{"id":21216,"date":"2022-09-24T08:53:50","date_gmt":"2022-09-24T13:53:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-ezekiel-301\/"},"modified":"2022-09-24T08:53:50","modified_gmt":"2022-09-24T13:53:50","slug":"exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-ezekiel-301","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-ezekiel-301\/","title":{"rendered":"Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 30:1"},"content":{"rendered":"

The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, <\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n

Third prophecy Ezek. 30:1-19<\/span> against Egypt, probably to be connected with the previous verses (compare Eze 30:10<\/span> with the Eze 29:17-21<\/span> note). Some consider it to belong to the earlier part of Ezek. 29<\/span> (compare Eze 29:10<\/span>, Eze 29:12<\/span> with Eze 30:5-6<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

CHAPTER XXX <\/P>

This chapter describes, with great force and elegance, the ruin<\/I><\/P>

of Egypt and all her allies by the Chaldeans under<\/I><\/P>

Nebuchadnezzar<\/I>, 1-11;<\/P>

with an amplification of the distress of the principal cities<\/I><\/P>

of Egypt on that occasion<\/I>, 12-19.<\/P>

The remaining verses are a short prophecy relating to the same<\/I><\/P>

event, and therefore annexed to the longer one preceding,<\/I><\/P>

although this was predicted sooner<\/I>, 20-26. <\/P>

NOTES ON CHAP. XXX<\/P><\/p>\n

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

The word of the Lord came again unto me<\/strong>,…. Whether this prophecy was delivered about the time of that in the former part of the preceding chapter, namely, in the tenth year, tenth month, and twelfth day of it; or whether about the time that was which is recorded in the latter part of the chapter, in the seven and twentieth year of Jehoiachin’s captivity, is not easy to say; I am inclined to think it was about the time of the latter, since the time of the fulfilment of it is said to be near, Eze 30:3<\/span>:<\/p>\n

saying<\/strong>: as follows:<\/p>\n

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Announcement of the judgment upon Egypt and its allies. – Eze 30:1<\/span>. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, <\/em> Eze 30:2<\/span>. Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Howl ye! Woe to the day! <\/em> Eze 30:3<\/span>. For the day is near, the day of Jehovah near, a day of cloud, the time of the heathen will it be. <\/em> Eze 30:4<\/span>. And the sword will come upon Egypt, and there will be pangs in Ethiopia, when the slain fall in Egypt, and they take her possessions, and her foundations are destroyed. <\/em> Eze 30:5<\/span>. Ethiopians and Libyans and Lydians, and all the rabble, and Chub, and the sons of the covenant land, will fall by the sword with them.<\/em> – In the announcement of the judgment in Eze 30:2<\/span><\/em> and Eze 30:3<\/span>, Ezekiel rests upon Joe 1:13<\/span>, Joe 1:15<\/span>, and Joe 2:2<\/span>, where the designation already applied to the judgment upon the heathen world by Obadiah, viz., “the day of Jehovah” (Oba 1:15<\/span>), is followed by such a picture of the nearness and terrible nature of that day, that even Isaiah (Isa 13:6<\/span>, Isa 13:9<\/span>) and Zephaniah (Zep 1:7<\/span>, Zep 1:14<\/span>) appropriate the words of Joel. Ezekiel also does the same, with this exception, that he uses instead of , and adds to the force of the expression by the repetition of . In Eze 30:3<\/span><\/em>, the words from to are not to be taken together as forming one sentence, “a day of cloud will the time of the nations be” (De Wette), because the idea of a “time of the nations” has not been mentioned before, so as to prepare the way for a description of its real nature here. and contain two co-ordinate affirmations concerning the day of Jehovah. It will be a day of cloud, i.e., of great calamity (as in Joe 2:2<\/span>), and a time of the heathen, i.e., when heathen ( without the article) are judged, when their might is to be shattered (cf. Isa 13:22<\/span>). This day is coming upon Egypt, which is to succumb to the sword. Ethiopia will be so terrified at this, that it will writhe convulsively with anguish ( , as in Nah 2:11<\/span> and Isa 21:3<\/span>). signifies the plundering and removal of the possessions of the land, like in Eze 29:19<\/span>. The subject to is indefinite, “they,” i.e., the enemy. The foundations of Egypt, which are to be destroyed, are not the foundations of its buildings, but may be understood in a figurative sense as relating to persons, after the analogy of Isa 19:10<\/span>; but the notion that Cush, Phut, etc. (Eze 30:9<\/span>), i.e., the mercenary troops obtained from those places, which are called the props of Egypt in Eze 30:6<\/span>, are intended, as Hitzig assumes, is not only extremely improbable, but decidedly erroneous. The announcement in Eze 30:6<\/span>, that Cush, Phut, etc., are to fall by the sword along with the Egyptians ( ), is sufficient of itself to show that these tribes, even if they were auxiliaries or mercenaries of Egypt, did not constitute the foundations of the Egyptian state and kingdom; but that, on the contrary, Egypt possessed a military force composed of native troops, which was simply strengthened by auxiliaries and allies. We there interpret , after the analogy of Psa 11:3<\/span> and Psa 82:5<\/span>, as referring to the real foundations of the state, the regulations and institutions on which the stability and prosperity of the kingdom rest.<\/p>\n

The neighbouring, friendly, and allied peoples will also be smitten by the judgment together with the Egyptians. Cush<\/em>, i.e., the Ethiopians, Phut<\/em> and Lud<\/em>, i.e., the Libyans and African Lydians (see the comm. on Eze 27:10<\/span>), are mentioned here primarily as auxiliaries of Egypt, because, according to Jer 46:9<\/span>, they served in Necho’s army. By , the whole of the mixed crowd (see the comm. on 1Ki 10:15<\/span> – , lxx), we are then to understand the mercenary soldiers in the Egyptian army, which were obtained from different nations (chiefly Greeks, Ionians, and Carians, , as they are called by Herodotus, iii. 4, etc.). In addition to these, ,eseht ( . ) is also mentioned. Hvernick connects this name with the people of Kufa<\/em>, so frequently met with on the Egyptian monuments. But, according to Wilkinson ( Manners<\/em>, etc., I 1, pp. 361ff.), they inhabited a portion of Asia farther north even than Palestine; and he ranks them (p. 379) among the enemies of Egypt. Hitzig therefore imagines that Kufa<\/em> is probably to be found in Kohistan<\/em>, a district of Media, from which, however, the Egyptians can hardly have obtained mercenary troops. And so long as nothing certain can be gathered from the advancing Egyptological researches with regard to the name Cub<\/em>, the conjecture that is a mis-spelling for is not to be absolutely set aside, the more especially as this conjecture is naturally suggested by the of Nah 3:9<\/span> and 2Ch 16:8<\/span>, and the form by the side of is analogous to by the side of in Jer 46:9<\/span>, whilst the Liby-Aegyptii<\/em> of the ancients, who are to be understood by the term (see the comm. on Gen 10:13<\/span>), would be quite in keeping here. On the other hand, the conjecture offered by Gesenius ( Thes<\/em>. p. 664), viz., , Nubia<\/em>, has but a very weak support in the Arabic translator; and the supposition that may have been the earlier Hebrew form for Nubia (Hitzig), is destitute of any solid foundation. Maurer suggests Cob<\/em>, a city ( municipium <\/em>) of Mauretania, in the Itiner. Anton.<\/em> p. 17, ed. Wessel. – The following expression, “sons of the covenant land,” is also obscure. Hitzig has correctly observed, that it cannot be synonymous with , their allies. But we certainly cannot admit that the covenant land (made definite by the article) is Canaan, the Holy Land (Hitzig and Kliefoth); although Jerome writes without reserve, de filiis terrae foederis <\/em>, i.e., de populo Judaeorum <\/em>; and the lxx in their translation, , undoubtedly thought of the Jews, who fled to Egypt, according to Theodoret’s exposition, along with Jeremiah after the destruction of Jerusalem and the murder of the governor Gedaliah, for fear of the vengeance of the Chaldeans (Jer 42-43, and 44). For the application of the expression “land of the covenant” to the Holy Land is never met with either in the Old or New Testament, and cannot be inferred, as Hitzig supposes, from Psa 74:20<\/span> and Dan 11:28<\/span>, or supported in any way from either the epithet “the land of promise” in Heb 11:9<\/span>, or from Act 3:25<\/span>, where Peter calls the Jews “the children of the prophets and of the covenant.” We therefore agree with Schmieder in regarding as signifying a definite region, though one unknown to us, in the vicinity of Egypt, which was inhabited by a tribe that was independent of the Egyptians, yet bound to render help in time of war.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Prophecy against Egypt; Destruction of Egypt Foretold.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD>

B. C.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> 572.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE>

      1 The word of the LORD<\/B> came again unto me, saying,   2 Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD<\/B>; Howl ye, Woe worth the day!   3 For the day is<\/I> near, even the day of the LORD<\/B> is<\/I> near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.   4 And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down.   5 Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mingled people, and Chub, and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.   6 Thus saith the LORD<\/B>; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord GOD<\/B>.   7 And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are<\/I> desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are<\/I> wasted.   8 And they shall know that I am<\/I> the LORD<\/B>, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and when<\/I> all her helpers shall be destroyed.   9 In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt: for, lo, it cometh.   10 Thus saith the Lord GOD<\/B>; I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.   11 He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.   12 And I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of the wicked: and I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I the LORD<\/B> have spoken it.<\/I>   13 Thus saith the Lord GOD<\/B>; I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their<\/I> images to cease out of Noph; and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.   14 And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments in No.   15 And I will pour my fury upon Sin, the strength of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No.   16 And I will set fire in Egypt: Sin shall have great pain, and No shall be rent asunder, and Noph shall have<\/I> distresses daily.   17 The young men of Aven and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword: and these cities<\/I> shall go into captivity.   18 At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity.   19 Thus will I execute judgments in Egypt: and they shall know that I am<\/I> the LORD<\/B>.<\/P>

      The prophecy of the destruction of Egypt is here very full and particular, as well as, in the general, very frightful. What can protect a provoking people when the righteous God comes forth to contend with them?<\/P>

      I. It shall be a very lamentable destruction, and such as shall occasion great sorrow (Eze 30:2<\/span>; Eze 30:3<\/span>): “Howl you;<\/I> you may justly shriek now that it is coming, for you will be made to shriek and make hideous outcries when it comes. Cry out, Woe worth the day!<\/I> or, Ah the day! alas because of the day!<\/I> the terrible day! Woe and alas!<\/I> For the day is near;<\/I> the day we have so long dreaded, so long deserved. It is the day of the Lord,<\/I> the day in which he will manifest himself as a God of vengeance. You have your day now, when you carry all before you, and trample on all about you, but God will have his day shortly, the day of the revelation of his righteous judgment,” Ps. xxxvii. 13<\/span>. It will be a cloudy day,<\/I> that is, dark and dismal, without the shining forth of any comfort; and it shall threaten a storm–fire, and brimstone, and a horrible tempest. It shall be the time of the heathen,<\/I> of reckoning with the heathen for all their heathenish practices, that time which David spoke of when God would pour out his fury upon the heathen<\/I> (Ps. lxxix. 6<\/span>), when they should sink,<\/I> Ps. ix. 15<\/I><\/span>.<\/P>

      II. It shall be the destruction of Egypt, and of all the states and countries in confederacy with her and in her neighbourhood. 1. Egypt herself shall fall (v.<\/I><\/span> 4<\/span>): The sword shall come upon Egypt,<\/I> the sword of the Chaldeans, and it shall be a victorious sword, for the slain shall fall in Egypt,<\/I> fall by it, fall before it. Is the country populous? They shall take away her multitude.<\/I> Is it strong, and well-fixed? Her foundations shall be broken down,<\/I> and then the fabric, though built ever so fine, ever so high, will fall of course. 2. Her neighbours and inmates shall fall with her. When the slain fall so thickly in Egypt great pain shall be in Ethiopia,<\/I> both that in Africa, which is in the neighbourhood of Egypt on one side, and that in Asia, which is near to it on the other side. When their neighbour’s house was on fire they could not but apprehend their own in danger; nor were their fears groundless, for they shall all fall with them by the sword,<\/I> v.<\/span> 5<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. Ethiopia and Libya<\/I> (Cush and Phut, so the Hebrew names are, two of the sons of Ham who are mentioned, and Mizraim, that is, Egypt, between them, Gen. x. 6<\/span>), and the Lydians<\/I> (who were famous archers, and are spoken of as confederates with Egypt, Jer. xlvi. 9<\/span>), these shall fall with Egypt and Chub<\/I> (the Chaldeans, the inhabitants of the inner Libya); these and others were the mingled people;<\/I> there were those of all these and other countries who upon some account or other resided in Egypt, as did also the men of the land that is in league,<\/I> some of the remains of the people of Israel and Judah, the children of the covenant,<\/I> or league, as they are called (Acts iii. 25<\/span>), the children of the promise,<\/I> Gal. iv. 28<\/I><\/span>. These sojourned in Egypt contrary to God’s command, and these shall fall with them.<\/I> Note, Those that will take their lot with God’s enemies shall have their lot with them, yea, though they be in profession the men of the land that is in league with God.<\/P>

      III. All that pretend to support the sinking interests of Egypt shall come down under her, shall come down with her (v.<\/I><\/span> 6<\/span>): Those that uphold Egypt shall fall,<\/I> and then Egypt must fall of course. See the justice of God; Egypt pretended to uphold Jerusalem when that was tottering, but proved a deceitful reed; and now those that pretended to uphold Egypt shall prove no better. Those that deceive others are commonly paid in their own coin; they are themselves deceived. 1. Does Egypt think herself upheld by the absolute authority and dominion of her king? The pride of her power<\/I> shall come down,<\/I> v.<\/span> 6<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. The power of the king of Egypt was his pride; but that shall be broken, and humbled. 2. Is the multitude of her people her support? These shall fall by the sword,<\/I> even from the tower of Syene,<\/I> which is in the utmost corner of the land, from that side of it by which the enemy shall enter. Both the countries<\/I> and the cities,<\/I> the husbandmen and the merchants, shall be desolate, v.<\/I><\/span> 7<\/span>, as before, ch.<\/I><\/span> xxix. 12<\/span>. Even the multitude of Egypt shall be made to cease,<\/I> v.<\/span> 10<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. That populous country shall be depopulated. The land shall be even filled with the slain,<\/I> v.<\/span> 11<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. 3. Is the river Nile her support, and are the several channels of it a defence to her? “I will make the rivers dry<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 12<\/span>), so that those natural fortifications which were thought impregnable, because impassable, shall stand them in no stead.” 4. Are her idols a support to her? They shall be destroyed; those imaginary upholders shall appear more than ever to be imaginary, for so images are when they pretend to be deliverers and strongholds (v.<\/I><\/span> 13<\/span>): I will cause their images to cease out of Noph.<\/I> 5. Is her royal family her support? There shall be no more a prince in the land of Egypt;<\/I> the royal family shall be extirpated and extinguished, which had continued so long. 6. Is her courage her support, and does she think to uphold herself by the bravery of her men of war, who have now of late been inured to service? That shall fail: I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.<\/I> 7. Is the rising generation her support? is she upheld by her children, and does she think herself happy because she has her quiver full of them? Alas! the young men shall fall by the sword<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 17<\/span>) and the daughters shall go into captivity<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 18<\/span>), and so she shall be robbed of all her hopes.<\/P>

      IV. God shall inflict these desolating judgments on Egypt (v.<\/I><\/span> 8<\/span>): They shall know that I am the Lord,<\/I> and greater than all gods, than all their<\/I> gods, when I have set a fire in Egypt.<\/I> The fire that consumes nations is of God’s kindling; and, when he sets fire to a people, all their helpers shall be destroyed.<\/I> Those that go about to quench the fire shall themselves be devoured by it; for who can stand before him when he is angry? When he pours out his fury<\/I> upon a place, when he sets fire to it (Eze 30:15<\/span>; Eze 30:16<\/span>), neither its strength nor its multitude can stand it in any stead.<\/P>

      V. The king of Babylon and his army shall be employed as instruments of this destruction: The multitude of Egypt shall be made to cease<\/I> and be quite cut off by the hand of the king of Babylon,<\/I> v.<\/span> 10<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. Those that undertook to protect Israel from the king of Babylon shall not be able to protect themselves. It is said of the Chaldeans, who should destroy Egypt, 1. That they are strangers<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 12<\/span>), who therefore shall show no compassion for old acquaintance-sake, but shall behave strangely towards them. 2. That they are the terrible of the nations<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 11<\/span>), both in respect of force and in respect of fierceness; and, being terrible, they shall make terrible work. (3.) That they are the wicked,<\/I> who will not be restrained by reason and conscience, the laws of nature or the laws of nations, for they are without law: I will sell the land into the hand of the wicked.<\/I> They do violence unjustly,<\/I> as they are wicked; yet, so far as they are instruments in God’s hand of executing his judgments, it is on his part justly done. Note, God often makes one wicked man a scourge to another; and even wicked men acquire a title to prey, jure belli–by the laws of war,<\/I> for God sells it into their hands.<\/I><\/P>

      VI. No place in the land of Egypt shall be exempted from the fury of the Chaldean army, not the strongest, not the remotest: The sword shall go through the land.<\/I> Various places are here named: Pathros, Zoan, and No<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 14<\/span>), Sin and Noph<\/I> (Eze 30:15<\/span>; Eze 30:16<\/span>), Aven and Pi-beseth<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 17<\/span>), and Tehaphnehes,<\/I> v.<\/span> 18<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. These shall be made desolate, shall be fired, and God’s judgments shall be executed upon them, and his fury poured out upon them. Their strength and multitude shall be cut off;<\/I> they shall have great pain,<\/I> shall be rent asunder<\/I> with fear, and shall have distresses daily.<\/I> Their day shall be darkened;<\/I> their honours, comforts, and hopes, shall be extinguished. Their yokes<\/I> shall be broken,<\/I> so that they shall no more oppress and tyrannize as they have done. The pomp of their strength shall cease,<\/I> and a cloud shall cover them,<\/I> a cloud so thick that through it they shall not see any hopes, nor shall their glory be seen,<\/I> or shine further.<\/I> And, lastly,<\/I> the Ethiopians, who are at a distance from them, as well as those who are mingled with them, shall share in their pain and terror. God will by his providence spread the rumour, and the careless Ethiopians<\/I> shall be made afraid,<\/I> v.<\/span> 9<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. Note, God can strike a terror upon those that are most secure; fearfulness shall, when he pleases, surprise the most presumptuous hypocrites.<\/P>

      The close of this prediction leaves, 1. The land of Egypt mortified: Thus will I execute judgments on Egypt,<\/I> v.<\/span> 19<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. The destruction of Egypt is the executing of judgments,<\/I> which intimates not only that it is done justly, for its sins, but that it is done regularly and legally, by a judicial sentence. All the executions God does are according to his judgments. 2. The God of Israel herein glorified: They shall know that I am the Lord.<\/I> The Egyptians shall be made to know it and the people of God shall be made to know it better. The Lord is known by the judgments which he executes.<\/I><\/P>

<\/p>\n

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

EZEKIEL – CHAPTER 30<\/strong><\/p>\n

OVERTHROW OF A GREAT NATION<\/p>\n

Verses 1-19:<\/p>\n

Verses 1, 2 recount <\/strong>Ezekiel’s call of the Lord to prophesy to Egypt a woe of lament, saying, “woe worth the day!” This first-rate nation that had become renowned in art, literature, science, and commerce was destined for doom at the hand of God’s vengeance. Desolation, darkness, despair, and gloom were soon to shroud the nation, because she had turned her back on God and Israel, and had gone a whoring after idol gods. Their false security would soon mock them as their luxury disappeared under Assyrian oppression. See Isa 13:6<\/span>; Isa 14:31<\/span>; Isa 15:2<\/span>; Isa 16:7<\/span>; Jer 4:8<\/span>; Jer 47:2<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 3 asserts <\/strong>that the sword (war) should come upon the land of Egypt, very soon, as also certified Eze 7:7<\/span>; Eze 7:12<\/span>; Joe 2:1<\/span>; Zep 1:7<\/span>. The immediate implication of “the day is near” referred their route to the deserts of Libyia within two years, then a civil war of eleven years, at which time Nebuchadnezzar’s forces crushed them. It was a foreboding of a darker day of the world’s judgment, universal judgment, for all idolatry and rebellion against God, Psalms 79; Joe 1:15<\/span>; Isa 2:10-22<\/span>; Rev 19:11-21<\/span>; See also Psa 37:13<\/span>; Joe 2:1<\/span>; Zep 1:7<\/span>; Mat 24:33<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 4 begins <\/strong>a description of the horrors of war. It is a revolting scene of human carnage in Ethiopia and Egypt, where a multitude should fall in pain under the sword. Thus her foundations were broken down, crumbled, Eze 29:19<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 5 certified <\/strong>that the unholy confederacies of Ethiopia, Libyia, Lydia, and all the mingled people and chub should fall in league under the sword. Numbers and human resources can not buy off Divine judgment or retribution from the consequences of personal or national sins.<\/p>\n

Verse 6 warns <\/strong>that those who attempted to uphold Egypt should also fall as victims of war. Those who deceive others, as Egypt did Jerusalem, are sure to be “paid in their own coin,” Gal 6:7-8<\/span>; Num 32:23<\/span>. For from the tower of Syene they were warned that they should fall by the sword, at the word of the Lord.<\/p>\n

Verse 7 explains <\/strong>that this confederacy, or league of countries, should surely be desolated and lie desolate, with her cities amidst other cities that were desolate. But desolated people are not able to relieve the suffering of their equals, Eze 29:12<\/span>. Though earthly judgments for wrong are severe, how much more fearful shall eternal banishment from God, for sin and unbelief be where “the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched,”! Mar 9:43<\/span>; Mar 9:48<\/span>. When the volcano erupts the mountain, all the rocks fall, and when the hurricane or tornado uproots the tree, all the bugs, beetles, and parasites attached to it are uprooted too, Eze 29:12<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 8 declares <\/strong>that all nations and people should know that He was God, when He had set fire in Egypt, the first-rate nation, and both she and all her helpers, colleagues had been destroyed.<\/p>\n

Verse 9 foretells <\/strong>that in that day of coming judgment on Egypt, messengers should go forth from the Lord in ship to make the Ethiopians afraid, and great pain should come upon them, as in the days of Egypt, when God’s judgment hand was heavy upon them under the plagues, Psa 48:6<\/span>; Isa 18:1-2<\/span>; Isa 19:17<\/span>; Isa 20:3-5<\/span>; Zep 2:12<\/span>.
Verses 10, 11 reassert <\/strong>that the Lord will make the multitude of Egypt to cease, specifically, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, both the king of Egypt and all his people and those nations in confederacy with him, Eze 29:19<\/span>. This was to occur at the hand of “terrible” or “terrorizing ones,” of the nations. Nebuchadnezzar and his armed hordes come, with the flashing sword, to slay the inhabitants throughout all Egypt, mercilessly, Eze 28:7<\/span>; Eze 31:12<\/span>. One knave punishes another.<\/p>\n

Verse 12 prophesies <\/strong>that the Lord would make then rivers to become dry and sell the land into the hand of the wicked, those even more wicked than Egypt, Psa 19:4<\/span>; Psa 19:6<\/span>. The land was to be made waste, and all that was in it by strangers, at the word and by the just judgment-will of the Lord. As strangers and wicked and cruel men of war they were to show no mercy or compassion to any.<\/p>\n

Verse 13 further <\/strong>declares that the Lord would destroy the idols and cause the images to cease out of Noph. No more were they to be produced, distributed, or worshipped there, as in ancient days; Isa 19:1<\/span>; Isa 19:16<\/span>; Jer 43:12<\/span>; Jer 46:25<\/span>; 1Co 8:4-6<\/span>. It was further declared that there should be or no more exist a native prince or ruler in all Egypt, among her people, leaving the people who survived in mortal fear, Zec 10:11<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 14 extends <\/strong>the warnings of judgment upon Patros <\/strong>to desolation, Eze 29:14<\/span>; Fire was to be set in Zoan; <\/strong>and judgment was to be executed in No.<\/p>\n

Verses 15, 16 add <\/strong>that the Lord would pour His fury upon the city of Sin, known as the “strength of Egypt,” cut off the multitude, and rend the city of No asunder, and cause Noph <\/strong>to have recurring distress daily, Exo 20:4-5<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verses 17 continues <\/strong>to disclose that the young men of Aven and Pibeseth <\/strong>shall also fall (be slain) by the sword, and their cities too small go into captivity. Aven means vanity or idolatry. The sun-god Heliopilis was located there.<\/p>\n

Verse 18 further <\/strong>adds that at Tehaphnehes <\/strong>the day shall also be darkened, when the Lord breaks there the yokes of Egypt, to cause her pomp and power to cease and her league of confederates to desert her. Such would cause a dark cloud of shame to cover the land and the daughters of Egypt to be carried as slave property into Babylonian captivity, Jer 2:16<\/span>; Jer 43:7<\/span>; Jer 43:9<\/span>; Jer 46:14<\/span>; See also 1Ki 11:19<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 19 concludes <\/strong>that after the above described manner, the Lord would execute judgment in Egypt again, that they might know again that He was the Lord; When all other modes of Divine revelation of God’s person, goodness, and mercy have been ignored, He surely gets attention and praise in judgment, Rom 2:4-5<\/span>; Ecc 12:13-14<\/span>. It is eternally wise for men to turn to God in repentance, before it is too late, only judgment is left, Heb 9:26-27<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

THE DOOM OF EGYPT (Chap. 30)<\/p>\n

EXEGETICAL NOTES.This chapter contains two distinct messages: Eze. 30:1-19<\/span> being an extension, with more life-like detail, of the prophecy announced in chap. Eze. 29:1-16<\/span> relating to Egypt; the second message, Eze. 30:20-26<\/span>, referring directly to Pharaoh and the downfall of his dynasty.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:1<\/span>. Woe worth the day!<\/strong> Alas for the day!<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:2<\/span>. The time of the heathen.<\/strong> Wherein they shall be punished. The judgment on Egypt is the beginning of a world-wide judgment on all the heathen enemies of God (Joe. 1:15<\/span>; Joe. 2:1-2<\/span>; Joel 3<\/span>; Oba. 1:15<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:4<\/span>. Her foundations shall be broken down.<\/strong> Referring to the state under the figure of a house destroyed from the foundationgovernment, laws, strongholds, and all the defences of the commonwealth.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:5<\/span>. Ethiopia, Libya, and Lydia.<\/strong>Cush, Phut, and Lud, allies of the Egyptians mentioned Jer. 46:9<\/span>. The mingled people.<\/strong> Hired soldiers of various nationalities. Chub.<\/strong> This is the only place in the Old Testament where this people is named. Supposed to be the Kufa<\/em> mentioned on the monumentsa nation north of Palestine. Men of the land in league.<\/strong> Not only the Jewsthe people of the covenantresident in Egypt, but all the confederates who entered into a league with the Egyptian king.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:9<\/span>. Messengers go forth from Me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid.<\/strong> The cataracts on the Nile interposing between them and Egypt shall be no barrier. Ill news travels fast when the feet of the messengers are quickened with the fear of Divinely outpoured vengeance.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:13<\/span>. I will destroy the idols of Noph.<\/strong> Memphis, the capital of Middle Egypt and the chief seat of idol-worship. Pathros<\/strong>Upper Egypt, with No,<\/strong> or Thebes, its capital, famed for its magnificent buildings, of which colossal ruins still remain, in antithesis to Zoan<\/strong>, or Tanis, a chief city in Lower Egypt within the Delta.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:15<\/span>. Sin, the strength of Egypt.<\/strong> Pelusium, the frontier fortress on the north-east, called by Hirtius<\/em> the Lock of Egypt, and by Suidas<\/em> the Key of Egypt.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:17<\/span>. Aven<\/strong>meaning vanity<\/em> or iniquity<\/em>. The famous Heliopolis, or City of the Sunthe religious centre, the spiritual capital. Phi-beseth<\/strong>Bubastis in Lower Egypt, near the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, a chief place of idolatry, and notorious for the Cat-worship established there.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:18<\/span>. Tehaphnehes.<\/strong> The same as Daphne, near Pelusium, a royal residence of the Pharaohs (Jer. 43:7<\/span>; Jer. 43:9<\/span>). Called Hanes (Isa. 30:4<\/span>). It was said that with its capture the pride or glory of Egypts strength would cease. The yokes of Egypt.<\/strong> The sceptresthe tyrannical supremacy exercised over other nations. Nebuchadnezzar broke the sceptre of Egypt when he confirmed the kingdom to Amasis, who rebelled against Apries (Pharaoh-Hophra).<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:21<\/span>. I have broken the arm of Pharaoh.<\/strong> Alluding to the defeat of Pharaoh-Hophra at Carchemish. By this battle the fate of Egypt was decided for ever. It never rallied from the defeat there sustained: it was the beginning of the end. The practical design of the prophecy was to extinguish all hope of any aid from Egypt, and to direct the expectation of the exiles to God alone for succour.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:22<\/span>. And will break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken.<\/strong> The military and governmental power of Pharaoh shall be shattered. The one arm of Egypt already broken was all the region from the Nile to the Euphrates which Nebuchadnezzar had already taken from him (2Ki. 24:7<\/span>); the arm still strong, but soon to be broken, was Egypt proper, over which he still held a resemblance of authority.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:25<\/span>. I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon.<\/strong> The Lord seizes the arms of the king of Babylon, and they are thereby kept strong, as it is said of Joseph in Gen. 49:24<\/span>, Strong are the arms of his hands by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob, while the arms of the king of Egypt, left to himself, hang down powerless.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:26<\/span>. I will scatter the Egyptians.<\/strong> Several fled with Apries to Upper Egypt, and when Nebuchadnezzar wasted the country he carried many of them to Babylon. As Israel and Judah had been scattered among the nations, owing to the corrupting influence of Egypt, which brought Gods wrath upon the elect nation, so the Egyptians themselves, in righteous retribution, were to be scattered among the nations.<\/p>\n

HOMILETICS<\/em><\/p>\n

THE OVERTHROW OF A GREAT NATION<\/p>\n

(Eze. 30:1-19<\/span>.)<\/p>\n

There is a fine piece of military music that represents the movements of a battalion in the distance; faintly but unmistakably the strains fall upon the ear, growing more distinct and loud in the steady advance, until, having reached the scene of action and begun operations, the music breaks into a crash of wild, stirring melody, that strangely mingles with the noise and confusion of the dreadful conflict. Similar to this is the voice of the prophet which, in the preceding chapter faintly indicates the approach of calamity, rises in the present chapter into shrill, piercing tones of agony, as if already in the midst of the destruction he prophesies. In this paragraph we learn that the overthrow of a great nation<\/em><\/p>\n

I. Is the occasion of widespread suffering and sorrow<\/strong> (Eze. 30:1-4<\/span>). Egypt, which had grown into the magnificence of a first-rate power and become renowned in commerce, art, literature, and science, was doomed to fall. It was to experience the crushing vengeance of the Divine power it had so often resisted and defied, and to suffer for its cruel treatment of the people of Jehovah, whom it had so often deceived and oppressed. Great was the consternation of its proud rulers, and loud and heartrending the wails of its stricken people, as the sword of the destroyer passed through the land. It was indeed a cloudy day; the dreariness of havoc and desolation was intensified by the darkness of despair that filled the minds of the routed sufferers. It was worse than that night of horror in the past history of Egypt when the first-born were slain and when there was not a house where there was not one dead. It is a painful humiliation to a great people to see how suddenly their power is crushed, government disorganised, institutions scattered, buildings, the slow growth of generations, prone in ruins, and the unsuspecting citizens one day lulled into a false security, the next paralysed with fear. The refinement and luxury to which they were accustomed render their privations and distresses the more acute.<\/p>\n

II. Involves the ruin of its allies and abettors<\/strong> (Eze. 30:5-9<\/span>.) Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, all the mingled people, and Chub, represented smaller nationalities who had been either conquered by Egypt, or who, while retaining their nationality and a certain degree of autonomy, linked their fortunes with Egypt and contributed to her advancement and aggrandisement. In return for their support they claimed the protection of the overshadowing power. But when Egypt fell, they fell. When the volcano shatters the mountain, all the little knolls and rocks that cling to it are buried in the general ruin. When the hurricane uproots the giant tree, the parasites that fed and lived upon it are hurled to the dust. The adulators who fan the national pride with their fulsome flattery, and the shameless debauchees who employ their vilest ingenuities in augmenting the national wickedness, will be inevitably involved in the righteous judgment which is sure to come.<\/p>\n

III. Is accomplished by an agent specially equipped for the work<\/strong> (Eze. 30:10-12<\/span>). The power that was to crush Egypt was already hovering over the fated nation. The vast populations of the Nile were to be opposed by a multitude of strangers whose warlike exploits had made them the terrible of the nations; the military genius of Pharaoh-Hophra was to come into conflict with Nebuchadnezzar, a still more able and victorious warrior. It was not the first time the great Babylonish monarch had come in contact with the arms of Egypt. Before his accession, while Crown Prince, he had fought the great battle of Carchemish, which expelled Pharaoh-Necho from Western Asia. During the siege of Jerusalem he had been disturbed by the attempt of Pharaoh-Necho to relieve that city, and during the siege of Troy, Egypt again interfered to help the Phnicians. Nebuchadnezzar chafed under these annoyances; the proud prestige and pretensions of Egypt roused his envy and wrath, and he vowed to be revenged. All the time Jehovah was preparing him to be the agent to punish Egypt, and a rebellion against Pharaoh-Hophra by Amasis, one of his officers, presented a favourable opportunity. Gathering his army of veterans, inured to warfare and flushed with recent victories, Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt and utterly subdued it from Migdol to Syene, the extreme frontiers of the kingdom, creating a horrible devastation, from which it did not recover for forty years. The Babylonish king knew not that he was simply the instrument of Jehovah in inflicting well-merited punishment, and thus fulfilling the words of the Divinely-inspired prophet. Whenever a nation reaches the crisis of its infamy, Divine justice fails not to provide the means of adequate retribution.<\/p>\n

IV. May be traced to the enervating influence of its idolatry<\/strong> (Eze. 30:13-18<\/span>). The prime offence of Egypt was its idolatry. This was the ground of its indictment before High Heaven. Not only had it debased its own people, but it had invaded the land of the chosen people and destroyed their loyalty to Jehovah by the introduction of idolatrous rites. Idolatry is not only a foe to virtue, but a supreme insult to the One only true God, whose nature cannot tolerate a rival. Where idolatry predominates the formation of a robust moral character is impossible; it is the canker at the root of national life, and can only end in disintegration and decay. It is significant that the places mentioned in these versesNoph, Pathros, Zoan, No, Sin, Tehaphnehesthe cities where idolatry was most gross and rampant, are especially singled out for punishment. No nation can maintain itself in the front rank where God is persistently ignored.<\/p>\n

V. Is the expression of the Divine judgment on its iniquities<\/strong>. Thus will I execute judgments, and they shall know that I am the Lord (Eze. 30:19<\/span>). The history of the downfall of great nations is the voice of God speaking to the nations of to-day, and saying that sin shall not go unpunished. The time of the heathen (Eze. 30:3<\/span>) plainly indicates that a period comes in the history of sinful nations when the forbearance of God is withdrawn and wrong-doing is allowed to reap its legitimate harvest. Hardened indeed is the heart that is insensible to the enormity of sin until it is smitten with the thunderbolt of Divine wrath. It is wise, before it be too late, to turn in penitence to Him who retaineth not His anger for ever, because He delighteth in mercy.<\/p>\n

LESSONS.<\/p>\n

1. National greatness is an opportunity for maintaining the right<\/em>. <\/p>\n

2. The greatest nation, if unfaithful to God, is doomed to fall<\/em>. <\/p>\n

3. The destiny of all nations is in the hands of God<\/em>.<\/p>\n

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES<\/em><\/p>\n

Eze. 30:2<\/span>. Woe worth the day! A Pathetic Lament,<\/strong> as uttered<\/p>\n

1. By one who foresees the nearness and awfulness of the calamity.
2. By the patriot distressed for the humiliation and ruin of his country.
3. By the sufferers themselves in the wild tumult of their agony.
4. By neighbouring nations left defenceless by the fall of their powerful patron.
5. By those who have obstinately neglected the day of salvation.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:3<\/span>. The day is near. In some two years you shall be miserably routed in the deserts of Libya; immediately after, the civil war for eleven years together shall waste you, and then Nebuchadnezzars forces will be upon you. So that, whereas there may be sixteen or eighteen years between the prophecy and its fulfilling, here are thirteen or fourteen of them taken up with sorrows and afflictions, forerunners of the rest.Matthew Pool<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The time of the heathen. Vengeance on idolatry<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

1. Is mercifully delayed to give space for repentance and reform.
2. Will be inflicted with unerring certainty. <\/p>\n

3. Will fill the victims with terror and dismaya cloudy daythe day shall be darkened (Eze. 30:3<\/span>; Eze. 30:18<\/span>). <\/p>\n

4. Will be complete and universal (compare Psalms 79<\/span> with exegetical note on this verse).<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:4-18<\/span>. The Horrors of War.<\/strong> I. Revolting scenes of human carnage<\/em>. The sword shall take away her multitude (Eze. 30:4<\/span>); All helpers destroyed (Eze. 30:8<\/span>); Fill the land with the slain (Eze. 30:11<\/span>). II. Unspeakable physical and mental suffering<\/em>. Great paindistresses daily (Eze. 30:4<\/span>; Eze. 30:9<\/span>; Eze. 30:16<\/span>); To make the careless afraidI will put fear in the land (Eze. 30:9<\/span>; Eze. 30:13<\/span>). III. Reckless waste and destruction<\/em>. Countries desolatecities wasted (Eze. 30:7<\/span>); A fire in Egyptall helpers destroyed (Eze. 30:8<\/span>; Eze. 30:14<\/span>; Eze. 30:16<\/span>); I will make rivers dry and the land waste (Eze. 30:12<\/span>). IV. Loss and degradation of youthful life<\/em>. The young men fall by the sworddaughters go into captivity (Eze. 30:17-18<\/span>). V. The overthrow of established government<\/em>. Her foundations shall be broken down (Eze. 30:4<\/span>); There shall be no more a prince of the land (Eze. 30:13<\/span>); I shall break the yokes (sceptres) of Egypt (Eze. 30:18<\/span>). LESSONS.War. <\/p>\n

1. Unjustifiable when it is a mere thirst for conquest<\/em>. <\/p>\n

2. May be a scourge to punish national sins<\/em>. <\/p>\n

3. Arouses the worst human passions<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:5<\/span>. Unholy Confederacies<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

1. May seem formidable in numbers and strength.
2. Have no principle of cohesion to ensure permanency.
3. Are involved in general ruin.
4. Their fate a beacon-warning to the good.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:6<\/span>. See the justice of God: Egypt pretended to uphold Jerusalem when that was tottering, but proved a deceitful reed; and now they that pretend to uphold Egypt shall prove no better. Those that deceive others are commonly paid in their own coin; they are themselves deceived.M. Henry<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:8<\/span>. As sinners perversely refuse to know God as a God of love, they shall know Him as a God that hates sin and takes vengeance on the sinner for all unatoned guilt. Severe as were the temporal judgments on Pharaoh and his people, what are they when compared with the eternal judgments which shall descend on the lost?Fausset<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:10-12<\/span>. God punishes one knave by the other, who does not escape His judgment, but is only reserved for the same; as in Jeremiah 25<\/span>, the king of Babylon has no other advantage over those punished by him but this, that he drinks last<\/em>. Wickedness and judgment go hand in hand. Power can only be given to the wicked for a short time.Hengstenberg<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:11-12<\/span>. They are the terrible<\/em> of the nations both in respect of force and of fierceness, and being terrible, shall make terrible work. They are the wicked<\/em>, who will not be restrained by reason and conscience, the laws of nature, or the laws of nations, for they are without law. They are strangers<\/em>, who therefore shall show no compassion for old-acquaintance sake.M. Henry<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:13<\/span>. The Delusiveness of Idolatry<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

1. Its temples and worship a standing insult to the only true God.
2. Debases its votaries.
3. Powerless to help in the day of trouble.<\/p>\n

The wrath of God is especially directed against the idols of a land, of whatever kind they be, whether they be images directly worshipped as gods, or riches which steal away from God the hearts of those who would repudiate the charge of idolatry, though guilty of it before the God who calls covetousness idolatry. As the Egyptian On, the seat of the idolatrous sun-worship, was doomed by God to become Aven, or vanity<\/em>, so all creature-confidences shall at last prove vain to those who have trusted in them rather than in God.Fausset<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There shall be no more a prince of the land of Egyptno native or independent prince, ruling the whole country. The dynasties of Egypt had subsisted from Menes, her first king, who is said to have reigned in the year of the world 2251, to the destruction of the Pharaohs by Nebuchadnezzar, which terminated the reign of the Egyptian princes, and showed the fulfilment of prophecy and the judgments of God upon the oppressors of His people.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:19<\/span>.: comp. Eze. 30:8<\/span>, And they shall know that I am the Lord. God revealed in Judgment<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

1. When all other modes of revelation are persistently ignored.
2. Shows He is not indifferent to the sufferings of the oppressed.
3. Cruelty and injustice shall not go unpunished.
4. The impartial justice of the Divine procedures shall be universally acknowledged and adored.<\/p>\n

The true God, whom they do not mean to worship willingly, must come to His rights in the punishment inflicted on them. This is not merely an alarming but also a comforting point of view. The most comfortless of all thoughts is to have no part in God. How many transgressors have joyfully devoted themselves to the sword in the conviction that by the punishment they come to have a part in God!Hengstenberg<\/em>.<\/p>\n

HOMILETICS<\/em><\/p>\n

A PROUD MONARCH HUMBLED<\/p>\n

(Eze. 30:20-26<\/span>.)<\/p>\n

Pharaoh-Hophra, the king of Egypt referred to in this paragraph, was a man of considerable capacity and enterprise. He displayed great military genius and activity. During the first years of his reign he subdued the island of Cyprus, besieged the city of Sidon by land and sea, and took it and made himself master of Phnicia and Palestine. Elated with success, his pride knew no bounds, and he insanely boasted that it was not in the power of the gods to dethrone him. His illusions were destined to receive a rude awakening. Libya, harassed by the Greeks, appealed to Hophra for assistance. He despatched an army for their deliverance, but the Egyptians were disastrously defeated, and very few of the soldiers returned to their native land. The sight of the straggling and wretched survivors filled the land with mourning, and indignation against Hophra was loud and threatening. It was whispered he had sent the Egyptian army into Libya to destroy it, and by surrounding himself with Greek mercenaries, for whom he showed great partiality, he was seeking to rule Egypt as a tyrant. His subjects rose in rebellion. Hophra sent Amasis, one of his officers, to quell the revolt; but the soldiers crowned him with a helmet and made him king. He accepted the honour, and made common cause with the mutineers. Exasperated with the news, Hophra sent Patarbemis, another of his great officers and one of the principal lords of his court, to arrest Amasis; and returning unsuccessful, the angry king caused the nose and ears of Patarbemis to be cut off. So barbarous an outrage, committed upon a person of such high distinction, roused the Egyptians into more violent opposition, and the insurrection became general. Hophra was compelled to retire into Upper Egypt, where he defended himself for some years, and Amasis made himself master of the rest of his dominions. The army of Nebuchadnezzar, taking advantage of these intestine troubles, swept down upon Egypt and wrecked it from end to end. Egypt was made tributary to Babylon, and Nebuchadnezzar, having appointed Amasis as his viceroy, returned to his capital laden with the spoils of victory. As soon as the great king had departed Hophra emerged from his obscurity, and gathering an army of 30,000 mercenaries, made war against Amasis. The royal army was routed, Hophra taken prisoner, and shut up in his royal palace at Sais. This, however, would not satisfy the excited populace. They clamoured for the unfortunate king to be given up to them, and gaining their wish, they immediately strangled him. In this paragraph the prophet presents us with a graphic description of a proud monarch humbled<\/em><\/p>\n

