Today let’s look at Isaiah 18. Verse 1 says, “Woe to the land of shirring wings along the rivers of Cush.“ This is Ethiopia. Cush at that time covered a wider area than present day Ethiopia and included the present day areas of Sudan and Somalia. “The rivers of Cush” (1) are the tributaries of the Nile River. It was called a “land of whirring wings”. (1) We don’t know for sure what the “whirring wings” (1) are, but this country had a lot of tsetse flies. Ethiopia is very hot and humid it is famous for “whirring wings” (1) Today from God’s prophecy of judgment on Cush let’s look at 3 aspects of God’s overwhelming power.

I. Just depend upon God (vs. 1,2)
The first point is to just depend upon God. Please look at verses 1 and 2.
As I said before, Cush is Ethiopia. Cush “sends envoys by sea in papyrus boats over the water.” (2) They are sending the envoys to Israel, to the Southern kingdom of Judah. They are sending envoys to make an alliance. At the time that Isaiah prophesized this Cush was very powerful and trampled other countries underfoot. As verse 2 says at that time they were “feared far and wide.” At that time Cush was at its height and was “feared far and wide.” (2) King Piankhi (or Piye) ruled Cush, but his power was not just over Cush but extended as far as Egypt and became the ruler there. Then in 715 B.C. he became the 25th dynasty of Pharaoh
About that time Assyria prospered in the East. Assyria destroyed Syria in 732 B.C., then Northern Israel in 722 B.C. and then Philistine in 701B.C. Not only that, but Assyria controlled Moab and also Southern Arabia, east of the Jordan. Assyria’s tremendous power was unchecked and next continued down south. It pressed on to Egypt. Therefore Cush sent envoys to Southern Judea to make an alliance in opposition to Assyria. This is what is meant by “Cush, which sends envoys by sea in papyrus boats over the water.” (1, 2) In other words, this was Cush’s diplomatic action against Assyria’s threats. Cush subjected Egypt, and the surrounding countries feared Cush. Even so, in order to confront the large country of Assyria, Cush tried to make an alliance with Judah and pull Judah into supporting them.
How the king of Judah responded is written in verses 2 and 3. “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. 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.”
Isaiah is speaking to the messengers, “Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned.” (2) The people that are “tall and smooth-skinned” (2) are the people of Cush. He says to clearly say to the people of Cush, “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.” (3)
Here it is calling out to “All you people of the world.” (3) It is not just Cush. God is declaring that the Lord is going to fight and that the whole world is to watch the works that the Lord will perform.
This must have been a huge temptation for Judah. This is the background for the words of Isaiah 36:6. The Assyrian King Sennacherib through his field commander, said to Hezekiah, the king of Judah, “Look, I know you are depending on Egypt that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh King of Egypt to all who depend on him.” (Isaiah 36:6) These words were spoken with this chapter 18 as the background. Judah was being invaded by Assyria and were being driven into a corner that there was no way to get out of. When the Judah King, Hezekiah, heard that Cush had an anti Assyria policy he must have thought that they could expect support from Cush/Egypt. He probably wondered if by joining hands with them they could overcome this difficult situation. However, Isaiah the same as up until now said only to depend upon the Lord. He said not to depend upon the power of foreign countries, but to look forward to the Lord working and to wait upon the Lord.
We too when are under such situations, rather than God we want to trust in the people that are around us or in things. Man always thinks that way. We put our expectations in people and don’t ask of the Lord. However, who we really need to ask of is the Lord our God, not someone or a powerful country.
Please open your Bibles to Isaiah 2:22.
Isaiah 2:22
Man who breathes through his nose soon dies. Such things boast of their beauty today, but tomorrow like a flower is dried up so it is easily broken. Such a thing is of no value. No matter how great a leader, he can’t be depended upon. We are all destined to die. Our breathing will stop. The moment the fire of life vanishes that persons plan of life completely disappears. Who we can depend upon is the Lord God who made heaven and earth. He is God who has loved us through history.
Right now we are studying Exodus at the prayer meeting. God called Moses to save Israel from Egypt. Even so Moses made many excuses and didn’t attempt to go. He didn’t want to go. He didn’t want to go so he made many excuses for refusing his commission. His first reason was “Who am I that I should go?” (Exodus 3:11) I don’t have that strength. Towards that the Lord promised, “I will be with you.” (Exodus 3:12) It doesn’t matter who you are “I will be with you…it is I who have sent you.” (Exodus 3:12)

