Cush
Isaiah 18 begins by talking
about the people of Cush. Cush was an
ancient land that was a made up of portions of the modern countries of southern
Egypt, Sudan, and northern Ethiopia.
They were a tall people. They
also apparently sent envoys to Israel asking for an alliance against the coming
Assyrian threat.
Caution, Not Judgment
This oracle is not actually a
prophecy against Cush. All of the prior
oracles were oracles speaking to the judgment of the prescribed nation. But this chapter is different. Rather than being an oracle of doom, it would
appear that this chapter is an oracle of warning.
What is God’s advice to Cush
through the words of Isaiah? God tells
Cush to go home. God tells Cush to leave
this region alone and not get involved with it.
God tells the Cushites to be careful, because the Assyrians are not a
threat to them but rather a tool in God’s hand of judgment in the Hebrew part
of the world.
In fact, this chapter is
actually more of an oracle against the people of Canaan and the surrounding
lands than it is an oracle against Cush.
God promises that His judgment upon the people would linger like a
summer heat. Like a dew in harvest His
judgment would linger. Cush would not
want to be involved in this part of the world at this time.
Salvation
Yet, even in this oracle that
speaks about judgment we have a passage about salvation. Although God continues to speak about the
judgment coming through the Assyrians, the truth is that the judgment will not
take long. God tells the Cushites – or
more accurately, the Hebrew people as they listen to God’s advice to the
Cushites – that like a farmer who cuts off the new growth before the harvest He
will cut off Assyria. As the lumberjack
who clears away the spreading branches of a tree, so God will cut back Assyria.
God’s point is simple. Judgment is coming. The Hebrew people need to take notice. The nations around the Hebrew lands also need
to take notice. The rest of the world
would be wise to stay away. But the time
of judgment would pass. God’s anger will
not last forever. There will come a time
when those who oppress the Hebrew people and the nations around them would be
left to the beasts of the earth. The
time will come when those who are to oppress the Hebrew people will be devoured
themselves.
When this time comes – when
the oppressors are themselves consumed – tribute will be given to the
Lord. Again we see the truth that we
find all throughout the Hebrew Scriptures.
Judgment is not only for the purpose of doling out consequences. Judgment is for the purpose of revealing God
to people and turning people back to God.
In times of trial, people understand once more what is important in
life.
Compassion
There’s one other point that
I would like to make before leaving this chapter. I’ve danced around this point earlier, but I
want to make it quite clear. We should
be clear to see the compassion of God in this chapter. In fact, we see two versions of compassion in
Isaiah 18. The biggest place of
compassion is God’s desire to warn the Cushites to stay away from what God is
doing in the land. This is compassion;
God does not want them to get involved with the outpouring of His wrath.
The second place of
compassion is God’s reminder that the judgment that is coming will not be
long. Judgment will sting, but it will not
destroy. God’s wrath with tear down, but
it will not irrevocably tear down. Even
among those who receive God’s judgment, there is the possibility to latch onto
grace and be pulled through it to the salvation that exists on the other side.
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