I. By the partial loss of his dominion<\/strong>. I have broken the arm of Pharaoh. (Eze. 30:21<\/span>). The loss of distant dependencies is often the precursor of national downfall: it is a sign of weakness at the centre of power. It is a loss of prestige and influence. It is a deep wound to a proud monarch deluded with the notion that he is everywhere invincible. The bitterness of his resentment blinds him to the lessons that the curtailment of his Empire should suggest.<\/p>\n

II. By provoking the active opposition of Jehovah<\/strong>. Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against Pharaoh. But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon (Eze. 30:22<\/span>; Eze. 30:25<\/span>). Behind the might of Nebuchadnezzar was the invincible power of Jehovah, who had determined to punish Pharaoh for his iniquity. The strongest monarch is powerless before the vengeance of Heaven; the justice he has outraged ensures his humiliation and pain. In Retzchs illustrations of Goethes Faust is one plate where angels are represented as dropping roses upon the demons who are contending for the soul of Faust. Every rose falls like molten metal, burning and blistering where it touches. So is it that justice acts upon those who have wilfully abused its claims. It bewilders where it ought to guide; it scorches where it ought to soothe and comfort. When God is against us we must be prepared for the worst.<\/p>\n

III. By shattering his military strength<\/strong>. And will break his arms, the strongthe portion of the army still remaining faithful to himand that which was brokenthe portion already in revolt. And the arms of Pharaoh shall fall downhe shall be deprived of the resources for making war (Eze. 30:22<\/span>; Eze. 30:25<\/span>). Pharaoh had boasted of his army and exulted in its brave exploits. Now he is cast down by the power in which he had trusted. Shorn of his military aggrandisement he is utterly defenceless and weak. All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword (Mat. 26:52<\/span>). No nation is secure when the military is in the ascendant. Gibbon traces one of the potent causes for the decline of the Roman Empire to the overwhelming influence of the army.<\/p>\n

IV. By the total dismemberment of his kingdom<\/strong>. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries (Eze. 30:23<\/span>; Eze. 30:26<\/span>). The kingdom was torn in pieces by civil war, and though Hophra made a brave and resolute stand for some years, he was compelled to yield, and he himself perished by the hands of his enraged subjects. The process of humbling a proud spirit is sometimes slow, but every successive defeat intensifies the suffering, until there is nothing left but the wild helplessness of mad despair.<\/p>\n

V. By making him utterly dispirited<\/strong>. He shall groan with the groanings of a deadly wounded man (Eze. 30:24<\/span>). There is a defeat that involves no loss of dignity and may be borne with fortitude. In the Franco-German war, after the loss of Sedan, a French officer came up to the then Crown Prince and exclaimed, Ah, sir! what a defeat! what a misfortune! I am ashamed of being a prisoner. I have lost everything. No, indeed, was the magnanimous reply; after you have fought like a brave soldier, you have not lost your honour. But there is a defeat that is wholly ignoble and demoralising. It has been courted by a proud self-confidence and precipitated by an unreasoning recklessness. Self-induced, it is the bitterest drop in the cup of the vanquished that the ruin in the midst of which he moans is his own rash handiwork. The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity, but a wounded spirit who can bear? (Pro. 18:14<\/span>).<\/p>\n

LESSONS.<\/p>\n

1. Pride is the sure precursor of a fall<\/em>. <\/p>\n

2. Military genius and the strength of armies are impotent when opposed to Divine vengeance<\/em>. <\/p>\n

3. Humble trust in God gives dignity and strength to the kingly office even in disaster<\/em>.<\/p>\n

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES<\/em><\/p>\n

Eze. 30:21<\/span>. The Lessons of Suffering. <\/p>\n

1. Should lead us to reflect how far our suffering has been brought on by our wilful sinfulness.
2. Should induce us to examine the principles on which our conduct has been based.
3. May lead to salutary repentance.
4. Are unnoticed by the soul blinded with pride.<\/p>\n

It is in vain that men try to bind up and heal the wound that God inflicts. Stroke shall fall upon stroke in rapid succession whensoever God is against men. The very weakest instruments are sufficient, when strengthened by Him, to execute Gods vengeance; and He has at His disposal all the powers that are in heaven and earth. How foolish, then, it is for any to remain in a state of enmity with God!Fausset<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:22<\/span>. Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against Pharaoh. The Opposition of Jehovah<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

1. Is terribly real and active.
2. Must convince us we are wrong, and that we must change our attitude towards Him.
3. Cannot be successfully resisted by the mightiest human combinations.
4. Can be propitiated only by humble and penitent submission.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:23<\/span>; Eze. 30:26<\/span>. National Unity<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

1. Unreal when based only on kingly and military supremacy.
2. Must be founded in the righteousness of the individual life.
3. Is broken into fragments and scattered when God is ignored and openly defied.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:24-25<\/span>. I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon. The Agent of Divine Vengeance<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

1. Is prepared and strengthened for the work.
2. May be unconscious of the significance of the punishment he inflicts.
3. Can do no more than he is permitted.
4. May himself become the victim of a similar vengeance.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:24<\/span>. He shall groan with the groanings of a deadly wounded man. The Moan of the Defeated<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

1. A familiar experience of baffled humanity.
2. Those who are most elated in the pride of prosperity are most abject and disheartened in adversity.
3. Appeals to the compassion of the sternest conqueror.<\/p>\n

Eze. 30:26<\/span>. The true God, despised by Egypt from ancient times, is thereby to come by His rights regarding them. If He be the true Jehovah, the personal Being, the absolute Essence, He must necessarily be glorified, if not by their action, yet by their passion.Hengstenberg<\/em>.<\/p>\n

They would hardly believe it, and therefore are so oft assured it (cf. Eze. 30:23<\/span>).Trapp<\/em>.<\/p>\n

We are here struck with the exact accomplishment of the prophecies against Egypt, against its cities and its princes, by the wars of Assyria and surrounding nations. When the measure was full the visitation came. Therefore Isaiah, Nahum, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel must have been inspired by Him to whom futurity is without a veil. What instruction, then, should the ruins of ancient cities, where powerful kings once reigned, suggest to the flourishing cities of Europe who imitate them in every species of crime and forget the Lord, who does what He pleases in the heavens above and in the earth below?Sutcliffe<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

III THE IMMINENT FALL OF EGYPT 30:119<\/p>\n

TRANSLATION<\/strong><\/p>\n

(1) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (2) Son of man, prophesy, and say: Thus says the Lord GOD: Wail, woe be the day! (3) For the day is near, yes the day of the LORD is near, a cloudy day, it shall be the time of the nations. (4) And a sword shall come upon Egypt, and consternation shall be in Cush, when the slain shall fall in Egypt; and they shall take away her abundance, and her foundations shall be broken down. (5) Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all the mingled peoples, Cub, and the children of the land that are in league, shall fall with them by the sword. (6) Thus says the LORD: those who uphold Egypt shall fall, and the pride of her strength shall come down; from Migdol to Syene they shall fall in her by the sword (oracle of the Lord GOD. (7) And they shall be desolate in the midst of lands that are desolate, and her cities in the midst of cities that lie in ruins. (8) And they shall know that I am the LORD when I place a fire in Egypt, and all her helpers are shattered. (9) In that day messengers shall go from before Me in ships to terrify the secure Ethiopians; and confusion shall come on them in the day of Egypt; for behold, it comes. (10) Thus says the Lord GOD: I will cause the multitude of Egypt to cease, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. (11) He and his people with him, the most ruthless of the nations shall be brought in to destroy the land, and they shall empty their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain. (12) And I will make the rivers dry, and I will deliver the land into the hand of evil men; and I will make the land and all that is in it desolate by the hand of strangers; I the LORD have spoken. (13) Thus says the Lord GOD: I will destroy the idols, and cause the non-entities to cease from Noph; and there shall no longer be a prince out of the land of Egypt; and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt. (14) And I will make Pathros desolate, and set a fire in Zion; and I will execute judgments in No. (15) And I will pour out My wrath upon Sin, the stronghold of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No. (16) And I will set a fire in Egypt; Sin shall be in great upheaval, and No shall be torn asunder; and against Noph adversaries shall come by day. (17) The young men of Aven and of Pi-beseth shall fail by the sword; and these (cities) shall go into captivity. (18) At Tehaphnehes the day will withdraw itself, when I break there the yokes of Egypt, and the pride of her strength shall cease in her; as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity. (19) Thus will I execute judgments in Egypt; and they shall know that I am the LORD.<\/p>\n

COMMENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

This prophecy against Egypt is likely to be dated the same as the previous one (see Eze. 29:1<\/span>). The section consists of four carefully constructed oracles. In the first oracle the Egyptians are directly addressed and urged rhetorically to wail over their fate. Egypts day of reckoning looms on the horizon (Eze. 30:2<\/span>). The day of the Lord divine judgment day will be a cloudy, gloomy day for the Gentile nations (Eze. 30:3<\/span>). Egypt will be invaded in that day. Her satellite state Ethiopia will fear for her own safety when she sees what transpires across the border in Egypt. The foundations of Egypt the allies and mercenaries upon whom the Egyptian state rested would be broken down (Eze. 30:4<\/span>). Ethiopia (Cush), Put, Lud (see on Eze. 27:10<\/span>) and Cub, a people not as yet identified, had alliances with Egypt. The multi-racial character of the Egyptian army is indicated by the expression all the mingled people. However, those helpers would fall by the sword of the invaders (Eze. 30:5<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Throughout the land of Egypt, from Migdol to Syene (see on Eze. 29:10<\/span>) the slaughter would occur. Egypts pride was in her military and economic power. However, this pride would be humbled (Eze. 30:6<\/span>). Desolation would follow invasion (Eze. 30:7<\/span>; cf. Eze. 29:12<\/span>). The desolation caused by war here, as frequently in the Bible, is likened to fire. The fulfillment of this prediction to bring conflagration to Egypt would be a demonstration of the sovereignty of the true God (Eze. 30:8<\/span>). In the day of Egypts downfall messengers would be dispatched as though by God Himself. Traveling the waterways to every part of the land of Ethiopia, the messengers would spread the alarming news of Egypts fall. Consternation and confusion would fill their land as they contemplated the possibility that their own country might be invaded.<\/p>\n

In the third oracle Ezekiel emphasizes that the native population (multitude of Egypt) as well as the mercenary forces would perish in the overthrow of Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar is specifically named as the conqueror (cf. Eze. 29:19<\/span>). He and his ruthless warriors (cf. Eze. 28:7<\/span>) would leave a trail of corpses wherever they went (Eze. 30:11<\/span>). The much heralded Egyptian irrigation system would be destroyed by the evil men, i.e., the pitiless and lawless troops, who comprised Nebuchadnezzars army. Without irrigation the land would become (temporarily) desolate (Eze. 30:12<\/span>).<\/p>\n

In the fourth oracle (Eze. 30:13-19<\/span>) Ezekiel employs a typical prophetic technique of emphasis by enumeration. The complete collapse of Egypt is underscored by reference to the fate of the leading cities of the land. These verses reveal an amazing knowledge of Egyptian geography.[446]<\/p>\n

[446] For other examples of geographical enumeration in a judgment context see Isa. 10:27-32<\/span>; Mic. 1:10-15<\/span>; Zep. 2:4<\/span><\/p>\n

A new theme emerges in Eze. 30:13<\/span>. The gods of Egypt would prove worthless in the face of the mighty conqueror raised up by the Lord. Noph (Memphis) was famous for its numerous gods and elaborate temples, especially those of Ptah and Apis. But the worthless (lit., things of naught) images would be made to cease from Noph. So it has happened. An enormous, albeit prostrate, figure of Pharaoh Ramases is the only image of note to mark the spot where once stood the magnificent capital of Egypt. Wilbur Smith summarizes the situation well when he writes<\/p>\n

The temples of Egypt and the elaborate carvings and drawings of her gods and goddesses are still the wonder of modern students; but her gods are gone. No temple to an Egyptian god or goddess has a priest in attendance today; no offering is presented to any of these once powerful deities representing the sun, the stellar bodies, the river Nile, and the underworld; no one bows the knee to any of these ancient images.[447]<\/p>\n

[447] Wilbur Smith, EBP, p. 115<\/p>\n

Following her destruction, Egypt would never again be ruled by a native prince. So it has been. Persians, Greeks, Ptolemies, and Remans ruled Egypt in olden times. Today Egypt is ruled by Moslems who invaded the land in A. D. 638.
The other place-names in these verses deserve brief comment. Pathros is southern or Upper Egypt extending as far south as Aswan. Zoan, classical Tanis, was an important city in the eastern Nile delta. No (or No-Amon) is classical Thebes (RSV), modern Karnak and Luxor, located about five hundred miles south of Cairo. No was capital of Egypt during much of Egyptian history, and worship center for the sun-god Amen (Eze. 30:14<\/span>). Three prophecies are made about this proud city (1) God will execute judgments there (Eze. 30:14<\/span>); (2) multitudes of No would be cut off, i.e., the place would be uninhabited (Eze. 30:15<\/span>); and No would be rent asunder, i.e., breached and penetrated by an invading army.<\/p>\n

Sin (Eze. 30:15-16<\/span>) is probably Pelusium (RSV) on the Mediterranean coast. This stronghold guarded Egypt from attack from the north. Aven (Eze. 30:17<\/span>) is also called On in the Old Testament. In Greek times it was known as Heliopolis, the city of the sun god. The ruins are found in the outskirts of modern Cairo. Pibeseth (Eze. 30:17<\/span>) is the modern Basta about forty miles northeast of Cairo. Like the other cities mentioned in Eze. 30:13-18<\/span>, Pi-beseth was a cultic center. The cat was particularly sacred here. Tehaphnehes (Eze. 30:18<\/span>), spelled Tahpanhes in Jeremiah, was known to the Greeks as Daphni. The modern Tel Defenneh on the Suez canal is the spot to which Ezekiel refers. Jeremiah was taken here after the assassination of Gedaliah (Jer. 43:7<\/span>).<\/p>\n

What a dark day that would be for Egypt! A great cloud of despair would hover over that land. The yokes of Egypt the tyranny which Egypt inflicted on other nations would be broken. The daughters of Egypt, i.e., her various cities, would go into captivity (Eze. 30:18<\/span>). The ultimate purpose of these judgments was the vindication of the sovereignty of Israels God (Eze. 30:19<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

‘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.”<\/p>\n

That this refers primarily to the invasion by Nebuchadnezzar is made clear in Eze 30:10<\/span>. 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 (Isa 2:12-21<\/span>; Joe 3:14<\/span>), but we must not read that into every usage. Here it refers to His day on Egypt.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

‘A day of clouds.’ Thick clouds were often seen as accompanying Yahweh when He visited in judgment (Jdg 5:4<\/span>; 2Sa 22:12<\/span>; Psa 18:11-12<\/span>; Psa 77:17<\/span>; Psa 97:2<\/span>; Jer 4:13<\/span>; Joe 2:2<\/span>; Zep 1:15<\/span>).<\/p>\n

‘The time of the nations.’ That is the nations in alliance with Egypt who were about to be described.<\/p>\n

‘A sword will come on Egypt.’ That is the sword of Yahweh as wielded through Nebuchadnezzar.<\/p>\n

‘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.<\/p>\n

‘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 Gen 10:13<\/span> 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 Jer 25:20<\/span>) refers to mercenaries.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

The Oracles Against Egypt ( Eze 29:1<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> to Eze 32:32<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> ).<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

This section of the book is composed of seven oracles issued against Egypt. The fact that there are seven is probably deliberate in order to emphasise the divine completeness of the condemnation, for throughout the Near East seven was the number of divine perfection.<\/p>\n

Egypt was the great power to the south, as Assyria, Babylon and Persia were successively to the north. Except in very weak times, she had always seen the land of Canaan as hers and under her administration, and had only reluctantly ceded ground when forced to do so for a time by those great powers from the north. Her influence had never been good and she was responsible for much of the idolatry in Israel. This was necessarily so because Pharaoh saw himself as the manifestation of the god Horus, becoming the great Osiris on his death. Thus the destruction of Egypt’s power was necessary if ever Israel was to be free.<\/p>\n

This denunciation of Egypt is looking at more than the current situation, although having that in mind. For centuries Egypt had dominated Israel. Again and again she had crushed her and exacted tribute. Now she was to receiver retribution.<\/p>\n

Furthermore at this time Egypt was seeking to rally the peoples in and around Canaan, encouraging them to rebel against Babylon with promises of aid. But because of her own comparative weakness this could only lead them into deep trouble. She was not strong enough to lean on. So if His people were to know peace Egypt had to be dealt with, and dealt with thoroughly.<\/p>\n

From this time on Egypt would never again rise to be the great power that she had been. And Ezekiel reveals this as being due to the activity of Yahweh.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Eze 22:30<\/strong><\/span>  And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.<\/p>\n

Eze 22:30<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> <\/strong> Word Study on “gap”<\/em><\/strong> – Gesenius<\/em> says the Hebrew word “gap” ( ) (H6556<\/span>) means, “a rupture or a breach.”<\/p>\n

Comments – <\/em><\/strong> A man standing in the breach and repelling the enemy would be the act of the bravest soldiers, as he would expose his life to the most imminent peril.<\/p>\n

Scripture References – <\/em><\/strong> Note: <\/p>\n

Eze 13:5<\/span>, “Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.”<\/p>\n

Eze 22:31<\/strong><\/span> Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Eze 30:3<\/strong><\/span> For the day is near, even the day of the LORD is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:3<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> <\/strong> Comments – <\/em><\/strong> The phrase “the time of the heathen” ( ) can be translated “the time of the Gentiles.” Jesus uses this phrase in Luk 21:24<\/span> to refer to a time when the Gentile nations will take center stage in God’s plan of redemption until the nation of Israel is reborn and the Second Coming takes place.<\/p>\n

Luk 21:24<\/span>, “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”<\/p>\n

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Eze 29:5<\/strong><\/span> And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.<\/p>\n

Eze 29:5<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> “I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven” <\/strong> Comments – <\/em><\/strong> Remember how Goliath told David that he would feed his flesh to the fowls of the air and to the beasts of the field (1Sa 17:44<\/span>)? This was one of the most dishonorable way to die in this Oriental culture.<\/p>\n

1Sa 17:44<\/span>, “And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.”<\/p>\n

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Announcing the Doom upon Egypt and its Allies<\/p>\n

v. 1. The word of the Lord came again unto me,<\/strong> the time, in this instance, not being indicated, saying,<\/strong> <\/p>\n

v. 2. Son of man, prophesy and say,<\/strong> in another message directed against Egypt, Thus saith the Lord God, Howl ye! Woe worth the day!<\/strong> or, “Alas for the day!” V 3. For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near;<\/strong> the day of doom decided upon by Him, a cloudy day, the clouds well representative of the storm of His wrath which would break upon the entire country; it shall be the time of the heathen,<\/strong> when they would experience His judgment as his vengeance went forth upon them. <\/p>\n

v. 4. And the sword shall come upon Egypt,<\/strong> in bloody uproar and slaughter, and great pain,<\/strong> the most severe anguish, shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude,<\/strong> the wealth amassed within her borders, and her foundations shall be broken down,<\/strong> her very existence as state being undermined. <\/p>\n

v. 5. Ethiopia,<\/strong> the country bounding upon Egypt on the south, and Libya,<\/strong> a nation toward the west, and Lydia,<\/strong> another African desert state, and all the mingled people,<\/strong> literally, “the strange people,” those allied with the Egyptians and serving together with their soldiers, and Chub,<\/strong> probably Nubia, and the men of the land that is in league,<\/strong> literally, the sons of the land of the covenant,” an expression taken by some commentators to refer to the Jews who migrated to Egypt, carrying Jeremiah with them, Jeremiah 42-44, shall fall with them by the sword,<\/strong> sharing the fate of the entire country. <\/p>\n

v. 6. Thus saith the Lord, They also that uphold Egypt,<\/strong> chiefly the rulers and the idols upon whom the Egyptians depended, shall fall, and the pride of her power,<\/strong> her proud might, shall come down; from the tower of Syene,<\/strong> rather, “from Migdol to Syene,” 29:10, shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord God. <\/p>\n

v. 7. And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted. <\/strong> Cf.Ezekiel 29:12. <\/p>\n

v. 8. And they shall know that I am the Lord when I have set a fire in Egypt,<\/strong> the fire of bitter warfare, carried on by a fierce people and with relentless cruelty, and when all her helpers,<\/strong> allies and all others upon whom Egypt depended, shall be destroyed. <\/p>\n

v. 9. In that day shall messengers go forth from Me in ships,<\/strong> namely, Egyptians fleeing before the calamity threatening their country and now acting as messengers of the Lord in the sense that they could now speak from their own experience concerning the Lord’s judgments, to make the careless Ethiopians afraid,<\/strong> to fill them with a wholesome dread of the punishment threatening them, and great pain shall come upon them,<\/strong> a severe anguish, as in the day of Egypt,<\/strong> when the doom struck the mightier nation; for, lo, it cometh,<\/strong> it was inevitable, because announced by the Lord, whose word is ever fulfilled just as He has planned His punishments upon all disobedient people, to come at the time determined upon by Him. <\/p>\n

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

EXPOSITION<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eze 30:1<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The word of the Lord came again<\/strong>, etc. The section that follows, ending with Eze 30:18<\/span>, is exceptional as standing without a date. It may be either<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> a continuation of the prophecy in Eze 29:17-21<\/span>, and so belong to the latest years of Ezekiel’s work; or<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> that prophecy may be regarded as standing by itselfa parenthesis inserted at a later date, so that we go back to the earlier word of the Lord in Eze 29:1-16<\/span>. Jerome, Havernick, Hitzig, Rosenmller, Kliefoth, and others are in favor of the former view, chiefly on the ground that Eze 29:3<\/span> speaks of the nearness of the coming judgment. That the day of the Lord should be “near” is, however, too vague and relative a term to be decisive. On the whole, the question must be left as one which we have no sufficient data for solving. The close parallelism with Eze 29:1-21<\/span>. seems to me slightly in favor of the second view.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:2<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Howl ye<\/strong>. The words read like an echo of Isa 13:6<\/span>, and find a parallel also in Joe 1:11<\/span>, Joe 1:13<\/span>; Zep 1:7<\/span>, Zep 1:14<\/span>. Woe worth the day!<\/strong> It may be well to note that the familiar phrase is a survival of the Anglo-Saxon verb weorthan<\/em> (German werden<\/em>), “to become,” so that its exact meaning is “Woe be to the day””<\/p>\n

Eze 30:3<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The day of the Lord<\/strong>. Here, as everywhere (see note on Eze 13:5<\/span>), the words stand for any time in which the Divine judgments manifest themselves in the world’s history. Of it Ezekiel says, following in the footsteps of Joel (Joe 2:2<\/span>), that it shall be a day of cloud<\/strong>, i.e.<\/em> of darkness and trouble; a day of the heathen<\/strong>, i.e.<\/em> a time in which the heathen who had exulted in the punishment of Israel should know that the Lord was their Judge also, that he had his “day” appointed for them.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:4<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Great pain shall be in Ethiopia<\/strong>. The words point to the extension of the invasion of Egyptby Nebuchadnezzar in the first instance, and afterwards by other conquerorsto the upper valley of the Nile. They shall take away her multitude<\/strong>. The word is taken by Keil, Smend, and others of things rather than persons, the multitude of possessions. Hengstenberg renders “tumult” in the sense of the stir of a crowded city. The foundations<\/strong> are probably to be taken figuratively of the bases of the prosperity of Egypt, its allies and mercenaries, rather than of actual buildings (comp. Psa 11:3<\/span>; Psa 82:5<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Eze 30:5<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Libya<\/strong>. Here the Authorized Version gives (rightly enough, though inconsistently) the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Phut, <\/em>which is reproduced in the Revised Version. The Lydians<\/em>, in like manner, stand for Lud; but we have to remember, as before (Eze 27:10<\/span>), that they are the African, and not the Asiatic, people of that name. In Jer 46:9<\/span> the two nations are named among the auxiliaries of Egypt. Possibly the similarity of name may have led to the term being used also for the Lydian and Ionian forces enlisted by Psam-metichus I. (Herod; Jer 3:4<\/span>); but there seems more reason for including these in the mingled people<\/strong> that are next mentioned. Chub<\/strong>, or Cub (Revised Version), is found here only, and has consequently given occasion to many guesses Havernick connects it with the Kufa<\/em>, a district of Media, often named in Egyptian monuments; Michaelis, with Kobe on the Ethiopian coast of the Indian Ocean; Maurer, with Cob, a city of Mauretania; Gesenius, Ewald, and Bunsen suggest the reading Nub, <\/em>and identify it with Nubia; Keil and Smend adopt the form Lub, found in the Lubim of 2Ch 16:8<\/span> and Nah 3:9<\/span>. On the whole, there are no adequate data for the solution of the problem. The men of the land that is in league.<\/strong> Here, again, we are in a region of many conjectures.<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> Hitzig and Kliefoth (following Jerome and the LXX<\/strong>; which gives, “the land of my covenant”) take it of Canaan, as being the land in covenant with Jehovah (Psa 74:2<\/span>, Psa 74:20<\/span>; Dan 11:28<\/span>; Act 3:25<\/span>).<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> Hengstenberg, for the Sabeans, as being members of the Judaeo-Egyptian confederacy implied in Eze 23:42<\/span>.<\/p>\n

(3)<\/strong> Keil, Ewald, and Smend, of a people among the allies of Egypt, unknown to us, but sufficiently designated by Ezekiel for his readers.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:6<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

They that uphold Egypt<\/strong>. The words include the allies named in Eze 30:5<\/span>; but also embrace the rulers, generals, perhaps the idols, of Egypt itself. From the tower of Syene<\/strong>. As before, in Eze 29:10<\/span>, “from Migdol to Syene.”<\/p>\n

Eze 30:9<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In that day shall messengers<\/strong>, etc. The whole passage seems an echo of Isa 18:2<\/span>. The ships<\/strong> are those that bear the tidings of the conquest of Lower Egypt to the upper valley of the Nile. The careless Ethiopians<\/strong> are so named as confiding in their remoteness from the scene of action. They thought themselves safe, and were lulled into a false security (comp. Isa 32:9-11<\/span> and Zep 2:15<\/span>, for a like rendering of the verb). As in the day of Egypt.<\/strong> As Isaiah (Isa 9:4<\/span>) refers to “the <\/em>day of Midian,” so Ezekiel points to the memorable time when like tidings of the judgments that fell on Egypt carried dismay into the hearts of the surrounding nations (Exo 15:14<\/span>, Exo 15:15<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Eze 30:10<\/span><\/strong>, <\/strong>Eze 30:11<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

By the hand of Nebuchadnezzar<\/strong>. Hitherto (on the assumption that Eze 29:17-21<\/span> stands by itself, and that we are still in the prophetic message of Eze 29:1-16<\/span>) the predictions have been general. Now Ezekiel, following in the footsteps of Jeremiah (Eze 46:1-24<\/span>.), specifies the Chaldean king and his people, the terrible of the nations (as in Eze 28:7<\/span>; Eze 31:12<\/span>, et al<\/em>.), as those who were to execute the Divine judgments.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:12<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I will make the rivers dry<\/strong>. The rivers <\/em>are the Nile-blanches of the Delta, and their being dried <\/em>up points, perhaps, literally to a failure in the inundation of the Nile on which its fertility depended; figuratively to a like failure of all its sources of prosperity.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:13<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Noph<\/strong>, or, as in Hos 9:6<\/span>, Moph, <\/em>is a form of the Egyptian M’noph, <\/em>the reek Memphis <\/em>(so in the LXX<\/strong>.), the capital of Lower Egypt, the chief center of the worship of Phthah, whom the Greeks identified with Hephaestos. Hence the special mention of the idols<\/strong> and images<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:14<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

(For Pathros<\/strong>, see note on Eze 29:14<\/span>.) Zoanjoined with Noph <\/em>in Isa 19:11<\/span>, mentioned in Num 13:22<\/span> as older than Hebronis the Tanis <\/em>of the Greeks, situated on the Tanitic branch of the Delta of the Nile. No<\/strong>; or, as in Nah 3:8<\/span>, No Amon<\/em> (equivalent to “the abode of Ammen”), the sacred name of the Egyptian Thebes. The LXX<\/strong>. gives Diospolis; the Vulgate, by a curious anachronism, Alexandria.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:15<\/span><\/strong>, <\/strong>Eze 30:16<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sin<\/strong>. The name signifies “mire,” like the Greek Pelusium <\/em>(so the Vulgate), from . The modern name Pheromi <\/em>has the same meaning. The remains of an old fortress near the town are still known as Tineh, <\/em>the “clay” of Dan 2:41<\/span>. The fortress stood on the eastern branch of the Nile, surrounded by swamps, and its position made it, in modern phrase, the “key” of Egypt. Suidas and Strabo (ut supra<\/em>) <\/em>describe it as an obstacle to invaders from the East. Ezekiel, in describing it as “the strength of <\/em>Egypt,” must have known its local characteristics. The multitude of No<\/strong>; in the Hebrew, as in Jer 46:25<\/span>, Hamon-No<\/em>. <\/em>Did the prophet, after the manner of Mic 1:10-14<\/span>, indulge in a play on the full name of the city as given in Nah 3:8<\/span>? The LXX<\/strong>. as before, gives Diospolis, <\/em>and the Vulgate Alexandria<\/em>. <\/em>Noph<\/strong> shall have distresses daily<\/strong>. So the Vulgate, angustiae quotidianae<\/em>. <\/em>Hitizig and Keil, however, take the words as “troubles in the day-time.” The city should be attacked, <\/em>not by night (Oba 1:5<\/span>), but in open day (compare “the spoiler at noonday” of Jer 15:8<\/span>). The LXX<\/strong>. emits the name of the city, and renders, “waters shall be poured out.” For Sin<\/strong> the LXX<\/strong>. here gives, following a different reading, “Syene.”<\/p>\n

Eze 30:17<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The young men of Aven<\/strong>; the “On” of Gen 12:1-20 :45, the “house of the sun” of Jer 43:13<\/span>, the Heliopolis <\/em>of the LXX<\/strong>. and Vulgate. The form Aven <\/em>(Hebrews<\/em> for “a vain thing!” as in <\/em>Hos 4:15<\/span>; Hos 10:5<\/span>) was perhaps chosen as a word of scorn pointing to the idolatry of the city. Pibeseth<\/strong>; LXX<\/strong>; Bubastos<\/em>. <\/em>The city situated on the Suez Canal, begun by Necho and finished under Ptolemy II<\/strong>. (Herod; 2.59). It derived its name from the eat-headed goddess Pasht, and was the chief seat of the home which was named after it. It was destroyed by the Persians (Diod. Sic; 15.51), but the name lingers in Tebbastat<\/em>, a <\/em>heap of ruins about seven hours journey from the Nile.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:18<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

At Tehaphnehes<\/strong>; the Tabapanes<\/em> of Jer 2:16<\/span>; Jer 42:7<\/span>; Jer 44:1<\/span>; Jer 46:14<\/span>; (where it appears as having a royal palace); the Taphnae <\/em>of the LXX<\/strong>.; the Daphne <\/em>of Herod; 2.30. It was another frontier-fortress in the neighborhood of Pelusium, built by Psammetichus. It may, perhaps, be represented by the modern Tel-ed-Defenne, <\/em>about twenty-seven miles southwest of Pelusium. The day shall be darkened<\/strong>. The normal image for the departure of the sunshine of prosperity, as in Jer 46:3<\/span> and Eze 32:7<\/span> (comp. Amo 5:20<\/span>; Amo 8:9<\/span>; Isa 5:30<\/span>; Jer 13:16<\/span>, etc.). The yokes of Egypt<\/strong>. Commonly, as in Eze 34:27<\/span>; Le Eze 26:13<\/span>; Jer 27:2<\/span>; Jer 28:10<\/span>, Jer 28:12<\/span>, the phrase would imply the deliverance of Egypt from the yoke of oppression suffered at the hand of others. Here that sense is clearly inappropriate. The LXX<\/strong>. and Vulgate give “the scepters” of Egypt, which implies a different reading, and this is adopted in substance by Ewald and Smend, the latter preferring rendering it by “supports” or “props,” the “red” being used as a “staff” rather than as a “scepter” (comp. Eze 19:14<\/span>; Jer 43:8<\/span>; Jer 48:17<\/span>). The pomp of her strength<\/strong>. The phrase meets us again in Eze 33:28<\/span>, and includes what we speak of as the parade of power, here probably with a view to the foreign forces that garrisoned both Daphne and Pelusium. The daughters<\/strong> may be literally the women <\/em>of the city, who were to share the usual fate of their sex on the capture of a city; or as in Eze 26:6<\/span>, Eze 26:8<\/span>; or probably as in Eze 16:53<\/span>, Eze 16:55<\/span>, for the villages and towns dependent on the strong city. On the whole, looking to the mention of the “young men” in Eze 16:17<\/span>, the literal meaning seems preferable.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:20<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the eleventh year,<\/strong> etc. Assuming that the whole section, Eze 29:17-30:19<\/span>, were a later insertion, that which follows was written in April, B.C. 586. Its contents show that it was written at or about the time of the abortive attempt of Pharaoh-Hophra to come to the relief of Jerusalem (Jer 34:21<\/span>; Jer 37:5-7<\/span>). This was the breaking of the arm of Egypt, of which the next verse speaks.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:21<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I have broken the arm<\/strong>. The metaphor was in itself one of the most familiar (Eze 17:9<\/span>; Eze 22:6; 1Sa 2:31<\/span>; Jer 48:25<\/span>). What is characteristic in Ezekiel is the way in which he follows the figure, so to speak, into its surgical details. A man with a broken arm might be cured and fight again; but it was not to be so with Pharaoh. His arm was not to be bound with a roller (the equivalent of the modern process of putting it in “splints”). The Hebrew word for “roller” is not found elsewhere, and Ezekiel’s use of it is one of the instances of his knowledge of surgery. The corresponding verb is used by him of the bandages or swaddling-clothes of infancy (Eze 16:4<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Eze 30:22-24<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The strong, and that which was broken<\/strong>. The image is pressed yet further. A warrior whose sword-arm was broken might go on fighting with his left. Hophra might continue to struggle, though with diminished strength. Ezekiel’s words shut out the hope of any such struggle. The left arm also should be broken as the right had been. The Chaldean king should wax stronger and stronger. The sword of Nebuchadnezzar should be as truly “the sword of Jehovah,” as that of Gideon had been (Jdg 7:18<\/span>). Figuratively, he should stand before him groaning as a man wounded to the death. So in Jer 43:9<\/span>; Jer 44:30<\/span>; Jer 46:26<\/span>, we have allusions to an invasion of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, which was to end in his sitting on his throne in the stronghold of Tahapanes.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:25<\/span><\/strong>, <\/strong>Eze 30:26<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The imagery is slightly varied. The arms of the Egyptian king are described, not as broken, but as feeble. They hang down by his side instead of wielding the sword. I will scatter, etc. The prophet dwells once more, repeating the very words of Eze 30:23<\/span> and Eze 29:12<\/span> with all the emphasis of iteration, on the dispersion which was the almost inevitable sequel of an Oriental conquest. There in the land of exile they should see that they had been fighting against God; and so the prophet ends the chapter with his ever-recurring formula, They shall know that I am Jehovah<\/strong> (Eze 28:26<\/span>; Eze 29:21<\/span>).<\/p>\n

HOMILETICS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eze 30:1-3<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

A cloudy day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As in the case of Tyre, the denunciation of Divine Judgments against Egypt is succeeded by a lamentation for the doleful results of those judgments. Pity follows wrath. The terrible condition that fills the prophet’s mind with dismay is full of more pressing warning when it is such as to excite the deepest commiseration. The advent of Divine chastisement is always a cloudy day.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> PROGNOSTICATIONS<\/strong> OF<\/strong> A CLOUDY<\/strong> DAY<\/strong>. The dreadful day has not yet come; but the prophet foresees it in the near future. The newspapers furnish us with weather forecasts. The prophets supplied the Jews with premonitions of approaching changes in the political and social atmosphere. We have no gifted seers to take their place in the present day. But we have hints and warnings that should aid us in this direction.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> The laws of God are changeless and eternal<\/em>. <\/em>Spiritual meteorology may appear to be as fickle as English weather. But as clouds and rain come and go by fixed Divine ordinances, in spite of their apparent waywardness, so the darkness and storms that afflict human life are really directed by God’s inflexible principles of righteousness. Therefore, if any people are in the condition that drew down clouds of judgment on Israel or Egypt centuries ago, they will assuredly repeat the dreadful process today.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Clouds do not come without producing causes<\/em>. <\/em>They seem to sail up like ships from the sea, coming and going at their own will But we know that they are produced by certain causes. Mountains and forests attract rain-clouds. Clouds of calamity are not uncaused. Sin and folly collect the heaviest of them. Some may come in mercy, like cooling clouds that refresh the traveler who is fatigued with the heat and glare of the day; others, thunder-clouds of judgment, charged with fatal fires, are gathered by an evil condition of life. When the cause is present we may well expect its consequence.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> EXPERIENCE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> A CLOUDY<\/strong> DAY<\/strong>. This would mean more in the sunny East than it seems to imply to inhabitants of our cloud-girt island.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> A cloudy day is dark<\/em>. <\/em>Instead of the familiarly brilliant noon, men see only gloom at midday. In cloudy days of human life joy vanishes and the soul is plunged into sadness.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> A cloudy day obscures the heavens<\/em>. <\/em>A curtain of inky clouds covers the blue sky and hides the sun. The saddest hours are those in which the vision of heaven is lost, when doubt and despair destroy our consciousness of God, when faith in the Unseen is drowned in spiritual darkness.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> A cloudy day blots out the beauty of earth<\/em>. <\/em>The loveliest prospect is sobered and saddened in heavy weather. The whole aspect of the world is changed by a transformation of its sky. We cannot be independent of heavenly influences. Oar present earthly life is colored and shaded by our spiritual experiences. A clouded soul will see nothing but gloom in the fairest of external fortunes.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> CONSEQUENCES<\/strong> OF<\/strong> A CLOUDY<\/strong> DAY<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> The cloudy day may usher in a storm<\/em>. <\/em>Thus was it for Egypt and the other nations warned by Ezekiel. The cloud from the north was to burst in the troubles of Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion. Threatening days may be followed by days of real calamity. God does not speak in vain. He holds the thunderbolt, and he throws it also. There are tempests of Divine wrath. “Woe worth the day” when such a tempest bursts! It will come upon every impenitent soul.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> The cloudy day may break in refreshing showers<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> Some of our most alarming prospects are accompanied by blessings in disguise. The cloud is “big with mercy.”<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> Even clouds of judgment bring ultimate good. Storms clear the air. Judgments are not purely vindictive and destructive. They open the door for mercy.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> The cloudy day may be followed by a bright day<\/em>. No <\/em>sunshine is so sweet and bright as that which follows rain. No joy is so sunny as that which accompanies a penitents restoration.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:4-6<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Associated calamities.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> TROUBLE<\/strong> SPREADS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> In<\/em> the individual<\/em>. <\/em>The first mischief in Egypt comes from the sword of the invader; but this is quickly followed by other ills. After Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion the “abundance” is taken away, and the “foundations” are broken down.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Among communities of men<\/em>. <\/em>Cush follows the fate of Egypt, and other nations also fall under the wide sweep of judgment. We are members one of another, and when one member suffers all the members suffer. No people can afford to ignore the ruin of their neighbors. Selfish indifference is ultimately punished by a man’s being compelled to share the sad consequences of the troubles of those whom he has neglected.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> ASSOCIATION<\/strong> IN<\/strong> SIN<\/strong> WILL<\/strong> BE<\/strong> FOLLOWED<\/strong> BY<\/strong> ASSOCIATION<\/strong> IN<\/strong> PUNISHMENT<\/strong>. Cash was joined to Egypt in wickedness; she will be joined to the greater nation in suffering. He who walks in the way of sinners will come to the end of sinners. There is no assurance against the fatal consequences of wickedness that can be effected by means of association. “Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished” (Pro 11:21<\/span>).<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THERE<\/strong> IS<\/strong> NO<\/strong> PROTECTION<\/strong> IN<\/strong> OBSCURITY<\/strong>. Poor Cush and Phut and Lud are obscure, unimportant, and remote. Yet they share the fate of better-known Egypt-No one can hide his sin under the cloak of his own insignificance. No ferret is so keen as a man’s own sin when the time comes for it to find him out.<\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong> ALLIANCE<\/strong> WITH<\/strong> GREAT<\/strong> SINNERS<\/strong> WILL<\/strong> NOT<\/strong> AFFORD<\/strong> ANY<\/strong> PROTECTION<\/strong>. These other nations were joined to great Egypt. But this alliance did not save then. On the contrary, the grandeur of Egypt attracted Nebuchadnezzar to their neighborhood. Had there been no rich and famous Egypt, he would not have troubled himself to attack Cush and Phut and Lud. We gain nothing by the power or prestige of influential connections when we are called to judgment for our sins.<\/p>\n

