‏ Ezekiel 29

Summary for Ezek 29:1-32:32: 29:1–32:32  ^a The climactic seventh oracle against the nations is against Egypt, Israel’s old enemy and ally. This is the longest of the oracles, and like the oracle against Tyre it addresses both the land of Egypt and its ruler.

• Egypt played a central role through the centuries in tempting Israel and Judah away from their allegiance to the Lord. Israel had no sooner departed from Egypt than Egypt’s idolatry became a snare for them. Egypt caused Judah to trust in chariots and horses instead of in the Lord, but Egypt proved unreliable when the moment of truth arrived. The Lord judged Egypt for tempting his people (cp. Luke 17:1-2  ^b). 29:1  ^c This day in the tenth year since the exile of Jehoiachin was approximately one year after the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem.
Summary for Ezek 29:3-16: 29:3-16  ^d The opening section of the oracle is a word of judgment against Pharaoh, who is addressed as a great sea monster. These creatures were a familiar part of ancient Near Eastern mythology as a manifestation of chaos that had to be tamed by the gods. Strikingly, these same sea monsters appear in demythologized form as part of God’s good creation (Gen 1:21  ^e). In this chapter, however, the mythical image blends with the image of Pharaoh as a great crocodile, resting comfortably in the streams that laced the delta of the Nile.
Summary for Ezek 29:4-5: 29:4-5  ^f The picture of the mighty crocodile anticipates the arrival of the Lord as a great hunter. As with Tyre, a watery fortress would once again prove vulnerable to assault. The outwardly fearsome king of Egypt would be captured like any ordinary crocodile and brought out into the wilderness, the place of judgment, along with his allies, the fish. There he would die, and his body would be left dishonorably exposed for the wild animals and birds to eat.
Summary for Ezek 29:6-7: 29:6-7  ^g Egypt’s sin is once again associated with Israel. Egypt was a staff made of reeds that repeatedly pretended to support Israel, while lacking the will and the substance to deliver the promised aid. Egypt constantly incited rebellion in Israel against Assyria and Babylonia without ever really providing help (cp. 2 Kgs 18:21  ^h). Although trusting in this cracked staff was Israel’s sin, Egypt was also guilty and would face God’s wrath for raising false hopes.
Summary for Ezek 29:8-13: 29:8-13  ⁱ God’s solution was to devastate the land of Egypt, making it into a desolate wasteland. The threatened destruction would stretch from Migdol in the northeast down to Aswan in the south, leaving the whole of Egypt uninhabited for an entire generation of forty years (cp. 4:6  ^j). Egypt’s fate would be like Judah’s, as God would first scatter the Egyptians to distant lands and then bring the Egyptians home. The Babylonians seem to have invaded Egypt successfully in 568 or 567 BC and carried off Egyptian prisoners of war who remained in exile until the time of Cyrus, a generation later.
Summary for Ezek 29:14-16: 29:14-16  ^k Judah would ultimately be fully restored, but Egypt would remain an unimportant . . . kingdom. Israel would never again be tempted to call on Egypt for help instead of calling on the Lord. Egypt’s restored but reduced position would make it a constant reminder of Israel’s past folly in trusting it.
Summary for Ezek 29:17-21: 29:17-21  ^l This message, delivered in the twenty-seventh year of Jehoiachin’s captivity, has the latest recorded date of any of Ezekiel’s messages, later even than his vision of the Temple in chs 40–48  ^m.
Summary for Ezek 29:18-20: 29:18-20  ⁿ Nebuchadnezzar’s campaign against Tyre (chs 26–28  ^o) had required a great deal of effort on the Babylonians’ part for very little return in plunder. But the Lord considers his workers worthy of their hire, so to compensate them for all their work, he would reward them with the land of Egypt.
29:21  ^p Even in these oracles against the nations, God’s primary interest was in his own people. He would match the downward turn in Egypt’s fortunes by commensurately reviving Israel.

• I will cause the ancient glory of Israel to revive: Literally I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel. A horn was a common symbol of strength and dignity (see Ps 132:17  ^q, where “power” represents the same Hebrew word; cp. Dan 7:7-8  ^r; 8:3  ^s). This restoration of Israel’s glory would in turn validate Ezekiel’s status as a true prophet, and he would be respected as he deserved. As a prophet, Ezekiel had fought a hard campaign in the Lord’s service and had seen little public reward or recognition from his hearers. In the end, people would see that Ezekiel was indeed a true prophet, something that Nebuchadnezzar’s failure to conquer Tyre may have called into question.

