Isaiah 19:1-8

¹ An oracle about Egypt: See! Yahveh, riding on a swift cloud and arriving in Egypt. And the idols of Egypt will tremble in front of him, and the heart of Egypt melts in his inner parts. ² “And I will stir up Egypt against Egypt and each one will fight against his brother and each one against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. ³ And the spirit of Egypt will be disturbed within him, and I will consume his plan, and they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, and the specialists and the spiritists. ⁴ And I will hand over Egypt to a hand of a hard master, and a powerful king will rule over them,” – a declaration of the Lord Yahveh of armies. ⁵ And water will be dried up from the sea, and river will be parched and dry. ⁶ And rivers will become foul-smelling; the branches of the Nile of Egypt will become little and dry up; reed and rush will wither. ⁷ Bare places by the Nile will be dried up, by the edge of the Nile and all the sown land beside the Nile; it will be pushed about, and there is none of it. ⁸ And the fishermen will mourn, and all of those who cast a fishhook in the Nile will lament, and those who spread out a net on the water’s face will suffer.

I will consume his plan

Isaiah describes with perfection what was going to happen to Egypt as a result of God’s judgment. That great society which was held together by pride and power unraveled and dried up, as if the Nile itself had ceased to sustain it. The master plan that the Egyptians were living by was being consumed by the judgment of Yahveh.

The oracle explains what happens in any society where God and his word do not take first place. The things that hold that society together eventually begin to stop working. Defenses cease to protect. Collaboration and cooperation turn into competition and antagonism. People begin to ask all kinds of experts why things are happening, because they do not understand. Hard masters take over the leadership, and make things worse for those who still want to be led. Resources dry up, and mourning, lamenting and suffering are all that is left.

Perhaps you feel that you are part of a society that is experiencing those kinds of things today. Is there any hope for your nation, your family, or your church? Know this: God’s judgment is real, and if you are experiencing it, no artificial solution will help. God is the judge, and only he can rescue those whom he has condemned. Seek him, and turn back to his truth, and walk in his ways.

LORD, forgive us for relying on a plan which did not put your will at its heart and center. Restore us by your grace.