Isaiah 19:16
16 In that day [yowm] shall Egypt [Mitsrayim] be like unto women ['ishshah]: and it shall be afraid [charad] and
fear [pachad] because [paniym] of the shaking [tanuwphah]
of the hand [yad] of the LORD [Yahovah] of hosts [tsaba'], which he
shaketh [nuwph] over it. KJV-Interlinear
16 In that day the Egyptians will
become like women, and they will tremble and be in dread because of the waving
of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which He is going to wave over them. NASB
This might be viewed as
a stereotypical format for distinguishing feminine and masculine qualities,
which in our current day of liberal views, seem to be more and more blurred,
but regardless of popular opinions or attitudes, there remain several gender attributes
that remain feminine or masculine in nature.
And here are traits
that remain feminine. They are
timidness, fearfulness, alarmed in terror, and the physical shaking due to discombobulated
nerves, or when the nerves are thrown into a state of thorough confusion due to
factors that cause fear and confusion and uncertainty and insecurity.
These attributes can
affect anyone, either male or female.
It is often said that
when females are feminine they are normal. When they are masculine they are, um
…, not normal. When males are masculine
they are normal and then they are feminine they are sissy’s. These comments you might find in school yards
or in various social settings.
And since Adam and Eve,
stereotyped traits like these have passed down through the generations, and
whether you like them or not, they are a true means of describing how people
react emotionally in various situations.
And in this verse, the
last remaining days, months and years of history will see people fraught with
uncertainty and fear to the point of extreme nervous shaking.
This is not a temporary
being frightened kind of shaking, but a total loss of self-control because of the
incredible uncertainties of ones life and future.
We have already studied
Revelation, which gives us only the highlights of the stressful events in those
final days of history. And by days we
mean those last seven years of history.
Life will get worse and
worse, and the drama and stress will remain and only increase, not just for
hours or days or weeks but for years.
And, there will not be any earthly solutions to fix any of the problems.
Life will be bad, as
people will be dying like flies, storms will interrupt public services, crime
will be reaching unbelievable levels of violence, people will be out of work
and starving. Life will be really bad to
the point that it will be almost impossible to describe in words.
If nature were the
cause of the problems, then nature always returns to some semblance of a normal
cycle and life returns to some semblance of normalcy.
But in those days, it
is God who is applying judgment against evil.
And the shaking of the hand, is the symbolism of Gods attitude and
resolve and control over the entire situation.
Fear, real fear, will
seize control over all people who continue to reject God and Christ. This is a very real principle of life that
applies even today.
