Read Ezekiel
29-31 & James
5
To discover:
As you read note what
provoked God in Egypt .
To ponder:
The
next oracle is against Pharoah and Egypt .
Pharoah is pictured as a sea monster claiming the Nile
is his. As with the King of Tyre, his problem is one of arrogance. So God
promises to pull him out with his fish (the people of Egypt )
sticking to his sides, and leave him in the desert as food for beasts – so that
the people of Egypt
will know Israel ’s
God is the LORD (29v1-6). Although this aim has been stressed throughout the
book, here we can note it was God’s great concern in the Exodus. Even in times
of temporal judgement he seeks worshippers.
Pharoah is pictured as a staff of
reed. Israel
sought to lean on him through their alliance, only to be injured as it
splintered (29v6-7). It is because of this unfaithfulness as well as Pharoah’s
arrogance, that God says he will bring the sword to kill both men and animals,
causing Egypt
to be desolate for forty years, with the people scattered throughout the
nations. This time period is fitting when once considers the years Israel
had to spend in the desert having escaped Egypt .
At its end, God promises to bring the Egyptians back to their land from
captivity to be a lowly kingdom that will never exalt itself again above
nations. The point is that Egypt
will no longer be a place Israel
seeks to rely on, but a reminder of her sin in turning from God to seek Egypt ’s
help. And so they will know, as Ezekiel’s words are fulfilled, that God is the
sovereign LORD (29v8-16). Only reliance on God is secure and safe. What follows
is a word in which God explains to Ezekiel that because Nebuchadnezzar got no
reward from Tyre for his hard
campaign there, God will bring him against Egypt
to carry of its wealth a reward (29v17-20). It’s another affirmation of
Nebuchadnezzar as the LORD’s servant.
29v21 seems to say that one day
(which can be a period) Egypt
is humbled a horn (symbolising power) will sprout up for Israel .
This is the language of he promised Davidic king as a flourishing branch. It is
therefore intended to give Israel
hope that with although the one they relied on will be humbled, God will give
them sufficient strength through his own king. And then they will know that
what he enables Ezekiel to say in their present, was from him as God. It is as
Christ fulfils the prophets that we find our faith strengthened, and recognize
God spoke through them.
A lament follows that describes the
destruction in and around Egypt .
On a day of doom for the nations in general we are told anguish will hit Egypt ,
her people will be killed, wealth taken and foundations destroyed. The fall of
her allies including God’s covenant people will accompany this, so that they
know God is the LORD. On that day messengers will bring the news to Cush
causing fear. God will do this through Nebuchadnezzar, and it is described as a
drying up of the Nile . By this means he will therefore
destroy Egypt ’s
idols and royal line, and the distress of the various regions of Egypt
is then stressed. It ends once more with a note that this will be to put her
pride – or proud strength – to an end, and so break the yoke she puts on
others. The language of fire, storm, darkness and cloud echoes that of Sinai,
stressing God’s awesome presence (30v1-19).
30v20-26 ensures Judah
doesn’t keep relying on Egypt .
It speaks of how God had already severely limited Pharoah’s ability to fight
(no doubt through Babylon ), yet
adds that he will metaphorically break his second arm so he cannot wield a
sword at all. He will then scatter the Egyptians, contrasting his action on
Pharoah with a promise to actually strengthen the arms of Nebuchadnezzar and
put a sword in his hand, all so Egypt
know God is the LORD. Sometimes the loss of something we rely on when we should
rely on God, is in order to ensure we look to him.
A little later God’s word came
again. Perhaps with some sarcasm, Ezekiel is to ask of Pharoah and his army who
can compare with their majesty. He is then to describe Assyria
as like a cedar in Lebanon ,
tall, thick, and nourishing other trees (nations) too which it majestically
towered over, with all the great nations living in its shade and so under its
protection. The description of how abundantly it was watered showed how it was
blessed by God. Indeed, he says he made it so beautiful that none of the cedars
in Eden could rival it (31v1-9).
Yet, God says that it is explicitly because it was so high and took pride in
that, that God handed it over to “the ruler of the nations” (ie.
Nebuchadnezzar) to cut it down. The picture of its branches falling in
mountains, valleys and ravines probably stresses its geographical size, and how
the whole empire fell. So all the nations lefts its shade. This meant leaving
its protection, implied perhaps by the beast now being able to get at the birds
in its branches (31v1-13). 31v14 implies that in the light of the fall of Assyria
others trees (nations) by waters (ie. blessed by God) should take warning,
recognizing they are never to so proudly tower high, considering themselves above
other trees, as that would likewise mean death among mortal men – a reminder
that kings of even the greatest nations are mere mortals. God adds that on the
day Assyria was brought down, he restrained the waters (of blessing) in
mourning, bringing gloom to Lebanon and causing the nations to whither in fear,
as all the best trees of Lebanon (ie. nations of the world), its allies, were
“consoled” at Assyria’s fall in the grave, being killed by the sword too.
Bracketing the chapter with 31v2, 31v18 asks which of these trees can compare
with Egypt in
splendour, yet Egypt
will be brought down to lie with the other uncircumcised too. It’s yet another
reminder that the seemingly greatest kings and nations are subject to God for
any greatness, and can be removed in a moment if arrogant. Here, we might
remember that through all Ezekiel’s prophecies God speaks as the “Sovereign
LORD.” They stress that he is the true and only ultimate ruler.
Praying
it home:
Praise God that he
rules everything and all are subject to him. Pray that you therefore be kept
from pride at what he has given you.
Thinking
further:
None
today.
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