I want to continue our study through Ezekiel in chapter 30 this evening. Those of you who are here on Sunday afternoon, we look at the fact that God was bringing judgment upon Egypt. And if you look here, here is Egypt and Assyria would have been over here.
In Iran and Iraq, this would have been the Assyrian Empire over there. And these were the two main empires at the time in the Middle East. Nebuchadnezzar has come to power.
If you remember from our study, Israel, as you can see right here, is a place where both of these armies, if they’re going to fight one another, Israel is the land they have to go through. And it’s amazing because if you look at Africa, Asia, and Europe, all meet in Israel. And Israel has always been, the trade routes and everything have gone through Israel and that part of the Middle East.
Well, we see that Israel on Sunday, remember that Israel was trusting in Egypt. And Nebuchadnezzar had invaded Jerusalem twice and he was invading the third time. And they were trying to make an alliance and move down to Egypt and seek to have Egypt come and help them fight Nebuchadnezzar.
Now, when we were studying in Jeremiah, one of the things that was happening as Ezekiel is writing chapters 29 and 30, is that Nebuchadnezzar had come and Israel had called on Egypt to come and help them. Pharaoh had brought his soldiers up from the south and Nebuchadnezzar had retreated. So for a period of time, it appeared that it was working.
Israel’s calling on Egypt was working. But the Lord said it wouldn’t. And shortly after Nebuchadnezzar began to retreat, Egypt left and went back to Egypt.
And when they did that, Nebuchadnezzar came back into Judah and Jerusalem with a fury. He attacked them, he besieged Jerusalem and that’s when he destroyed it. Now God is going to bring a judgment, as we saw on Sunday, against Egypt because of their idolatry worship and the fact that they were constantly a source that Satan used to turn Israel to other gods and to turn their trust away from the Lord and to place it in men.
Now tonight we’re going to be looking at, in chapter 30, a description of the judgment that occurred that Ezekiel was talking about in chapter 29. So let’s just take a look at chapter 30. Let’s begin with verse 1 of chapter 30.
Ezekiel 30:1-3
1
The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God;
Howl ye, Woe worth the day!
3
For the day is near,
even the day of the Lord is near,
a cloudy day;
it shall be the time of the heathen.
Now as you look at whenever the day of the Lord is, this isn’t the day, oftentimes in scripture the day of the Lord is speaking of the final judgments that will come in the last days. This isn’t the last day, this is the day of the Lord coming against Egypt.
His judgment on Egypt will no longer be as Egypt has been. They will be utterly destroyed by God. And we’re going to see this evening, as we saw on Sunday, Pharaoh’s position is going to be destroyed.
There will no longer be the lineage of the kings of Egypt, and the rule and dominance in the Middle East will begin to cease.
Ezekiel 30:4-5
4
And the sword shall come upon Egypt,
and great pain shall be in Ethiopia,
when the slain shall fall in Egypt,
and they shall take away her multitude,
and her foundations shall be broken down.5
Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia,
and all the mingled people, and Chub,
and the men of the land that is in league,
shall fall with them by the sword.
I want you to just stop here and look. If you look up at the map, here is Libya, Ethiopia would be down in here, and Egypt is here. Chud, they’re not sure exactly where Chud is, it may be, I mean Chub, it may be in this area.
But as you see, there’s an alliance of nations that come against Babylon. And these smaller nations have put their trust in the power of Egypt, and they’ve joined with Egypt, and have put their strength in the power. Does that sound like what’s happening in the Middle East today? You see that right now, you have in the Middle East, if you look at the map today, Iran is here.
And in Iran, you have in Israel, you have Hamas here, you have Hezbollah up here, you have the Houthis down in Yemen here, and they’ve all tied themselves to Iran. And they’re joining with Iran, and they’re the allies of Iran, just like these other nations were the allies of Egypt. And just as when Egypt falls, they lose their source of power, they lose their source of security, and money, and strength, and military might, and they are judged along with Egypt.
These other nations will be judged along with Iran. We know that Ezekiel is going to reveal later on what’s going to happen in the future, and that things are aligning in the Middle East today for that to happen. We’ll be getting to that in a few weeks, about what is going to happen then.
But we see here in Chapter 30, there are these smaller nations, powerful nations that have aligned themselves with Egypt, and yet the Lord says, as Egypt falls, these nations will fall as well.
Ezekiel 30:6
6
Thus saith the Lord;
They also that uphold Egypt shall fall;
and the pride of her power shall come down:
from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword,
saith the Lord God.They’re not going to be able to stand as they once stood.
