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consequence: 'every man's heart shall melt' (Isa. 13:7).
These words are
followed by a reminiscence of Matthew 24:
'Pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a
woman that travaileth ... Behold, the day of the Lord cometh' (Isa.
13:8,9).
Psalm 68, which we have already considered so far as the reference to
Egypt in verse 31 is concerned, speaks of the Lord riding upon the heavens of
heavens which were of old (33) and at His arising depicts the enemies of the
Lord melting as wax before the fire, and perishing at the presence of God.
This link of Isaiah 13 with Matthew 24 is emphasized by a similar link in
Isaiah 19:2, for the fighting of every one against his brother, 'city against
city, and kingdom against kingdom' is very nearly quoted by the Saviour in
Matthew 24:7 and 8 where the use of nation against nation and kingdom against
kingdom is said to be 'the beginning of sorrows, or birth pangs' and where
the same Greek word odin is used of birth pangs both in Isaiah 13:8 in the
LXX, and in the Greek of Matthew 24:8.
The reference to idols, charmers, familiar spirits and wizards in
Isaiah 19:3 finds a counterpart in the Book of the Revelation where these
evils reach their zenith. In verse 16 fear will come upon Egypt 'because of
the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which He shaketh over it'; and
a variety of words are employed to speak of the day when God will shake the
heavens and the earth and will shake all nations (Hag. 2:6,7,21). Matthew
24:7 speaks also of 'famines and earthquakes', and Isaiah 19:5 -10 shows the
effect upon the whole economy of Egypt at the drying up of their river 'and
everything sown by the brooks shall wither, be driven away (as stubble
because dried up, Isaiah 41:2) and be no more'. At verse 16, a series of
references commencing with the prophetic term 'In that day' opens a new
vista.
Isa.
19:16
In
that
day
the shaking of the land of Egypt.
Isa.
19:18
In
that
day
five cities speak the language of Canaan.
Isa.
19:19
In
that
day
there shall be an altar to the Lord.
Isa.
19:21
In
that
day
Egyptians shall do sacrifice.
Isa.
19:23
In
that
day
there shall be a highway.
Isa.
19:24
In
that
day
Israel shall be a third with Egypt and Assyria.
Here are six prophetic items. The third reference declaring that
'there shall be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a
pillar at the border thereof to the Lord'. The word translated 'altar' is
the Hebrew mizbeach, 'a place of sacrifice'. It is the same word that is
used of the altar built by Noah, by Abraham and by Moses (Gen. 8:20; 22:9 and
Exod. 17:15). It is the same word used of the altar of the tabernacle (Exod.
27:1) and the altar of the temple (1 Kings 8:22). The word occurs eight
times in Isaiah, every reference being to an altar in the Scriptural sense of
the word. We have rather laboured this point, because of the fantastic and
misleading suggestion made by some, that the altar of Isaiah 19:19 refers to
the Great Pyramid at Gizeh. There is also to be a 'pillar' at the frontier.
We read in Exodus 24:4 that Moses builded an 'altar' and erected 'twelve
pillars' according to the number of the children of Israel. The same word is
used of the pillar set up by Jacob at Bethel (Gen. 28:18 and 31:45). This
last reference was called mizpah by Jacob, a beacon and watchtower, for he
said 'The Lord watch between me and thee ... I will not pass over ... thou
shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm' (Gen. 31:44
-52). Something of the same intent seems to be implied by the pillar set up