Towards that Moses said, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you’ and they as me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said, “I AM WHO I AM.” (Exodus 3:14) This means God exists entirely by himself. He depends upon nothing. Man is not like this. Man has food, drink, and breathes. He depends on other people, on other things in order to exist. The real God doesn’t. He can exist without anything. He is the source of His existence. He exists from eternity to eternity. He exists in the past, present and future, for eternity. He is God who made all things. Tell the Israelites that “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14) sent you.
This is God’s name. It is the name that God has been called throughout eternity. “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14) God is not dependent upon anything but exists by himself. He exists from eternity to eternity and he created everything in heaven and earth. God is who we can really depend upon. He loves you and sent his son Jesus Christ for you. If that’s the case, God with his son will have mercy upon all. God will give you all that you need. He is who you need to depend upon.
David said, “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.” (Psalm 62:1, 2) David was able to testify to this because knew through experience that the Lord God, the creator who loved him was worthy of his faith.
There is someone who loves you. No matter what happens, he will not leave you or forsake you. That is the Lord, the Lord God who created heaven and earth. If you come running into his arms, when you are confident that all is o.k., then in you too praises like David will be born. You will be set free from the curse of various kinds of fears and uncertainties and will able to be content in His arms.

II. God has his own timing (Vs. 4-6)
The second thing is that God has his own timing. Please look at verses 4 to 6. In verse 4 it says, “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.”
Imagine this situation. For Cush and also for the southern kingdom of Judah, the threat of Assyria was putting them in a bind that they couldn’t match, and their hearts were troubled. They were panicky. To the people of Cush, the Lord says, “I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place.” (4)
Here God is not shook up at all. He is not panicky. He is not in a bind. He is just watching quietly. ”I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place.” (4) He’s really an onlooker. Fully-knowing the situation, He just remains quiet and looks on. God has no need to panic or be shaken up. No matter how much they joined forces and attacked they were like a small ant forming an army and invading man. It would be useless. God can in a breath blow them away, and by His foot trample them down. No matter how much man kicks up a racket, God it is completely unmoved. That is because God has overpowering strength.
Please open your Bibles is Psalms 2:1-6.
Psalms 2:1-6
This is called the famous messianic psalm. “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One.” (Psalm 2:1, 2) This is the prophecy of the Last War at the end of the world, The War of Armageddon. From all over the world armies will gather at Armageddon against the LORD and against his Anointed One.” (Psalm 2:2) “His Anointed One” (Psalm 2:2) is Christ, the Messiah. They are against Him. However, the Lord breaks their chains and throws off their fetters. They aren’t a match for Him at all. No matter how unified attack they make, the Lord in a breath destroys them. Just by a snort they are blown away. God is that powerful. Therefore, “why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?” (Psalm 1:1) The real solution is to leave all in the hands of the Lord who has overpowering strength.
What moves your heart? What is disturbing your heart? Around us are many things that disturb our hearts. However, no matter what it is, our Lord is not moved at all by it. and is able to easily solve the situation. If that is so, then we should put everything in His hands and no matter what situation not be disturbed by it. God will solve it so let’s quietly wait for the Lord’s solution.
To do that we need to remember one thing. That is the Lord has his own timing. We have to wait for His timing. That is written here. In verses 5 and 6 it says, “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. They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey and to the wild animals; the bird will feed on them all summer, the wild animals all winter.”
This is an example taken from the pruning of grapes. In Palestine grapes are harvested around May. The flower has already bloomed and the grape tree has already started to bear a lot of grapes. Then the farmer so that it will be able to bear good grapes, he prunes off all the branches that are not bearing any fruit. He cuts them off. Then the branches that are not bearing fruit are left as food for the birds in summer and food for “the wild animals all winter.” (6) In other words, the Lord who is looking quietly from his “dwelling place” (4) has a time for pruning.
God is waiting for the ripe time. When Israel was in Egypt too, God waited. During the 400 years after Jacob came to Egypt, of course God worked, but God did not directly intervene. Under the heavy slavery of Egypt, when they thought that they had been abandoned, God heard their lamenting and remember the covenant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and took action. It took a long time for the time to be ripe. However the time had come to God called Moses and he saved them from Egypt.
Also when they left Egypt too, they weren’t able to leave right away. They couldn’t leave until God made the Pharaoh’s heart hard over and over again. That was so that God’s glory would be seen. Like this in the end God divided the Red Sea into 2. By walking on the dry road they were saved. Then the Egyptian army was destroyed by the water. This is what God does. Like this God shows his great works to Israel and also to the whole world by being so bold as to establish the time.
Among the people that Jesus really loved were the sisters Mary and Martha. It was the same when their brother Lazarus died. Mary and Martha sent a messenger to Jesus and told him that their brother was sick, but Jesus even though he heard that Lazarus was sick, stayed where he was at for 2 days. Therefore, Lazarus died. Later Jesus went to their house. Martha said to Jesus, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:21) The reason why Jesus didn’t come sooner, why he didn’t come before their brother died was so that they would see God’s glory. It had been four days since he had died, but Jesus said to them, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:40) We think that if man dies it is the end. However, Jesus said to Martha, “He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.” (John 11:25) Then Jesus stood in front of tomb where Lazarus was and Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:43) and Lazarus who had been dead was resurrected. He came out with his hands and feet still wrapped in strips of linen.
Jesus didn’t go right away so that the glory of God would be seen. This is how God does things. We must put all things in God’s hands and in His timing. We have to believe. If you believe, you will see the glory of God.
At a glimpse it seems like God is not saving us. It feels like God is not doing anything. However, that is not so. On the contrary God is going to save us and is waiting for the ripe time. Also He is working so that His glory will be seen. We must remember this. Then even when the situation is not changing at all, wait expectantly with patience for God’s timing.