Ezekiel 30:7
7
And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate,
and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted.In other words, what he’s saying is, Egypt has been filled with powerful cities, and this map doesn’t show the cities of Egypt, but over in this area right here is where the Israelites were put to be separated from Egypt. The Nile River flows down in through here, and we have the major cities of Egypt follow the Nile down, because the Nile was a great source of water, and it was also a source of very fertile land.
And so the people settled along the Nile, and the major cities were along the Nile, or along the Mediterranean Sea. And God says that these cities that once were prosperous and powerful, will one day lie in waste. And it will begin this time.
And he goes on and he says in verse 8,
Ezekiel 30:8
8
And they shall know that I am the Lord,
when I have set a fire in Egypt,
and when all her helpers shall be destroyed.And it’s interesting, he says the same thing is going to happen to Egypt, as will happen to Iran in the last days. Her helpers will be destroyed along with her.
And they’ll know that God is God, because Egypt cannot stand against them. Just like Egypt could not stand against the Lord at the time of Pharaoh, when Moses led them out of the land, and he couldn’t stand against the judgments that got brought, the ten judgments that he brought against the land of Egypt, they are not going to be able to stand now either. And the smaller nations that are tied to her will fall as well.
Ezekiel 30:9
9
In that day shall messengers go forth from me
in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid,
and great pain shall come upon them,
as in the day of Egypt:
for, lo, it cometh.
Now remember I said that Ethiopia was down here, and there were going to be those that would come by ship, come down to Ethiopia. Ethiopia is right here, you just barely see the top of it.
And they’re going to come against Ethiopia, and what is brought against Egypt will be coming against Ethiopia, and they’ll suffer pain and judgment as well.
Ezekiel 30:10-11
10
Thus saith the Lord God;
I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease
by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.11
He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations,
shall be brought to destroy the land:
and they shall draw their swords against Egypt,
and fill the land with the slain.
And one of the things that God does when he brings judgment not only upon Israel, but upon other nations, is he brings it through weather.
One of the things that you see happening in our country, oftentimes when we have severe weather conditions, people say, oh mother nature. No, you need to look at the fact, what is happening. Remember the tremendous hurricanes that happened, and there are those that have tied severe weather conditions in the United States, to how the U.S. has treated Israel.
The U.S. turns its back on Israel, and all of a sudden we’ve got hurricanes, and we’ve got severe cases of weather, we’ve got droughts, we’ve got other things that greatly impact our nation, as our nation turns its back on that which God loves. And the Lord has always used weather as part of his judgment against the nation of Israel, and go to what we refer to as the minor prophets. And you read in them that oftentimes drought will come, grasshopper infestations will come, the grasshoppers will just cover the land and eat everything in sight, locusts.
We see that drought, and then we also see that there’s been times where he speaks of hail coming in the Old Testament judgments. We also know that when it comes to the last years of judgment, the great tribulation, that God will bring some of these same judgments upon the earth. It’ll be things that man can control.
There’ll be giant hailstones that’ll fall. There’ll be horrendous weather conditions. There’ll be droughts, and the people won’t have food.
And God uses the weather for judgment, so that people will look to him and call on his name. The sad thing is, in America today, most people don’t look at it that way. They look at, somehow, that Mother Nature, that the earth is in charge of it.
No, God is in charge of the earth. And we need to understand that as Christians, that we shouldn’t look to Mother Nature, but we should call upon the name of the Lord. And we should see that God is using the weather, as he did here with Egypt, to reveal himself to him, and to show his power, and who’s ultimately in control, and that man can do nothing against him when God comes against him like this.
It says, And he and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land, and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.
One of the other things that God often will do, and throughout the Old Testament you’ll see this, as well as with Israel, is what is happening even in Jerusalem and Judah, right now as Ezekiel is writing this, God is using other armies as his hands of chastisement against nations that he’s judging because of their wickedness and their evil. And he’s using this against Egypt, and the Babylonians are being used not only to chastise Israel, but to judge Egypt, and to judge the nations that have tied themselves to her.
Ezekiel 30:12
12
And I will make the rivers dry,
and sell the land into the hand of the wicked:
and I will make the land waste,
and all that is therein,
by the hand of strangers:
I the Lord have spoken it.
