[:en]SCRIPTURE: ISAIAH 18
“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 to prey and to the wild animals; the birds will feed on them all summer, the wild animals all winter”
At the 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 PROPHECY AAGAINST CUSH
The people of Ethiopia is the ancient Cush. They wanted to form an alliance with Israel against Assyria. Their plan was unsuccessful because they used their own idea without seeking God’s will.
God accomplished His divine purpose through the Assyrian invasion. The scene will be like simmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest (vs. 4). The blossom will be cut off with pruning knives and left to the prey of birds and wild animals (vs. 5-6)
At the end, gifts will be brought to the Lord Almighty at Mount Zion.[:]