The first message was given on January 7, 587 BC, about seven months before Jerusalem was destroyed. The prophet set his face against Pharaoh Hophra, who ruled Egypt from 589 to 570 BC (See Jer. 44:30.) The picture here is of killing a sea monster.
Pharaoh’s sins (vv. 1–7). The Lord compared Hophra to a monster that dwelt in the waters of the river and claimed the river for himself. The Nile River was so essential to the life of Egypt that it was treated like a god; but Hophra claimed that he was the one who made the river and that it belonged to him. In this oracle, Pharaoh was compared to a ferocious crocodile, guarding the waters of the land—the Nile and all the canals—and attacking anybody who dared to challenge his claims. His major sin was pride (vv. 1–5), taking credit for what the Lord God had done. Whatever greatness belonged to Egypt, it was because of the gracious gifts of God and not because of what Pharaoh and his people had accomplished.
But the Lord wasn’t impressed by the crocodile or afraid of him! He promised to catch him, put hooks in his mouth, and drag him and the fish clinging to him (the people of Egypt) out to the fields where they would be exposed to the sun and die. They would become food for the beasts of the field and the carrion-eating birds. The Egyptian pharaohs were diligent to prepare their burial places, but Hophra would be buried like an unwanted dead animal. What a humiliating way to bury a man who claimed to be a god!
Hophra’s second sin was his disloyalty to Israel (vv. 6–7). Egypt was like a weak reed that couldn’t be trusted. The Jews should never have turned to Egypt for help, but when they did, the Egyptians should at least have kept their word. The Egyptians had a reputation for making promises and not keeping them (2 Kings 18:20–21; Isa. 36:6). It was Egypt who encouraged Judah to break their agreement with Babylon, and this foolish act on King Zedekiah’s part is what incited the Babylonian attack against Jerusalem. While Nebuchadnezzar was attacking Jerusalem, the Jews negotiated with Egypt to send their army to deliver Judah, and for a short time, the Babylonians turned away from Jerusalem so they could deal with Egypt. But the scheme didn’t work. The people in Jerusalem rejoiced that the siege was ended, but God warned His people that the army would return to Jerusalem to finish the job. (See Jer. 34:21–22; 37:8.)
Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion (vv. 8–12). This is a prophecy of the coming of the Babylonian army to Egypt, where they would fulfill God’s word and destroy man and beast as well as ravage the land (Jer. 43:8–13; 46). The people would either be slain or scattered, and the land would be left “utterly waste and desolate” (Ezek. 29:10). The phrase in verse 10, “From the tower of Seveneh even unto the border of Ethiopia” is the Egyptian equivalent of Israel’s “from Dan to Beersheba” and signifies the whole land, from top to bottom. The NIV translates it “from Migdol [in the north] to Aswan [in the south].” Nebuchadnezzar would make a clean sweep of the land, and the desolation would last forty years (vv. 11–13). Nebuchadnezzar attacked Egypt in 568–567 BC and fulfilled that prophecy.
Divine mercy (vv. 13–16). After forty years, the Lord would (1) regather the scattered Egyptians to their land and permit them to establish their kingdom, but (2) their kingdom would not regain its former power and glory. It would become a “base kingdom.” The Jews would learn that Egypt couldn’t be trusted and would not put their confidence in Egypt. (Compare 28: and 29:16.) Note that the statement “they shall know that I am the Lord” is repeated three times in this message (vv. 6, 9, 16). This statement is one of the key affirmations in the book of Ezekiel and is used some sixty times. The Lord reveals His attributes through His judgments just as much as He does through His blessings, and sometimes His judgments get our attention much more quickly.