The ambiguity over the recipient of Isaiah 18 and its impact on the church in Sudan today.

Abstract

It is difficult to know the recipient of a text by a mere understanding of its message. This is typical ofIsaiah 18 where the prophet failed to name his audience. As a resulted the church in Sudan perceived the audience as Sudan and has formulated a theology of the present suffering on this text. It is out of this concern that the thesis of investigating the audience of the message of Isaiah 18 was born. This investigation is presented in six chapters. Chapter one covers introductory materials, namely statement of the problem, significance of the study, thesis plan and methodology, assumptions, definitions, limitation and delimitation. Chapter two discusses the land of Cush which serves as the background for the message in Isaiah 18:5- 6. It mainly consists of exegesis of verses 1 and 2 where the prophet describes the land of Cush. The land of Cush is described, located and identified on the basis of Isaiah's description. The extent of the land is pointed out in order to guide the reader in understanding Isaiah's intended audience. In chapter three, I exegete verses 2b and 7 in order to identify the people of Cush. This then led me to identify the possible Cushite communities at present. Chapter four focuses on the message of Isaiah 18 and its impact on Cush. This consists of exegesis of verses 3-7 where the inhabitants of the whole earth are called to witness the events of the destruction along with the content of the message of doom as well as God's position at the initial development of the events preceding the destruction. This then led to the examination of the impact of the destruction on Cush which is stated in verse 7. Chapter five aims at highlighting the relationship between the message ofIsaiah 18 and the present suffering in Sudan. It tries to reconcile the discussion of Cush in the opening verses with the ambiguity of the audience of the message in verses 5 and 6. This is then viewed in the light of the possible time for fulfillment to see the possible connection between the two. Chapter six then presents the conclusion reached on the basis of the findings. In conclusion, we have been able to locate the land of Cush south of Egypt which comprises of modem countries of Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia. We have also been able to identify the Nubians, the Zing and the Abyssinians as the recipients of Isaiah's message. But our finding has shown the difficulty in taking the present political situation in Sudan as the fulfillment of Isaiah 18 and the church in Sudan has been advised accordingly on the basis of the finding.