Isaiah 19:18-20 - When Egypt cries to the Lord, He will answer

19:18

Prior to the change the Egyptians looked down upon Judah, but now they will speak the language of Canaan, ie Aramaic. This is symbolic of them adopting faith in the Lord. For they will swear allegiance to the Lord Almighty. “One of these cities will be call the City of Destruction” or the “city of the sun”.

19:19

This verse highlights the complete transformation. Egypt was a place of idols, a place on enmity towards God. Yet in this future there would be an altar to the Lord in Egypt, and just anywhere in Egypt, but at the heart of Egypt. There would be a monument to the Lord at the border. So any nation approaching Egypt would be reminded that Egypt relied upon the Lord.

19:20

And what a transformation it is! When they are attacked they will cry out to the Lord, compare this with what we read of in 19:3. And when they do cry out to the Lord He will send them a saviour and rescue them. Compare this with what happened in the day of Moses, and with what Isaiah says in 19:4. This is so essential to understanding the Lord’s working in the world. We need to take full account of the judgment and full account of the salvation. We also see here that a sign of Egypt now being part of God’s kingdom is that they cry out to Him when in trouble. This “you will call to me and I will answer you” is a recurrent theme throughout the Bible. When we are in right relationship with God it does not mean that nothing “bad” will happen to us, but when we are threatened we will call upon His name, and He will rescue us.