Isaiah continues his long section of “Sermons to the Nations of the World.”

And chapter 18 is relatively short, but really quite exciting!

As I have already indicated in the Title of today’s Lesson … this “Woe” (doom announcement) is directed toward the people of Ethiopia. Or more specifically … “Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia.” (Verse 1 of Isaiah 17)

“Shadowing” means “buzzing, whirring,” and likely indicates hordes of insects! Indigenous to that part of Africa, I am told. The “Rivers” of Ethiopia speak of the Nile (one of the world’s longest rivers) and its tributaries. Some commentaries say the Land is ancient “Nubia,” to be more precise. (About this time Ethiopia did rise to great power, possessing a great army and seafaring capability.)

Verse 2 hints at her national prowess in those days: “That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters.” Ethiopia was known for her boats (some it is thought made of papyrus) … just like Isaiah describes! And her diplomacy too!

Now the chapter gets a little cryptic, difficult to comprehend. But I believe the intent is to reveal a Message sent back to the Ethiopians! GOD ALMIGHTY IS DISPATCHING MESSENGERS BACK TO THE PEOPLE OF THAT LAND! “Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation (again, Ethiopia) scattered (prolonged) and peeled (polished, smooth), to a people terrible (awesome) from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out (measured) and trodden down (who subjugates others), whose land the rivers have spoiled (divided)!

And what does our great God say?

First, in verse 3 God gets the “attention” of the world, the whole world! “All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he (the Lord) lifteth up an ensign (flag) on the mountains; and when he (God again) bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.” Pretty self-explanatory. Listen everybody!

Now the “HEART” of the chapter … Isaiah relaying the Message: “For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.” God is “thinking,” planning His Action toward the world. And His next Move will be as “sure,” as “irrevocable” as “the afternoon heat on a Summer day!”  Or as the “clouds” (in the Nile region, remember) during the extremely hot harvest time! (Here is the Lord using His Own creation in one of His Declarations!)

Here is another example of the Lord doing such. “Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; the LORD of hosts is his name: if those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.” Jeremiah 31:35-36, “ordinances!”

Wow!

And I have a feeling that both these quoted Utterances (Isaiah’s and Jeremiah’s) from the Mouth of God … are spoken in defense of Israel!

God is warning Ethiopia to not harm Israel.

That leads me to Isaiah 18:5-6. JUDGMENT IS COMING! I think there are “hints” here, “foreshadowings” of the future last-day Battles mentioned in Revelation. (Though the verses have been fulfilled historically as well. Ethiopia is no longer a world power!) “For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he (maybe through a God appointed enemy aggressor) shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches. They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.” Maybe, if not probably, Assyria in Isaiah’s day. But for us … likely God Himself at the Battle of Armageddon!

In this sense Ethiopia becomes a “type, symbol” of the nations of earth. (As the Revelator on Patmos tells us: “Ripe for judgment at Armageddon!”)

Wow!

Is Isaiah a Preacher/Prophet to the world, or not?

I am amazed at the scope of this vast Book, Isaiah!

Truly … the Word of God!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

More from chapter 18 tomorrow, Lord willing.