ISAIAH

Isaiah 11:11-16

quote:

"Then it will happen on that day that the Lord Will again recover the second time with His hand The remnant of His people, who will remain, From Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, And from the islands of the sea. 12 And He will lift up a standard for the nations and assemble the banished ones of Israel, And will gather the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth. 13 Then the jealousy of Ephraim will depart, And those who harass Judah will be cut off; Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, And Judah will not harass Ephraim. 14 They will swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines on the west; Together they will plunder the sons of the east; They will possess Edom and Moab, And the sons of Ammon will be subject to them. 15 And the LORD will utterly destroy The tongue of the Sea of Egypt; And He will wave His hand over the River With His scorching wind; And He will strike it into seven streams And make men walk over dry-shod. 16 And there will be a highway from Assyria For the remnant of His people who will be left, Just as there was for Israel In the day that they came up out of the land of Egypt."

The Lord would redeem Israel a second time. The first great deliverance of Israel was from Egypt, which became the remembrance of Passover for the Israelites to look back upon and recognize the mercy of the Lord when He brought them out of slavery and bondage with a strong hand and an out-stretched arm. Though their deliverance from Egypt was memoralized, their second redemption will be even greater! In Isaiah's day it was Assyria who was the most threatening nation to Israel. From there he looks to the south to Egypt, Pathros and Cush (present day Ethiopia). He then looks to the northeast mentioning Elam, Shinar and Hamath along with "the islands of the sea", meaning the rest of the known world. Judah had been taken captive to Babylon. Ephraim, the 10 tribes, had been dispersed throughout the then known world and eventually migrated even further. Judah's exit from Babylon back to Israel after their exile hardly took place on such a grand scale as mentioned here by Isaiah, though it could be considered a partial fulfillment. One thing that can be said of this passage is that Isaiah is speaking prophetically of the future.

The "banished ones" or "outcasts" of Israel refers to those who have been gone a long time and the "dispersed" of Judah refers to those who have not been gone quite so long. This passage speaks of the regathering of all Israel, both Ephraim and Judah. The first restoration of Israel from Egypt was literal, and I believe the second to be literal too. It has been prophesied by many of the prophets – Isaiah 43:5-7, 49:12,17,18, Ezekiel 37:21, Hosea 3:5, Amos 9:14,15, Micah 4:6,7 Zephaniah 3:19,20, Zechariah 10:10, and Jeremiah 23:8. We can be pretty sure that this regathering has not yet taken place, because God says when it does the jealousy, hatred and bickering between Ephraim and Judah will cease. From my perspective this has not happened. When the regathering occurs, Ephraim and Judah will unite against their enemy.

We recognize these nations as ancient names of what are chiefly Arab nations today – including Iran, Iraq, Syria, etc. It is believed we can assume that in making mention of these nations, Isaiah was referring to their geographical areas. Jesus will be that standard that every nation will rally around. And from every nation, tribe and tongue the Lord will a second time stretch out His powerful hand to regather His people from the four corners of the earth. The Lord will bring about this restoration free of any obstacles. Nothing will prevent it from happening and God will make the way relatively free of any hindrance. It is a deliverance so great that only God could accomplish.

True unity between Ephraim and Judah will only be accomplished through the Messiah, Jesus. Jesus is the one who brings unity to all men. He is the standard that draws all men to Himself and resolves the hostility among men, their jealousy and envy, regardless of their differences. Let us choose to put aside our own enmity toward others and promote what will be accomplished by the Lord in His time.