Preparing for Deliverance
In the previous chapter (Isaiah 17):
Isaiah presents a burdensome prophecy concerning those Israelites living in the Northern Kingdom of Israel and specifically those at Damascus, capital of Syria. God’s people have forgotten the God of their salvation, and so God sends judgement to humble them and make them again have regard from their maker, the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 17:7-10).
When the Israelites in the North are punished to the satisfaction of the Sovereign LORD, and they are left only few in number, God will draw back his hand of wrath before morning. Concluding this chapter with the point of faithfulness on the LORD’s part in that: The Assyirans who came to attack God’s people, are now the ones who are destroyed. This is the fate of those who despoil us and the lot of those who plunder us (see Is.17:14)
In this chapter (Isaiah 18):
The Assyrians continue to prevail as God’s axe of judgment, so Ethiopia seeks an alliance with Israel, but God says, “no”, for Cush must also be judged.
Who is Ethiopia/Cush?
The target of the Assyrians is Ethiopia, properly called Cush in Hebrew, which represents a large region including Ethiopia, Egypt, and South Sudan (most of what we now know as North Africa and a portion of the Middle East).
Ethiopia as we know it today is believed to be the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant in which Moses placed the stone tablets of God’s Law, and today the Ethiopians are known to be the direct descendants and closest relatives of King David himself.
Cush is first mentioned on just the second page of my Bible in Genesis 2. From the Garden of Eden where man and woman were placed, flowed a river that broke off into 4 separate branches. The second branch of Eden’s river is called Gihon, which flows around the land of Cush (Gen.2:19).
By the end of their judgement here in a Isaiah 18, Cush/Ethiopia is shown peculiar favor in a prophecy about a future when they, and all nations, would gather to the Nation Israel with offerings prepared for the LORD their God (a foreshadowing of Christ complete reign on the earth, when every knee will bow to him) (see Isaiah 43).
Read Isaiah 18:1-2
Land of buzzing wings, buzzing with insects, buzzing with life, from which ambassadors were sent to Judah requesting an alliance with Israel to join them in fighting against the growing Assyrian power. However, rather than news of unity, the Cushites were headed back home with news that not only did Israel deny their request for an alliance, but that it was in fact Israel’s God who was empowering the Assyrians to conquer the land.
Isaiah describes Ethiopia as a world power, with tall and polished people who are feared both near and far, nonetheless the wrath of the LORD will humble even these great people into submission.
How do you make submission to God’s authority a priory in your life?
Read Isaiah 18:3-6
A sign will go out to all the world, and no one will be able to miss it. Isaiah foretells of events of the coming judgement of Cush, while also foreshadowing again the final judgement the whole earth. What is most outstanding is that God will give a sign before he sends judgement, therefore it must be crucial for humanity to know what to look for, and this is the prophetic ministry to which Isaiah was called.
In light of the Gospel of Christ, we now know that Jesus is the Banner that is raised, even the incarnate Word of God, and the trumpet is his Gospel which proclaims his Kingdom here on earth.
Assyria is God’s instrument of judgement to punish the wicked (though they too will be judged), and we see at verse 5 that right when it looks like Cush is most powerful and unstoppable a sudden disaster will fall on them. The great Cushite world-power will be thus turned to nothing, and their bodies laid bare for animals to feed on, a most horrific punishment, yet required by the LORD as the wage for sin (until the Messiah would come to make the everlasting sacrifice).
When you see the wicked prosper temporarily, how do you remember God's righteous rewards for abstaining from sin?
Read Isaiah 18:7
The point in this chapter is clearly made in that even those who think they don't need God because they have achieved success on what they think is their own power, will eventually come to yield before him.
God often uses great disasters to bring about great good, and the good for Ethiopia is that they will forever be first in the list of those who humbled themselves and joined Israel by worshiping the LORD their God. Cush therefore clears the path for all nations, Gentiles and stiff-necked Jews, who would follow their example even centuries later and be reborn into God’s family through the Kingdom proclaimed by Christ our LORD, and the sanctification offered through his most precious blood.
Do you know anyone who has not claimed their Kingdom citizenship? How do you sow seeds of righteousness in their lives to compel them to submit to God’s authority?
As we learn about submitting to God’s authority, I invite you to join me in taking a moment to enter a quiet space and say the Lord’s Prayer out loud. In light of God’s authority, think about your words carefully, and keep in mind that it is the sovereign LORD that you are praying to —in the very words the Christ himself gave us to pray: