CHAPTER 32 THE FINAL ORACLES AGAINST EGYPT.
We may well wonder why seven oracles should be pronounced and recorded
against Egypt. But it is a reminder to us that although God might wait
a long time in the end He calls all to account. And when He does so He
does so in full. In the words of the poet,... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And so it was that in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on
the first day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me saying,
“Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and
say to him:
“You were likened to a young lion among the nations,
Yet you are as a monster in t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SIXTH ORACLE. A LAMENT OVER PHARAOH AND EGYPT (EZEKIEL 32:1).
The date of the oracle is March 585 BC. It follows the destruction of
Jerusalem. The versions vary, seeking to alter the date to before that
in Ezekiel 33:21 (probably to maintain a smooth chronology). But there
is no valid reason to... [ Continue Reading ]
“Thus says the Lord Yahweh,
I will throw my dragnet over you, with a large group of many peoples,
And they will bring you up in my net.
And I will leave you on the land,
I will cast you out on the open field,
And will cause all the birds of the air to settle on you,
And I will satiate all the... [ Continue Reading ]
“And when I blot you out I will cover the heavens,
And make their stars dark,
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
And the moon will not give her light.
All the bright lights of heaven will I darken over you,
And set darkness on your land,
Says the Lord Yahweh.”
This is not strictly the language... [ Continue Reading ]
“I will also vex the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your
destruction (LXX ‘carry you captive') among the nations, to the
countries which you have not known. Yes, I will make many peoples
astonished at you, their kings will be dreadfully afraid for you, when
I brandish my sword before them. And... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For thus says the Lord Yahweh, “The sword of the king of Babylon
will come on you. By the swords of the mighty will I cause your mass
of people to fall. They are all the terrible of the nations, and they
will spoil the pride of Egypt, and all its mass of people will be
destroyed. I will also destro... [ Continue Reading ]
“When I make the land of Egypt desolate and waste, a land destitute
of its fullness, when I smite all those who dwell in it, then will
they know that I am Yahweh.”
For millenniums the Egyptians had ignored Yahweh, even though they had
had every chance to know Him through men like Abraham, Joseph and... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ “This is the lamentation with which they will lament, the
daughters of the nations will lament with it. They will lament with it
for Egypt and for all her multitude of people,” says the Lord
Yahweh.'
All the women of the nations will lament for Egypt, so great will be
its demise, and they will la... [ Continue Reading ]
“And so it was also in the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the
month, that the word of Yahweh came to me saying, “Son of man, wail
for the numerous people of Egypt, and cast them down, even her and the
daughters of the famous nations, into the nether parts of the earth,
with those who go down... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SEVENTH ORACLE AGAINST EGYPT. PHARAOH'S FINAL FAREWELL (EZEKIEL
32:17).
The descriptions here are not to be thought of as illustrating what
the afterlife will be like. The ancients looked on death as the end of
life leading to a shadowy half-existence. They could not conceive of
nothingness, bu... [ Continue Reading ]
“The strong among the mighty will speak to him from the midst of
Sheol with those that help him. ‘They have gone down, they lie
still, even the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.'
The dead, those who had once been mighty, also mock Egypt. The
Egyptians are no longer active, they point out, they lie... [ Continue Reading ]
“Asshur (Assyria) is there and all her company, his graves are round
about him. All of them slain, fallen by the sword. Whose graves are
set in the uttermost parts of the pit. And her company is round about
her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror
in the land of the liv... [ Continue Reading ]
“There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave. All of
them slain, fallen by the sword, who are gone down uncircumcised into
the nether parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of
the living, and have borne their shame with those who go down to the
pit. They have prepared... [ Continue Reading ]
“There is Meshech, Tubal and all her multitude, her graves are round
about her, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword. For they
caused their terror in the land of the living. And they will not lie
with the mighty who are fallen of the uncircumcised, who are gone down
to Sheol with their weap... [ Continue Reading ]
“There is Edom, her kings and all her princes, who in their might
are laid with those who are slain by the sword. They will lie with the
uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit.”
Inscriptions tell us that Edom became a vassal-state of Assyria in
around 736 BC. They may well have assisted... [ Continue Reading ]
“There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the
Zidonians who are gone down with the slain. In the terror that they
caused by their might they are ashamed, and they lie uncircumcised
with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those
who go down to the pit.”
The pr... [ Continue Reading ]
“Pharaoh will see them and will be comforted over all his multitude,
even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, says the Lord
Yahweh. For I have caused (or ‘allowed') his terror in the land of
the living, and he will be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised,
with those who are slain by the... [ Continue Reading ]