Islam - The Summit of Religious Evolution — Page 63
63 "Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice". V. Again, Isaiah continues to reiterates the advent of a new law: 80 So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the Lord. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and keep them. The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague; and he will strike them and heal them. They will respond to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them. In that day there shall be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day, Israel will be the third along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying ‘Blessed be Egypt, my people, Assyria my handiwork and Israel my inheritance. ’ This prophecy speaks of a time when God would manifest Himself to the people of Egypt who would, therefore, come to know Him and would make sacrifices and offerings to Him; Egypt and Syria would unite, the inhabitants of each would visit the other and both would join in a common form of worship. This prophecy also was fulfilled in the Holy Prophet of Islam. The people of Egypt did become Christian, but only for a short time. Now for the last 1400 years Egyptians have been Muslims. In the words of Isaiah, God says to the Egyptians: “Blessed be Egypt, my people”. Let the Egyptians speak for themselves. Do they owe allegiance to Jesus or to the Prophet of Islam? The prophecy further states: "And Assyria the work of my hands". Similarly let the Assyrians speak for themselves. Do they attribute themselves to Jesus or the Prophet of Islam? Further, it says: "And Israel mine inheritance". Who holds Palestine, the land of Israel? As already explained, the majority of the people living in Palestine, the land of Israel, are Muslims. The state of Israel was created in this land but Jews are not the followers of Jesus and Christians are small minority of the population. In any case, Jesus can have no claim on the prophecy. The prophecy speaks of a highway out of Egypt into Assyria , i. e. , a sign of active contact between the two countries. The prophecy pictures the inhabitants of the two countries visiting and befriending each other and joining in a common mode of worship. Who brought about this change? Christians ruled both Egypt and Assyria at one time, and a majority of the inhabitants of these countries were Christian. During that time however, the conditions of the prophecy were not fulfilled. According to the prophecy the two countries were to develop such intimate contact that for all practical purposes they were to become one people, with one language and one faith. Some contact between two neighboring countries is normal but the contacts between Egypt and Assyria were to be different. It was to result in the welding of two peoples into one, and to give them a