Isaiah 19:25
Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance. Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.
Isaiah 19:25 stands in the first part of Isaiah, chapters 1 to 39, which gathers single distinct prophecies and historical accounts given at different times and on different occasions during Isaiah's active public work as God's messenger mingling in the concerns of rulers and people. Chapters 40 to 66 belong to his later years apart from active work and are occupied wholly with the future, with deliverance from Babylonian captivity by a named monarch and deliverance from sin and error through the Messiah. The verse belongs to a prophecy about Egypt, much of which has already been fulfilled in Egypt.
The chapter foretells the revolutions and future state of Egypt: that it would be invaded, conquered, spoiled, fall into the hands of strangers, become the basest of the kingdoms, and renounce idolatry. That foretelling was fulfilled through Nebuchadnezzar and afterward through the Persians under Cambyses and the Macedonians under Alexander the Great and successive foreign rulers. On that understanding the chapter was fulfilled centuries ago, with nothing in it expected to be fulfilled in modern times.
The prophecy concerns the spread of God's truth and its fruits in Egypt, picturing Egypt receiving knowledge of God. It refers to the preaching of the gospel in Egypt and Assyria in New Testament times. Its altar represents a center of worship.
Under the healing influence of the gospel, Egypt, Assyria, and Israel — once enemies — are blessed by God and become part of His people, fellow citizens and members of God's household. Egypt's humbling and distress serve a merciful purpose of turning its people toward God so they may find Him.