I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian—brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. – Isaiah 19:2

Today's Scripture Reading (March 29, 2023): Isaiah 19 & 20

In 671 B.C.E., Esarhaddon of Assyria invaded Egypt, but the focus of the invasion seems to have been an attempt to decapitate the Egyptian Government. During this era, the Kushite Kings of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty were in control of Egypt. Esarhaddon's purpose for his invasion seems to have been to remove the power of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty Pharaohs and restore the nation to the native Egyptians. It is possible that the Assyrians hoped an independent Egypt would provide a buffer zone between Assyria and the mighty Kingdom of Kush.

The Egyptians were partially successful. While it would be another fifteen years before the reign of the Kushite Pharaohs ended in Egypt, the control of the land was divided between twelve kinglets. And these kinglets often came into conflict and broke into skirmishes against each other.

Isaiah's prophecy against the nations dates to around 725 B.C.E. In the fifty-four years between the prophecy of Isaiah and the fulfillment of the promise, the known world would change significantly. In Isaiah's world, the Northern Kingdom of Israel was still a nation; they wouldn't fall to Assyria until 721 B.C.E. The Twenty-Fifth Dynasty in Egypt is in its infancy; these foreign Pharaohs have not yet gained solid control of Egypt. And in Assyria, Shalmaneser the brother of Sargon II, the man who would be the grandfather of Esarhaddon, was in control of the Assyrian Empire.

Sometimes, I wonder what the people who first heard the biblical prophecies thought about what the prophets were saying. The truth is that many of them disregarded the words of these godly people. After all, it just didn't seem to make sense. And yet, in the space of a little more than fifty years, the words of Isaiah would be fulfilled. In Egypt, a brother would fight against a brother, and city would fight against city as the twelve kinglets vied for control of the nation.

In the end, it would be Psamtik I in 664 B.C.E., who would finally unify the waring Egyptian Kingdoms and once more be able to allow a unified Egypt to enter the world stage, becoming a power among the nations.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 21