18 Alas, oh land of whirring wings
Which lies beyond the rivers of [a]Cush,
2 Which sends envoys by the sea,
Even in papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters.
Go, swift messengers, to a nation [b]tall and smooth,
To a people feared [c]far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation
Whose land the rivers divide.
3 All you inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth,
As soon as a standard is raised on the mountains, you will see it,
And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it.4 For thus the Lord has told me,
“I will look [d]from My dwelling place quietly
Like dazzling heat in the [e]sunshine,
Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
5 For before the harvest, as soon as the bud [f]blossoms
And the flower becomes a ripening grape,
Then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives
And remove and cut away the spreading branches.
6 They will be left together for mountain birds of prey,
And for the beasts of the earth;
And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them,
And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.
7 At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the Lord of hosts
[g]From a people [h]tall and smooth,
Even from a people feared [i]far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, even Mount Zion.
In this passage, we are introduced to the Ethiopians (Cush/Cushites) with their swift ships. So quick, some have suggested that the “whirling wings” actually refers to their boats. These are “a people feared far and wide… tall and smooth”, even a powerful and oppressive nation. It’s all suggested that this passage refers to a time when they had conquered Egypt and Sudan and controlled all the Nile river. Or maybe it was in advance of that time.
Either way, there is a lot of action on their part, and also messengers or “envoys” going between Judah and Cush. They were likely hoping to form an allegiance to thwart the mighty Assyrians who were threatening to overthrow Judah.
Yet look at the description of God’s demeanor in v. 4, “I will look from My dwelling place quietly…” He wasn’t in a rush, there was no worry about what might or might not happen. Rather, God was in full control, rather than pacing back and forth, concerned how to handle these pesky Assyrians.
Often, we are like Judah, or Ethiopia, desperate for answers or trying to hand out answers of our own. And God says, “Hold on, I’ve got this!” In fact, later on the same people (Cush) who were bent on war and solving things their own way, would do homage to God (v. 7). Whatever we do, we dare not do it without first going to God for His answers, and His plan.
God isn’t threatened or freaked out about what we’re going through. He saw it coming, and He knows what is coming next, and how to solve our biggest dilemma’s. Rest in God’s peace, even when it doesn’t make sense–remember, it (sur)passes understanding. Take it all to God, listen for His answer, and walk in His path with His light to guide your steps (Psalm 119:105).