‏ Ezekiel 30

Summary for Ezek 30:1-19: 30:1-19  ^t This third message against Egypt, using the form of a lament, essentially repeats the content of the first message (29:1-16  ^u). Judgment was to be poured out on Egypt and her allies.
Summary for Ezek 30:6-7: 30:6-7  ^v From Migdol to Aswan (Hebrew to Syene): This means “from north to south.” See study note on 29:8-13.
30:12  ^w I will dry up the Nile River: Egypt was completely dependent on the Nile for its prosperity, so having the Nile dry up would threaten the Egyptians’ livelihoods.
Summary for Ezek 30:13-14: 30:13-14  ^x From Memphis, the most important city in the north, to Thebes, the most important city in the south, all of the cities of Egypt would be destroyed.
30:14  ^y The location of Zoan is modern Tanis in the eastern part of the Nile delta, near where the Israelites had once worked as Pharaoh’s slaves.

• Thebes was the sacred city of the god Amon and the capital of Upper Egypt in the south (so called because it was up the Nile River).
30:15  ^z Pelusium was a fortress town on the northeastern frontier of Egypt.
30:17  ^aa of Heliopolis and Bubastis: These cities were located in the Nile delta.
30:18  ^ab Tahpanhes was a fortress town on the northeastern frontier of Egypt.

• dark day: Egypt would see its light turned to darkness when God came to judge it, as in the Exodus plague (Exod 10:21-23  ^ac).
30:19  ^ad At the end of this terrible judgment, the Egyptians would once again recognize God’s existence and power, just as they had at the time of the Exodus. God’s strength and reality are ultimately undeniable, even by those who do not bow before him.
Summary for Ezek 30:20-26: 30:20-26  ^ae This fourth message against Egypt shows that God had already begun to act against his old enemy.
Summary for Ezek 30:20-26: 30:20-26  ^af Jerusalem was under siege by the Babylonians, but this message rules out even the faintest hope of assistance from the Egyptians.
Summary for Ezek 30:21-23: 30:21-23  ^ag broken the arm of Pharaoh: The Lord had already shattered the Egyptians’ strength in the defeat of Pharaoh Hophra by Nebuchadnezzar (see Jer 37:5-11  ^ah). Had Hophra succeeded in his mission, the pressure on Jerusalem would have been relieved, at least temporarily; now all hope of help from Egypt was gone. There was no prospect that the broken arm would heal or even be temporarily bound up so that Pharaoh could protect Jerusalem. Egypt would be totally helpless, unable even to hold a sword as it awaited the final death thrust.
Summary for Ezek 30:24-26: 30:24-26  ^ai While disabling Pharaoh (30:22  ^aj), the Lord would strengthen the arms of Babylon’s king, increasing the already uneven nature of the contest. The fate of the forthcoming battle of the superpowers rested entirely in the Lord’s hands, and he had already determined its outcome. Nebuchadnezzar clashed with the Egyptians on a number of occasions, ending with victory in 567 BC.

‏ Ezekiel 31

Summary for Ezek 31:1-18: 31:1-18  ^ak Ezekiel called on the Egyptians to compare themselves to Assyria, which was like a great tree in Eden (31:9  ^al). If that tree was felled and sent down to the underworld, how did Egypt, whose glory could never compare to Assyria’s, think it could stand?
Summary for Ezek 31:2-4: 31:2-4  ^am The cedar of Lebanon is a tree that was known for its visual splendor and commercial and military value.

• Like a tree whose crown was among the clouds, Assyria’s military had once been strong beyond comparison to any other army.
31:6  ^an Like a great tree, Assyria provided shelter for all of the birds and wild animals of the earth. This tree was more splendid than all the trees in the garden of God (that is, the garden of Eden), with a God-given beauty and stature reminiscent of the prince of Tyre in ch 28  ^ao. Assyria’s power was once so great that all the great nations of the world lived in its shadow.
Summary for Ezek 31:10-11: 31:10-11  ^ap Egypt forgot that God had created her beauty, and she became proud and arrogant. As with Tyre, such pride would inevitably lead to a fall. The God who set Egypt in such an exalted position would send a divine lumberjack, in the form of a mighty nation that would destroy it as its wickedness deserved.

