Isaiah 19:21-25

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 19:18-22

Smiting and healing. We may glean from these verses— I. THAT THE BLOWS WHICH WE SURFER IN OUR ORDINARY EXPERIENCE COME FROM THE HAND OF GOD . No doubt the various calamities by which Egypt was afflicted came to her in the ordinary ways, and appeared to her citizens as the result of common causes. They accounted for them by reference to general laws, to visible human powers, to known processes and current events. Yet we know them to have been distinctly and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 19:21

The Lord shall be known ; rather, shall make himself known , as in Ezekiel 20:5 , Ezekiel 20:9 ; by answering prayer, by spiritual influences, and the like. The Egyptians shall know the Lord (comp. Jeremiah 31:34 , "They shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest"). And shall do sacrifice and oblation ; rather, shall serve with sacrifice and oblation . The bulk of the Jews settled in Egypt, together with their Egyptian proselytes, went up year by year to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 19:22

And Jehovah shall smite Egypt, smiting and healing ; i.e. Jehovah shall indeed "smite Egypt," as already prophesied ( Isaiah 19:1-16 ), but it shall be with a merciful object, in order, after smiting, to "heal." His smiting shall induce them to "return" to him, and when they return he will forgive and save (comp. Zephaniah 3:8 , Zephaniah 3:9 ; Jeremiah 12:14-16 ). Egypt was a Christian country from the third century to the seventh; and the Coptic Church (though very corrupt) still... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 19:22

Smiting and healing closely connected in God's counsels. God's smiting is no doubt twofold, Once only has he visited mankind at large penalty—at the Deluge; but a thousand times has he visited them remedially. Similarly with nations. He smote Egypt in Moses' time with the ten plagues, not to destroy, but to chasten. So again at the Red Sea. So now by the hands of Esarhaddon and his son. So by Nebuchadnezzar, Cambyses, Ochus. And at last he bowed their hearts and caused them to turn to him,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 19:22

God both Smiter and Healer. "The meaning is not simply that the stroke should be followed by healing, nor is it simply that the stroke should possess a healing virtue; but both ideas seem to be included." The full thought is expressed by the Prophet Hosea ( Hosea 6:1 , Hosea 6:2 ), "Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 19:23

Shall there be a highway . The phraseology resembles that of Isaiah 11:16 ; but the purpose is different. Then the "highway" was to facilitate the return of the Israelites to their own land. Now the object is perfectly free communication between the three peoples. The Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. "Shall serve" means "shall worship" (see verse 21). The "Assyrians" represent the inhabitants of the Mesopotamian regions generally. As, from the time of Alexander, Hebrew influence... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 19:23-24

Unity in religion joins together the bitterest foes. As, ultimately, the establishment of the kingdom of Christ among all the nations of the earth ( Isaiah 2:2 ) will produce a reign of universal peace, so that men will everywhere "beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks" ( Isaiah 2:4 ), so, on a lesser scale, wherever true religion prevails, asperities are softened, old enmities die out and disappear, a friendly spirit springs up, and former adversaries... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 19:23-24

The crown of privilege. The promise of the text may not have seemed to Israel so gracious and so inspiring as many others; but it was one that might well have been considered surpassingly good. For it predicted that the time would come when Israel should be closely associated as "a third" with two great world-powers- Egypt and Assyria; not, indeed, to triumph over them, but to be "a blessing in the midst" of them. This is the very crown of privilege. Concerning privilege itself we may... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 19:23-25

UNION BETWEEN EGYPT , ASSYRIA , AND ISRAEL . Assyria's conversion to God will follow or accompany that of Egypt. The two will be joined with Israel in an intimate connection, Israel acting as the intermediary. There will be uninterrupted communication, common worship, and the common blessing of God extending over the three. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 19:24

In that day shall Israel be the third; rather, a third . Not third in rank, for Isaiah 19:25 shows that she would retain a pre-eminence, but the common intermediary, brining the other two together. A blessing in the midst of the land ; rather, in the midst of the earth . Judaean monotheism, upheld by God's people in Palestine, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, would be a blessing, not only to those three countries, but to the world at large. So, and still more, would Christianity. read more

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