Blessings Friends!
I hope my dream about the perverse spirit and this look into Isaiah 19 has quickened your spirits to the urgency of prayer for The Body of Christ. My heart’s desire is that God’s people will take the initiative and humble themselves before God, before He has to do it for us! Wouldn’t that be refreshing? And I truly believe it is possible!
We pick up with Isaiah 19:5-10:
“The waters will fail from the sea,
And the river will be wasted and dried up.
“The rivers will turn foul;
The brooks of defense will be emptied and dried up;
The reeds and rushes will wither.
“The papyrus reeds by the River, by the mouth of the River,
And everything sown by the River,
Will wither, be driven away, and be no more.“The fishermen also will mourn;
All those will lament who cast hooks into the River,
And they will languish who spread nets on the waters.
“Moreover those who work in fine flax
And those who weave fine fabric will be ashamed;“And its foundations will be broken.
All who make wages will be troubled of soul.”
In order to put this into context, I want to remind you of John 7:38, 39:
“He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water. But this spoke he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive…)”
From a post-resurrection perspective, “waters” usually speak of The Holy Spirit, Living Water, and “rivers” of His flow. The “sea” usually symbolizes a great mass of people, or nations. We know from King David, in Psalm 51:11, and from Isaiah 63:10, that if we grieve The Holy Spirit long enough, He will withdraw from us.
As in Israel’s past, if God’s people refuse to heed the words of His prophets, and repent, the flow of His Spirit will cease. All the seeds and plantings that rely on this flow will dry up. All who depend on it for their livelihood, for supplying their flocks will be at a loss. All who depend on it for protection will find none. And those who work to weave their own white robes, or righteousness, and depend on the works of their hands for their physical and spiritual sustenance, will be put to shame.
In Isaiah 19:11-13, The Lord talks of the princes of Zoan becoming fools, and the princes of Noph being deceived. Zoan has been translated, “place of departure.” The Church has departed from the truth, and the princes are the leaders who perpetuate false doctrine. Noph has been translated, “presentability.” In other words, keeping up appearances. Does that sound at all like today’s church? Here, The Lord calls “departure” and “presentability” the very mainstays of their tribes! That alone should make all church leaders take inventory!
“The Lord has mingled a perverse spirit in her midst;
And they have caused Egypt to err in all her work,
As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
Neither will there be any work for Egypt,
Which the head or tail,
Palm branch or bulrush, may do.“In that day Egypt will be like women, and will be afraid and fear because of the waving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which He waves over it.” Isaiah 19:14, 15
When we depart from God’s truth and the counsel of The Holy Spirit, His hedge of protection drops, and we hang a sign out, reading, “Welcome, Unclean Spirits!” But, remember, all spirits are subject to Yahweh, to accomplish His will and bring Him glory.
Because Egypt (the Church) follows after the perverse spirit, it will be unable to accomplish anything, from the greatest among them to the least. This isn’t a gentle wave of God’s hand over The Church, but the shaking of His mighty fist. Judgment.
“And the land of Judah will be a terror to Egypt; everyone who makes mention of it will be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts which He has determined against it.” Isaiah 19:17
Judah, “praised,” speaks of Jesus. At its root, it paints a picture of hands raised to God in praise and worship. Those who have remained true to God’s Word and carry His glory, will be a fearful reminder to others of how far they have fallen. But this is good. This is what is needed to achieve God’s purpose.
“In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear by the Lord of hosts; one will be called the City of Destruction.” Isaiah 19:18
A city has been defined as “a place guarded by waking.” These cities certainly get a wake-up call. When I saw the number five, the first thing that came to mind was the five-fold ministry: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. But five is also the number of grace. Therefore, we know that God intends to lead His people to repentance, that He might forgive and bless them. This has never changed.
What is the language of Canaan? Canaan has been translated “lowland.” In other words, these “cities” will be humbled, and turn back to The Lord.
But, why will one be called “the city of destruction?” This is very interesting. Briefly, in the year A.D. 1, over 600 years after Isaiah gave this prophecy, after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, a new temple was built for the priests and Levites in Egypt. The original text called this city, Ha-zedek, or “Righteousness,” but to avoid confusing it with the temple in Jerusalem, the name was altered to the Chaldee word, cheres, meaning “the sun,” or, in Greek, Heliopolis. Later, when the temple in Jerusalem was restored, Jerusalem Jews, changed cheres to heres, meaning “destruction.” So, the original text actually read, “…one will be called the City of Righteousness (or the City of the Sun).”
My feeling on this, based on what The Spirit has been showing me, is that one branch of the ministry will be the vessel God uses to draw His people back to Him. It stands to reason that it will be those intimately connected with The Father, that can discern His voice from that of the perverse spirit. The prophets, just as it was in the days of Isaiah.
“And the Lord shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them.” Isaiah 19:22
And here it is. The bottom line. The reason God does what He does. He loves us! He wants to restore us, heal us, bless us! God is good, always!
But we don’t have to provoke God to judgment! We have this documented recurring witness of what happens to God’s people when they refuse to submit to His wisdom and plan! Time after time, the same behavior was met with the same result! Why would we think that grieving The Holy Spirit would yield different results today? Isn’t that the very definition of insanity?
If we are to see the revival so many pray for, if we are to see God’s blessing and protection return to our land, we must be on our faces before The Lord in repentance for ourselves, our churches, and our nation. If we are to recognize the perverse spirit and stop him dead in his tracks, we must forsake all else and submit wholly to God, for apart from Him we can do nothing. Can you hear Him call?
“So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.” Ezekiel 22:30
We call ourselves by His Name—Let us live accordingly.
God’s grace and peace be yours,
Rebecca