V.<\/strong> THEY<\/strong> ARE<\/strong> GUILTY<\/strong> OF<\/strong> SIN<\/strong> WHO<\/strong> AID<\/strong> AND<\/strong> ABET<\/strong> IT<\/strong>. These neighboring nations uphold Egypt. They will share her fate. From Migdol on the Delta to the granite-quarries of Syene far away to the south on the borders of the Soudanfive hundred milesthe ruin of great Egypt will extend; it will also spread to the people who support her policy and contribute to her prosperity. He who makes others to sin is himself the greatest of sinners. Fagin the trainer of child-thieves is himself a monstrous thief, though he never steals a handkerchief with his own fingers. People who encourage opium-eating, drunkenness, or profligacy, by supporting the causes of those evils, are guilty of them. The mercenaries of Egypt share the fate of their wealthy mistress. There are too many mercenaries of sin in the present day. For the sake of gain men will carry on a business which they know is directly ministering to the ruin of their fellow-creatures. They attempt to defend themselves with the excuse that they do not force those whom they supply with the means of self-destruction to avail themselves of it. This is true; but, on the other hand, they tempt the miserable victims by affording facility for fatal indulgence. That is the sin of Satan.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:7<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Desolation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Egypt is to be desolate in the midst of countries that are desolate, and her cities laid waste in the midst of other ruined cities. A picture of widespread and general desolation.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THERE<\/strong> IS<\/strong> A DESOLATION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> LANDS<\/strong> AND<\/strong> CITIES<\/strong>. Having lived free from the ravages of an invader ever since the Norman conquest, we find it impossible to imagine the agonies of war among the people who suffer from them. The excitement of battle may drown those horrors for a season. But when that excitement is over, the consequent distress is deep and hitter, widespread and lasting. War is a demon of destruction. It literally ravages a country. No incursion of wild beasts from the forest, no pestilence or famine, can bring about evils equal to those of war. It is the duty of all Christian people to band themselves together into a league of peace. The war-mongers often raise cries of “British interests in danger!” The country should learn that the greatest British interest is peace.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THERE<\/strong> IS<\/strong> A DESOLATION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> HOMES<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> This happens in bankruptcy, <\/em>which is often brought about by wicked devices of cunning men. The successful promoter of a company entraps unwary people, pockets a rich premium, escapes before the crash, and leave his victims to ruin and misery. Gambling ruins multitudes of homes. If a man considered his duty to his wife and children, he would see that this terribly prevalent national vice is selfish and cruel.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> This happens in external prosperity<\/em>. <\/em>Drunkenness makes a home desolate even before it has brought poverty, and no home can be more wretched for the children than that of drunken parents. Therefore the self-indulgence of intemperance is brutally cruel. Quarrelling desolates a home. Many a house that is envied by the ignorant for its affluence and luxury is a very prison of misery. When love departs, the best-appointed home is desolate. Dreary souls then drag out a beclouded existence among the melancholy ruins of wasted affection.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THERE<\/strong> IS<\/strong> A DESOLATION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> CHURCHES<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> This may be physical<\/em>. <\/em>The Mohammedans simply stamped out the relics of a decaying and quarrelsome Christianity in North Africathe home of Tertullian, Cyprian, and Augustine, The seven Churches of Asia have nearly all disappeared. If we are not true and strong in the Christian life, our candlestick will at length be taken away from us.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> It may be spiritual<\/em>. The ruined abbeys of England are famed for their beauty, and few may regret their present condition when admiring the relies of architectural splendor. But there is a worse desolation for Churches than roofless naves and crumbling walls. A Church is indeed desolate when the Spirit of Christ has forsaken her. She may seem to flourish in numbers, finance, and mechanical enterprise. But in the sight of Heaven she is a moldering ruin.<\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong> THERE<\/strong> IS<\/strong> A DESOLATION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> SOULS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> This may come in great sorrow<\/em>. <\/em>When “the desire of his eyes” is taken from a man, how can he be other than desolate? Job was desolate indeed when his children were killed. Rizpah was desolate when she sat by the corpses of her two sons to drive off the foul birds of prey (2Sa 21:10<\/span>), and Naomi when she returned to Bethlehem a childless widow. But God can comfort this desolation and fill its victim with heavenly peace.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> The worst desolation is in sin<\/em>. <\/em>The soul is a wreck. Its very constitution is a ruin. God is driven from his seat in conscience. Here is the most dire and dreadful desolationthat of the prodigal, who feeds swine in a far country, and who would fain fill himself with the husks that the swine cat! It reaches its climax in pitiless solitude”and no man gave unto him” (Luk 15:16<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Eze 30:9<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The careless Ethiopians.<\/strong><\/p>\n

These people who were heedless of the coming danger that threatened them in common with great Egypt may serve as a type of the careless generally.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> PREVALENCE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> CARELESSNESS<\/strong>. These “careless Ethiopians” are not rare specimens of an obscure class. We have not to go to Africa, nor to antiquity, for the like of them. The genus to which they belong is far from extinct even in this age of anxiety and energy. Note the various forms which carelessness takes.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> In regard to danger.<\/em> This was the condition of the easy-going Ethiopians. They would not consider the approaching danger of the Chaldean invasion. Men will not see risks to health till they suddenly break down; then they discover them, perhaps, too late. Soul-danger is ignored by thoughtless sinners.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> In respect to guilt<\/em>. <\/em>The pilgrim felt the weight of his burden, but most of the inhabitants of the City of Destruction seem to have had no thought of their sins. Many men sin recklessly. They add up the score of guilt without a thought.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> In reference to duty<\/em>. <\/em>Multitudes live as though they were only to be expected to please themselves. The sacred word “duty” has no meaning for them. They may be very anxious about their business and what will be profitable, but they are quite careless as to what they ought to do.<\/p>\n

4.<\/strong> In<\/em> connection with other men<\/em>. <\/em>Dives is careless as to the condition of Lazarus. The Church is too negligent of the state of the heathen world. In great cities people think little of their next-door neighbors. It is possible to starve in a land of plenty, and for no one to give heed till too late.<\/p>\n

5.<\/strong> In relation to God<\/em>. He is our Father and Master, and it is our first duty and our highest interest to regard his will. Yet many act as if he did not exist. They care neither for his love nor for his wrath.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> EVIL<\/strong> OF<\/strong> CARELESSNESS<\/strong>. The “careless Ethiopians” are to share in the great deluge of general calamities that is about to sweep over the nations. Their carelessness does not protect them. Carelessness is evil on many accounts.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Because of its folly<\/em>. <\/em>This is more than childish. It is the stultification of mind. Man is made in the image of God, a thinking being. To renounce thought is to abdicate the throne of supremacy over the lower creation.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Because<\/em> of its negligence<\/em>. <\/em>This carelessness is willful. It springs from an idle refusal to take the trouble of thinking, or from an insane infatuation with superficial interests. It is our duty to consider our ways, to consider the poor, and to remember our Creator. Negligence is sin.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> Because<\/em> of its danger<\/em>. The <\/em>danger is not in any degree lessened because we decline to consider it. The recklessness of an engine-driver about red lights does not annihilate obstructions on the line. The wages of sin will be paid punctually and to the full, whether we expect the day of recompense or never anticipate it.<\/p>\n

Observe, in conclusion, that there is a way of being saved from care. This is not to be found in carelessness, however. We can quench worldly care with trust. Other anxieties may be softened and ultimately abolished when we seriously set ourselves to seeking God’s favor and doing his will.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:13<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Destroying idols.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Egypt was a land of innumerable idols. In the general desolation that was approaching, not only would these idols prove themselves useless protectors, they themselves would share the fate of their patrons. The idols are destroyed in the ruin of the idolaters.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THERE<\/strong> IS<\/strong> NO<\/strong> DEFENSE<\/strong> IN<\/strong> IDOLS<\/strong>. This is a lesson for the heathen. But not only pagans who worship images of wood and stone need to learn it; men who despise the superstitions of heathendom have their own superstitions and practice their own idolatry, and the lesson is also for such people.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Every substitute for God is an idol<\/em>. <\/em>What a man loves supremely and trusts in absolutely is his god. One man thus idolizes his money, believing that he has only to draw a check to frighten away the most dreadful calamity. Another makes an idol of his own ability, his skill, energy, or cleverness, proudly supposing that he is equal to any emergency. A third worships a theory, and imagines, say, that the general course of evolution will assuredly bring all right. A fourth idolizes his own religious experience, and, instead of trusting God, puts his faith in his own saintliness.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> No<\/em> idol will preserve its worshipper<\/em>. <\/em>Money, ability, theory, saintliness, all fail in the hour of trial, as surely as the sacred hawks and eats of Egypt proved useless in face of the march of the Chaldean army.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> GOD<\/strong> WILL<\/strong> DESTROY<\/strong> IDOLS<\/strong>. The idols of Egypt were to be destroyed in the general havoc of the invasion. The Philistine god Dagon fell down and was broken before the ark of the Lord (1Sa 5:4<\/span>). The false hope will be laid low. It may be done speedily; if so, we may thank God for a merciful deliverance. It may be long delayed, and not even seen during the present life. Dives lives clad in purple and fine linen, and faring sumptuously till the end of his days. The rich fool is not disillusioned till the very night of his death. But in the next world, if not in this, men must see things in their true light. A happier destruction of idols comes through the revelation of their vanity in the light of God’s truth. This is the Christian method of iconoclasm. The missionary will do little good if he simply rails at the folly and sin of idol-worship. But if he makes men know of the existence of the one spiritual God, the idols will disappear without his taking any trouble to hew them down. Idols vanish from the soul when the vision of Christ is received.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> DESTRUCTION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> IDOLS<\/strong> IS<\/strong> FOR<\/strong> THE<\/strong> SALVATION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> IDOLATER<\/strong>. There is redemption in the Divine iconoclasm. Idols delude men, hold them in bondage to superstition, degrade their souls, and blot out the view of the true heavens. God, seeing a rich man worshipping gold, snatches the fatal idol away and plunges the man into poverty that there he may learn to search for the true treasure of the kingdom of heaven. Earthly loss is often thus sent to clear away obstructions that hide us from seeing what are our souls’ true possessions. But the mere destruction of idols is not itself a salvation. It is remarkable that Christian and European education is rapidly destroying the native idolatry of India; but it is questionable how far this is a gain if nothing is substituted but a hard and scornful agnosticism. When the idols are cast out of our lives, we need that the Christ shall come in and bring his new life.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:20-26<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Broken arms.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pharaoh’s arms are to be broken, while the arms of the King of Babylon are to be strengthened. This metaphor describes the condition of the great empires that is consequent on the shock of conflict. The broken arm is suggestive of loss of power.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> IT<\/strong> IS<\/strong> A CALAMITY<\/strong> TO<\/strong> LOSE<\/strong> POWER<\/strong>. This is felt to be so physically. So it is spiritually; for there are broken-armed Churches and broken-armed souls.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Men<\/em> suffer great inconvenience who have broken arms<\/em>. <\/em>They cannot work. They are helplessly dependent on others. What can be a more pitiable picture of helplessness than a man with both <\/em>arms broken? Weak Churches are helpless; i.e. <\/em>when spiritual activity fails. Weak souls are in a miserable plight.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Broken arms may be found on healthy men<\/em>. <\/em>There is no disease, only the result of an act of violence or of an accident. Spiritual failure may be suddenly brought about, possibly by a sudden fall into temptation.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> Broken arms may be seen on strong men<\/em>. <\/em>The muscle is stout, but the bone has snapped. So there are men who display great energy and resources. But they lack stamina. They cannot hold up against any strain. They have plenty of spiritual muscle, but the spiritual bones are brittle. Hence they sink into worse than a molluscous state.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> LOSS<\/strong> OF<\/strong> POWER<\/strong> MAY<\/strong> COME<\/strong> AS<\/strong> A DIVINE<\/strong> JUDGMENT<\/strong>. Egypt is not only robbed of honor, possessions, etc. Her arms are broken. She loses power. This must be a bitter trouble for a great, proud people. God punishes nations by crippling their resources. If they have not used their powers well, these are taken from them. Thus the Roman empire was weakened in its corruption. It is the same with individuals. The misused talent is taken away. Sin destroys a man’s best powers. It weakens the soul; often it weakens the mind also. This result may be quite unexpecteda sudden outbreak of war, a sudden attack of paralysis, a sudden failure of spiritual power.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> POWER<\/strong> GROWS<\/strong> WITH<\/strong> USE<\/strong>. The arms of the King of Babylon are strengthened. Muscles become stout and tough with exercise. Brains grow strong with thinking. Souls become vigorous by service. The battles of the Lord are not cruel and desolating like those of man. The soldier of Jesus Christ leaves no ruins in his wake. The martial virtues of spiritual service are without alloy. It is well to gain renown and strength in the noble warfare against the world’s sin and misery. If Nebuchadnezzar, doing God’s will unwittingly, is still rewarded for the service, much more shall God’s true, willing servants not fail of their recompense. The best reward is not to lie on beds of ease, but to receive more strength for more arduous service and sterner warfare in the future. The wages of God’s servant is to have his arms strengthened.<\/p>\n

HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eze 30:1-3<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The day of the Lord.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is in this expression, which occurs in various parts of this book of prophecy, a certain vagueness which is not inconsistent with grandeur and sublimity. The prophet’s own mind was evidently impressed with the fact that, whilst every day is an occasion for the manifestation of the Divine presence among men, there are days which are peculiarly the Lord’s, because connected in an especial manner with the purposes of the Eternal with regard to the sons of time.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> DAY<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> REVELATION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> LORD<\/strong>‘S POWER<\/strong>. Memorable are such days as those which witness a great king’s accession to the throne, a great battle deciding the fortunes of nations, the passing of a great measure affecting the welfare of millions, the sending forth of a religious mission to a heathen community. But, whilst every day upon which some grand deed is wrought, or some noble institution founded, is in a sense a day of the Lord, there are days in which Divine providence signally asserts or vindicates itself, in which the might of the Omnipotent is convincingly displayed; and such days are emphatically designated by the term employed in the text.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> DAY<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> EXECUTION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> LORD<\/strong>‘S RECOMPENSE<\/strong> AND<\/strong> JUDGMENT<\/strong>. Judging by the language here employed by the prophet, the day of the Lord he announces seems especially of this character. “Howl ye! Woe worth the day!” are expressions which surely betoken the coming of the Lord in vengeance”a day of clouds,” “the time of the heathen.” Long-deferred correction is now to be inflicted; threatenings often repeated are now to be fulfilled. Forbearance is exhausted, and the day of the Lord shall see him arise to judgment.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> DAY<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> REDEMPTION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> LORD<\/strong>‘S PEOPLE<\/strong>. The defeat and confusion of the adversaries is accompanied by the deliverance and exaltation of the friends of God. When the day comes which shall see the destruction of Israel’s foes, Israel shall go free and shall rejoice in her liberty, with the shout, “Now is the day of salvation!” “Lift up your heads, for the day of redemption draweth nigh!”<\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> DAY<\/strong> WHICH<\/strong> DISPELS<\/strong> THE<\/strong> NIGHT<\/strong> OF<\/strong> HUMAN<\/strong> MISUNDERSTANDING<\/strong> AND<\/strong> DOUBT<\/strong>. The day of man is the day of ignorance and of fear, and is little better than the night when compared with the brightness which God’s presence brings. To Christians, the day of the Lord is the day of their Savior’s birth and coming to this world of sin. “The people which sat in darkness saw a great light.” Then the errors and hopelessness of long ages were rolled away, like mists before the rising of the Sun of Righteousness, with healing in his wings.<\/p>\n

V.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> DAY<\/strong> WHICH<\/strong> SHALL<\/strong> MANIFEST<\/strong> THE<\/strong> LORD<\/strong>‘S GLORY<\/strong> AND<\/strong> FULFILL<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> PURPOSES<\/strong>. The day of the Lord has interest and significance for men; but the very term implies that its central meaning is not human, but Divine. The fools who have said in the heart, “There is no God!” the hypocrites and formalists, who have professed belief in God, but to whom the meaning of such belief is limited to words; the defiant and rebellious sinners, of whom it may justly be said, “God is not in all their ways; “all these are addressed with power, and are aroused from their infidelity, when the day of the Lord <\/em>breaks upon the world, and when the Lord himself draws near.T.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:5-8<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The fate of the allies.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Egypt was not alone in her forgetfulness of the principles of righteousness, in her defiance of God; and she was not alone in her chastisement and desolation. She had allies, who were included by the prophet in the denunciation he was directed to utter against Pharaoh and his people.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> POLITICAL<\/strong> AND<\/strong> NATIONAL<\/strong> ALLIANCES<\/strong> ARE<\/strong> OFTEN<\/strong> BASED<\/strong> UPON<\/strong> INTEREST<\/strong> RATHER<\/strong> THAN<\/strong> UPON<\/strong> MORAL<\/strong> PRINCIPLES<\/strong>. The weak seek the support of the strong; the strong would be stronger through the support of their neighbors. A common hope of profit and aggrandizement in many cases accounts for the leagues into which states enter with one another.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> SUCH<\/strong> ALLIANCES<\/strong> ARE<\/strong> EASILY<\/strong> DISSOLVED<\/strong> WHEN<\/strong> THEIR<\/strong> OBJECTS<\/strong> ARE<\/strong> FOUND<\/strong> INCAPABLE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> REALIZATION<\/strong>. They do not deserve to endure, and as a matter of fact they do not endure. There is no guarantee of permanence in such combinations, and it is well for the world that this is so. The political center of gravity shifts, and the instability of alliances based upon interest is made apparent.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> CONJOINT<\/strong> HUMAN<\/strong> POWERS<\/strong> ARE<\/strong> EVER<\/strong> VAIN<\/strong> WHEN<\/strong> THEY<\/strong> OPPOSE<\/strong> THE<\/strong> PURPOSES<\/strong> OF<\/strong> GOD<\/strong>. Such was proved to be the case with regard to the alliances between Egypt and the neighboring states mentioned by the prophet. “Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished.” Add together as many finites as you will, and you are no nearer the Infinite; and all the resources of all the nations upon earth are as nothing, are less than the dust of the balance, when weighed against the incalculable, inexhaustible, irresistible power of the Omnipotent. “Why do the nations rage, and the peoples imagine a vain thing?”<\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong> THOSE<\/strong> WHO<\/strong> SHARE<\/strong> IN<\/strong> SIN<\/strong> SHALL<\/strong> SHARE<\/strong> IN<\/strong> PUNISHMENT<\/strong>. “They also that uphold Egypt shall fall.” “All her helpers are destroyed.” The leagues of the righteous and godly shall contribute to the common strength; the measure of the Church’s influence in the world is determined by the Church’s unity. But as there is no cohesion in wickedness, the blow which falls dissolves the superficial combination, and overwhelms all the elements in a common destruction. Notwithstanding all recrimination, there is no escape and no consolation; confidence is destroyed, succor there is none; one ruin overtakes all.<\/p>\n

V.<\/strong> A COMMON<\/strong> FATE<\/strong> IMPRESSES<\/strong> THE<\/strong> SAME<\/strong> LESSON<\/strong> UPON<\/strong> SOCIETY<\/strong>. The downfall of one proud, self-confident nation is impressive and instructive; but when a league is dissolved, and disaster comes upon those who have encouraged one another in injustice and impiety, the attention of the world is arrested, and men are the more disposed to ]earn how vain are all merely human projects, how unstable are all alliances based upon worldly principles, and how utterly powerless are the nations when they array themselves together against the truth, the Word, the Church, of the living God. When God arises, his enemies are scattered. There is none that can stand before him. Might is feebleness, wisdom is folly, and unions fall to pieces, when they are directed against him who is mighty to punish as he is mighty to save.T.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:13<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Idols destroyed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is well known, from the records of ancient history, and from the explorations and studies of Egyptologists of our own century, that the land of the Pharaohs was the seat of idolatry of the most deeply rooted, widespread, and at the same time most debasing and contemptible kind. It was not possible that the prophet of the Lord, in rebuking Egypt, should confine himself to the region of polities; he could not but deal with the religion and the religious practices which prevailed in the land of immemorial superstition. His words upon this matter are few, but they are clear, direct, and powerful. “Thus saith the Lord God, I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease from Noph.”<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> VANITY<\/strong> AND<\/strong> INABILITY<\/strong> OF<\/strong> IDOLS<\/strong> TO<\/strong> HELP<\/strong> THOSE<\/strong> WHO<\/strong> TRUST<\/strong> IN<\/strong> THEM<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> HELPLESSNESS<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THEIR<\/strong> DEVOTEES<\/strong> TO<\/strong> RETAIN<\/strong> FOR<\/strong> IDOLS<\/strong> THE<\/strong> ALLEGIANCE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THEIR<\/strong> WORSHIPPERS<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> CERTAINTY<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> PROVIDENTIAL<\/strong> OCCURRENCES<\/strong> WILL<\/strong> SHAKE<\/strong> THE<\/strong> CONFIDENCE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> IDOLATERS<\/strong> IN<\/strong> THEIR<\/strong> IDOLS<\/strong>, AND<\/strong> WILL<\/strong> BRING<\/strong> IDOLATRY<\/strong> TO<\/strong> NAUGHT<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong> PROVISION<\/strong> THAT<\/strong>, AS<\/strong> IDOLS<\/strong> ARE<\/strong> CONFOUNDED<\/strong>, THE<\/strong> TRUE<\/strong> AND<\/strong> ONLY<\/strong> GOD<\/strong> WILL<\/strong> BE<\/strong> EXALTED<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

APPLICATION<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> The principles underlying this prophecy are a great encouragement to all those who labor for the propagation of the gospel among the heathen; their labors shall, sooner or later, meet with a full success and recompense.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> There is here an implicit counsel as to the replacing of idolatry by true religion. It is one thing to destroy, another thing to construct. In our Indian dominions at the present time, education is shaking the faith of the native population in their idols and idol-worship. But in very many instances, education has done nothing to supply the place made vacant by the exorcism of superstition. Hence the importance of philosophical and historical instruction in connection with Christian missions; so that provision may be made for the deep-seated needs of the spirit of man, so that a reasonable faith in the Supreme may be encouraged, and so that the evidences of supernatural Christianity may be presented in a convincing and satisfying form. It should be the aim of the Church, in her missionary capacity, to replace idolatry, not by an irrational atheism or a degrading secularism, but by intelligent and scriptural Christianity.T.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:20-24<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

