June 1931
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249
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An Exposition of the E ighteenth Chapter of Isaiah B y E lbert L. M c C reery (Los Angeles, Calif.)
NE of the wonders of God’s Word lies in the l fact that the meaning of many a passage that I has been obscure to the natural man has been * made so apparent, in the time of God’s fulfill ment, that no one could question the verity of it. For example, the disciples asked Christ why He spoke in parables, and He clearly indicated to them that it was in order that those who were spiritually
The fifth gives a picture of the terrible destruction of vegetable life. The sixth shows the awful carnage and destruction of human life. The seventh contains a glorious promise of the re demption of the people of that land. V erse 1 “Ah, the land of the rustling of wings, which is be yond the rivers of Ethiopia.” The marginal reading of the Revised Version changes this reading in two particulars, so that we may read it
enlightened might know the meaning of that which was a hidden mystery to others. One of the most obscure passages of the Word of God is the eighteenth chapter of Isaiah. It has been only within
the past generation that anything has been put into print, so far as I know, which seems to throw the true light on this brief passage. Rev. J. Kelly Giffen, D.D., in The Egyptian Su dan, which was pub lished twenty-five years ago, was the first per son, I believe, to see the significance of these verses. A few years later, Professor A. H. Sayce, of Oxford, Eng land, after having vis ited the Sudan, wrote a series of articles in The Sunday School Times, in which he- identified the Sudan as the land referred to in this prophecy. At the time of his writing, he was, I understand, not cog nizant of the fact that
thus: “Ah, the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the riv ers of Cush.” In these brief statements of this chapter, God would point out to His people the l a n d concerning which His Word has gone forth. While no name is mentioned, the description is so accu rate that, to one who understands the land, it is just as definite as though the name of the country had been in serted. It is immaterial which one of the read ings is used—whether that of the text or the one given in the mar gin—for the land of Qush 'is the land of Ethiopia. .Ethiopia is identified with the Bib lical Cush, and it is the
THE AUTHOR’S MISSIONARY RESIDENCE ON THE SOBAT, WHERE EX-PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT WAS ENTERTAINED. THE PICTURE SHOWS A GROUP OF NATIVES THERE TO WELCOME HIM .
Dr. Giffen’s book was in print. The interpretation given by these writers seems to me to be logical. Having spent a number of years in missionary service in the Sudan, there is no question whatever in my mind but that God has given us in Isaiah 18 a prophecy concerning that land and its people. A brief exposition of this chapter may be of interest. I suggest a bare outline of the seven verses as they appear to one who is familiar with the Sudan. Unlike the fol lowing chapter, which begins with the words: “The bur den of Egypt,” the eighteenth chapter has no specific title of address. The first verse gives a description of the land. The second tells something concerning the people of that land. The third is a summons to all the world to behold what is taking place there. The fourth is the simple statement of God’s purpose of non-interference in that which is taking place.
name of the region lying to the south of Egypt, which includes modern Nubia, Abyssinia, Kordofan, and Sen- nar. Today the official title of Abyssinia is Ethiopia, and the inscription on the postal stamps of the kingdom is :“Ethiopia shall hasten to reach out her hands unto God.” This makes clear that the land here referred to is not Egypt. It is also clear that the passage must refer to a section of Africa lying to the south of Egypt. “The rivets of Ethiopia” here specify the headwaters of the Nile, primarily those tributaries which form the Blue and the White Nile, which unite near the tri-cities of Khartum, Khartum North, and Omdurman. The Nile is a peculiar river in that, for a thousand miles or more if its last journey to the sea, it receives not a single tributary. Going south as you approach Khartum, the Atbara River is the first to join the Nile. At Khartum is the union of the Blue Nile and the White Nile. Following the White Nile for about 500 miles, you find the Sobat River enters, and farther up, the Jur, Jebel, and Bahr Ghazal. All these rivers
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