And again, there are things that man can’t control. I remember a number of years ago, North Dakota had drought, I believe it was in the late 80’s or early 90’s, and I remember Roberta and I had to go to one of her uncle’s funerals, or aunt’s funerals, up by the Harvey area, and there was so much dirt in the air, that you just felt like you got there, and you wanted to take a shower, because it was so dirty, your car was dirty. I remember I got the car home, and I had to get an oil change, and I took it back, and my air cleaner was just full of dirt, and it was from the wind. I had to stop it, except pray that God would bring rain, and that God would stop the winds, and stop the drought. Well, this is what it was like in Egypt. They couldn’t do a thing about it, and then God brought those, that were used as his hand of judgment.
Ezekiel 30:13
13
Thus saith the Lord God;
I will also destroy the idols,
and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph;
and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt:
and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.Now Noph, is probably the modern day city, of Memphis. Memphis was one of the main cities, of Egypt, it was one of the cities, where the royalty lived, and we also see that God says he’s going to put an end to the Pharaoh.
14
And I will make Pathros desolate,
and will set fire in Zoan,
and will execute judgments in No.The line of the Egyptians reign, if you look at what happened, it was at this time, that Nebuchadnezzar, and the Babylonians invaded Egypt, that the Pharaoh’s lineage, came to an end. I
If you go back and look today, there is no royal line of Egypt, for example, in Iran, you have descendants, of the royal line of Iran, that want to go back into Iran, when the they, are driven out, and they want to reestablish, their kingdom in Iran. There are other nations, that have kings, and they have descendants, of the kings, well Egypt had the descendants, of the Pharaoh’s, and they’ve been there, for thousands of years, they built monuments to themselves, we have the pyramids in Egypt. We have the Sphinx, we have other monuments, showing their lineage, and showing passing of royalty, from one generation to another.
God said it’s going to stop now. Today you have nothing like that, in Egypt, there was a king, that came to power in Egypt, but he had no connection, to the Pharaoh’s, and he was placed there by men. Not by a lineage of inheritance, from the Pharaoh’s. God’s word is true. There hasn’t been, a king since, the line of Pharaoh, was destroyed, and there should be no more prince, in the land of Egypt.
14
And I will make Pathros desolate,
and will set fire in Zoan,
and will execute judgments in No.
Now Pathros, would be, the upper portion, of southern Egypt, in this area here. That was an area, that was burned down, and it was a wealthy. It was an area, where there was much crops, but It was going to be judged, and it was going to become desolate. There wouldn’t be, they would no longer have, the land like it had once been, and then he goes on, and he continues on, in the verse, and he says, and I will execute judgments, in Memphis, what is Memphis today, the major, one of the major ruling cities of Egypt,
15
And I will pour my fury upon Sin,
the strength of Egypt;
and I will cut off the multitude of No.
Sin is, if I can pronounce it, Pelaseum. That was also, one of the major cities, at this time in Egypt, and it is a city today, but none of these cities, have the power and the glory, the Egyptian wealth, nor do you see the Egyptian, influence over the world, that they had in these cities, at this time.
14
And I will make Pathros desolate,
and will set fire in Zoan,
and will execute judgments in No.15
And I will pour my fury upon Sin,
the strength of Egypt;
and I will cut off the multitude of No.16
And I will set fire in Egypt:
Sin shall have great pain,
and No shall be rent asunder,
and Noph shall have distresses daily.
No is Tunis. They are all, none of these cities, which have experienced, tremendous wealth, tremendous power. Had other nations, coming to them, for help, not only military help, but also food, and refuge, they are going to be the ones, they are going to have to seek, others, to help them.
17
The young men of Aven and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword:
and these cities shall go into captivity.Just as the nation of Israel, the cities of Israel, went into captivity, the cities of Egypt, would likewise, go into captivity, and, at, Pi-beseth also,
18
At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened,
when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt:
and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her:
as for her, a cloud shall cover her,
and her daughters shall go into captivity.
So, the future, of Egypt, the youth of Egypt, the young men, the young women, the young men, are going to be killed, in the battles, the young women, will be taken, into captivity. There’s going to, become a real, cloud, of despair, over the whole, nation. There’s nothing, they can do, because it’s the hand, of God, in his judgment.
19
Thus will I execute judgments in Egypt:
and they shall know that I am the Lord.20 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
God’s going to, just as he did, during the time of Pharaoh, at Moses, when his judgments come, they’ll know, that they are from God, as God has come, to bring judgment, upon them, because of how they, have influenced, his people, for evil, and to turn them, away from him.
21 Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, lo, it shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to bind it, to make it strong to hold the sword.
22 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand. 23 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.
