Egypt's Finest Day

In an earlier post this week, Egyptian Reversal, we looked at Isaiah's ancient prophecy in Isaiah 19 - that the Nile would dry up and Egypt's economy would disintegrate.

It was a shocking use of prophetic hyperbole designed to warn Israel not to seek a military alliance with Egypt.

Interestingly the last book of the Bible echoes Isaiah’s vision of economic collapse of a great city and its maritime commerce. Global investors are distraught and lament ...
In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin! Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off.
When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim,
'Was there ever a city like this great city? Revelation 18:17-19

But Isaiah’s prophecy, like John’s Revelation, is not a doomsday tirade. Like John, Isaiah is a prophet of hope. In a way unforeseen by any other Hebrew writer, Isaiah perceives that God has a national destiny in store for Egypt that would astonish even the most imaginative zealot in Israel – or the church. Isaiah foresees a day when God will open Egypt’s heart, not to foolish superstitions, but to the worship of Yahweh. Egyptians will become passionate Yahweh worshippers and Yahweh will become Egypt’s saviour (v.20).

A highway of commerce and communication will open from Egypt to Assyria, linking Israel’s ancient and current oppressors in a covenant of loyalty, not simply with Israel, but with Israel’s God. Egypt and Assyrian will worship Yahweh together (v. 23). And so the doomed Nile becomes a river of blessing to the whole world, like the river of Eden and the rivers of  Ezekiel and St. John.

St. Simon the Tanner Church, Moquattan Mtn, Egypt

Who could have foreseen such a paradigm-bursting turn-around, such a river of blessing from such a cursed source? Who would have imagined that - 'in that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.' (v. 24-25)

God of Rivers, Revenue and Righteousness,
Your words today remind me that the flow of wealth in this world is not automatic. Your River flows in channels of justice and truth. You have ordained a law for all nations that industry and mercy must flow together or they will eventually shrivel and die. And you have promised that if we pay attention to your commands, our peace and prosperity will flow like a river, our righteousness like the waves of the sea (Isaiah 48:18).

May your mercy flow today into every country drained and watered by the mighty Nile – Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt. And, may the good news of Jesus flow like a river through these nations and cause them to flourish in ways we can hardly imagine. Amen.

Photo Sources:
Pyramid - EgyptPhoto
Nile - Travel2Egypt
Coptic Church - The Egypt Diocesan Association

Anniversary Post

You give us drink from your river of delights.

For You are a fountain of life.

Psalm 36:8-9

Today marks exactly one year since I posted the first of these reflections on the wonder of water.

Three times a week we’ve explored the vast array of Bible stories about water – Noah’s flood, Jonah’s fish, Jesus changing water into wine, Israel crossing the Red Sea and the Jordan, water from rock, from wells, springs, dew, rain and snow. We’ve pondered clouds, rainbows, rivers, oceans, glaciers, waterfalls, drought and sea-storms, water for washing, drinking, irrigating fields. We’ve celebrated God’s magnificent gift of water and considered what our part must be to steward and restore God’s creation.

Egyptian Reversal

The political pundits of his day wrote him off as simplistic and out of touch, but Isaiah foresaw the unthinkable.

The mighty Nile, longest river in the world, he said, will dry up like a wadi in the desert. In shocking metaphor, Isaiah depicted the economic demise of what was then a vibrant world power.

The Sound of Silence

"The days are coming," declares the Sovereign LORD, "when I will send a famine through the land-- not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.
Amos 8:11

Amos had grown hoarse pleading with the wealthy farmers in the north of Israel to see that their religious faith had to translate into compassion and fair dealings with the poor – or it was completely fraudulent. He warned them that if they wouldn’t listen to God’s words, God would give them the silent treatment. And that silence would not remain golden for very long. People cannot live without spiritual resources, without answers for the questions of life. Their fears mount and they search desperately for direction.

Selling the Poor for a Pair of Shoes

Ranchers take a pretty good read of the land – and when grazing lands grow dry they think hard about the implications. Amos was a rancher who thought hard and prayed hard. In his day, 200 years after King David, Israel was a fractured nation, split into north and south. Both were prosperous and religious, and they credited God with their prosperity.

But Amos recognized that their religion had very little effect on their ethics. While the wealthy were making money hand over fist, it was largely at the expense of the poor. They would “sell the needy for a pair of sandals” Amos 2:6.

