The burden of Egypt
The prophecies concerning Egypt
The kingdom to which all the three prophecies (chaps.
18, 19, 20) refer is the same, namely, the Egypto-Ethiopian kingdom; but it is so dealt with that chap. 18 refers to the ruling people, chap. 19 to the ruled people, and chap. 20 embraces them both together. (F. Delitzsch.)
Egypt interwoven with the history of the kingdom of God
The reason why the prophecy occupies itself so particularly with Egypt is that no people of the earth was so closely interwoven with the history of the kingdom of God from the patriarchal time as Egypt. (F. Delitzsch.)
The oracle concerning Egypt: promise as well as threatening
Because, as the Thora impresses it, Israel must never forget that it long resided in Egypt, and there grew great, and enjoyed much good; so prophecy, when it comes to speak to Egypt, is not less zealous in promising than in threatening. Accordingly, the Isaianic oracle falls into two distinct halves; one threatening, Isaiah 19:1-15, and one promising, Isaiah 19:18-25; and between judgment and salvation there stands the terror in Isaiah 19:16-17, as the bridge from the former to the latter. (F. Delitzsch.)
Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud
The way of the Lord
Here is one way in which the Lord comes, namely, “upon a swift cloud” (Isaiah 19:1). The intimation is one of mystery. No man can tell which way the Lord will come today. Let us keep our eyes upon every point of the horizon; let us distribute the watchmen wisely and assign to each his sphere of observation; for by what door the Lord may enter the field of vision no man can tell,--by a political event, by some new movement in foreign policy, by the discovery of new riches in the earth, by great shocks which try men’s strength, by grim sorrow, by cruel death, by judgments that have no name, by mercies tender as the tenderest love, by compassions all tears, by providences that are surprises of gladness: watch all these doors, for by any one of them the Lord may come into the nation, the family, the heart of the individual. This Divine policy, if it may be so named, baffles the watchers who trust to their own sagacity. If men will say they will circumvent God and know all the ways of His providence, behold God forsakes all ways that are familiar and that lie within the calculation of the human mind; and He startles those who watch with light from unexpected quarters with shakings and tremblings never before felt in the vibrations of history. “Clouds and darkness are round about Him”: the cloud that appears to be nothing but vapour may enshrine the Deity; the bush, yesterday so common that any bird might have alighted upon it, today burns with unseen, infinite energy. The Lord will come by what way He pleases,--now as if from the depths of the earth, and now as from the heights of heaven; blessed is that servant who is ready to receive Him and to welcome Him to the heart’s hospitality of love. (J. Parker, D. D.)