Now, whenever you see, an arm, in the scriptures, it’s referring, to strength, and the arm, of the Lord, is the Lord’s strength, the arm of Pharaoh, the arms of Pharaoh, were Pharaoh’s strength,
Well God says, I’m going to break, his arms, his arms were broken, by Nebuchadnezzar, and Pharaoh, never, ever, was able to, gain his strength, of military might, back again. Nor was the Egypt, ever going to be, like it had been, under the Pharaohs, to influence, this region, of the world, ever again, during even the time. I mentioned, on Sunday afternoon, during the time, of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire, came down, and they controlled, Egypt, and you had, Cleopatra, who ruled.
She, was not Roman, but she had gone, to the Roman Academies, to learn to rule, Mark Antony, was a Roman, and he went down, and ruled there, as well, but it was the Romans, that were ruling, not the Egyptians, and even though, the Egyptians attempted, to have influence, they could have no influence, over Rome. Rome had the power. Rome had the might and Rome came, with her ships rather, and destroyed, Egypt, when they tried, to overthrow, the Roman, power.
So we see, that Pharaoh’s arms, are going to be broken, they’re never going, to be healed, and it says, that Pharaoh, in verse 21, the son of man, I have broken, the arm of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and lo, it shall not, be bound up, to be healed, to put a roller, to bind it, and to make it strong, to make it strong, never again, will it hold the sword. Never again, will it have the power, that it once had, even today, Egypt does not, have the power. It has influence, and it tries, to undermine, and have influence, in world, political events. Often times, through terrorism, by uniting itself, with things like, various terror groups, that they will support, through Egypt. But Egypt itself, does not have power, to influence, the world, like it once did.
God scattered, the Egyptians, among the nations, and will disperse them. Through the countries, and God, did that as well, many of the people, that ended up, during the time, in which we live, and are called, Palestinian, here on this map, it has this, it calls it Palestine, it’s not Palestine, it’s actually, where the Philistines were, this would be Gaza, and, a lot of the Palestinians, that are referred to, as Palestinians, are really Egyptians. Their heritage, is either Egyptian, or other Arab nations. Egyptians are not Arabs, and they are, they intermarry, but the Egyptian people, were scattered, amongst the nations.
During the time, of Yasser Arafat, a lot of the people, were Egyptians, and Arabs, from countries, like Jordan, and like Iraq, and over in here, in this portion, of Saudi Arabia, that was close to Jordan, and some of them, ended up, up here in what is, the northern part, of Syria, right now. It was, in Turkey, they also ended up, over here, in Europe. But they didn’t, stay there, they were driven, back out again, a lot of them, went to Jordan, for a period of time, and Jordan, kicked them out. Why? Because they were, a people,
That were constantly, seeking to overthrow, the government. That they were under, and then, the people say, well, they’re displaced, by Israel, by Israel, and that’s not true. Israel, when they came, into the land, there were, those of Arab, and Egyptian, descent, that were, had come to Israel, when Israel, came back, to Israel. Looking for jobs, and, they also had, some of them, had land, and houses, when the various, nations of the world, that I mean, the Arab nations, that surrounded, Israel, and it was, basically, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and, these nations, Syria. They were, going to group together, and attack Israel, when they were, a new nation, they told all, all of these people, that were of Egyptian, and Arab descent, to leave Israel, because they were, going to drive Israel, into the sea. and then they could, come back, and have the, the Israelis land, as well, Israel told them, not to leave, they actually, put signs, on houses, and businesses, and said, these businesses, belong to so and so, but they never came back, and they ended up, going, and most of them, ended up, over in, in Jordan.
Then they were, going around, dispersed around the world, and that’s exactly, what happened, to the Egyptians, at the time, of Ezekiel, and it happens again, in the day, in which we live,
24 And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand: but I will break Pharaoh’s arms, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man.
25 But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt.
26 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the countries; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
Now, as you look at this, remember, God is, one of the reasons, that we talked about, on Sunday, God is doing this, because Egypt, was constantly, being used by Satan, to tempt Israel, to come and trust in them, instead of God, and God said, enough is enough. I’m going to strengthen, the arms of Nebuchadnezzar, and destroy the arms of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh will fall, before him, and they’ll never gain, his power back. Ezekiel, saw this happen, in his lifetime, in many ways, something very similar, is happening in our lifetime, later on in Ezekiel, we’re going to be seeing, that there’s going to be, a coalition that’s going to be, in many of these same nations, and Iran, and Turkey, are going to be, the two major players, that are going to attract, these other nations, and perhaps Russia as well, and they’re going to come, against Israel, but God will destroy, their arm, just as he did, the arm of Pharaoh.
Let’s just close in prayer, Lord I pray, you just help us to understand, your judgment.