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Isaiah 19:1 - Thoughts on Judgment against Egypt - Day 139

Good evening brothers and sisters,

Hope you had a good Sabbath.  After chatting with Peg today, thought adding reference to the day of the reading might be helpful to those using M'Cheyne but with a different start date.  

This group of prophecies/oracles is another challenge for understanding this type of literature.  Exactly when some are to occur is a challenge.  So I hope these thoughts are useful.

Blessings,

Jeff

Various commentaries including Calvin point out that Judah frequently used Egypt as a defense against invaders from the north and east.  Given the 400 years in increasing degrees of oppression after Joseph, it is strange that Israel and later Judah would make alliances with Egypt.  But here are some of the cases:

one of Solomon's foreign wives was Pharaoh's daughter, Rehoboam hides out there to escape from Solomon, 

after Nebuchadnezzar captures Jerusalem, Jeremiah is taken there by rebels.

So God judges Egypt to discipline Jews for relying on it instead of on Him.  God has plans for judgements on both Judah's enemies (Babylon, Assyria) as well as it allies (Egypt).  The theme that God is judging the great empires of the ancient world because of Judah is the forest I miss due to the trees.  I tend to look at each prophecy/oracle in isolation.  But really they all go together.  I am a big fan of inductive study (specifics to general).  But sometimes it is important to be deductive (see the big picture to understand the individual events.)

This make me wonder about the 'alliances" the Church makes with the political powers through the centuries.  When Constantine converted and made Christianity the state religion of Roman Empire, converts could be made by coercion, not by the gospel.  God is the power above all earthly powers.  All nations have delegated authority.  Why do I think that making deals with the lower level is better than trusting in the highest level. 

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