This afternoon, if you have your Bibles turn with me to the book of Ezekiel. And we’re going to be looking this afternoon at Ezekiel chapter 29. Ezekiel chapter 29.
This chapter is dealing with God’s judgment that he’s going to be bringing against Egypt.
Before we begin, let’s just bow in prayer. Lord, I pray that you just speak to us through your word this afternoon. Help us to understand your word. And Lord, I pray that you would just open our hearts and help us to understand that you deal with hearts of people. You deal with nations. Lord, you’ve said that those who would bless Abraham and his seed would be blessed. And those who would curse Abraham and his seed would be cursed. Lord, we see that Egypt is going to experience judgment because of their lack of support and encouragement for Israel. And Lord, I pray that you would just help us as we look at your word to see what you gave Ezekiel in prophecy to deal with them. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Looking at chapter 29, it deals with Egypt and God is going to deal with Egypt. We’ve been looking at the nations of Israel that have been surrounding them that have really been Israel’s enemies throughout the time that Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon were attacking Judah and Jerusalem. And most of them had always been enemies of Israel.
As a matter of fact, most of them are still enemies of Israel today. The players haven’t changed much. But we see that Egypt is specifically drawing the prophetic word of the Lord in dealing with how God is going to deal with them.
One of the reasons that God is going to deal with Egypt, if you remember, Egypt was always there trying to take God’s place. When God told through Jeremiah, when we went through the book of Jeremiah and he told the remnant to stay in the land that they would be a witness for him, they went to Jeremiah and asked Jeremiah, should we go down to Egypt or not? What does the Lord want us to do? We’ll do whatever God wants us to do. Well, the Lord told them, don’t go to Egypt, stay in the land.
So immediately they packed their bags and headed for Egypt. And they took Jeremiah against his will with them. And the thing is, we see that Egypt has always been, really in scripture, a symbol of the world.
And it’s the world drawing God’s people away from God. And really that’s what Egypt had done at that particular time. God had brought chastisement against them by Nebuchadnezzar.
That chastisement was to drive them to him. And instead Egypt encouraged them to go further from him. So let’s see what Ezekiel has to say about Egypt.
Ezekiel 29:1-3
In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt: 3 speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God;
Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt,
the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers,
which hath said, My river is mine own,
and I have made it for myself.
And just pause here. This is the false god systems that the Egyptians worshipped. And this would be the Nile River, which was viewed as there with the Nile.
It was really the life of Egypt was the Nile. The Nile would overflow its banks. It made the land around the Nile extremely fertile.
It was the bread basket of Egypt. And they worshipped not only the river, but they worshipped the crocodiles in the river. They worshipped many of the animals that they worshipped.
They also worshipped man himself. Well, let’s go on and see what else he says.
Ezekiel 29:4
4
But I will put hooks in thy jaws,
and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales,
and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers,
and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.And this was really a judgment that God was going to bring against Egypt because they looked to the river for food, the fish of the river. And God was going to say, I’m going to judge the life of the river. And the crocodile that you worship as being the beast that controls the river, he will not be able to control it.
Ezekiel 29:5
5
And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness,
thee and all the fish of thy rivers:
thou shalt fall upon the open fields;
thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered:
I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field
and to the fowls of the heaven.
And so here we have a picture of what God is going to do and how he’s going to judge it. Remember when Moses was leading the people of Israel out of there, there was numerous judgments that he brought that resulted in dying animals and insects that brought rot and smell in Egypt.
This is another judgment that’s going to be like that. The very thing that they looked to the river for, the fish in the river that they would harvest for food, is not going to be their food anymore. He’s going to cause the fish to be brought out and they’re going to be scattered on the land and they’re going to be the feed for the fowls of the air, those birds of prey that feed on dead carcasses.
Ezekiel 29:6
6
And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord,
because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.
They have not been a good source of direction for Israel, but rather they’ve been that which would come against Israel. And he says, because of this, I’m going to bring this judgment upon you.
Ezekiel 29:7
7
When they took hold of thee by thy hand,
thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder:
and when they leaned upon thee,
thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.
When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break and end their shoulder. And when they leaned upon thee, thou breakest and madest all their loins to be a strand.
Here he’s talking about the staff that they became.
They pretended to be something that would be of a help. They pretended to be something that would be strong and secure. And they pretended to be that which Israel could rely on in their time of trouble.
And that’s what the people did. They looked to Egypt to deliver them from Nebuchadnezzar. Well, what happened is, and we’re going to see in just a moment, God says, no, you’re not.
