Three-Fold Blessing

18 In that day five of Egypt’s cities will follow the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. They will even begin to speak Hebrew, the language of Canaan. One of these cities will be Heliopolis, the City of the Sun.

19 In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and there will be a monument to the Lord at its border. 20 It will be a sign and a witness that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is worshiped in the land of Egypt. When the people cry to the Lord for help against those who oppress them, he will send them a savior who will rescue them. 21 The Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians. Yes, they will know the Lord and will give their sacrifices and offerings to him. They will make a vow to the Lord and will keep it. 22 The Lord will strike Egypt, and then he will bring healing. For the Egyptians will turn to the Lord, and he will listen to their pleas and heal them.

23 In that day Egypt and Assyria will be connected by a highway. The Egyptians and Assyrians will move freely between their lands, and they will both worship God. 24 In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth. 25 For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will say, “Blessed be Egypt, my people. Blessed be Assyria, the land I have made. Blessed be Israel, my special possession!”

National hatreds can go a long way back. Consider international relations in Isaiah’s day. Egypt was the country that had enslaved Israel centuries earlier. One of its Old Testament names is “Rahab,” which means terror—because the Israelites lived there in the kind of terror that only an enslaved people can know.

Assyria was the superpower of Isaiah’s day. The highway between Assyria and Egypt was a bloody road. On that highway those two great powers had met each other often in battle. Too bad the road ran through Palestine—Israel often found itself caught in the middle!

But Isaiah saw a day of miraculous change. Egypt would worship the Lord! Its people would build an altar to God, raise up border banners, and cry out to God!

In fact, something even more amazing would happen. Israel, Assyria, and Egypt would all come together in their worship of the Lord God! All three peoples would become a blessing—and be blessed. The Lord would bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.” Blessings that once described Israel alone were now pronounced on those who were once trapped in paganism. Immanuel is the Savior of all the nations!

Is Immanuel your Savior and Lord? Pray for the day when peoples everywhere will worship Christ together.

Father, you are faithful to all your promises. May the day soon come when peoples everywhere will worship you as Lord and Savior. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.