Word of Salvation – Vol. 20 No.05 – November 1973
Israel On The Crossroads
Sermon by Rev. John F. H. Vanderbom, (Kingston) on Isaiah 19:19-25
SCRIPTURE READINGS: Ephes. 2:11-22; Isaiah 19:1-18
PSALTER HYMNAL: 14:1,2; 303:4; 281:1,3,5,6,7; 122:1.4.6; 125:4
Congregation,
You can well imagine that the Jews, when they first heard these words of prophecy, must have listened with a very special interest, if not with curiosity. For here we read of an altar for the Lord, to be established in the country of Israel’s worst enemy, right in the centre of Egypt:
And if someone wishes to have a proof that the Bible is God’s Word, or, in Peter’s words, that Holy Scripture was not written by the impulse of man, then you could refer such a person to Isaiah 19.
‘An altar to the Lord shall be built in the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border’. And the language of Canaan will be spoken there. Yes, and the prophet continues: there shall be peace among the nations: Egypt and Assyria and Israel, the fighting three, shall be United Nations, a triple alliance of which Israel will be third.
And in that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, leading (of course) across Israel’s territory, so that the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian will go into Assyria. Egyptians and Assyrians will worship the Lord together.
No, this prophecy was not the product of a Jewish mind. It crushes Jewish pride and prejudice, Think only of what is said last? Israel will be the third. Not: number One anymore. Israel will be third, the first one will be last! Our text speaks of ISRAEL ON THE CROSSROADS.
We ask two questions:
– what does this mean for Israel itself? …and
– what does this mean for the church of today,
for ourselves and for the world?
For the Jews of Isaiah’s days, this prophecy meant nothing less than a shock. It was certainly not the product of the clever brain of a Jew who wanted to be popular.
Sure, we can well imagine that the Jewish hearers would have been tremendously pleased when they, for the first time, heard the opening verses of this 19th chapter. The prophet began to speak about Egypt’s destruction and doom. How intently they must have listened. They must have laughed to the point of tears sometimes, when Egypt’s mighty empire was compared with a vomiting drunkard, and when it was prophesied that their fright would soon be followed by a flight, ‘on socks instead of shoes (we would say), leaving their boots in the desert’.
All Egypt’s former pride and wisdom, all its strength would melt away. In the country of the Nile the old plagues of Moses’ days would be repeated. The Nile would be left a stinking pool.
Don’t you think that the Jews were delighted when their prophet told them all this in God’s Name? ‘And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight every man against his brother, and every man against his neighbour, city against city, kingdom against kingdom’, a real fight between brothers.
Yes, the Jews may have shouted with excitement, like they also did when Jonah began to preach against Assyria! With such a devastating prophecy against their national enemies, the prophet became a very popular person for the moment. In the streets they may have cheered for Isaiah. They may have said, Good on you, man of God, we like listening to you!
But then, all of a sudden the prophecy changes its tone. The prophet’s final word would not be destruction but redemption.
And this is what Israel would definitely not like to hear. Delighted as they were to hear of the destruction of their enemies, they could hardly bear to hear that there is also a promise for them! A promise of God, and of an altar of their own God, in the country of the enemy!
‘There will be an altar to the Lord in the centre of Egypt. And a saviour and deliverer will be sent to them. When they cry to Him because of their oppressors, He will send them a deliverer. And the Lord will make himself known to them. . . ! In that day the Egyptians will know the Lord. And they will worship Him!
And this is still part of the Word of God. ‘An altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt’.
Now what does this mean?
Some of us may have heard of the so-called British-Israel movement. The British-Israelites are one of the sects or cults who have a quick and easy answer ready to this question of the altar in Egypt. According to them, the altar is the mysterious pyramid of Cheops, That wonderful pyramid with its many mathematical mysteries is the key; it holds all the great secrets of the future. So they say, this is the altar of the Lord in Egypt!