You’re not even going to be able to save yourself. You’re like a reed. And I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a reed that’s grown in the river, a tall, thin piece of grass.
It’s not something that you want to be using as a staff to put your weight on to help you in your time of trouble. If your legs are bad and you need some support, you don’t take a reed. It would be that which would cause you further damage and cause you further harm.
Well, that’s exactly what Egypt did with Israel. They caused them further damage and further harm. They pretended to be something that they were not.
And Israel relied upon them. And it resulted in their turning their back on God. And it resulted also in many of the people that went down into Egypt, they ended up dying because of their choices.
Ezekiel 29:8
8 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.
God is going to bring judgment upon Egypt, and there’s going to be a judgment that will be brought by Nebuchadnezzar. And Nebuchadnezzar is going to bring his armies down there, and man and beast will be slaughtered by the armies and their swords.
Ezekiel 29:9
9 And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the Lord: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.
And so they were worshipping the river. They were worshipping the beasts of the river.
They were worshipping God’s creation. Much like in Romans chapter 1, where Paul talks about the fact that when man fails to worship God and begins to worship the creature rather than the creator, God’s judgment is not far behind. And that’s exactly what was happening in Egypt.
They had not learned their lessons from the Pharaoh at the time of Moses. Now this is hundreds of years later, but they still haven’t learned. They’re still worshipping false gods, and they’re still trying to impress and foist their false gods upon the Israelites, and the Israelites will believe in Egypt and their gods instead of the true and living God.
So God’s going to show Egypt, I’m the creator of the river, not your crocodile. I’m the creator of the river, not you. And consequently, you need to worship me, because I’m the one that’s ultimately in control.
Ezekiel 29:10-11
10 Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia. 10 Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia. 11 No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.
God is going to make Egypt really a wasteland. And as we’re going to see, it’s not just this area, but he begins to name all the areas, and all of Egypt is falling under God’s judgment. And it’s going to be a judgment, and it’s interesting, he uses the period of time of forty years. Forty years in the scripture is often a time of two things, judgment and testing.
With the nation of Israel, it’s often a time of testing. When you find it brought against unbelievers, it’s a time of judgment. And this is what is forty-year judgment that’s brought against Egypt, not a short period of time.
The land which was once productive will not be productive at all. It will be desolate, and there won’t be man nor beast upon it.
Ezekiel 29:12
12 And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.
God is really bringing a similar judgment on Egypt that he had brought upon Israel.
The very thing that God said he would do to Israel, he’s doing to Egypt as well. And Egypt had said, We will deliver you from your troubles. God says, No, you won’t.
Your troubles are going to be the same as theirs. They’re going to be scattered amongst the nations. Your land is going to be desolate, and you will suffer my judgment.
Ezekiel 29:13-14
13 Yet thus saith the Lord God; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered:
14 and I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom.
Now, God is going to call them back into the land at the end of the time of judgment, and then they were going to go into the land, but it says here that they’re going to be a base kingdom. They’re not going to be the kingdom that they’ve been.
And actually, Egypt never really regained its power and authority that it once had after God’s judgment was brought on them. If you look at Egypt today, Egypt is still a nation today. Egypt still has the pyramids, and it has all of its historical things, and it has its history.
Many people believe that Egypt still has a lot of gold and silver that they’ve hidden, so that the nations wouldn’t steal it from them. But Egypt today is really not a world player. They’re not one of the major nations of the world.
They’re not a leading nation. They’re not a nation that people go to. As a matter of fact, Egypt has become a nation that sponsors terrorism, and isn’t a nation of power and authority on its own.
And so we see that the very thing that God said would happen, has happened. It’s become a base nation. It’s become a lower nation.
It’s become a nation that isn’t the nation that the world looks up to, or that the world seeks to have on their side. And then he says in verse 15.
Ezekiel 29:15
15 It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.
And never again did Egypt rule over nations like they once did. At the time of the Babylonian kingdom, Egypt was one of Babylon’s major competitors for power in the world, in that region of the world. And God says you’re never going to be like that again.
They never were. Even during the time of Rome, it was the Romans that gave their power to Egypt, it wasn’t the Egyptians. And during the time of Cleopatra and Mark Antony, that was Rome, it wasn’t Egypt.
