For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Isaiah 18 :1-7      

1 Woe to the land of whirring wings]
    along the rivers of Cush,
2 which sends envoys by sea
    in papyrus boats over the water.

Go, swift messengers,
to a people tall and smooth-skinned,
    to a people feared far and wide,
an aggressive nation of strange speech,
    whose land is divided by rivers.

3 All you people of the world,
    you who live on the earth,
when a banner is raised on the mountains,
    you will see it,
and when a trumpet sounds,
    you will hear it.
4 This is what the Lord says to me:
    ‘I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling-place,
like shimmering heat in the sunshine,
    like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.’
5 For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone
    and the flower becomes a ripening grape,
he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives,
    and cut down and take away the spreading branches.
6 They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey
    and to the wild animals;
the birds will feed on them all summer,
    the wild animals all winter.

7 At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord Almighty

from a people tall and smooth-skinned,
    from a people feared far and wide,
an aggressive nation of strange speech,
    whose land is divided by rivers –

the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty.

A. Find Out:

1. Who is the next word directed against? v.1
2. How is this people described? v.2b,c,7a,b
3. What had they done & what will they do? v.2a,7c
4. Who will see what? v.3
5. What is the Lord doing? v.4
6. Yet what will He do? v.5,6

B. Think:

1. How are the people of Cush viewed by the world?
2. What will the Lord do to them?
3. What will they end up doing?

C. Comment:

Cush , your note in your Bible will tell you, is the region of the Upper Nile, south of Egypt. They were considered to be a proud and aggressive people. Reference to whirring wings may certainly refer to locusts that were common, but it may also indicate the constant buzz of activity by which this people were known. They sent out envoys to other nations, possibly aggressively. To them this message comes.

Very well, says the Lord, people of the world look on and see (v.3). You’ll know about it when I move (implied). I’m just going to remain quiet and look on (v.4), says the Lord, watching what happens among them. When they almost come to the point of harvest as a people, when they have grown strong and powerful, I will cut them down so that they stop their outward spread (v.5). They will be left weak and vulnerable, a prey for others to come and take their pickings from them (v.6). That is how dramatic the change will be. Even more than that, this strong willed arrogant people will be humbled so that they will come in humility bringing gifts to Jerusalem (v.7)

The word, although specific to this particular people, is also a warning to the world. God’s word again and again warns against pride and arrogance and violence against God’s people. The Lord will not sit idly by and let such things continue.

D. Application:

1. Whole nations are answerable to the Lord.
2. The Lord can humble a nation so easily.