Latest / Dwelling Place: The Bible for Moms / #142. God's Heart for Every Nation: Hope in Isaiah's Prophecies Against Egypt | Isaiah 15–20

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#142. God's Heart for Every Nation: Hope in Isaiah's Prophecies Against Egypt | Isaiah 15–20 · Dwelling Place: The Bible for Moms

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  Steph: This is The Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.
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  Steph: I'm Stephanie Hickox, and today we'll be looking at Isaiah chapters 15 through 20 God's heart for the nations and to restore all people to Him is on full display, and He asks Isaiah to do something that I hope
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  Steph: He never asks me to do I'll let you see a little bit behind the curtain today.
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  Steph: It has been a rough twenty-four hours of parenting.
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  Steph: Not one situation, but several and relentlessly.
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  Steph: It's felt really defeating, and I wonder, how can I pray so hard and work so diligently and still experience such brokenness and sin in my own home?
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  Steph: But as I continue reading these prophecies of judgment on the nations And the ways that all of these people groups have rebelled against the Lord.
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  Steph: Should I be surprised when my own kids don't want to do what I want them to do or be surprised that my own sin is triggered in these moments?
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  Steph: I'm probably making it sound way more dramatic than it has been, and I'm certainly not trying to make the word about me.
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  Steph: Instead, I'm aiming for the word to provide me with an eternal perspective, to not focus on the day-to-day, but to look forward to the glory of the King of Kings There are just some days when we're reading in
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  Steph: Scripture, and it's really evident these chapters are not about us, but it's good Because it keeps our focus on the Lord and what he has been doing in the hearts of people for thousands of years.
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  Steph: And his character, is a steadfast anchor for us to cling to when we feel tossed to and fro by the waves of today.
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  Steph: in chapter 15, we're reading the oracle against Moab.
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  Steph: As a reminder, the Moabites came from Lot and his daughter after the Lord spared them from destruction in Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19.
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  Steph: And they've been an enemy to the Israelites.
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  Steph: But still, in verse five, it says of the Lord, My heart cries out for Moab."
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  Steph: God has compassion on this nation.
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  Steph: And the oracle continues, When the oppressor is no more and destruction has ceased and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land, then a throne will be established in steadfast love And it will sit in faithfulness in
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  Steph: the tent of David, one who judges and seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness.
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  Steph: I love that description of the way Jesus will rule, that He will be swift to do righteousness.
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  Steph: In Entrusted, we say obedience is right away, all the way, and with a happy heart.
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  Steph: And that means as soon as we know what the right thing is to do, we should do it.
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  Steph: we can become more like Christ in this as moms, not just expect our kids to.
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  Steph: Chapter 17 is an oracle in which Damascus and Israel are grouped.
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  Steph: This is interesting because Damascus is in Syria, but it was quite near the border And as Israel strayed farther and farther from the Lord, it became more like the surrounding nations After describing their judgment, in 17:7 through 8
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  Steph: it says, In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel.
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  Steph: He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made, either the Asherim or the altars of incense."
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  Steph: God will be faithful to purify them.
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  Steph: He doesn't give up
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  Speaker 19: verse 10 reminds
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  Steph: Us of why this judgment has been so necessary in the first place.
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  Steph: For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not remembered the rock of your refuge.
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  Steph: Next, I'm going to read the oracle against Egypt that Isaiah records in chapter 19.
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  Steph: Every time we've read about Egypt thus far, it's been presented in a negative manner.
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  Steph: This is the nation God used to judge and show Himself mighty against.
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  Steph: And I still confidently claim that this is one of God's proudest moments but this chapter reveals that Egypt itself is not an enemy of the Lord.
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  Steph: Pride is.
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  Steph: False gods are.
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  Steph: So listen to this chapter of what will come in the future of Egypt and then be listening where this oracle turns to hope An oracle concerning Egypt: Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to
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  Steph: Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
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  Steph: And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight each against another and each against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.
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  Steph: And the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their counsel; and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers, and the mediums and the necromancers, And I will give over the
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  Steph: Egyptians into the hand of a hard master, And a fierce king will rule over them, declares the Lord God of hosts.
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  Steph: And the waters of the sea will be dried up, and the river will be dry and parched, and its canals will become foul, and the branches of Egypt's Nile will diminish and dry up.
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  Steph: Reeds and rushes will rot away.
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  Steph: There will be bare places by the Nile, on the brink of the Nile, and all that is sown by the Nile will be parched, will be driven away and will be no more.
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  Steph: The fishermen will mourn and lament, all who cast a hook in the Nile, and they will languish, who spread nets on the water.
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  Steph: The workers in combed flax will be in despair, and the weavers of white cotton.
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  Steph: Those who are the pillars of the land will be crushed, and all who work for pay will be grieved.
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  Steph: The princes of Zion are utterly foolish.
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  Steph: The wisest counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel.
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  Steph: How can you say to Pharaoh, I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings"?
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  Steph: Where then are your wise men?