Even though they were in Egypt, even though there were connections to Egypt, it wasn’t the empire of Egypt. It was really connections with Rome, and the power of Rome that was working through Egypt. Prior to that, when the Ptolemies and the Seleucids, they were Greeks, they weren’t Egyptians.
Yet they were the ones that had the power over Egypt, and they were the ones that directed Egypt in its wars, not the Egyptians. Never again were the Egyptians going to be like they had been under the Pharaohs, because God said that day has come to an end.
Ezekiel 29:16
16 And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which bringeth their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them: but they shall know that I am the Lord God.
And here you see the main reason that God is judging Egypt the way He is, because Israel always kept turning back to Egypt, and trusting in Egypt. When the people were coming out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses, what did they do? They got in the desert. They began to mumble, grumble, complain, and murmur.
And where did they want to go? Back to Egypt. They wanted to go back and be under Pharaoh. And you see that throughout the history of Israel as a nation.
Whenever they oftentimes would get in trouble, they would turn to Egypt. God says no more. Egypt will not be a place you can turn to, because it will be no power.
It’s not going to even have the semblance of being able to help you, because I’m going to destroy their position of power and authority in the world. They will be the basest amongst nations, and no one will look to them to seek power. Even in the last days, when you read in Scripture, Egypt isn’t in the group of nations that will come again to attack Israel.
Egypt isn’t in the group of nations that will be joined together to empower the Antichrist. They’re a non-factor, because their power and position has been removed by the Lord. The Lord says, I will raise up nations, and I will tear down nations.
And that’s exactly what He did with Egypt, and the reason He did, because Israel trusted in them, and whenever they trusted in them, they turned to their gods, and they turned to false gods, and began to think that God was not strong enough to deliver them, and they turned to Egypt.
Ezekiel 29:17-19
17 And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled, yet had he no wages for his army, so Tyrus, for the service that he had received, had served against it. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will give the land of Egypt into Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he shall take her multitude, and take of her spoil, and take of her prey, and it shall be the wages for his army.
Now remember, when we were talking about Tyrus, remember that we said that Nebuchadnezzar couldn’t get out to the island, and he was having difficulty, because they had besieged Tyrus, the land, Tyrus, and they had destroyed it, but he also could no longer stay there, because his army was ready to abandon him, because he couldn’t pay them. All the money at Tyrus was on the island.
He couldn’t get out to the island. He didn’t have ships. So God directed him to go to Egypt.
And if you look at, I should have put the map up, but if you look at the map, if you go right through the west coast of Jerusalem, from Tyre and Sidon, and go straight down to Gaza, and then from Gaza, you’re right into the deserts of Egypt, and you’re down into Egypt. And that’s where Nebuchadnezzar was going to go. And the reason he was going to go there, is they still had spoil that could be taken in Egypt, and he was going to take what remained.
And God was directing him to do that as part of his judgment against Egypt.
Ezekiel 29:20
20 I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord God.
21 In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
And so, what he’s going to do with Nebuchadnezzar being able to defeat Egypt, Israel will no longer trust Egypt, nor look to her for strength. And horn is a significance of power, and so Israel’s power is going to begin to bud forth, but it’s not going to come from Egypt.
It’s going to come from God. And the Lord wants them to understand that, and the Lord wants them to see who controls the armies of the world. Not the men that think they control them, but ultimately God.
And he does it for his purposes. Just in closing and looking at what we see in the Middle East today, a lot of times people think, well, this political philosophy and this religious system are in control and they’re going to rise up and they’re going to do this. But if you look at the words of prophecy, God says, no, I’m in control.
It will happen in my time according to my purposes and my way. And all of it, as you look at Ezekiel, it all is there to prove to Israel who is God. It’s not the gods of this world.
It’s not the kingdoms of this world. It’s not the leaders of this world. Don’t trust in them.
Look to me. The leaders of Israel today should read this book and realize they shouldn’t trust in the United States. The United States has done much to be a friend of Israel, to help Israel, but don’t trust the United States.
Guess what? We’re not there to be Israel’s deliverer in the last days. No one is except God. And God is trying to get Israel’s attention even at this time.
Turn to me. Trust in me. Not the kings of this earth nor the kingdoms that are going to only fail and fall as I direct armies of the world to do that.
Let’s just close in prayer. Lord, I pray that you just help us to understand the lesson concerning Egypt and why you brought judgment against it. Because they kept trying to take your place and trying to steer Israel away from you and trying to act as if they were God.
And Lord, help us to understand that our trust is not to be in the kingdoms of this world, but our trust is to be in you. This we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.