People have been rioting in the streets and three hundred have died in the chaotic violence. The president is gone. The military has dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution. What’s next for Egypt, and does it have a place in Biblical prophecy? We were thinking about this at First Baptist last Sunday evening.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Egypt is mentioned quite a bit in prophecy, especially when you consider the long connection between Egypt and the Jews. It goes back to Abraham and his trip to Egypt to escape a famine. Joseph spent years in Egypt, found favor with Pharaoh and saved the entire family by bringing them down from Canaan. Four hundred years later the family was there, and the 70 who came down had grown to 2.5 million. Even Jesus was there for a time to escape Herod and to fulfill Hosea 11:1, “Out of Egypt I have called my son”.
And yes, the Bible does indicate that Egypt has a place in prophecy. Today I’ll call your attention to Isaiah 19, one of several places we could turn. This chapter interests me because its prophecies show us Egypt near the time of the Lord’s Second Coming. I’m not making predictions about when these things will take place, but it does seem that recent events have a least set in motion the things read about here.
First, Isaiah reminds everyone that God is in control of Egypt when he shows us the Lord riding into the country on a cloud. (19:1) “Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud, And will come into Egypt; The idols of Egypt will totter at His presence.” The ancient Egyptians worshipped gods and goddesses of their own imagination, but today most Egyptians worship one idol, Allah. When Muhammad lived in Mecca 360 idols were worshipped, and one of those was al-ilah, the moon god. The name was shortened to Allah and became the only god of Islam. And that god will be no more help than Ra, Isis or any of the other Egyptian gods of the past, because the Lord reigns.
Next we can expect chaotic violence and perhaps even civil war. Isaiah 19:2,3 reads, "I will set Egyptians against Egyptians; Everyone will fight against his brother, And everyone against his neighbor, City against city, kingdom against kingdom. The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst; I will destroy their counsel, And they will consult the idols and the charmers, The mediums and the sorcerers.”
We can certainly observe this kind of discord, chaos and violence today, and can expect in more in the days to come. With a void of substantive civil leadership, there will be “spiritual” advisors who will step in to offer wisdom that will lead to even further disorder. People will commit to a religious worldview of idolatry, mysticism, useless idolatry, false gods and the occult.
Next a ruthless dictator will rise to power. Yes, these people have had many dictators in the past, but this man seems to stand above the rest. Isaiah 19:4 tells us, “The Egyptians I will give Into the hand of a cruel master, And a fierce king will rule over them." There are several other prophetic passages that seem to describe the same leader, called the King of the South in Daniel 11. Ezekiel 38 describes this leader using a coalition of nations from the North, South, East and West of Israel to conspire together to kill the Jews, but they will be supernaturally defeated.
This will be the beginning of disaster for Egypt because Isaiah 19:5 says that the Nile River will dry up, resulting in a massive series of ecological, economic and agricultural crises. Did you know that the Nile has already begun to dry up? NASA satellites track water levels around the world and they have reported that this has been going on for years now. Farmers in Egypt are struggling to find places to water their cattle and even wild animals are moving into populated areas to find water along the Nile.
These are all signs that things are being prepared for the Lord’s return. We know this because of the way Isaiah 19 ends, which is the best and most amazing prophecy of all. (See Isaiah 19:18-25.) After the Second Coming, Egypt will turn to the Lord! That transformation is seen in four future, remarkable events; Egyptian cities will begin to speak the Hebrew language; an altar is built, on which offerings are given to Jehovah. God will hear the cries of the Egyptian people and will deliver them; a sacred superhighway will be built—linking Egypt, Israel and Assyria—guaranteeing the unity and safety of all three countries!
No one else would predict this, but this chapter that begins with the Lord sweeping in on a cloud to demonstrate His sovereignty ends with the words, “Blessed is Egypt my people.”
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