One strengthened and another weakened.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Historians chronicle the events which take place among the nations, and especially those which bring about the transference of supremacy, hegemony, from one people to another. The great empires of antiquity succeeded one another in a movement both picturesque and instructive. Ezekiel, in this passage, describes the defeat and humiliation of Egypt, and the victory and exaltation of Babylon. But he does more than this; as a religious teacher and prophet he affords us an insight into the moral, the religious, principles which underlie all political changes.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THERE<\/strong> IS<\/strong> NO<\/strong> SUCH<\/strong> THING<\/strong> AS<\/strong> CHANCE<\/strong> IN<\/strong> HISTORY<\/strong>. Men often suppose themselves to account for events when they attribute them to fortune, to caprice, to chance. But chance is no cause, it is the name for our ignorance of causesa useful name if its signification is not transformed, and if in its use men do not impose upon themselves.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> OPERATION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> DIVINELY<\/strong> INSTITUTED<\/strong> LAWS<\/strong> EFFECTS<\/strong> CHANGES<\/strong> IN<\/strong> THE<\/strong> PROSPERITY<\/strong> AND<\/strong> POWER<\/strong> OF<\/strong> NATIONS<\/strong>. Some of these laws are physical, some intellectual, others moral. They are of the greatest interest to the historian, who traces their action and interaction, their cooperation and conflict, as these are manifested in the rapid or gradual, the unobserved or conspicuous, changes which take place in the relations of great communities, and in the succession of one people to another in the development of the great drama of humanity.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> YET<\/strong> TO<\/strong> THE<\/strong> THOUGHTFUL<\/strong> MIND<\/strong> LAW<\/strong> IN<\/strong> ITSELF<\/strong> IS<\/strong> INSUFFICIENT<\/strong> TO<\/strong> ACCOUNT<\/strong> FOR<\/strong> HISTORY<\/strong>. The mind craves, not indeed for something competing with law, but for something behind law, expressing itself by means of law. Law in its phenomenal manifestations is mere uniformity. Now, just as our actions may be accounted for on their phenomenal side by physical laws, whilst yet we know that purpose, intention, thought, do really and in the highest sense govern our actions, and that we are therefore moral and responsible beings; so in human history religion teaches us to look through facts and laws to Mind beyond them all, controlling, inspiring, and governing them all, in a word, accounting for them all. That is to say, we are taught by the prophet to see God in history. And reflection shows us how reasonable and justifiable is this view.<\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong> A GENERAL<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong> PURPOSE<\/strong> RUNS<\/strong> THROUGHOUT<\/strong> HUMAN<\/strong> HISTORY<\/strong>. It is God who raises one nation and humiliates another. These changes may for the most part be justified by the well-informed and thoughtful student. It is admitted that there are cases which occasion us the greatest perplexity. But the obscure must be interpreted by the plain. We should never forget that we are ignorant, short-sighted, and very fallible beings, and should avoid dogmatizing upon individual cases. But the reflecting and pious man will make a point of recognizing the Divine hand in the affairs of nations, and in the continuity of human history. This lesson has been taught most effectively by modern philosophers of history, from Herder to Hegel, and from Hegel to Bunsen. <\/p>\n

V.<\/strong> OUR<\/strong> ACCEPTANCE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> PRINCIPLE<\/strong> DOES<\/strong> NOT<\/strong> INVOLVE<\/strong> THE<\/strong> APPROVAL<\/strong> OF<\/strong> HUMAN<\/strong> PASSIONS<\/strong> WHICH<\/strong> IMPEL<\/strong> TO<\/strong> MANY<\/strong> HISTORICAL<\/strong> CHANGES<\/strong>, OR<\/strong> THE<\/strong> DELIGHT<\/strong> IN<\/strong> HUMAN<\/strong> SUFFERINGS<\/strong> WHICH<\/strong> FOLLOW<\/strong> UPON<\/strong> THEM<\/strong>. As a matter of fact, God in his wisdom makes use of many agencies and instrumentalities of a character which cannot be approved. The ambitions, jealousies, envies, etc; which animate nations and rulers are overruled by the Lord of all to secure ends which appear good and desirable to him. “He maketh the wrath of man to praise him.” It is not for a moment to be supposed that the King of heaven takes any delight in the bereavements and desolations which befall the innocent as a consequence of those wars which are incident to the achievement of great, historically important ends. We can only reconcile much that happens with our highest view of the Divine character by remembering that God has a higher end before him than human enjoyment, and that in the execution of his purposes he is not limited by the horizon of time.<\/p>\n

VI.<\/strong> ALL<\/strong> THE<\/strong> EVENTS<\/strong> WHICH<\/strong> TRANSPIRE<\/strong> AMONG<\/strong> THE<\/strong> NATIONS<\/strong> SHALL<\/strong> ULTIMATELY<\/strong> BE<\/strong> SEEN<\/strong> TO<\/strong> SUBSERVE<\/strong> MORAL<\/strong> AND<\/strong> RELIGIOUS<\/strong> ENDS<\/strong>, ESPECIALLY<\/strong> THE<\/strong> GLORY<\/strong> OF<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong> RIGHTEOUSNESS<\/strong>. This is the faith of the godly, and is encouraged by revelation. Faith shall be justified. “The day shall declare it.”T.<\/p>\n

HOMILIES BY J.D. DAVIES<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eze 30:1-19<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Lord’s day in Egypt.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Lord’s day is the day in which God comes nearest to men and manifests himself. Whether he will come as our Friend or as our Foe depends on our state of mind towards him. He has not abandoned the race of men. They are on trial, undergoing discipline. Now and again he comes near, either in his radiant robes of grace or in solemn aspect as an impartial Judge. Even when he approaches nations in the latter character, he gives premonitions of his coming, and this is an act of grace. In all his doings righteousness and love are sweetly blended.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> CAUSE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong> JUDGMENTS<\/strong> IN<\/strong> EGYPT<\/strong>. This is explicitly stated, “I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease.” Idolatry is not merely a system of error; it is a fount of immorality, it is a seed-bed of moral corruption. In the realm of religion you cannot separate theory from practice. Theories of atheism today become habits of sensuality tomorrow. Where God is ignored, every vice will speedily appear. The depravities of Egypt had tainted all the nations round about.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> SEVERITY<\/strong> OF<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong> JUDGMENTS<\/strong>. It is impossible for the wisest man to <\/em>estimate the demerit of sin. No human jurist can place a competent penalty against transgression of the Law of God. He alone who created man and imposed law can determine adequate punishments. We can leave God to do what is wise and right. Usually, the sky over Egypt is transcendently bright; now that clear sky shall be covered with a cloud.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> A foreign sword shall invade the land<\/em>. <\/em>“It shall be the time of the heathen.” A sharp sword wielded by a fierce enemy was ordained to mow down the people.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Desolation<\/em> was decreed<\/em>. <\/em>So great was the decimation to be, that populous cities would be silent, and death-like desolation would prevail throughout that once prosperous land. Like the deserts which envelop Egypt roundbarren and drearyso was Egypt itself to become!<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> Fire was to complete the overthrow<\/em>. <\/em>“I will set fire in Egypt.” Her mansions and cottages, built of most combustible material, would be ready food for flames; and, for lack of water, towns and villages would speedily disappear. How vulnerable on every side was this renowned empire!<\/p>\n

4.<\/strong> Her very foundations would be rooted up<\/em>. <\/em>Under this language there is portrayed, not the removal of material substructions of cities, but the demolition of imperial and. national foundations. The throne should be completely undermined; the government should pass into other hands.<\/p>\n

5.<\/strong> The<\/em> overthrow should be coextensive with Egypt<\/em>. <\/em>No part was to be excepted. Beginning at the first strongholdthe tower of Syenethe devastation should sweep throughout the land. Flourishing cities are mentioned by name as devoted to doom. One calamity shall befall one; some other calamity is prepared for another. God calls to his service ten thousand agents.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> INSTRUMENT<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong> JUDGMENT<\/strong>. In this ease God has announced beforehand what instrument he will employ. The main leader in this great tragedy was Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon. Some good reason prevailed with God why he should be selected. To be the tool of a bad man is a great dishonor, but to do any service for our righteous King is a substantial honor. Sometimes God has seen fit to employ material forces to execute his vengeance, as in the eases of Lisbon and Pompeii. Sometimes he has employed an angel, as when he discomfited Sennacherib, as when he smote the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Yet, if the human instrument be not himself righteous, he shall also in his turn be chastised. God gives to men rewards on earth to whom he is bound to deny the possession of heaven.<\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> CERTAINTY<\/strong> OF<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong> JUDGMENTS<\/strong>. It is made sure by the testimony of Jehovah. “Thus saith the Lord;” “I the Lord have spoken it.” Not even the actual overthrow of Egypt made the event more certain than it was made by the word of Jehovah. His declarations are as good as his performances. His words are deeds. As soon as he speaks the event begins to evolve, although we only perceive the final stroke. Our business, therefore, is simply to ascertain whether God has spoken; if he has, we may conclude that the word will become fact. Between his word and its fulfillment there is an iron link of necessity. It must be <\/em>done.<\/p>\n

V.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> COLLATERAL<\/strong> EFFECTS<\/strong> OF<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong> JUDGMENTS<\/strong>. “The men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.” Allies shall suffer along with the principal offenders. To prop up a rotten throne is a crime. Judicious care is needed in the choice of friends, whether public or private. By thoughtlessly identifying ourselves with bad men, we become “partakers of their sins.” Such overwhelming judgment as this in Egypt would strike terror into the hearts of neighbors. “In that day shall messengers from me make the careless Ethiopians afraid.” All who dwell in the vicinity shall be awed by the great catastrophe. If such disaster overtook the Egyptians, might it not also overtake them? Had they no sin to be chastised? If the Egyptians were unable to buy off, or resist, the foe, what could they do in the day of visitation? Well may all wrongdoers tremble! “When thy judgments are abroad in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.”<\/p>\n

VI.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> FINAL<\/strong> PURPOSE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong> JUDGMENT<\/strong>. “They shall know that I am the Lord.” In their death they shall be convinced of a truth which they refused to acknowledge during life. In the crisis of the conflict between Jehovah and the idols men shall learn on which side the real strength lies. So is it stillwhen too late to reverse the course of life, too late to change charactermen discover that there is a God in the earth, and that they must pass through the crucial process of judgment. Yet how slow are the nations still to recognize and revere Jehovah! What patience and forbearance cloth our God show! Nevertheless, it is truemen shall confess that Jehovah is Lord. Is it not wiser to learn the lesson forthwith?<\/p>\n

VII.<\/strong> SENTIMENTS<\/strong> PROPER<\/strong> TO<\/strong> THE<\/strong> NEAR<\/strong> APPROACH<\/strong> OF<\/strong> JUDGMENT<\/strong>. “Howl ye! Woe worth the day!” It is an impressive proof of the tender love of God that he employs all suitable means to warn us of the gradual approach of doom. Of him it is not true that the “gods have feet of wool.” The noise of his chariot-wheels is heard in the distance. He sends messengers of various kinds in advance, to prevent, if possible, <\/em>the threatened disaster. What gratitude ought to break forth from our hearts! And with what awe should we hear the thunderous tread of his footsteps! Verily, men are as the small dust of the balance Compared with the majesty of God. For the creature to contend with his Creator is folly inexpressible! While yet the day of opportunity lingers, let counsels of wisdom prevail!D.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:20-26<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The broken arm.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is marvelous that men do not realize as a fact how completely dependent they are upon the unseen God. In theory, the bulk of men are theists; in practice, atheists. It would produce a blessed revolution in society if believers in God’s nearness lived up to their beliefs. How differently would kings and statesmen act, compared with their ordinary conduct! What a scene of order and quietness would our earth become!<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> A CONFLICT<\/strong> BETWEEN<\/strong> NATIONS<\/strong> MAY<\/strong> BE<\/strong> REGARDED<\/strong> AS<\/strong> A PERSONAL<\/strong> COMBAT<\/strong>. The bulk of an army are tools, who, for considerations of pay, fight the battles of their sovereign king. It would often be more just, and more advantageous, if the persons who pick a national quarrel would personally and singly fight it out. Yet even the military equipment of a king is simply his arm magnified. Hence we call weapons of war arms. They are the artificial arm of the monarch. In almost every ease the cause of war is a personal matter between two sovereigns, or their representatives. The nation is expected to identify itself, willingly or unwillingly, with their sovereign, and act as his confederates.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> IN<\/strong> SUCH<\/strong> PERSONAL<\/strong> COMBAT<\/strong> THE<\/strong> ARM<\/strong> IS<\/strong> AN<\/strong> ESSENTIAL<\/strong> INSTRUMENT<\/strong>. As many animals are furnished by God with weapons of defense, so the human arm, so skillfully constructed, is man’s chief instrument in battle. Without question, it was designed to serve other purposes. It is more adapted for industrial pursuits than for martial engagements. Yet, as self-existence is a law of nature, the right arm has an unspeakable value in defending one’s self against a foe. In armament it is man’s masterpiece. Shield and sword are reduced to uselessness unless there be a brawny arm.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> THE<\/strong> CREATOR<\/strong> OF<\/strong> MAN<\/strong> CAN<\/strong> WEAKEN<\/strong> OR<\/strong> STRENGTHEN<\/strong> MAN<\/strong>‘S ARM<\/strong> AT<\/strong> PLEASURE<\/strong>. No part of man’s nature has been constructed by himself. No part can be maintained in vigor by himself. He is, in every part and through every moment, dependent on his Maker. As man cannot make an arm, neither can he maintain its life and energy. The strength of that arm depends on occult forces of nerve and ligament, that mail knows little about. He is just discovering some of the channels and laws through which his Divine Creator works: so far he can act with God; but still the Fourth of life is in God alone. Wisely did King David recognize that it was God who “taught his hands to war, and his fingers to fight.” The maintenance of vitality rests with God. Every increment of strength is due to him. His favor invigorates us; his frown makes us weak. The man of giant strength is but an infant in God’s hands. Without his upholding power our arms would fall at once, paralyzed at our side.<\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> IF<\/strong> GOD<\/strong> BREAKS<\/strong> THE<\/strong> ARM<\/strong> OF<\/strong> ANY<\/strong> COMBATANTS<\/strong> DEFEAT<\/strong> ENSUES<\/strong>. How completely is God the Arbiter in every battle! Very clearly, we are told, God inter poses, in a hundred different ways, to decide the wage of war. If a spirit of timidity or fear fills the hearts of rank-and-file, the arm on which the monarch depended is broken. If treachery lurks in any department of the military service, or even in one man’s breast, the arm of the king is broken. On the other hand, God has a sword of his own, and there are times when he places this in the hand of a combatant. There are times when God gives extraordinary strength, or skill, to a human arm. For wise reasons his assistance is not seen, his action is not discovered. Men put down the result to chance or to the fortunes of war. It is a common failing to forget God. We may always have God’s strength in our arm if we will. If we keep closely at his side, and calmly do his will, he will surely be on our side if we are forced into battle. Then we shall feel that the battle is not ours; it is the Lord’s.D.<\/p>\n

HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eze 30:1-3<\/span><\/strong>, <\/strong>Eze 30:7<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The day of desolation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

To what extent we are to take the prophet’s description of the “woe” that was to overtake Egypt in a strictly external sense must (as said before on Eze 29:16<\/span>) depend on our principle of biblical interpretation, together with our reading of ancient history. For the purpose of religious edification it is enough that we accept these words as a picture of the desolation to which a course of guilt, whether national or individual, may be expected to lead.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> NATIONAL<\/strong> DESOLATION<\/strong>. Of this Ezekiel furnishes, in the whole chapter, a most graphic picture.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Prosperity (fullness) departs, and there is no more boast of its great population (Verse 10).<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Violent death lays numbers of its people low; the land is “filled with the slain” (Verses 4, 11).<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> Its hope, in the person of its young men, is slain (Verse 17).<\/p>\n

4.<\/strong> Its beauty, its pride, in the person of its daughters, is removed (Verse 18).<\/p>\n

5.<\/strong> Its physical resources are dried up (Verse 12).<\/p>\n

6.<\/strong> Its natural leaders are lost to it (verse 13).<\/p>\n

7.<\/strong> Its religious institutions are broken up (Verse 13).<\/p>\n

8.<\/strong> Its allies and dependencies are dragged down with it to the ground (Verses 5, 6); “its <\/em>yokes are broken” (Verse 18).<\/p>\n

9.<\/strong> Its people are stricken with dismay; instead of its ancient pride and pomp (Verse 18), fearfulness fills the heart of its inhabitants (Verse 13); a cloud of dire misfortune throws the whole country into dark shadow (Verses 3, 18). The final, comprehensive touch is in the language of the text.<\/p>\n

10.<\/strong> Desolation in the midst of desolation. It does not appear that Egypt ever presented so desperate a scene as this; and we may understand either<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> that God, for some sufficient reason, forbore to visit the land with the last extremity of woe (see Jon 3:4<\/span>, Jon 3:10<\/span>); or<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> that the language of the prophecy is to be taken as hyperbolical, and thus interpreted. But we must also understand that<\/p>\n

(3)<\/strong> the ultimate issue of collective (national) iniquity is destruction, desolation; witness the cities of the plain, Nineveh, Babylon, Jerusalem. The “day” of sin and of defiance, of tyrannical power and guilty gratification may last long, but its sun is sure to set in dark clouds, and when the morrow comes, as it will come, there will be a day of dire and widespread desolation. “Woe worth the day!” when it arrives.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> DESOLATION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> SPIRIT<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> In what it is found<\/em>. <\/em>Spiritual desolation is experienced when all that is really precious to the human soul is broken up and has departed. When<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> the good habits <\/em>of devotion and of virtue, formed in childhood, have become loosened and have given way;<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> the soul has lost its faith <\/em>in the providence, the nearness, the notice, and perhaps even the being of God;<\/p>\n

(3)<\/strong> the man has become separated, <\/em>both in sympathy and in action, from those with whom he once walked and worshipped;<\/p>\n

(4)<\/strong> hope of future blessedness has left the heart bare of all expectancy beyond the grave, and the future is nothing but a blank;<\/p>\n

(5)<\/strong> life has lost all its sacredness, <\/em>and therefore nearly all its worth. This sad desolateness of son culminates in<\/p>\n

(6)<\/strong> the loss of all self-respect<\/em>, and in<\/p>\n

(7)<\/strong> the extension <\/em>of the same spiritual waste to those who are within range of its influence; when one is “desolate in the midst of desolation.”<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> How it may be averted<\/em>. <\/em>“None of them that trust in him shall be desolate,” says the psalmist (Psa 35:22<\/span>). The fear of God, walking in the light of his truth, communion with Jesus Christ and association with his friends and followers, the daily prayer for the restraining and the prompting influences of the Spirit of God,this will secure the soul from loss and from decline. He who lives thus will not enter even the outer shadow of this calamity.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> The way of deliverance<\/em>. <\/em>Men once thought that there was no <\/em>way for a human soul to ascend from the pit of spiritual ruin to the lofty levels of holy service and sacred joy and immortal hope. We think thus no more now that he has spoken to us who has said, “I am the Way.”C.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:18<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Broken yokes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I shall break there the yokes of Egypt.” There are many yokes which are laid on men’s shoulders from which they may well wish to be freed; and there is one yoke concerning which no such thought need be cherished for a moment. There is the yoke of<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> HUMAN<\/strong> OPPRESSION<\/strong>. The sad story of the human race is, to a very large extent, the history of human oppression. “Man’s inhumanity to man ‘ may well “make us mourn” as we dwell upon it. And among his various cruelties and wrongs we have to give oppression <\/em>a prominent placepolitical, domestic, personal oppression. It includes the denial of the rights of manhood and of womanhood, the exacting of hard and burdensome labor, or of heavy and excessive tribute, or of a dishonoring and hurtful homage, the inflicting of pain and suffering of many kinds. It seems to be in the nature of sin to harden men’s hearts against one another, until they not only endure but positively enjoy the sight of the oppression they impose. Ezekiel speaks of” the yokes of Egypt.” No doubt that country, in the plenitude of its power, exacted tribute, enforced labor, laid heavy burdens upon many of its own subjects or (as in an earlier time, when Israel was under its heel) on other peoples. But when the Babylonian power came up and subdued it, its hard hold on these had to be relaxed, its yoke was broken in twain. This, in the providence of God, has frequently happened. Power becomes wealthy; wealth leads to luxury and indulgence; indulgence leads to effeminacy and decline; weakness succumbs to some other power that has arisen; and then and thus its “yoke is broken.”<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> SERVITUDE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> SIN<\/strong>. “Know <\/em>ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants [slaves] ye are to whom ye obey? Ye were the servants [slaves] of sin” (Rom 6:16<\/span>, Rom 6:17<\/span>). Sin conducts, by sure steps, to spiritual bondage; it lays a hard and heavy yoke upon the soul; it may be that of a grasping selfishness, or of an absorbing worldliness, or of a degrading vice, or of such a fatal habit as that of procrastination. But it is a hard bondage, a cruel yoke, which must be broken <\/em>if there is to be spiritual liberty and eternal life. God, in the gospel of Jesus Christ, can and does break this deadly yoke.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> He fills the soul with a sense of shame, and with a holy, renewing sorrow.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> He leads the awakened soul to a Divine Savior, in whoso love and service the bond is broken.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> He gives to the seeking, trustful soul the cleansing, liberating power of his Holy Spirit; and thus the yoke is broken and the man is freed. There is another yoke of an entirely different nature; it is in<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> SERVICE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> JESUS<\/strong> CHRIST<\/strong>. “Take my yoke,” he says; “my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” In that which is the service of love and of righteousness there is real liberty and lasting joy.C.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:21<\/span><\/strong>, <\/strong>Eze 30:22<\/span><\/strong>, <\/strong>Eze 30:24<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The broken and the strengthened arm.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I have broken the arm of Pharaoh King of Egypt;” “I will strengthen the arms of the King of Babylon.” These words suggest to us three things.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> GOD<\/strong>‘S ACTION<\/strong> ON<\/strong> ALL<\/strong> THE<\/strong> NATIONS<\/strong>. God was in an especial sense “the God of Israel,” but certainly not in an exclusive sense. He was, as he is, the God of all the nations. He was observing, directing, overruling everywhere. If Egypt fell, it was because he “broke the arm of Pharaoh;” if Babylon triumphed, it was because he made it strong in the day of battle. Statesmen and warriors were supposing that all events were the outcome of their policy and of their strategy; but, in fact, there was a power behind them and all their schemes, laying low or raising up, bringing into humiliation or causing to succeed. And there has been no age of the world, as there has been no part of the earth, in which the Divine hand has not been engaged either in breaking or in building.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> BROKEN<\/strong> ARM<\/strong> OF<\/strong> INIQUITY<\/strong>. We may truly say that God is continually occupied in “breaking the arm” of wrong and sin. He does so in one of two ways.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Either by his direct active interposition<\/em>; <\/em>so touching the chain of events at one of its links, as to bring about disaster; intervening at some point by the introduction of some factor which makes all the difference in the end.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Or by the steadfast action of his wise and holy laws<\/em>those <\/em>laws which compel all wrong-doing to others and all violation of what is due to ourself to lead down to weakness, to misery, to death. Iniquity often seems very strong; it is sustained by stone fortresses, by armies and navies, by high rank, by great wealth, by numbers, by deep-rooted customs, by venerable institutions. Nevertheless, it is on its way to overthrow and ruin. For God has designed to “break its arm<\/em>.” <\/em>He may do so by unexpected means; he may take longer time than we wish he would take in the process; but he will accomplish it. He will bring Divine justice, Divine wisdom, Divine penalty, to bear upon and against it, and its power will be broken. It is a vain thing to be on the side of prevailing wrong; for if we are, God is against us, and, sooner or later, we shall “be confounded.”<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> STRENGTHENED<\/strong> ARM<\/strong> OF<\/strong> RECTITUDE<\/strong>. It may be that God will “strengthen the arm of Babylon,” of some “power” or of some man who has no claim on the ground of righteousness, doing this for the accomplishment of some wise and holy purpose. But there is no promise to unrighteousness<\/em>. <\/em>Those who regard not the works nor the Word of the Lord need not expect that he will “build them up” (see Psa 28:5<\/span>). It is those who fear him, who seek to do his will and to follow in the footsteps of his Son,it is they who may hope to have “their arm strengthened,” their work crowned with success, their hopes fulfilled. Not, indeed, that all good men will receive from God all that they would like to have; for we cannot “choose our own inheritance” with any deep wisdom, and it is well for us that many things on which we set our heart should be, as they are, denied us of God. But, making all needful exceptions, the soul that earnestly seeks God’s face and strives to live his life will find that his Divine Lord will “strengthen his arm” by;<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Directing his course in ways of competence and peace.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> “Strengthening him with strength in his soul,” and thus fitting him for all duty, trial, and temptation.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> Making him the source of blessing to those whom he seeks to serve in the fields of sacred usefulness.C.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