III. Gifts will be brought to Mt. Zion (Vs. 7)
Lastly let’s look at even though Cush is like that, God’s grace is poured out upon Cush. Please look at verse 7.
As a countermeasure against Assyria’s attack, Cush who was in turmoil sent messengers to the King of the Southern Kingdom, Judah to make an alliance with them. The Lord through Isaiah said to Cush that they didn’t have to do such a thing. God was looking on them and in his time would knock down Assyria. Therefore, they need to be still. Just believe in God and wait quietly upon God.
However, Cush didn’t accept God’s Words. If you look at chapter 20 you will see that Egypt along with Assyria was destroyed. Just as with Moab, they asked why they had to believe in the Israelite God; why they who were as strong as they were should have to expect help for the God of Israel. They refused God’s Word.
However, when we look here, this Cush, Ethiopia, will bring gifts to Mount Zion. These gifts are conversions. Such Ethiopians too will return to the Lord. This is what Ethiopia will be like in the last days. In the last days, “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.” (7) Cush will bring gifts “to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the LORD Almighty.” (7)
This will happen just as it says. Please look at Acts 8:26 to 38. It’s a little long, but let’s read it. This is the story of the Ethiopian official being saved. He went to Jerusalem to worship God. On the way back, he was reading Isaiah while riding in his chariot. The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” (Acts 8:29) It’s almost time for the London Olympic to start. Philip could run really fast. He was able to catch up to the chariot. If he was in the Olympics, he would be able to get a gold medal. “Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.” (Acts 8:35) The Ethiopian official believed in the Lord Jesus and was baptized. As a result Christians increased in Ethiopia so there are also old churches, the Coptic Church there. The arrogant Cush, Ethiopia, had a hard time accepting Isaiah’s prophecy. Even so, the Lord will raise up people that believe and “gifts will be brought to the LORD Almighty from” (7) them.
This is the model of salvation of the Gentiles. The Lord gives salvation not only to Israel, but this Ethiopia and the surrounding countries too. Let’s remember this, and not be arrogant and not reject God’s Word. Let’s be thankful for God’s grace and that He had mercy on us when we didn’t deserve it and take part in the salvation of the Lord.
Here this says that “gifts will be brought to the LORD Almighty.” (7) The gift that the Lord is the happiest about is not silver and gold, but ourselves, our souls. God is the happiest when our souls return to God and when we live with God.
The other day my daughter who is in Tokyo when she returned home went to the prayer meeting and gave a testimony. My daughter is now going to the church, Jesus Live House in Tokyo. That church every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday night evangelizes by doing “Street Live”, street evangelism. My daughter goes on Tuesday nights. It takes place in Rokupongi. There are a lot of bars. A bartender was outside passing out advertisements about his bar. He came to where the church members were gathered and as he started to pass out the advertisement he said, “The mood is good, and the bar is a lot of fun.” Then one of the young members of the church said, “We know someplace that is even a lot more fun and the mood is great!” He wanted to know where so they answered “Church” and gave him a church flyer and invited him to church. The next Sunday that person came. The church has four services at 11:00, 12:45, 3:30, and 5:30. He came to the 12:45 service and then attended two more services. In other words, he attended 3 services that day. At that church at the end of every service they ask people to put their hands up if they want to receive Christ as their Savior and Lord. The first service he didn’t put up his hand. The second service he didn’t either. However, the third service he responded to the invitation and put up his hand.
My daughter very happily welcomed him. The person said, “Everyone is so bright so I came to see what was here. Here is really bright!” More than anything God is so happy. What God likes the most is “a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart.” (Psalm 51:17) God desires that our soul return to the Lord and that we live with him.
“Gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the LORD Almighty.” (7) This country too will surely be like this. A time will come when our souls will be brought as a gift to the Lord. Let’s believe this and obediently follow the Word of God. Also let’s quietly wait expectantly for the Lord to perform His works in His time.
Let’s apply it to our lives
* When you are in a pinch, who or what do you depend upon? What is necessary for you to depend upon the Lord?

* When your prayers are not answered readily, are you disappointed in God? How are you expectantly waiting for God’s timing?

* God’s will is that all people will be saved. What can you do for that?