ISAIAH 18 - Prophecy against Cush

OVERVIEW

• Ezekiel (chapters 25-32) includes prophecies that addressed the surrounding pagan nations of Israel, also found in Isaiah (13-19) and Jeremiah (46-51)

• This series of prophecies, with one exception, was delivered at the time of the fall of Jerusalem, shortly before or after the capture of the city

• They were to be a warning to the nations not to exult in their neighbor Israel’s fall  <C33>

NOTES BY VERSE

Note: each ** comment in this document is listed in numerical order according to the verse(s) from this chapter

** Many scholars believe Isaiah 18 to be one of the most obscure in Scripture, probably having greater meaning at the time it was written  <B20>

Isaiah 18:1 NIV

[1] Woe to the land of whirring wings along the rivers of Cush [or today’s Ethiopia]

** Whatever land and people are intended in this passage, we can be comforted that God takes care of his people and the Church; God’s people are trampled on but whoever plans to swallow them finds they are cast down  <B20>

Isaiah 18:5 NIV

[5] For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives, and cut down and take away the spreading branches.

** The Lord will wait patiently until His desired time to act

Isaiah 18:4 NIV

[4] This is what the Lord says to me: “I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

** God will let everyone see His judgment on those who do not produce fruit for His kingdom  <M1501>

• It is not enough to simply believe in God, for even demons believe and tremble, but one's faith must produce fruit or an expression of work  

• The passage in Isaiah 18 is synonymous with Christ's words of admonition of the separating of wheat and tares

Isaiah 18:5-6 NIV

[5] For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives, and cut down and take away the spreading branches. [6] They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey and to the wild animals; the birds will feed on them all summer, the wild animals all winter.

Luke 3:17 NIV

[17] His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”