CHAPTER 30<\/p>\n

1And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, 2Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Howl! alas 3for the day! For near is the day, and [indeed] near is the day of Jehovah, a day of cloud; a time of the heathen nations shall it be. 4And the sword comes into Egypt, and there is anguish in Cush at the fall of the pierced-through in Egypt; and they take 5his tumult, and his foundations are pulled down. Cush, and Phut, and Lud, and all the strange people, and Kub, and the sons of the covenant-land, 6shall fall with them by the sword. Thus saith Jehovah, And they that uphold Egypt fall; and the pride of his strength comes down: from Migdol to Syene shall they fall in him by the sword, sentence of the Lord Jehovah. 7And they shall be desolate in the midst of the desolate lands, and his cities 8shall be in the midst of the wasted cities. And they know that I am Jehovah, when I give a fire in Egypt, and all his helpers shall be shattered. 9In that day shall messengers go forth from before Me in ships, to frighten Cush the secure, and there is anguish among them, as in the day of Egypt; for, behold, it comes. 10Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, And I make the tumult of Egypt to cease through the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 11He and his people with him, the violent of the heathen, are brought to destroy the land, and they draw their swords upon Egypt, and fill the land with the 12pierced-through. And I give [make] the streams for drought, and sell the land into the hand of the wicked, and lay the land and its fulness waste by the hand of strangers: I, Jehovah, have spoken. 13Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, And I destroy the foul idols, and make the idols to cease out of Noph; and there shall be no more a prince out of the land of Egypt: and I give fear in the 14land of Egypt. And I make Pathros desolate, and give fire in Zoan, and do 15judgment in [on] No. And I pour out My fury upon Sin, the stronghold of 16Egypt; and cut off the tumult of No. And I give fire in Egypt: Sin shall writhe [for pain], and No shall be for conquest [broken], and Nophbesiegers 17[have] by day. The young men of Aven and Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword, 18and they [these cities] shall go into captivity. And in Tehaphnehes the day shall be dark, in that [when] I break there the yokes of Egypt, and the pride of its strength ceases in it: a cloud shall cover it, and its daughters shall go 19into captivity. And I do judgment in Egypt, and they know that I am Jehovah.<\/p>\n

20And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first [month], on the seventh of the month, the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, 21Son of man, the arm of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, I have broken; and, behold, it is not bound up, that one might apply healings [means of healing], that one might lay on a fillet to bind it, that it may become strong, that it may take hold of the sword. 22Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I [come] on Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and I break his arms, the strong and the broken, and make 23the sword fall out of his hand. And I scatter Egypt among the heathen, and 24disperse them in the lands. And I strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and give My sword into his hand, and shatter the army of Pharaoh, 25and he groans the groans of the pierced-through before him. And [yea] I take firm hold of [hold strong] the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall; and they know that I am Jehovah, in that I give My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he stretches it out against 26the land of Egypt. And I scatter Egypt among the heathen, and disperse them in the lands; and they know that I am Jehovah.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:2<\/span>. Sept.: … , (3) Vulg.: v, v diei!<\/em><\/p>\n

Eze 30:4<\/span>. . <\/p>\n

Eze 30:5<\/span>. Sept.: . . . . Vulg.: Aethiopia et Libya et Lydi et omne reliquum vulgus<\/em>(Another read: ; Arab: Nubienses<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

Eze 30:6<\/span>. Vulg.: superbia imperii ejus: a turre Syenes<\/em><\/p>\n

Eze 30:9<\/span>. … (Another read.: , Syr., Ar., Targ., Vulg.)<\/p>\n

Eze 30:11<\/span>. . . Vulg.: fortissimi<\/em><\/p>\n

Eze 30:13<\/span>. . . . . <\/p>\n

Eze 30:14<\/span>. Sept.: … Vulg.: in Alexandria<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:15<\/span>. Pelusium multitudinem Alexandri<\/em>. (Another read: )<\/p>\n

Eze 30:16<\/span>. . . Vulg.: quasi parturiens dolebit Pelusium et Alexandria erit dissipata et in Memphis angusti quotidian<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:17<\/span>. . et ips captiv<\/em><\/p>\n

Eze 30:18<\/span>. <\/p>\n

Eze 30:21<\/span>. Vulg.: non est obvolutum ut restitueretur ei sanitas<\/em><\/p>\n

Eze 30:22<\/span>. Sept.: … . . .<\/p>\n

Eze 30:24<\/span>. … .. . .<\/p>\n

Eze 30:26<\/span>. … <\/p>\n

EXEGETICAL REMARKS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eze 30:1-19<\/span>. The Day of Judgment.<\/em><\/p>\n

As this section is without any chronological preface, this may be understood if it justifies its place by the fit position of its contents. Thus the day<\/strong> in Eze 30:2<\/span><\/strong> appears as the time of the heathen nations<\/strong> in Eze 30:3<\/span>; hence it is quite suitable as an appendix to the outline of the prophecy taken as a whole (Eze 29:1<\/span> sq.). So, too, the sword coming upon Egypt (Eze 30:4<\/span>) is more definitely indicated in Eze 30:10<\/span> sq., as through the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, and so Eze 30:20<\/span> sq. is prepared for. Not that the naked thought expressed in the introduction to the prophecy (Eze 29:17-21<\/span>), of the great catastrophe hanging over Egypt, assumes flesh and blood in the main body of the prophecy (Eze 30:1-19<\/span>), as Hengst. expresses himself; but the prophecy upon Egypt in Eze 29:1-16<\/span>, primarily coloured by its reference to Israel, is now again coloured by the respect had to the heathen, in particular to the Egyptian covenant-associates.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:2<\/span>. Howl<\/strong>, Isa 13:6<\/span> (, to sound). The sound is expressed by ,like (Eze 4:14<\/span>), especially with ,in the word-sound. The day<\/strong>, therefore the time, when that takes place which is contained in Eze 30:4<\/span> sq., gives the reference () of the mournful howl. The persons addressed will presently become plain.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:3<\/span>. Why they were called to howling had its ground in the nearness<\/em> (Eze 7:7<\/span>), which, however, has no chronological determination, except in the very near approach of the day. This is primarily designated as , i.e.<\/em> the one proper to the Lord, His day in particular, not only determined, fixed by Him; also not that alone which comes from Him; but, as the standing formula: And they know that I am Jehovah, readily suggests, the day of the manifestation of Jehovah<\/strong>. It is, as the comparison with Oba 1:15<\/span>, Joe 1:15<\/span>, Isa 13:6-9<\/span>, Zep 1:7<\/span>; Zep 1:14<\/span>, shows, the becoming manifest in judgment. (Klief.: judgment, punishment, slaughter-day.) With this also agrees the designation of it as a day of cloud; comp. Eze 1:4<\/span>. The symbolical import is obvious, since, when the clear light of day comes to be veiled, there is a threatening of storm (Eze 30:18<\/span>, Eze 34:12<\/span>; Joe 1:15<\/span>; Joe 2:2<\/span>; Zep 1:15<\/span>); therefore one has to think of the wrath of God, and, in consequence thereof, a calamity which will break forth. Accordingly, (without article) is self-determined, as meaning the time when heathen nations<\/em>they, consequently, are the parties addressed in Eze 30:2<\/span>, spoken of generally as contradistinguished merely from Israel, but more definitely indicated in what followsshall experience their judgment;<\/em> not precisely their end (as Hitzig), but Jehovahs manifestation in the judgment of wrath pregnant with calamity to them. Comp. besides, Eze 22:3<\/span>; Isa 2:12<\/span>. [Not identical with the day of Egypt, Eze 30:9<\/span>, as Hengst. thinks, however similar, for the heathen were not simply the Egyptians. But still less, with Vatabl., Mnst., and others, are we to think of the Chaldeans as executors of the judgment.]<\/p>\n

Eze 30:4<\/span>. The way and manner of the predicted judgment is here represented: the sword comes;<\/strong> and the heathen peoples, who are addressed in Eze 30:2<\/span>, are now named, viz. Egypt<\/strong>, in which war or bloody uproar so frightfully raged, that in Ethiopia<\/strong> the impression made by it was , the corporeal state of convulsive writhing, for: anguish, terror, and woe. Nah 2:11<\/span> [10]; Isa 21:3<\/span>.Upon , see the Lexicons.Hitzig: alludes to .The subject to: and they take<\/strong>, is naturally: the enemies, considered indefinitely., see at Eze 29:19<\/span>. Hengst.: this is here the prosperity of Egypt bringing with it active life., the foundations<\/strong>, figuratively of the state as a house, not to be understood literally of the Egyptian chief cities. The figure, however, must not be limited (as in Isa 19:10<\/span>) to the higher classes, who bear immediately the state-building; nor must it (as Hitzig) be understood of the mercenaries, who only support Egypt (Eze 30:5-6<\/span>), and could hardly be represented as the foundations of its existence as a state. The representation must undoubtedly be (as well remarked by Hupfeld on Psa 11:3<\/span>) of that which bears the civic society and holds it upordinances and laws; so that, if formerly it was the well<\/em>-being of Egypt which was concerned, it is now the being<\/em>, the very existence of it.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:5<\/span>. Ethiopia<\/strong>, as already at Eze 30:4<\/span>, instar omnium<\/em>, named as the neighbour and political associate of Egypt, opens the array of Egypts supporters (Eze 30:6<\/span>). Upon Phut<\/strong> and Lud<\/strong>, see at Eze 27:10<\/span>. is: joining-in, mixing, immigration, therefore: strange people;<\/strong> scarcely (as the Syrian translates) could all Arabia be meant. Exo 12:38<\/span>; 1Ki 10:15<\/span>; Jer. 25:20<\/span>; 24:1<\/span>, 37; Neh 13:3<\/span>. Hv. distinguishes these from the covenant-associates of Egypt. But what else could Cush be?Kub<\/strong>, only here, is by some regarded as written instead of , which Ewald reads, though he translates Nubia; while Kliefoth thinks of the Lubim in Nah 3:9, 2Ch 16:8<\/span>, the Libygyptii of the ancients; or taken instead of , so Gesenius and the Arab. translation, Nubians; and Hitzig also supposes to have been the older Heb. form for Nubia (?);by others it has been understood (Hv.) of a people Kufa<\/em> frequently occurring on the monuments of Egyptaccording to Wilkinson, an important Asiatic people lying farther north than Palestine, with long hair, richly clothed, and with parti-coloured sandals; the tribute which they are represented as bringing bespeaks not a little of wealth, civilisation, and skill. Hengst. combines Kub with Eze 27:10<\/span>, and makes it correspond to the Persians, who had entered in consequence of the coalition into the service of Tyre, and whose appearance here cannot be thought strange; everywhere where there was a struggle against the tyrants, mercenaries were to be found of this powerful aspiring people. The name was a domestic oneKufa in old Persian = mountain; the particular region, as appears to Hitzig, to be sought in Kohistan.The sons of the covenant-land<\/strong> are understood by Jerome, Theodoret, the Sept., the Arab, trans., also by Hitzig, of the Jews who had taken refuge in Egypt (Jeremiah 42-44.); the covenant-land (with the article), that promised to Abraham and his seed according to Gods covenant, is Canaan. The Syriac translation, on the other hand, points to the associates in the league, which the expression certainly does not clearly justify. Hence Hengst., understanding by the covenant-land Cush, makes the beginning turn hack to the close; while Schmieder, with whom Kliefoth agrees, conjectures a tract of land unknown to us, but near to Egypt, and in a state of league with it (!).<\/p>\n

Eze 30:6<\/span>. , either as Ewald: there fall Egypts supporters or, after it has been said in Eze 30:5<\/span> that the anguish in Cush shall become a falling with Egypt, there is in Eze 30:6<\/span> a more comprehensive general statement: as well as, etc. [Hengst.: a new break, new touches to be given to the picture.] Comp. Psa 37:17<\/span>; Psa 54:6<\/span> [4]. When the one party falls, the other sees itself necessitated to go down from its self-conscious height. On pride<\/strong>, etc., see at Eze 24:21<\/span>; comp. besides, Eze 29:10<\/span>. They who shall fall in him<\/strong>, or it, are those who would support it. Too far removed are the idols and princes of Eze 30:13<\/span>, which are brought in by Schmieder as the supporters; also the fortified cities in Eze 30:15<\/span>, and the warriors in Eze 30:17<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:7<\/span>. Comp. Eze 29:12<\/span>. Where Egypt is the principal subject, there can be no question of its being so also here.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:8<\/span>. The practical knowledge of experience is made in the fire<\/strong>, which Jehovah causes in Egypt, that is, at the breaking forth of His anger, with which also most fitly suits: and they shall be shattered<\/strong>, etc., so<\/strong> that they must know the judgment of God to be upon them. According to others, the war-fire; according to the Chald. paraph., a people violent as fire; according to Cocceius, it must mean the consuming, desolating result of the war.All the helpers<\/strong> of Egypt are those who give support in Eze 30:6<\/span>, both those who are named (Eze 30:5<\/span>), and those who are not named.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:9<\/span>. With manifest allusion to Isaiah 18<\/span>, messengers in ships<\/strong> are made to announce to Ethiopia the fate of Egypt. (In Isa. it is papyrus-skiffs, which people were wont to roll together when they passed the cataracts of the Nile, and then open out again. The here, from , to set up, according to Hv. certainly with reference to the existing sea-force of Egypt: warships, which suits neither with fugitives nor with messengers.) The business-mart and commerce on the boundaries of Upper Egypt and Ethiopia readily provide the image of such messengers at command,represented as going forth from before<\/strong> Jehovah sitting in judgment upon Egypt,so that one does not need to think either of the Chaldeans, or of Egyptian messengers formally sent by the Egyptians, or of Egyptian fugitives.Since there is , according to Eze 30:4<\/span>, so this is only explained here by ; hence also is repeated; therefore not a joyful message, as in Isaiah 18<\/span>. with reference to Assyria., either<\/em>, a definite fixing of time (Isa 23:5<\/span>), as also is read, but which would plainly be a repetition of ; or<\/em>, better perhaps, with Hv., pointing to that old period of punishment in the history of Egypt which filled neighbouring regions with dread of Jehovah (Exo 15:14<\/span> sq.).Eze 7:5-6<\/span>; Eze 7:10<\/span>; Eze 21:12<\/span>. The coming is that which had been threatened, to be supplied from the context.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:10<\/span>. Comp. Eze 26:13<\/span>.Eze 29:19<\/span>.The tumult<\/strong> comprehends as well the dense population characteristic of Egypt, as the moving of goods and chattels hither and thither. Kliefoth; the turmoil of the people in the possession and enjoyment of their goods.The hand<\/strong> of the Judge. His instrument and executioner, is to be Nebuchadnezzar<\/strong> (comp. at Eze 26:7<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Eze 30:11<\/span>. Eze 28:7<\/span>.23.42. Hengst.: they come not of themselves, but the Almighty brings them, hence they are irresistible, etc.The destruction of the land by the sword is more nearly given, since it is represented as being filled with the slain. Comp. Eze 12:14<\/span>; Eze 11:6<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:12<\/span>. Eze 25:5<\/span>; Eze 29:10<\/span>; Eze 29:3<\/span>. The destruction of its prosperity, since its natural springs and the land become the property of others, like a slave that has been sold by his master. Hitzig: God assists the instruments of His will, taking an immediate part in the work of destruction, and, at the same time, displacing a hindrance to their advance and a bulwark of the Egyptians.Since is parallel with , the wicked<\/strong> can only be interpreted from the feeling of the Egyptians, and in accordance with the hurtful action of the strangers<\/strong>, as is to beat down, to destroy. The general wickedness of mankind (Mat 7:11<\/span>) lies here as far out of the way as a special application to the Chaldeans, as being also not better than the Egyptians. Comp. however, Eze 7:24<\/span>; Eze 28:7<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:13<\/span>. A carrying out of the judgment by special traits, which for Egypt especially are characteristic. Thus, as regards the (see at Eze 6:4<\/span>), the (chiming with the nothings), Lev 19:4<\/span>; Lev 26:1<\/span>, and often (1Co 8:4<\/span>), so that there is no need for supplying from Isa 19:1<\/span>; they are neither the images of the gods, nor the worshippers of them (as the Chald. paraph.): it is simply the idol-gods.From Noph<\/strong> (, sometimes also ), that is, from Memphis; to-day, unimportant ruins on the western side of the Nile. The name in Plutarch is explained as , and as ; in hieroglyphics, Mam-Phtah that is, the place of Vulcan. The lower valley of the river honoured as the highest god Phtah (fire-god), the oldest and first of the gods, according to Manetho, ruling 9000 years before the others, as he is named in the inscriptions: the father of the fathers of the gods, the heavenly ruler, the lord of the gracious countenance, the king of both worlds, the lord (the father) of truth. As god of the beginning, he has the form of a naked child, of a dwarf; at other times wrapped round mummy-like, standing by a rod, with a flagellum and mace and the Nilometer in his hand. As he was called Tatamen (the former), as world-creator, so he commonly has before him an egg upon a potters wheel (the weaver of the beginnings moving the egg of the sun and moon). The Egyptian scarabus (beetle) was sacred to him, which was sometimes shown upon his shoulders in the place of a head. His great sanctuary at Memphis, which was said to have been as old as Egypt itself, was adorned and extended by the Pharaohs down to the overthrow of the kingdom. Cambyses, when admitted into this temple, exhibited his disdain toward the image of the god.Since Memphis was at the same time the old royal city, the transition from the service of idols to the was natural, especially as the connection of the gods and kings is genuinely Egyptian. Comp. on Ezekiel 29<\/span>. The history of Egypt is that of its gods, and the names and deeds of its kings, as they are painted upon the walls of its temples.That there was to be no more a native prince is not necessarily said, with , but only that as prince there should no more be one like the old Pharaohs and the Egyptian gods, out of Egypt, as contradistinguished from other lands, whose princely power would, as hitherto has been the case, obtain legitimation. Therewith also agrees the fear<\/strong>, which seems to point to a foreign ascendency that was to carry it over all.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:14<\/span>. From Lower to Upper Egypt, the description gives prominence especially to the mother-land (see on Eze 29:14<\/span>), the brrth-land of the people.Comp. Eze 30:8<\/span>.Zoan<\/strong>, however, is, again, in Lower Egypt, the old Tanis, on the branch of the Nile which bears that name (Dschane, Egyptian: low ground),a chief city, Num 13:22<\/span>; Psa 78:12<\/span>; Psa 78:43<\/span>.Eze 5:10<\/span>.No () leads back to Upper Egypt; when fully read No-Amon, it is Thebes (Vulg., anticipating, Alexandria), the very ancient Upper Egyptian chief city, with the Greeks Diospolis. (Noh, Egyp.: surveyors chain; hence: inheritance; therefore: seat of Amonsee Gesen. Lex<\/em>.) In the Upper land there reigned as divinity Amun (Amen), probably = the concealed, the reigning god in the height, whose colour is blue on the monuments. He was for Upper Egypt what Phtah was for Lower Egypt. He is represented as standing, or sitting enthroned, with two high feathers upon his kingly head-dress. According to Manetho, the union of Egypt under a great dominion was effected by Menes from This, below Thebes, therefore proceeding from the Upper landalthough this state-life had its centre in Memphis, in the Lower land; and during its flourishing period, another dominion, the territory of which stretched beyond the cataracts of Syene, had been founded at Thebes. Princes of Thebes afterwards ruled over all Egypt, took their seat at Memphis, and the kings of Egypt were now called Lords of both Lands in the inscriptions. Upon the monuments the red higher crown is that of Upper Egypt, the lower white one that of Lower Egypt. So that the prophetic representation takes into view the whole of Egypt, repeats Thebes for Upper Egypt, yet knows, at the same time, to mention names mostly from the more extensive, as well as more important and more powerful, Lower country.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:15<\/span>. Eze 14:19<\/span>, 21:36 [Eze 21:31<\/span>], Eze 9:8<\/span>, Eze 7:8<\/span>., the mud-city, Pelusium (), a border city on the east, in a swampy region, which the sea now overflows. Egypt, according to Strabo, was here difficult to be attacked, and Suidas designates Pelusium the key of Egypt for ingress and egress., ch.Eze 24:25<\/span>. Eze 29:8<\/span>. (Eze 30:10<\/span>), comp. Eze 30:14<\/span>. An allusion undoubtedly to Amon, whence No derived its surname (Jer 46:25<\/span>). Amon is incapable of preserving to the city its Hamon<\/em> (tumult<\/strong>), Hengst. The mention of the multitude of people in No Hitzig finds to be suitable, since the population of the Thebaid crowded principally into the farextending chief city. (Comp. Iliad<\/em>, ix. 381 sq.)<\/p>\n