Now, this is a very strange belief. The only reason for mentioning it here is to warn you, Congregation, of all those modern sects and cults who profess that they have got all the dates and facts about the times and the occasions, about which the Lord Jesus has told us that nobody knows them, and that they are hidden for us by the Father!
No, the message of the altar to the Lord in Egypt is something completely different. We have here a vision of the end- time. It will be in the end, that is after so many wars, that Egypt will be completely humbled and beaten to the ground. In that day, when also Assyria’s greatness will have dwindled, and when nothing will be left of both empires but ruins, terrible ruins, and when both the conqueror and the loser will be beaten to the ground, then the hour of God will strike. The hour of God’s Anointed One, Messiah!
‘When in the land of Egypt they cry to the Lord because of their oppressor, then He will send them a deliverer who will be their champion and rescue them. And the Lord will make Himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day the Egyptians will know the Lord, and they will worship Him.’ This is the heart of the message, ‘And the Lord will strike Egypt, both striking and healing’. That is wonderful, isn’t it? When God hits, it is always for healing! ‘And they will return to the Lord. He will hear their prayers and heal them.’ This is what we call: amazing grace. And when you read through these verses, you may remember what the Lord Jesus says: ‘And I have other sheep that are not of this fold (of Israel). I must bring them also and they will hear My voice. So there shall be one flock, one Shepherd.’
There won’t be any hope for Israel alone. There is no hope for them unless and until even Israel will realize: we are not God’s Number One any more. In God’s Kingdom for the end-time, that means: after Jesus has come, it is not Israel-alone, and not even: Israel-first. We have read in Ephesians 2 that the dividing wall between circumcised and un-circumcised must fall away. Israel must learn from its Messiah that it is more blessed to give than to receive. And there is the calling for Israel together with its enemies to build a highway for their God!
And so He will be found by those who did not seek Him; the Lord will be recognized by those who did not call on Him. My people Egypt. He will say. And: ‘Assyria, the work of My hands, and Israel, My heritage. And together will they worship Him, seeing Who He is, that great and glorious Lord, the God of Israel, the I AM WHO I AM!
– – – – –
But there can be no doubt that this will be a shocking day for Israel-after-the-flesh, Israel the nation. Because Israel-after-the-flesh can only hope for Egypt’s final defeat, and they wait for Assyria’s destruction. That is how it was in the past; and it is still the same today. The same war is still going on.
Now, humanly speaking, we say it is no wonder that the Israelis fight. They feel very unsafe. Our sympathies are with them. We know the situation of their country: it has always been a trouble-spot, a danger-spot. It is not pleasant at all to live on the crossroads of big and bloodthirsty empires. Israel’s position on the map has often been compared to the place of the Netherlands or Belgium or Poland: a small country between the big empires who always and again wanted to use and exploit the small country, and often made it their battlefield.
Israel lives in the danger-spot. And Israel seems to know this very well. Israel was fully prepared to fight and give the first blow. Somebody has called the Israelites the ‘Pick-in-ski’ among the nations; the Jews seem to have a reputation for “picking up” whatever they can! But humanly speaking we feel sympathy. Because it is not a pleasure to be a nation on the cross-roads.
However, do we realize the plan of God for Israel? Why is Israel there, on the crossroads? Is it possible that Israel in its fight for a place under the sun, has forgotten its real purpose? Has it forgotten the promise of God to Abraham, to be a blessing on the crossroads between the nations, on the roads between East and West?
2. This leads to our second question, Israel’s meaning for the nations and for the church of today:
For Israel’s existence as a nation, and for its position on the crossroads, there was only one great purpose: the cross of Jesus had to be there, too. On the crossroads of the nations, on the road between East and West, was where Jesus’ Cross had to be shown and known. And after Jesus’ death, the sense of Israel’s national existence had vanished, The middle wall that divided them from the other nations was to be demolished. There should be the highway for our God, and a channel for the love of God extending from East to West, from Egypt to Assyria and even as far as to Russia and China and America.
Could you just imagine what would have happened if every Jew had accepted the blessings of Jesus, their Messiah? How different the position would be of the tortured countries of the Middle East!
