Ezekiel 30:1-5

‘The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying, “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Howl, alas the day, for the day is near, the day of Yahweh is near, a day of clouds, it will be the time of the nations. And a sword will come on Egypt, and anguish will be on Cush, when the slain will fall in Egypt. And they will take away large numbers of her, and the foundations will be broken down. Ethiopia and Put and Lud, and all the mingled people, and Cub and the children of the land which is in league will fall by the sword.”

That this refers primarily to the invasion by Nebuchadnezzar is made clear in Ezekiel 30:10. The ‘day of Yahweh' is coming for Egypt. ‘The day of Yahweh' is a phrase used of any time when God visits a nation or nations in judgment after they have incurred His anger. It finally came to signify the final day of Yahweh when he brings about His final purposes (Isaiah 2:12; Joel 3:14), but we must not read that into every usage. Here it refers to His day on Egypt.

The awfulness of what is shortly to come on Egypt is brought out by the introduction, ‘Howl, alas the day, for the day is near'. And along with her will suffer those who are in alliance with her. These alliances help to explain how an invasion of Egypt could drive Pharaoh and his forces out of Egypt into allied lands, only to be allowed to return once peace negotiations have succeeded. It would seem that there was defeat on Egyptian soil, with large numbers being taken captive and carried off to Babylon, followed by a withdrawal into allied lands as Egyptian administration collapsed, until peace terms were agreed.

‘A day of clouds.' Thick clouds were often seen as accompanying Yahweh when He visited in judgment (Judges 5:4; 2 Samuel 22:12; Psalms 18:11; Psalms 77:17; Psalms 97:2; Jeremiah 4:13; Joel 2:2; Zephaniah 1:15).

‘The time of the nations.' That is the nations in alliance with Egypt who were about to be described.

‘A sword will come on Egypt.' That is the sword of Yahweh as wielded through Nebuchadnezzar.

‘Anguish will be on Cush, when the slain will fall in Egypt.' The allies gathered in Egypt to resist the forces of Nebuchadnezzar and many were slain of both Egyptians and their allies so that Cush (Nubia/Northern Sudan) wept.

‘Cush and Put and Lud, and all the mingled people, and Cub and the children of the land which is in league will fall by the sword.' Cush is Nubia/Northern Sudan, Put is African, but whether Eastern Sudan or Libya is disputed. Babylonian puta became T' Tmhw (Lybia) in Egyptian which supports the latter. Lud is a descendant of Ham in Genesis 10:13 and thus also an African nation. Cub may well be part of Lybia. These were seemingly in league with Egypt against the threat of Babylon, and many were slain in the invasion. ‘The mingled people' (compare Jeremiah 25:20) refers to mercenaries.