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 ]