Isaiah 19:5-10

Egypt’s economy depended almost entirely on the Nile River. But the Nile would dry up, thanks to the sovereign control of Yahweh (cf. Exodus 7:14-25). The "sea" (Heb. yam) in view probably refers to the Nile River, a name the Egyptians used to describe it. [Note: Delitzsch, 1:357.] Then the economy would suffer and the people would become weak. How foolish, then, to trust in a nation that cannot control its own destiny but which Yahweh controls. The waters from the sea (Isaiah 19:5) probably refer to the waters of the Nile, which looked like a sea at flood stage in Lower (northern) Egypt. Flax (Isaiah 19:9) and all plants need water, but when there is drought the captains of industry, or the industries themselves ("pillars of Egypt"), that rely on these plants suffer, and their workers have no jobs.

"When a nation’s spirit evaporates and sectional interests predominate, when no plan seems to prosper, then the means to make industry thrive may well be there (and the Nile flow as before) but the will to exploit the asset is gone." [Note: Motyer, p. 165.]