Ethiopia Isaiah 18

Isaiah 18:1 "Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:"

Ethiopia, also the land of Cush (son of Ham) is not just desert as the many television images show. It is also mountains and higher land than Egypt. It was once a great kingdom and even held sway over Egypt. It was conquered by Rome.

v3 "All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye."

This chapter speaks of a time of little harvest. When there was little to eat and instead of the people eating the harvest, the animals feasted on it.

v5 "For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the springs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches."

v6 "They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth; and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them."

This chapter should, in my opinion, be read with the surrounding chapters to get a picture of the judgment that is coming (and did come) upon the area. Next chapter is about Egypt.

I think whether we can understand what or why exactly, all this is happening, we can see clearly that the LORD is over all the earth and his mighty power can touch even the greatest and the smallest things.