Ezekiel 30

of what the Lord was doing, and this was the most painful and costly of all his “action sermons.” In order to preach one sermon, Ezekiel had to lose his wife. But Ezekiel commanded the Jewish exiles to mourn over the loss of the temple just as he had mourned over the loss of his wife, without loud wailing, copious weeping, or any change in their dress or eating habits. The death of the prophet’s dear wife was an act of God, and so was the destruction of the temple. The woman who had died was innocent of any gross sin, but the temple had become a den of thieves. God gave Ezekiel only one day’s notice that he would become a widower, but He had been speaking to sinful Judah for many years and they had not listened. The destruction of the temple and the city should not be a surprise to anybody.

But how did the people know that the prophet was telling the truth? They didn’t have instant news service as we have today, so perhaps the whole thing was only Ezekiel’s way of dealing with his wife’s death. But God said that a messenger would arrive in Babylon with the news of the fall of the city and the destruction of the temple, and this occurred five months later, on January 8,585 BC (33:21–22).

The next day, God opened the prophet’s mouth and removed the discipline He had imposed at the beginning of his ministry (3:25–27). From this point on, the prophet was free to speak as he felt led, and at the same time, the focus of his ministry shifted. He had exposed the nation’s sins and announced her judgment. Now he would announce God’s plans for the Gentile nations, including victorious Babylon; and then he would minister hope to the Jewish exiles and share with them visions of the kingdom yet to come.

Ezekiel has been a faithful servant of God, even to the point of sacrificing his beloved wife so he could declare the word of God. What an example of dedication!

Egypt is the seventh nation in Ezekiel’s “judgment cycle” and receives more attention than any of the other nations the prophet addressed. Centuries before, Egypt had made the Jewish people suffer greatly as slaves, and even after the division of the Jewish kingdom, the Egyptians were a thorn in the flesh to the Jews and a most undependable ally. But the Jews were like their father Abraham (Gen. 12:10–20) and their ancestors (Ex. 14:10–12; 16:1–3; Num. 11:4–9, 18; 14:1–5) in that, whenever a crisis loomed, they were prone to look to Egypt for help. The longer the Jews were away from Egypt, the more they idealized their experiences there and forgot about the slavery and the toil. Of course, King Solomon had married an Egyptian princess and did a considerable amount of business with Egypt, but after he died, those bonds began to unravel. “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,” warned Isaiah during an international crisis (Isa. 31: nkjv; see 30:1–2), and he would give the same warning to God’s people today. Believers who look to the world for help, instead of trusting in the Lord, commit the same sin that the Jews often committed.

These four chapters are composed of seven messages (or oracles) that God gave to Ezekiel to deliver to the Egyptians and to the Jewish exiles. The phrase “the word of the Lord came,” or a similar statement, marks off each message. Six of these seven messages are dated (the third one is not—30:1–19), so we are able to fit them into the chronology of the book. Each of the messages presents a picture—or metaphor—of the impending judgment of Egypt.

This third oracle isn’t dated but was probably delivered about the same time as the previous one. It pictures the judgment of Egypt in terms of a great storm that shakes the very foundations of the land.

The storm is coming (vv. 1–5). “The day of the Lord” (v. 3) is a biblical phrase that describes any period of divine judgment, such as the judgment of Egypt. It particularly refers to the time of tribulation in the last days when the Lord will punish the nations (Isa. 65:17–19; Joel 1—3; Zeph. 1—2; Rev. 6–19) before He returns to earth to establish His kingdom. Whether this judgment is local, as with Egypt, or global, as in the last days, it is the Lord’s work, and nobody can stop it or control it. It is “a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations” (Ezek. 30: niv). In the end times, all the nations will experience this time of wrath, but in Ezekiel’s time, judgment would fall on Egypt and her neighboring allies. This would include Ethiopia (Cush, the upper Nile region; see vv. 5, 9), Put (an African nation), Lud (Lydia), the Arabian nations, Cub (Libya), and “the people of the covenant” (v. 5 niv), who are probably Jews serving as mercenaries in the Egyptian army (see 27:10).

Egypt will be desolate (vv. 6–9). When the Babylon sword invades the land, not only with Egypt fall, but so will their allies. Those areas were desolate enough before, but now they would be even worse as the land is devastated. God will crush Egypt’s allies and light a fire that will destroy the land. The people of Cush will think they are secure, so the Lord will send them messengers to wake them up, but it will be too late.

Babylon will do God’s work (vv. 10–12). When the Lord punished Egypt during the time of Israel’s slavery, He did the work Himself; but now He would use Nebuchadnezzar as His appointed servant to punish the proud Egyptians. His army would be ruthless (28:7, “terrible” kjv; see 31:12; 32:12) and fill the land with corpses. But His judgments would also affect the rivers and make them dry, a great catastrophe for such an arid land.

Nothing shall escape God’s wrath (vv. 13–19). Ezekiel has told us what would happen and how it would happen, and now he reveals the vast scope of God’s wrath. Note the repetition of the phrase “I will” as the Lord describes His work of judgment in both Lower Egypt (“Noph” = “Memphis,” v. 13) and Upper Egypt (Pathros). Instead of a land of pride, Egypt will be a land filled with fear. “Zoan” is “Rameses,” “No” is “Thebes,” and “Sin” is “Pelusium.” The verbs used make it clear that the Lord will permit total devastation: destroy, make desolate, set fire, pour fury, cut off, the day darkened. The Jews were led out of Egypt by a bright cloud (Ex. 13:21), but the Egyptians who once enslaved them will be under a dark cloud. As a result of God’s judgment, the power and pride of Egypt will be destroyed, and the nation would never rise to its former heights again. The young men would be slain and the young women taken into slavery, so the future generation would be given into the hands of the enemy.

Nations never seem to learn that God is serious about what happens to His people Israel. The devastating judgment that God sent to Egypt before the exodus should have taught the Egyptians a lasting lesson, but apparently they forgot it. In opposing God’s purposes for Israel, Egypt invited God’s judgments on their own nation, for the Lord always keeps His covenant promises.

This oracle was delivered on April 29, 587 BC and refers to God’s crushing the Egyptian military power. The arm is a symbol of power, but God would break both of Pharaoh’s arms and leave Egypt helpless. Nobody would apply splints or even bandage up the wounds to promote healing.

The first “breaking” took place at Carchemish in 605 BC, when Nebuchadnezzar defeated Pharaoh Necho (2 Kings 24:7; Jer. 46:2). It was also at Carchemish that godly King Josiah was slain. The second “breaking” occurred when Pharaoh Hophra tried to help Judah when Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem (37:5ff.). With both arms “broken,” Egypt would not be able to wield a sword, and that would put an end to the battle. Pharaoh Hophra had a second title, “The Strong-Armed,” but that title would not apply anymore.

While the Lord was permitting the Babylonians to break the arms of Egypt, He was also strengthening the arms of the Babylonians! He even put His own sword into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar! The Egyptians would be either slain or scattered and their land would be left desolate. “They shall know that I am the Lord” is repeated twice (Ezek. 30:25–26). During Israel’s sojourn in Egypt, Pharaoh wouldn’t recognize the Lord; but now the nation would learn that the Lord God of the Hebrews was indeed the only true and living God.