No, we are not wrong in saying that Israel-after-the flesh has forgotten its real purpose and destiny. But then we must add at the same time that also that small country on the North Sea, lying on the crossroads, so often forgot the real purpose of its existence. And we are also concerned about Australia, ‘white’ Australia, and the so-called Christian West, which have forgotten the real purpose for their existence. Because it is not ‘Pick-in- ski’ Israel and not the Netherlands, nor the nation of Australia that should dominate. It is only the Gospel of the Cross that must have dominion.
And what have we done as a nation for the highway of that Gospel? It should have gone out from Israel at first. But then we should have made Israel jealous with that Gospel in which there is freedom, peace and redemption for every tribe and nation. For it is the Gospel of the One Name which God has given for all men under heaven. And there is no other name, either for Israel nor for the nations. And all the glory of the nations will be brought into the New Jerusalem.
As we said, here is shocking news for Israel. The prophecy of the altar to the Lord in Egypt will be fulfilled without Israel’s consent. Ethiopia and Egypt shall stretch out their hands toward God. He claims Egypt as His people. And this means for Israel that they have miserably failed. Israel must realize that from now on they are not first but third in God’s economy.
* * * * *
Now it is certainly not easy to answer the question, when this prophecy will be fulfilled. The beginning of its fulfilment was there already when in the first centuries after Christ large, numbers of Egyptians and Ethiopians embraced the Message of the Cross: the Coptic churches are of the oldest churches existing in the world. The same is true of the Syrian Church. And Halle Selassie in Ethiopia is a fervent promoter of the work of the Bible Society in Northern Africa. But as Christian Churches we keep praying for more victories of the Lord’s Spirit in all these fighting countries. We should certainly not limit our prayers to the needs of the people in Palestine. And we know that for the Lord there is nothing impossible. That the desert can blossom, and that Muslim countries can change has been demonstrated recently in the mass conversions in Indonesia.
We do not know God’s times and seasons. But we must continue to pray: Lord, hasten the day for Israel and for the Arab world! And if we do not pray this prayer more fervently than before, then we are just as guilty as Israel. Then we have also forgotten the real aim of our existence. There is a Deliverer and Healer for the nations. And His Name must be proclaimed.
Finally! In the year 160 before Christ there was a simple, devout Jew who took a copy of the very prophecy which we have read. He asked for an audience with the Egyptian, King, Ptolemy VI. He told him: Your Majesty, one of our prophets has told us that in your country an altar will be erected for the living God!
Don’t you think that this Jew had a great faith?
And who of us would have the courage to do the same?
We live in a world of wars. Why are there wars? Because we are still unwilling to learn of Jesus: it is more blessed to give than to receive. Christ alone can make peace. But we must tell the nations.
Christians who live in the troubled world have only one task: take the Word of God along the highway. Speak His Word. Blessed are the peacemakers. Roads have to be built between enemy and enemy, between East and West. And the roads between East and West, roads of oil and material riches, must meet under the Cross. There will be the one communion table for all the nations. This is a Christian’s hope and the expectation of God’s Church, that once again Jerusalem will be in the centre! No, not in honour of the Jew. But for the Cross of Jesus. His victory must be heard from the centre of the world.
This is a Christian’s hope.
Is it your hope too? Do you expect something to happen in the end time of the world? Or do you only say: it is too nice to be true?
But with God all things are possible. And God’s people pray: Lord hasten the day! Move us, so that we may move others. Spirit of Jesus, move the church so that your old people Israel may at last be moved with jealousy and turn to the great Messiah. And that Egypt may wake up, and Assyria. Yes, we wait and pray for miracles. We pray for Jesus Himself to act in the present world.
For He is our Peace. And we know there is no promise, no peace for Jerusalem apart from Him:
A Light, to lighten the gentiles,
and glory to the people of Israel!
Yes, Lord, hasten the day. And let us who have been first for many centuries not be the last ones to receive Your Wondrous Word with gratitude.
Amen.