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BIBLE
STUDY LESSON
For
the week beginning Sunday March 15, 2015
A MESSAGE FOR EGYPT
(A sad day for Egypt)
Ezekiel 29-30
When Tyre’s inland city fell to the Babylonians following a 13-year
siege in 573 B.C., Tyre’s island city, with the help of Egypt, had already
transported most of its wealth from there, by sea, to Egypt. As a result, King Nebuchadnezzar
was not able to recover the huge military expense that he had incurred during
the long siege campaign against Tyre. And so, the only way he could recoup his
financial losses, was by attacking Egypt and extracting Tyre’s transferred
funds from their coiffeurs.
Ironically, just as GOD had forecast Tyre’s doom in chapters
26-28, HE now, here (chapters 29-32), joins Egypt’s fate to the fate of Tyre’s,
by brilliantly connecting them in judgment, just as they were connected in
their betrayal of Israel. Here the LORD promises Egypt to Babylon, and the
wealth of Egypt and Tyre would be forfeited to Nebuchadnezzar in one big scoop
in 568 B.C.
In Ezekiel 29-32 we see the seventh and final nation of which the
prophet Ezekiel prophesied against, Egypt, receiving her sentence from GOD. It
is a series of seven oracles, of which six are dated, with the second one being
dated later than the others. After forecasting that the Pharaoh (Hophra) and
Egypt would be destroyed, Ezekiel then prophesies just who would destroy them
(Nebuchadnezzar).
Egypt is situated on the northeast shoulder of Africa and is
bordered by the Sahara Desert (on the west), the tropical forests of Nubia (on
the south), the Red Sea (on the east), and the Mediterranean Sea (on the
north). The Nile River serves as the bloodstream of Egypt, and its waters
brought life to the parched plains that were cultivated by the Egyptians in the
biblical days. It also served as one of the great shipping lanes of the ancient
world, as it offered over 600 miles of smooth sailing from the Mediterranean
coast to Syene.
Besides being on different continents, Egypt is separated from
Palestine by only the rocky Sinai Peninsula, and several marshes and lakes
between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. Their cultures are radically
different, and its people are even of a different race. Yet, through various distinctive
acts of GOD, biblical history shows us how they were brought together time and
time again, for better and for worse, but mostly for the worse.
In Ezekiel 29, verses 2-5, the Pharaoh, Hophra, Neco’s successor,
is depicted as a “crocodile”, or “Leviathan” (one of the Nile gods), a powerful
creature like GOD describes in the book of Job (Job 41). Here GOD says that he
is a “great monster” lurking in the streams of the Nile, even calling the river
“his own” and actually saying that he himself “made the Nile”. In verse 4 GOD
says that HE will do what HE implies in Job 41:1-2 (that which no man can do),
and that is “put a hook in the jaw of this great monster and pull him out of
the Nile with other fish sticking to his scales”.
In verses 8-12 GOD says;
“I
will bring an army against you, O Egypt, and destroy both people and animals. The land of Egypt
will become a desolate wasteland, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.
“Because you said, ‘The Nile River is mine; I made it,’ I am now the enemy of both you and your river. I will make the land
of Egypt a totally desolate wasteland, from Migdol to Aswan, as far south as
the border of Ethiopia. For forty years not a soul will pass
that way, neither people nor animals. It will be completely uninhabited.
I will make Egypt desolate, and it will be
surrounded by other desolate nations. Its cities will be empty and desolate for
forty years, surrounded by other ruined cities. I will scatter the Egyptians to
distant lands” (NLT).
However, the LORD says in
verses 13-16 that at the end of forty years HE will bring the Egyptians back
home again and restore them to their prosperous state, but they will become an
unimportant, minor kingdom, and never again become great enough to rise above
their neighbors.
And so seventeen years later,
during the twenty-seventh year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity in Babylon, the
words of Ezekiel came true as the LORD rewarded King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon
with all the riches of Egypt to compensate for his financial loss in his
campaign against Tyre, whom the LORD had sent him to destroy (Vs.17-20). Whenever
we suffer losses for the LORD’s sake, no matter who we are, HE always
compensates us for those losses.
In Ezekiel 30, verses 1-19, a
sad day is depicted for Egypt as yet another message came to the prophet
Ezekiel from the LORD. This message comes in four parts with the first part
occurring in verses 1-5.
“Son of man, prophesy and give
this message from the Sovereign Lord:
“Weep and wail
for that day,
for the terrible day is almost here—
the day of the Lord!
It is a day of clouds and gloom,
a day of despair for the nations.
A sword will come against Egypt,
and those who are slaughtered will cover the ground.
