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[Kara]

Isaiah‬ ‭19:23, 25 - What do you think?

Today (June 1st) Egypt is celebrating the feast of Christ’s entry into the land of Egypt.

On March 12, 1976, a miraculous event occurred at St Mary Church, which was built on the site where the Holy Family boarded a sailing boat in Maadi, Cairo. The Nile's lapping ripples carried a Holy Bible of unknown provenance to the bank below. The Bible was open to the last part of Isaiah 19 and is now displayed behind glass in the Church's Sanctuary of the Virgin showing the following verses:

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭19:23, 25

“In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians. whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.””

What do you think?

[jimwalton]

I think Isa. 19.23, 25 have nothing to do with Jesus in Egypt, nor anything to do with the alleged miracle of 3/12/76.

In Isaiah 19.23, Isaiah is speaking of the End Times ("In that day," viz. the Day of the Lord). Egypt and Assyria were the superpowers of their day, and Isaiah mentions them archetypically. His point is that there will come a time when the powers of the world are agents of peace who recognize the Lord's sovereignty and submit to His rule. It's the same kind of image as when the lion will lay down next to the lamb, and swords will be beat into plowshares. There will even be a time when Egypt and Assyria (bitter enemies) will live in peace! It’s a way of expressing an era of peace and goodwill.

John Oswalt says, " 'Highway' is a favorite metaphor for removal of alienation and separation. And rough and hilly Israel, the force of such a figure is obvious."

The Lord will bless them. Peace will come from God's merciful hands. Oswalt again: "In a remarkable statement Isaiah applies terms previously restricted to Israel to both Egypt and Assyria as well. He calls Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hand."

The point of the text is the blessing and peace of God in the last days, which speaks of Heaven.