Ezekiel 29
November 2
Reading: Ezekiel 29
1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt; 3 speak, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD:
Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,
the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams,
that says, 'My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.'
4 I will put hooks in your jaws,
and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales;
and I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams,
with all the fish of your streams that stick to your scales.
5 And I will cast you out into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your streams;
you shall fall on the open field, and not be brought together or gathered.
To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens I give you as food.
6 Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the LORD.
Because you have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel,
7 when they grasped you with the hand,
you broke and tore all their shoulders;
and when they leaned on you,
you broke and made all their loins to shake.
8 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast, 9 and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
"Because you said, 'The Nile is mine, and I made it,' 10 therefore, behold, I am against you and against your streams, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush. 11 No foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years. 12 And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries, and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries.
13 "For thus says the Lord GOD: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered, 14 and I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom. 15 It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, and never again exalt itself above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations. 16 And it shall never again be the reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD."
17 In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 18 "Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was rubbed bare, yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against her. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off its wealth and despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored, because they worked for me, declares the Lord GOD.
21 "On that day I will cause a horn to spring up for the house of Israel, and I will open your lips among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD."
Ezekiel 24 consisted of oracles against four neighboring nations of Judah. Then came three chapters of judgment upon Tyre. Now we have four chapters describing judgment upon Egypt. Egypt is the seventh nation to be confronted by the Lord, and this prophesy against Egypt comes in seven installments:
Ezekiel 29:1-16 The Lord GOD will judge Pharaoh, the great crocodile of the Nile.
Ezekiel 29:17-21 The Lord GOD will give Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar.
Ezekiel 30:1-19 The Day of the Lord will come upon Egypt.
Ezekiel 30:20-26 The Lord GOD will break Pharaoh’s arms.
Ezekiel 31:1-18 The Lord GOD will bring down the beautiful tree of Pharaoh.
Ezekiel 32:1-16 The Lord GOD will destroy Pharaoh, the monster of the seas.
Ezekiel 32:17-32 The Lord will slay Egypt and bring her down to Sheol.
Throughout Ezekiel we often recognize that it is “the Lord GOD” who is speaking. The reason for this odd presentation in the English text is that it is a translation of “Adonai Yahweh.” Adonai is the Hebrew word for lord or ruler, while Yahweh is God’s covenant name, usually translated LORD. This emphasizes God’s majestic sovereign eternal self-existent covenant-keeping nature. But in English “Lord LORD” would not read well. Thus, we have “Lord GOD.”
Ezekiel 29 immediately confronts Pharaoh, depicted as a crocodile-like monster who thinks he is a god and has power over the Nile. He has mistreated Israel. (vss. 6-7) Therefore Adonai Yahweh will slay Pharaoh with the sword and humble Egypt. (vss. 1-16) In verses 17-21 we learn that the Lord is going to use Nebuchadnezzar to do this. You might remember from Jeremiah that some Judeans would flee to Egypt and God moved Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army to conquer Egypt, find and punish these renegade Israelites.
Why? Because “then they will know that I am Yahweh.” (vss. 6, 9, 16, 21)