Monday, October 29, 2012

Isaiah 7:18


Copyright Ó 2012 J. Neely
Isaiah 7:18

18 And it shall come to pass in that day, [yowm] that the LORD [Yahovah] shall hiss [sharaq] for the fly [zabuwb] that is in the uttermost part [qatseh] of the rivers [ya`or] of Egypt, [Mitsrayim] and for the bee [dabowrah] that is in the land ['erets] of Assyria. ['Ashshuwr] KJV-Interlinear

18 And it will come about in that day, that the Lord will whistle for the fly that is in the remotest part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. NASB

In that day is a reference to the day on which the Lords judgment will take place. It could occur in the space of a single day or over the course of a longer period of time such as a week or month or even several years.

The hiss, comes from Isa. 5:26, wherein the Lord will call or whistle or blow a flute or some instrument, and those who hear, will come to its call.  In the ancient world, bees were called out of their hives into the fields and back to the hives, with flute like calls.

And so it is used here to demonstrate that the Lord controls history, not man.  He uses His power and intellect and plan, and ability and so forth, to call forth the nations from the far distant places, to rally and come to participate in the destruction being executed.

The fly can also refer to a plague of flies, huge numbers of flies, the decaying aspect of flies consuming decay, the trouble that large numbers of flies cause, and so forth.  And here it is a reference to the armies from the south and from the north, that will invade the land.

When an area is dried up and/or in decay, then flies appear from seemingly out of nowhere and in great numbers.

Bees come when called and they can be just as pesky if not more so, than flies.

And so this prophecy was fulfilled by successive invasions of Pharaoh-Necho, Esarhaddon and Nebuchadnezzar, Isa 36; 37; 2 Chron 36:7-21.

But the real prophecy will culminate in that day, which is the ultimate day of judgment that will occur in the Tribulation.

Throughout history, Gods day of judgment applies to the various nations and empires that have existed, it has applied to every single individual within their individual lives, and it most certainly will apply at the end of history during the Tribulation.

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