Just getting a little discussion going that will die a quick death when the NOW site reopens.

In the early 1970s Baptish preacher and writer Dr. Charles R. Taylor wrote a book called World War III and The Destiny of America in which he put forth the proposition that the United States of America is the nation that will suffer woeful consequences as written about by the prophet Isaiah in chapter 18.

On this site - http://www.isaiah18.com/America.html - some of what he discussed has been presented. Check it out and also the other links on that site.

Is Isaiah chapter 18 describing the United States of America? If not, what is that unnamed nation? and why is it 'sandwiched' between two passages (chapter 17 and chapter 19) that seem to be being fulfilled at this very time?

AND, Jeremiah chapter 49 seems to be discussing about the destruction of Damascus as does Isaiah 17 and it is almost directly followed in Jeremiah 50 and 51 with the destruction of Babylon. Are Isaiah 18 and Jeremiah 50-51 speaking about the same UNNAMED nation?

Just asking . . .

Email: bandj.gravelle@gmail.com

Zephaniah 3 is the only other passage that talks about a place "beyond the rivers of Ethiopia." Isaiah 18 is about Jewish exiles that don't know they are Jewish ("daughter of My dispersed ones)? Doesn't God "take His rest" in the Kingdom after the Tribulation, when everyone will worship Him with one language?

Isaiah 18:1 Woe to the land shadowed with bu,zzing wings,
Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia
2 Which sends ambassadors by sea,
Even in vessels of reed on the waters, saying,
“Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth of skin,
To a people terrible from their beginning onward,
A nation powerful and treading down,
Whose land the rivers divide.”
3 All inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth:
When he lifts up a banner on the mountains, you see it;
And when he blows a trumpet, you hear it.
4 For so the Lord said to me,
“I will take My rest,
And I will look from My dwelling place
Like clear heat in sunshine,
Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
5 For before the harvest, when the bud is perfect
And the sour grape is ripening in the flower,
He will both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks
And take away and cut down the branches.
6 They will be left together for the mountain birds of prey
And for the beasts of the earth;
The birds of prey will summer on them,
And all the beasts of the earth will winter on them.
7 In that time a present will be brought to the Lord of hosts
From a people tall and smooth of skin,
And from a people terrible from their beginning onward,
A nation powerful and treading down,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the place of the name of the Lord of hosts,
To Mount Zion.

Zephaniah 3: 8 “Therefore wait for Me,” says the Lord,
“Until the day I rise up for plunder;
My determination is to gather the nations
To My assembly of kingdoms,
To pour on them My indignation,
All My fierce anger;
All the earth shall be devoured
With the fire of My jealousy.
9 “For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language,
That they all may call on the name of the Lord,
To serve Him with one accord.
10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia
My worshipers,
The daughter of My dispersed ones,
Shall bring My offering.
11 In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds
In which you transgress against Me;
For then I will take away from your midst
Those who rejoice in your pride,
And you shall no longer be haughty
In My holy mountain.
12 I will leave in your midst
A meek and humble people,
And they shall trust in the name of the Lord.
13 The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness
And speak no lies,
Nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth;
For they shall feed their flocks and lie down,
And no one shall make them afraid.”

Note the parallels of the banner relating to Israel and Christ at the end (as far as I could tell the other uses of banner in Scripture show impending war or destruction):

Isaiah 5:26
He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar, And will whistle to them from the end of the earth; Surely they shall come with speed, swiftly.

Isaiah 11:10
“And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious.”

Isaiah 11:12
He will set up a banner for the nations, And will assemble the outcasts of Israel, And gather together the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth.

Zechariah 9:14 Then the Lord will be seen over them,
And His arrow will go forth like lightning.
The Lord God will blow the trumpet,
And go with whirlwinds from the south.
15 The Lord of hosts will defend them;
They shall devour and subdue with slingstones.
They shall drink and roar as if with wine;
They shall be filled with blood like basins,
Like the corners of the altar.
16 The Lord their God will save them in that day,
As the flock of His people.
For they shall be like the jewels of a crown,
Lifted like a banner over His land—
17 For how great is its goodness
And how great its beauty!
Grain shall make the young men thrive,
And new wine the young women.

Looking at a map "beyond the rivers of Ethiopia" would probably preclude Sudan, but could be modern-day Ethiopia, Somolia, or Kenya. Ethiopia is interesting, as there has been several waves of Jews from there migrate to Israel, but not without much struggle and controversy.

http://www.jewishfederations.org/page.aspx?id=791

It sounds like most of the Ethiopians who know they are Jewish have come to Israel. Interestingly, the last flight from Ethiopia is in the news today!

http://www.jpost.com/National-News/End-of-Ethiopian-aliya-as-final-flight-set-to-land-in-Israel-324504

Email: amy@trackingbibleprophecy.org

Website: www.trackingbibleprophecy.org/

I have a long Word document where some years back I thought I could put the major Bible prophecies in chronological order or something

But in any case, under Isaiah 18, I have these comments:

Mark Hitchcock and Bill Salus believe this is Kush, the grandson of Noah (Kush was the son of Ham). The people of Kush sailed around that region (Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, that part of the Red Sea).

Ignoring chapter 18 for a moment, the other chapters from 15 to 19 all deal with the same part of the world:

15-16 = Moab/central Jordan;
17 =Syria, Damascus;
19 = Egypt.

So contextually, the land mentioned in chapter 18 should be somewhere in that part of the world, rather than the United States.

Regarding Sudan in the Last Days: remember that Israel blew up an Iranian arms factory in Sudan in late-ish 2012.

Both of you, thank you for your welcome input. Amy, your study about the Great Middle East War if wonderfully thought out.

I have been (and still may be) of the idea that "beyond the rivers of Ethiopia" is referring to a great distance and NOT A DIRECTION, i.e. southerly from Palestine. I understood (understand) that at the time that Isaiah 18 was written that Ethiopia was considered the furthermost area of the known world and that Isaiah is saying that this unnamed nation is a long distance away.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Email: bandj.gravelle@gmail.com