Other Interesting Prophecies

Isaiah 19:19 Prophecy: “In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border.”

The alter could be the “Coptic Church” in Egypt that is believed to have been started by St. Mark. The original church in Egypt was likely a solid and true church. Alexandria has a cathedral that could be considered this “alter to the Lord.” (Understand that I’m not saying anything about the validity of the Coptic’s beliefs.)

The pillar at the border of Egypt could well be the pillar near the Gulf of Aqaba that some believe marks the Red Sea Crossing. The pillar is sometimes called Solomon’s Pillar, but it is unlikely that Solomon actually erected it. You can actually see this pillar and its shadow on satellite images found on Google Maps, if you don’t believe me. Some people have also taken pictures standing next to this ancient pillar. It is important to note that this pillar is indeed at the very border of Egypt, for Egypt’s border ends at the Gulf of Aqaba on the East side. Who knows why this pillar was originally put there, but Christians have claimed it to be “to the Lord.”

Now, for these to be fulfillments, admittedly they must remain without being destroyed until the Millennium, it appears. The Isaiah 19 passage, at least beginning at verse 17, seems likely to be referring to the future Millennium when Jesus comes back.

Isaiah 19:23 Prophecy: “In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria...”

Now, what is now called Syria is likely the equivalent of Assyria in Isaiah’s days. At the least, Assyria covered some of the same geographical area as modern-day Syria. I decided to check into highways in that area using Google Maps. There are, in fact, contiguous highways that lead all the way from the Eastern border of Egypt up to Syria, just like this prophecy predicted. (You have to check the satellite view to see that some of the highways do, in fact, connect.)

Again, these highways will need to remain until the Millennium, but that doesn’t seem too unlikely.

Probability Analysis

The likelihood of Isaiah in the same chapter accurately predicting these three things by chance is unbelievable. Egypt was hostile to the God of Israel, so Isaiah’s prediction that Egypt would have a pillar and alter “to the Lord” was a farfetched idea, humanly speaking. I’d put that prediction at about 1 in 20, conservatively.

The prediction of a solitary pillar being put at the border of Egypt seems highly, highly unlikely. Who does that? To get the location correct is amazing, also. I’d put that prediction at no more than a 1 in 300 chance.

Finally, a prediction of a highway(s) going about 400 miles back in the days when technology was simple was a bold and unlikely prediction. It would have been a monumental task back in those days (~600 BC). So, I’d place the probability back then at no more than 1 in 50 of that coming to pass. You have to also remember that Assyria and Egypt were not always friendly towards each other, either.

Combining all these predictions together and you get about 1 in 20x50x300, which is about 1 in 300,000. Not bad for one solitary chapter.

Obviously, anyone can poke fun at my probability analysis, since I ignore other predictions in the chapter that don’t seem to have yet been fulfilled. (One could assume that they will never be fulfilled.) Also, the probabilities I use are mere guesses, really, so I don’t expect anyone will take me too seriously, and that’s okay. I just think it’s quite impressive, personally.