ly a recapitulation. The prophet describes anew the
transition from the state of wrath to that of grace--not, as
_Drechsler_ thinks, what they experience in the latter. Upon Egypt is
fulfilled what, in Deut. xxxii. 39, has been said in reference to
Israel.

Ver. 23. "_In that day there shall be a highway out of Egypt to Asshur,
and Asshur cometh into Egypt, and Egypt into Asshur, and Egypt serveth
with Asshur._"

[Hebrew: ebd] with [Hebrew: at] has commonly the signification "to
serve some one;" here, however, [Hebrew: at] is used as a preposition:
Egypt serves God _with_ Asshur. Yet there is an allusion to the
ordinary use of [Hebrew: ebd] with [Hebrew: at] in order to direct
attention to the wonderful change: First, Egypt serves Asshur, and the
powers that follow its footsteps; then, it serves _with_ Asshur. Here
also it becomes manifest that the deliverer in ver. 20 is no ordinary
human deliverer; for such an one could help his people only by
inflicting injury upon the hostile power.

Ver. 24. "_In that day Israel shall be the third with Egypt and with
Asshur, a blessing in the midst of the earth._"

The "blessing" is not "that union of people formerly separated," but it
is _Israel_ from which the blessing is poured out upon all the other
nations; compare the fundamental passage, Gen. xii. 1-3, and the word
of the Lord: [Greek: he soteria ek ton Ioudaion esti], John iv. 22.

Ver. 25. "_For the Lord of Hosts blesseth him, saying: Blessed be Egypt
my people, and Asshur the work of mine hands, and Israel mine
inheritance._"

The suffix in [Hebrew: brm] refers to every thing mentioned in ver. 24.
"Assyria and Egypt are called by epithets which elsewhere are wont to
be bestowed upon Israel only."

It is scarcely necessary to point out how gloriously this, [Pg 146]
prophecy was fulfilled; how, at one time, there existed a flourishing
Church in Egypt. Although the candlestick of that Church be now removed
from its place ("_Satanas in hac gente sevit zizania_"--_Vitringa_),
yet we are confident of, and hope for, a future in which this prophecy
shall anew powerfully manifest itself The broken power of the
Mahommedan delusion opens up the prospect, that the time in which this
hope is to be realized is drawing nigh.

CHAPTER XXIII.
THE BURDEN UPON TYRE.

In the view of Sennacherib's invasion, the eyes of the Prophet are
opened, so that he beholds the fu