

Egypt, Assyria, Israel Blessed

In that day the Egyptians would be like women, and tremble with fear before the hand that the Lord of hosts shook over them. The land of Judah would become a terror to the Egyptians. Everyone to whom it was mentioned would fear because of the purpose that the Lord of hosts had purposed against them.

In that day there would be five cities in the land of Egypt that spoke the language of Canaan and swore the allegiance to the Lord of hosts. One of those would be called the City of Destruction.

In that day there would be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border. It would be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cried to the Lord because of oppressors, he would send them a savior and defender, and deliver them

The Lord would make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians would know the Lord in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they would make vows to the Lord and perform them.

And the Lord would strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they would return to the Lord, and he would listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.

In that day there would a be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria would come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians would worship with the Assyrians.

In that day Israel would be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts had blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.

Fallen, Fallen is Babylon

This last section discussed some more oracles. It had an oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea, an oracle concerning Dumah, and an oracle concerning Arabia.

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