Its wealth will be carried away
and its foundations destroyed.
The land of Ethiopia will be ravished.
Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, all Arabia,
and all their other allies
will be destroyed in that war”.
for that day,
for the terrible day is almost here—
the day of the Lord!
It is a day of clouds and gloom,
a day of despair for the nations.
A sword will come against Egypt,
and those who are slaughtered will cover the ground.
Its wealth will be carried away
and its foundations destroyed.
The land of Ethiopia will be ravished.
Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, all Arabia,
and all their other allies
will be destroyed in that war”.
Unlike
Ezekiel’s other prophecies, this one is not dated. Here in verses 1-5 Ezekiel
seems to be speaking of a future (eschatological) date referred to by the term,
“the Day of the LORD”, (when GOD will judge the whole world for its sin),
however, that ideology would separate the phrase from the context seen here. Here
we have to keep in mind that the term “the day of the LORD” can refer to any
day in which the LORD chooses to exact HIS judgment on HIS people, or any
people, past, present, or future. For example, for northern Israel, that day
occurred in 722 B.C. (Israel’s destruction by Assyria), here in the context of
the book of Ezekiel, he is referring to a day in 586 B.C. (Judah’s destruction
at the hands of Babylon). Here in chapter 30, the day of the LORD (GOD’s
judgment) is extended to Egypt and its most important cities (568 B.C.).
Taking
up in verse 6 (the second section of this prophecy) the LORD says that even all
of Egypt’s allies will fall, from Migdol to Aswan, and the pride of their power
will be ended. Egypt’s treasuries would be looted, including those treasures
that once belonged to Tyre, that Egypt had assisted them in hiding from the
Babylonians earlier in its siege against those cities (Ezekiel 29:17-20).
Ethiopia (Cush), Libya and Lydia (Put), and Arabia (all the bi-racial people of
that area) would be destroyed. Egypt would become desolate, and would be
surrounded by desolate nations (v.7).
In the
third section of this prophecy, verses 10-12, the LORD names exactly who HE
will use as HIS instrument of destruction. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and
his ruthless army would make war against Egypt and its allies and prevail over
them. HE would also dry up the demon-filled Nile River, and turn it over to the
wicked king, along with everything else in Egypt.
In verses
13-19, the fourth section of this prophecy, Ezekiel names the many places in
Egypt that will soon be destroyed by GOD.
·
Memphis - First GOD says HE will destroy the idol god images of
Memphis, the first capital city of “United Egypt”. And though it was no longer
the capital city, it was still perhaps the most important religious center in
Egypt.
·
Pathros – An area located midway between Cairo and Answan (upper
Egypt).
·
Zoan – A royal residence in the delta region of Egypt, known as
“Tanis” by the Greeks.
·
Thebes – Located in southern Egypt about 400 miles from Cairo.
It also served at one time as Egypt’s capital.
·
Pelusium – Name means “sin”. It is located deep in the delta
about a mile from the Mediterranean Sea. It served as Egypt’s military
stronghold.
·
Heliopolis – At one time was a major religious center. It was
located in northern Egypt, south of the delta region.
·
Bubastis – also a religious center that once served as Egypt’s
capital.
·
Tahpanhes – Located near the present-day Suez Canal. At that
time Pharaoh had a palace there. Jeremiah once prophesied against this city,
and the city of Memphis (Jeremiah 2:16).
The
destruction of these major cities in Egypt would effectively zap the strength
of the entire nation.
The
fourth prophecy against Egypt (Vs.20-26), is one that is directed against its
current Pharaoh, Hophra, the successor to the throne following the death of
Pharaoh Neco. He was known as “the strong arm” by all who feared him. In 588
B.C., he even flexed his muscles at Babylon while they were mounting a two-year
military siege against Jerusalem (Jeremiah 37:5-8) causing them to momentarily
retreat and put him in check. That was when Egypt’s first arm was broken;
however, they had not yet been totally subdued.
This
fourth prophecy, which is to be fulfilled twenty years later, is forecasted for
a time after Babylon had already totally defeated Egypt (568 B.C.). Here GOD
says that HE had already “broken the arm” of Pharaoh (588 B.C.), a pun on the
nickname “the strong arm”, and left his wound untreated (without a cast or
splint). In 568 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar was to finish the job (break the other arm
of Pharaoh), as GOD would allow Babylon to overtake them, and scatter those who
survived, into distant lands. And even though GOD would restore Egypt at a
future date, they would forever remain in a weakened state of unimportance.
A
Sunday school lesson by,
Larry
D. Alexander
LARRY D. ALEXANDER-
Official Website