Desperate Drought

The drought in Jeremiah’s day was fierce. Rich and poor were equally frantic trying to fill empty water-jars. Cisterns were bone-dry; farmers were helpless and dismayed; the ground cracked under the heat of the sun and the next generation of wild-life hung in the balance.

Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn

because there is no grass.

Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and

 pant like jackals. Jeremiah 14:5 

Drought is a terrible thing and Jeremiah pleads with God - “do something – for God’s sake Jeremiah 14:7.”

Drenched By the Dew of Heaven

The dew fell generously on the gardens of Nebuchadnezzar. His palace and gardens were one of the wonders of the world and he took pride in his architectural achievements. But he was about to learn an important life-lesson from the silent power of the dew.

As he tells his story in Daniel Chapter 4, he was at home in his palace contended and prosperous, when he had a dream that made him afraid, terrified him, in fact. He dreamed of a magnificent tree cut down by a decree from heaven; the tree had a human mind, but it lost its sanity and became like an animal. exposed to the weather for seven years.

A palace advisor named Daniel interpreted the dream as a warning to the king and urged him to practice mercy and justice.

Deep Calls to Deep

My previous post, As the Deer, reflected on the power of thirst as the writer of Psalm 42 said As the deer pants for steams of water, my soul thirsts for you O God.

Just a few lines later the writer's language shifts and he imagines himself in a middle of a raging river - “Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me” Psalm 42:7. From 'parched soul' to 'deluge' in less than a minute.

Turbulent water can knock you off your feet, all right. Every year all around the world we hear tragic stories of people being swept away by the current of rivers. But what prompts the psalmist to shift so radically from thirsting to drowning?

As the Deer

Thirst is a powerful motivator.

Our bodies are 70% water, but since we’re always depleting our water supply to the functions of cooling, cleansing and even breathing, we can't go long without a drink. On average we need 2.5 litres a day - ten cups - usually more in the summer. It’s a compelling need.

When you’re healthy, your body regulates your fluid balance quite nicely. If you drink more water than you need, your kidneys dispose of the surplus. But if the fluid balance drops, your body sends signals. A 2% short-fall and you know you’re thirsty; a 5% deficit makes you confused and groggy; by 8% your muscles spasm, and 15% is pretty much fatal.

Song for Africa's Newest Nation

Tomorrow Africa’s newest nation will be born.

During my visit to South Sudan in 2008 I saw the ruins of schools and churches destroyed thirty years ago at the hands of their own government. I met young people born in refugee camps and listened as grand-parents spoke of their dreams of a re-building their nation.

Now thanks to international efforts, and a referendum in support of independence they have a fresh opportunity for peace and growth.

They need our prayers.

Polluted Well

Keeping water clean takes a lot of vigilance.

Proverbs 25:26 says, “like a muddied spring or a polluted well are the righteous who give way to the wicked.”

Everybody using a spring or a well depends on the purity of the source. If a well-shaft is not kept secure things will fall into the well and pollute the water. If animals foul the ground around a spring, or if industries drain toxins into the ground nearby, the aquifer can be compromised and the water made undrinkable.

In the same way, a leader who accepts a bribe destroys trust and fouls the credibility of the workplace. An inspector who looks the other way, instead of being true to her duties, undermines the system she was hired to protect.

Artesian Well

In 1126, a well was drilled in the province of Artois in north-west France.  Free-flowing water poured out of the ground. In later centuries similar wells across Europe came to be known as wells of Artois, or 'artesian wells'. An artesian well is one where underground pressure on a source of water causes the water to rise above the ground. No pumping is required to draw the water out of the ground.

In his book Simply Christian NT Wright describes a similar phenomenon - a hidden spring that bubbles up irrepressibly within human hearts and human societies, the deep subterranean yearning we call spirituality.

From Sea to Sea to Sea

With oceans on three coasts, Canada proudly celebrates her 144th birthday today from coast to coast to coast. Back in the days of confederation, Canada’s leaders chose a Biblical reference as a motto. In the words of the King James Bible, Psalm 72:8 says,

He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.

It was a vision that Canadians would recognize God’s authority in our laws and life together – and that God would extend his blessing upon every corner of the nation.