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  Steph: Let them tell you that they might know what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt.
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  Steph: The princes of Zoan have become fools, and the princes of Memphis are deluded.
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  Steph: Those who are the cornerstones of her tribes have made Egypt stagger.
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  Steph: The Lord has mingled within her a spirit of confusion, and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
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  Steph: And there will be nothing for Egypt that head or tail, palm branch or reed may do.
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  Steph: In that day the Egyptians will be like women, and tremble with fear before the hand that the Lord of hosts strikes over them.
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  Steph: And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians.
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  Steph: Everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the purpose that the Lord of hosts has purposed against them.
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  Steph: In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts.
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  Steph: One of these will be called the City of Destruction.
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  Steph: In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord as its border.
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  Steph: It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt.
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  Steph: When they cry to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender and deliver them.
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  Steph: And the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians.
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  Steph: and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering.
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  Steph: And they will make vows to the Lord and perform them.
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  Steph: And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing.
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  Steph: And they will return to the Lord, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.
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  Steph: In that day, there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the In that day, Israel will be the third with Egypt and
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  Steph: Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of Hosts has blessed, saying, Blessed be Egypt, my people, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and Israel, my inheritance."
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  Steph: Okay, wow, right?
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  Steph: As I said, God is not set against the nation of Egypt.
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  Steph: He was set against their pride and their reliance on their panoply of pagan gods.
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  Steph: He was determined to devote their false gods to destruction, but He sacrificially saves all whose hearts are humble.
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  Steph: He longs to be a savior and a defender for those who turn to Him.
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  Steph: And one day, Jesus will bring such peace on the earth that Israel will worship with her former enemies Think about the headlines of today and the constant tension that Israel has with her neighboring enemies but this scripture shows
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  Steph: that even enemies will worship alongside Israel someday Most scholars agree that this chapter is eschatological, which means it's referring to the end times, and it seems pretty obvious because there hasn't been a point yet in history where the
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  Steph: Nile has dried up we're waiting for these prophecies to be fulfilled Throughout the Old Testament, Jerusalem and Zion have been pointed to as the place of worship, but this chapter told us that there would be an altar set
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  Steph: up in Egypt.
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  Steph: It reminds me of when Jesus met the woman at the well in John 4 And he said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
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  Steph: You worship what you do not know.
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  Steph: We worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
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  Steph: But the hour is coming and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
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  Steph: God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
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  Steph: Amen, right?
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  Steph: Jesus affirms that the Lord looks at the heart, not your nationality.
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  Steph: And although it is good that we go to the house of the Lord regularly, and it's entirely biblical that we do so, praise the Lord that we have a God that longs to dwell with us no matter where
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  Steph: we are.
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  Steph: before we approach Him in spirit and in truth, we have to touch on chapter 20 as God asks Isaiah to do something that I would be mortified if he requested of me.
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  Steph: Chapter 20 verse two tells us, At that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from your waist, and take off your sandals from your feet And he did so, walking
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  Steph: naked and barefoot.
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  Steph: Then the Lord said, As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years, as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush, so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite
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  Steph: exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt.
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  Steph: God often calls prophets to do unconventional things to get the attention of people, and the unfortunate lot of walking around naked for three years fell to Isaiah.
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  Steph: Now, all of the commentaries I read agree that it's most probable that Isaiah only had to rid himself of his outer garment, which would have been publicly shameful, but it doesn't necessarily mean that his buttocks were exposed, even
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  Steph: though that was indicated it would happen to the people later.
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  Steph: still, to that I say, thank you, Lord, that although this podcast has been a lot of work, you have allowed me to do it fully clothed in the comfort of my own home And with that in mind, I
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  Steph: thought I'd take a moment to ask you once again to leave a review In my heart of hearts, I want overwhelmed moms To be able to find hope and encouragement through the Word of God.
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  Steph: And when you leave a five-star rating and a review you increase the likelihood that another mom can find us Let's move forward knowing that you and I have a mandate to be faithful at home.
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  Steph: But let's never neglect the call to be Christ's witnesses to the end of the earth.
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  Steph: Heavenly Father, we delight that you are Lord of all creation, that you love every tribe, nation, and tongue, and one day, you will be rightfully worshiped by representatives from each.
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  Steph: Give us your heart That we could have the honor of introducing others to the name that is above every name When we see the lack of peace on this earth, I pray we would find comfort knowing you're sovereign
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  Steph: and the power of peace is in your hands we pray for peace and joy to reign in our homes as well.
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  Steph: But when it doesn't, would you teach us to follow in your example by loving deeply, teaching diligently, And also walking faithfully with our families.
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  Steph: We pray for our kids and the witness that they are, whether they're meeting strangers at the park and in the grocery store going to school or in the workplace, may they have your heart for the nations, and may
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  Steph: they be swift to walk in righteousness, Jesus, you are a savior, defender, and deliverer it's our greatest desire that they worship you in spirit and in truth, and it's in your mighty name that we pray.
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  Steph: Amen