• I have already discarded it: The human agent would simply be carrying out God’s decree.
Summary for Ezek 31:12-14: 31:12-14  ^aq Egypt’s fate would teach the other nations that however high they set themselves, eventually they were all doomed to die and go down to the pit.
31:15  ^ar The mourning over the great tree, Assyria, matched its great size.

• The tallest cedar trees of the ancient world were found in Lebanon.

• To be clothed ... in black meant wearing garments of mourning.
Summary for Ezek 31:16-17: 31:16-17  ^as The nations all shook with fear at the shock waves created by Assyria’s fall. The great nations that had preceded it on the road to destruction and death were gratified to find it joining them in their disgrace, while its allies followed in its dangerous course.
31:18  ^at The point of this extended analogy finally emerges. Although Egypt’s strength and glory were great, it would be destroyed just as Assyria had been, and it would be disgraced along with the other nations that trusted in themselves and in their own greatness.

‏ Ezekiel 32

32:1  ^au On March 3: This event occurred two months after the exiles in Babylon received word of Jerusalem’s fall (see 33:21  ^av).
Summary for Ezek 32:2-3: 32:2-3  ^aw Ezekiel returns to the image of Pharaoh as a mighty beast (29:3  ^ax).

• Egypt’s pharaohs used the lion and the sea monster (or crocodile) as images of strength, yet both creatures could be hunted and killed, and that is what would happen to Pharaoh. God, through his agents (32:11-12  ^ay), would hunt Pharaoh, catch him, and haul him in.
Summary for Ezek 32:4-6: 32:4-6  ^az hills ... valleys ... mountains ... ravines: In Hebrew, this literary device (merism) indicates both the boundaries and everything within them; here, it portrays the totality of God’s judgment. The carnage is described using hyperbole to communicate the complete destruction of Egypt.
Summary for Ezek 32:7-8: 32:7-8  ^ba As in the previous chapter, Pharaoh’s downfall would be accompanied by global darkness and widespread mourning. These images were commonly associated with the day of the Lord (cp. Joel 2:30  ^bb). In this case, the darkness would also remind the Egyptians of the plague on Egypt at the time of the Exodus (Exod 10:21-22  ^bc).
Summary for Ezek 32:9-10: 32:9-10  ^bd The surrounding nations and their kings would all be terrified at Egypt’s downfall, fearing for their own future.
Summary for Ezek 32:11-12: 32:11-12  ^be The human agent of God’s wrath, the sword of the king of Babylon, was coming to shatter the power of Egypt once and for all. This would be an even greater destruction than at the time of the first Passover, when only the firstborn male humans and animals of Egypt died (Exod 12:29  ^bf).
32:14  ^bg The great sea monster (32:2  ^bh) would no longer thrash around in the stream, stirring up mud like an irate crocodile. After Pharaoh’s demise, the waters of Egypt would flow again as smoothly as olive oil, with the untroubled serenity of death.
Summary for Ezek 32:15-16: 32:15-16  ^bi This total and final devastation of Egypt would result in their recognizing the power of the Lord, just as they did at the time of the Exodus.
Summary for Ezek 32:17-32: 32:17-32  ^bj This last, climactic message against Egypt sums up the whole series of messages against all of the nations.
Summary for Ezek 32:18-20: 32:18-20  ^bk In an earlier message (31:17-18  ^bl), God had declared that Egypt would go down to join the other nations in the underworld. Here that idea is expanded. Egypt’s destination was with the outcasts, along with those who fell by the sword. This place of horror, the pit, was already populated by many nations that once wielded power but had now gone down to destruction (cp. Isa 14:9-11  ^bm).
Summary for Ezek 32:21-30: 32:21-30  ^bn Assyria ... Elam ... Meshech and Tubal ... Edom ... the princes of the north and the Sidonians: These nations that once struck terror in the hearts of people everywhere were now shadowy figures, spent forces in a world without meaning or joy. Assyria had been conquered by the Babylonians and Medes between 627 and 609 BC and had been removed from its previous status as a superpower.
Summary for Ezek 32:31-32: 32:31-32  ^bo Pharaoh and all the power of Egypt will share a similar fate. For the time appointed by God, Pharaoh caused his terror to fall upon all the living, yet when God decided to act, Egypt’s power would be broken once and for all.