Eze 30:16<\/span>, Eze 30:8<\/span>; Eze 30:14<\/span>.Instead of: , the Qeri has:, from , whence in vers.4, 9.The repeated mention of Sin, No, and Noph gives emphasis to the boundaries, Upper and Lower Egypt. = , in Eze 26:10<\/span>. is clear so far, as is plainly to be understood of a pressing, closing in siege; on the other hand, may signify by day<\/strong>, as in the well-known juxtaposition with , but also what this juxtaposition paraphrastically expresses, namely: always<\/em>, unceasingly, therefore: daily<\/em> = , or the day over, also the whole day long = (comp. Psa 13:3<\/span> [2]). [Michlal Zophi interprets: and against Noph come the enemies of day, that is, openly, not as thieves of the night. Similarly Hitzig: enemies will be in broad daylight, meaning that it will be filled by them. Kliefoth: of the enemy not fearing an open assault. Also Hengst., who, from Jer 15:8<\/span> and Zep 2:4<\/span>, understands it of a state of deep humiliation, in which the enemy disdains, in the consciousness of his absolute superiority, to surprise by night (Oba 1:5<\/span>). Enemies (besiegers) by day, a concise expression for: such an one as has to deal with enemies by day.]It might be also an affecting exclamation. [Abendana (after Job 3:5<\/span>) = their day will be distress (Vulg.). The Chaldee paraphrase: enemies compass her daily. Peculiar are the renderings of the Sept. and of the Arabic, which understand it of a breaking down of the Nile dams, and a rushing in of the waters; the Syriac: will give way into fragments. Ewald: Memphis will be for perpetual rust ()! Hv.: Memphis shall become a constant splitting, that is, shall be for ever shattered; it shall now be, in a manner, called , in allusion to the local name of Memphis, !]<\/p>\n

Eze 30:17<\/span>. , the choice young men of war (Mar 14:51<\/span>); rightly Hitzig: the garrison warrior-caste), as contradistinguished from the inhabitants.Aven<\/strong> (), the purpose in the change of the name ,, must, according to Hengst., point to the cause of the divine judgments which were coming on it (comp. Hos 4:15<\/span>; Hos 10:5<\/span>). Aven<\/strong> is nothingness, vanity, with respect to the worship of idols. [Hengst.: vileness, that people serve the creature more than the Creator.] It was the Greek Heliopolis, Jer 43:13<\/span>, House of the Sun; Kopt. On; Egyptian, Anu,a city in Lower Egypt on the east bank of the Nile, and was from of old the proper seat of the Egyptian sun-worship; a centre of idolatry, with a numerous learned priesthood; the principal city in this respect, and that where Plato and Herodotus received instruction; mentioned in Gen 41:45<\/span>; Gen 41:50<\/span>. Now there are only some ruins beside a village, with an obelisk seventy feet high of red granite. Here, in a famous temple, was Ra, the god of the solar disc, worshipped (the father of the gods), the second ruler of the world. His symbol was the suns disc borne by two wings; the beasts sacred to him were the sparrow-hawk, the light-coloured bull, and the cat. From Ra, their original and type, the Pharaohs derived their power over Egypt, as sons of Ra, the name given to them. See, besides, in Duncker, 1. p. 39 sq.Pi-beseth<\/strong>, only here; at present existing merely as ruins; Kopt.: Poubast, the cat, on account of the goddess Pacht (Basht, Pascht), commonly represented with a cats head, who was worshipped at Bubastis, in Lower Egypt, on the Pelusian branch of the Nile. (She was also named the Mistress of Memphis, and also Mother.) To her joyous service, according to Herodotus, was devoted the most pleasant of Egyptian temples. At her festival, to which men and women came in boats from all places, amid song, playing of flutes, clapping of hands, and striking of rattles, more wine was drunk than in all the rest of the year.If the guardians, the protectors of the sanctuaries, fall by the sword, then also by the same must the gods themselves fall. Herodotus designates the Bubastic Nome as the region where especially resided the Calastrians, that is, the young recruits of the army. Comp. also Eze 30:5-6<\/span>, Eze 6:11-12<\/span>. The are not the women (Sept.), but the cities named, their inhabitants (comp. Eze 30:18<\/span>); see also Eze 12:11<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:18<\/span>. Not far from Sin comes the border city (toward Syria) , Tehaphnehes, in Jeremiah (Jer. 63:9) , Tahpanhes, where, as we there learn, was a royal palace, Daphnoi (Taphne); the name, according to Jablonski, Egyptian: Taphe-eneh, as much as, Lands End. , Hengst.: the day spares, withholds as a miser. Therefore, from , which in substance, however, is the same as: darkens itself; from , to be darkened. There, for those of Israel who had fled thither (Jer 43:7<\/span> sq., Eze 44:1<\/span> sq.), the pre-intimations of the day of judgment begin (Kl.); or generally: there changes the prosperity and splendour of Egypt; according to others: there will be mourning. Hv.: here had Jeremiah spoken his powerful word of threatening against Egypt; here, through the settling down of the Jews at that time, the idea of Egyptian oppression toward Israel springs up afresh; and hence a calling to remembrance of Lev 26:13<\/span>. Hengst. compares with the breaking of the yokes of Egypt Eze 29:15<\/span>; Eze 30:13<\/span>, no prince, etc.; the yoke formerly lying upon Israel, latterly also upon other nations, was now to be for ever broken. refers to the border-place, with which the land opens, and with the broken land the yokes which Egypt had imposed, consequently its dominion (comp. Eze 30:21-22<\/span>; Eze 30:24<\/span>), should be broken. (Umbr.: All order and discipline shall be dissolved in the ruled and strongly-curbed land: an end shall be made to its old renown and pride.), like , is to be understood of the whole land. [Cocceius thinks of the death of the king with reference to the kings seat at Taphne (Jer. 63:9). Rosenm. reads , also Ewald and the Sept.; while Hitzig supposes to be meant, not the spears indeed (Hab 3:14<\/span>; 2Sa 18:14<\/span>), but the supporting staffs, Eze 30:6<\/span>, which in Eze 30:8<\/span> are also represented as going to be broken.], not Daphnai, but Egypt, on which account it precedes emphatically; as also her daughters<\/strong>, namely, the cities, could only be referred to Egypt; if referred to Daphnai, too much would be said for it (Eze 16:27<\/span>; Eze 16:31<\/span>; Eze 16:46<\/span>; Eze 26:6<\/span>). (Eze 30:3<\/span>). The Chaldee Paraphrast makes the cloud mean the host of the king of Babylon.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:19<\/span> concludes with Egypt generally.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:14<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:20-26<\/span>. Pharaoh and the King of Babylon<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:20<\/span>. As to the time, almost a quarter of a year later than Eze 29:1<\/span> sq.; Kliefoth: in the second year of the siege of Jerusalem, as is clear also from Eze 30:21<\/span>, after that Hophra had been defeated by the Chaldeans (Jer 37:5<\/span>; Jer 37:7<\/span>). (That Ezekiel 29<\/span>. should contain no notice or allusion to the attempt of Pharaoh to bring help to Jerusalem, etc., may be controverted from what is said there in Eze 30:6<\/span>.) Hengst.: about three months later followed the conquest of Jerusalem (Jer 39:2<\/span>). As at Ezekiel 29<\/span>, so also here, the look of the exiled toward Egypt is to be turned back from it.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:21<\/span>. is certainly for the most part the forearm, as here also the expression to hold the sword proves, and so help, too, assistance, is expressed by it; so that, with Hv., Ewald, and others, one might think of the Egyptian attempt for the relief of Jerusalem: on the other hand, however, Hengst. is right when he explains the breaking of the arm of Pharaoh of a great overthrow, such as was only to be found in the well-known disaster at Carchemish, seventeen years before our prophecy, as this battle, in fact, destroyed the power of Pharaoh to make war, struck his might with a blow (comp. Jeremiah 46<\/span>.); while what respects the retreat of the Egyptians from Jerusalem, which became a matter of necessity to them, is nowhere reported. So that, as Hitzig in particular recognises, from the manifest contrariety of Eze 30:22<\/span>, which announces the future, is a full preterite, and presupposes a longer interval in connection with the indication of time in Eze 30:20<\/span> than could be the case with that retreat before Nebuchadnezzar, if this should have to be thought of generally as a thing already accomplished. Hengst. remarks: After it (i.e.<\/em>, the retreat of the Egyptians from Carchemish) our prophecy would have been unnecessary; it must have been delivered at a time when, humanly speaking, there was hope from the Egyptians., having respect to the existing state of Egypt since the battle of Carchemish, introduces the following description, in which the binding forms the principal statement on which the infinitives are dependent. Bound up<\/strong> is the first, the most immediate thing which has to be done after wounding, and the intention or aim thereof is to apply the means of healing<\/strong> (cures); in particular, since the chief means consist in the band which holds together the broken parts, that a bandage be applied ( resumes again) so that the arm be strengthened, and, as the consequence, be again rendered capable of taking hold of the sword.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:22<\/span>. Therefore<\/strong> refers to the foregoing principal announcement, that Pharaohs might is broken without the prospect of restoration, and accordingly what is farther impending can only be a complete overthrow; and this is introduced by , a parallel to Eze 30:21<\/span>, and then summarily pronounced ().The strong<\/strong> (, with a reference to in Eze 30:21<\/span>) signifies: what still existed unbroken as to power in Egypt, particularly in the land itself; the broken<\/strong> (Eze 30:21<\/span>), that which must still be broken, with allusion to the shattering at Carchemish; especially the impotent attempt to turn aside to the help of Jerusalem, which must therefore be thought of as still in immediate prospect. [Cocc. explains the two arms of Hophra, and the small Egyptian kingdom which followed. They have been also explained of the supremacy over Syria and that over Egypt.]The might, power, and dominion of Pharaoh are to become incapable of attack and resistance.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:23<\/span>. Comp. Eze 30:26<\/span>, Eze 29:12<\/span>; Eze 22:15<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:24<\/span>. , Piel (strengthening; anyhow, still another than is to be supposed in the of Eze 30:21<\/span>), for the sword<\/strong> also is not that which has fallen out of the hand of Pharaoh, but Jehovahs, whence the following explains itself, and at the same time what is said in Eze 30:22<\/span>., before the king of Babylon, who and his arms, here and in Eze 30:25<\/span> placed in opposition to Pharaoh and his arms, are the antithesis which forms the substance of this section.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:25<\/span>. , Hiphil, for distinction in respect to the Piel in Eze 30:24<\/span>, which, on account of the failings, , is explained by Hitzig, not through seizing, but with a reference to Exo 17:11-12<\/span>, and by way of contrast to through holding upright, holding above, so that he retains the upper hand. But the slight difference between holding strong and strengthening, endowing with power, is of itself enough. Hengst. compares Gen 49:24<\/span>, in respect that the arms of the king of Egypt, left to his own impotence, sank down powerless.Since the arms of both are named, the words: and they know<\/strong>, etc., may easily be referred thereto, but principally to the king of Babylon; yet also to the land of Egypt, against which the sword of judgment in the hand of that king was stretched out. may be referred to , also to .<\/p>\n

Eze 30:26<\/span>. Repetition of Eze 30:23<\/span> at the close.<\/p>\n

DOCTRINAL REFLECTIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Although the prophecy in Ezekiel 29<\/span> is of a general character, yet by the reference to Nebuchadnezzar, and especially from Eze 29:17<\/span> onwards, it gets a more specific character. We have therefore to hold by a fulfilment through the Chaldeans, and, indeed, in connection with what is said respecting Tyre. Apart from the circumstance that we have here to do with a prophet of God, we could not judge otherwise simply on this account, that a little reflection upon the inevitable disgrace of such a self-deception as would have been the case in respect to Tyre must alone have kept Ezekielinstead of merely suppressing the prophecy in question while the book was still in his own handfrom wishing now to compensate for the mistake by awakening like inconsiderate and rash expectations concerning Nebuchadnezzar in regard to Egypt. For one to whom the prophet is nothing but a writer must still at least credit him with this much of worldly prudence in respect to his literary honour. And if Ezekiel must needs prophesy ex eventu<\/em> (as Hitzig, for example, conceives), then prophecies like those contained in Ezekiel 26<\/span> and some following ones are purely unthinkable, so far as they remained unfulfilled; since it cannot but be supposed, that when our prophet closed his book, matters must have stood before him widely different from what they are presented in his prophecy. The dogmatic criticism, however, cannot once admit now that a prophecy has been fulfilled,a limitation of the standpoint which is not improved by the circumstance that the truth of the divine word (2Pe 1:21<\/span>) is made dependent on the statements or the silence of profane writers, and even of such as have given notoriously imperfect reports. The false prophet, he whose word did not come to pass, has by Gods word (Deu 18:22<\/span>) been as clearly as possible excluded from the canon.<\/p>\n

2. The reward for work, which, as Hitzig rightly enough says, had still to be given to Nebuchadnezzar, raises no question as to the conquest and, as could not fail to happen after a thirteen years siege, the destruction of Tyre. If the booty might have been thought of for the army, for Nebuchadnezzar it is necessary to think of Egypt. The song of triumph demanded by Hitzig for the fulfilment of the prophecy against Tyre is the double lamentation which we find in Ezekiel 27, 28<\/span>. Every one has his peculiar manner. But as regards the so-called historical witnesses, who should speak the decisive word on the fulfilment or non-fulfilment particularly of the prophecy of Ezekiel in respect to Egypt, they are the Greek historians, at the head of whom stands Herodotus, and they know absolutely nothing of a Chaldean invasion of Egyptnay, their narration is opposed to anything of the kind (Hitzig). This is imposing; let us reflect, however, that Herodotus had also learned nothing from his Egyptian informants of the defeat at Carchemish. We need only mention farther, that this Greek historian himself reproaches the priests of Egypt, and precisely in regard to this particular time, with embellishing the history of their country. Now, according to Herodotus, Pharaoh Hophrain consequence of the defeat which his army sustained from the Cyrenians, against whom it was to have rendered help to the Libyans, and of the revolt which in consequence thereof, and of the foreign mercenary troops retained in Egypt, broke forth on the part of the Egyptian warrior-class against Amasis, who, instead of bringing back the rebels to obedience, suffered himself to be proclaimed king by themlost freedom and his throne, and by the infuriated people was even murdered. Tholuck, who, if the cattle with the ark of the Lord should once turn aside, would not obstinately drive forward, remarks that as a witness Herodotus alone comes into consideration; before whom, however, the testimony of Ezekiel, himself a contemporary of the events, has no need to be abashed. If Herodotus readily received intelligence of the prosperous battle fought by Necho at Megiddo, but none respecting the much more important defeat sustained by him on the Euphrates from the Chaldeans, should it be thought strange if the priests observed silence also regarding the irruption of the Chaldeans into their own land? yea, if the miserable end which Hophra suffered through the foreign conqueror should have been rather represented by them as the deed of his own people? (So also Rawlinsons Herod<\/em>. B. ii. appen. c. 8.) With a fair appreciation of the historical representation of Herodotus, the cause there assigned, especially the revolution among the warrior-class of Egypt, might suffice for the overthrow of Hophra. Yet the hatred of the Egyptian people, not only expressed in Herodotus, but confirmed by monumental evidence (Rossellini points in this connection to a by-name of Hophra on the monuments: Remesto)such a hatred as is described in Herodotus toward Hophra (ii. 161169), manifested in respect to a native ruler, is scarcely to be explained from what is stated, if it did not come into some sort of connection with a Chaldean invasion of Egypt, whereby the haughtiness of Hophra might well appear all the more hateful to the Egyptian people, as the misery of the land and the inhabitants, occasioned by him, stood in sharpest contrast to the previous prosperity and splendour. The grudge of the Egyptian warrior-class against the foreign mercenaries could not be of such moment as some have supposed, since even Amasis, who thereafter held possession of the throne till his death (forty-four years), and was succeeded in it by his son, took lonians for his bodyguard, and generally granted to the Greeks still greater favour and privileges than his predecessor. Besides, as generally held, there is also the outline of the prophecy against Egypt in Ezekiel 29<\/span>, which exhibits a distinction between Eze 29:6<\/span> sq. and Eze 29:4<\/span> sq.in the one, the sword constitutes the figure (Eze 29:8<\/span>); in the other, overthrow with reference to the wilderness. Especially if Hitzigs interpretation of the fish (Eze 29:4<\/span>) as denoting Pharaohs men of war is accepted, and under the wilderness there is couched an allusion to Libya, what is said in Eze 29:4<\/span> sq. might be explained by the narration which is reproduced by Herodotus, and Eze 29:6<\/span> sq. would, with the sword of Nebuchadnezzar, be such a supplementing as the conquest of Tyre to the siege of that city, also given elsewhere. Out of the miserable condition in which Hophra perished, Amasis would then have raised Egypt. Anyhow, as Tholuck brings out, the death of Hophra falls exactly into the time in which the occupation of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar must have occurred; and thus the position of matters approaches to that which is wont to be extracted from Josephus in confirmation of our prophecycontr. Ap<\/em>. i. 19. It is there stated that Berosus reports of the Babylonian (Nebuchadnezzar) that he conquered Egypt, Syria, Phnicia, etc. Again, in Ezekiel 20<\/span>, he states that Megasthenes placed Nebuchadnezzar above Hercules, since he had subjected to himself a great part of Libya and Iberia (comp. Antiq<\/em>. x. 11. 1, and Strabo xv. 1. 6; see also Hv. Comm<\/em>. p. 435, against Hitzigs remarks). In the 10th book of the Antiq<\/em>. Eze 9:7<\/span>, Josephus expresses himself to this effect, that in the fifth year after the destruction of Jerusalem, which was the twenty-third of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, he made an expedition against Clesyria; and when he had got possession of it, he made war against the Ammonites and Moabites; and when he had brought these nations into subjection, he fell upon Egypt in order to overthrow it, and did indeed slay the king who then reigned, but set up another; after which he took those Jews that were there captive, and brought them to Babylon, etc. The ten years time, which Hitzig doubts as the period of the earlier warlike expeditions, is maintained by Tholuck. The fifth year after the taking of Jerusalem would be 581; the thirteen years siege of Tyre would fall into the period 586572 or 573. For the different actions which were in part parallel as to time, we have only to suppose various divisions of the army employed, so that the whole might of Nebuchadnezzar did not at the same time lie before Tyre. The forty years of the Egyptian oppression, Tholuck, like Niebuhr, extends over the entire space that lies between the disaster at Carchemish and the overthrow of Hophra (thirty-six years), during which Egypt, through the continued and in great part unfortunate warlike enterprises of Hophra, must have been much depopulated and extremely weakened, till at length the inroad of the Chaldeans consummated the oppression. Tholuck thinks that, as the prophets in the beginning of the fulfilment comprehended the future (Jer 13:18<\/span>; Eze 30:24<\/span>), in the last and completed fulfilment they also comprehended the earlier incomplete ones. The symbolical explanation of the forty years is not thereby denied (see the exposition). The worth of the statements of Josephus may be questioned, as is done by Hitzig; but for the relation of profane history to our prophecy, it suffices that Hophra miserably perished (Eze 29:4<\/span> sq.; Jer 44:30<\/span> sq.), and that Egypt again revived, as took place under Amasis, although as a kingdom it was fit to be compared neither with its ancient glory nor with other great monarchies (Eze 29:13<\/span> sq.). As regards the resuscitation of Egypt, Duncker mentions that, according to a return of the priests, it then reckoned 20,000 country towns and cities (Herzogs Realencyc<\/em>. 1 p. 150), though it was the last period of Egypts glory; and Lepsius says of the same, that Egypt succumbed to the first pressure of the Persian power, and remained from 525 to 504 a Persian province; that afterwards it became again for a short time independent, until in 340 it was reconquered by the Persians, and in 332 fell under Alexander the Great, etc.<\/p>\n

3. Upon the importance of Egypt for the revenge of Nebuchadnezzar, see the exposition of Eze 29:18<\/span>. Also generally for the Chaldean policy the transition to Egypt is rendered plain to us from Eze 29:17<\/span> sq. (Hv.: if Nebuchadnezzar would make the possession of Phnicia once for all sure, Egypt must be completely broken.) Of the importance of Egypt by itself, its characteristic importance, some notice has already been taken, toward the close of the introductory remarks to Ezekiel 25<\/span>; as also of the distinction, indicated with correct feeling by Keil, between Egypt and the other nations mentioned by Ezekiel. But what Egypt signifies in its connection here, this must be discerned from its relation to Israel. It is quite true that the charge laid against Ammon, Moab, etc., also against Tyre, for spiteful joy, hostility, envy toward Israel, is not mentioned in respect to Pharaoh and Egypt. It may be said that Egypts guilt in regard to Israel was that rather of a false, treacherous friendship. If, on the other hand, the excess of proud self-sufficiency must be regarded as the characteristic of Egypt, the same sort of self-elation meets us in the king of Tyre (Ezekiel 28<\/span>); and in this respect Tyre formed a fitting transition-point to Egypt. The distinction between Tyre and Egypt might perhaps be found in this, that while in particular the kingdom of Tyre had had its time of sacred splendour and past greatness, as we have seen, in its former connection with the kingdom of David, Egypt on its part acquired importance on account of the sojournings of the pilgrim-fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and still more on account of the formation of their descendants into a people. Above all, the idea of redemption was associated with the land of Egypt. Here, therefore, the inverse relation holds good: Tyre has gone with Israel to school; Israel, on the other hand, was at school in Egypt, as was evidenced in manifold agreements and contrasts exhibited in their peculiarity as a people, without our needing on that account to ride off on the Spencerian principle [namely, of a servile borrowing from the institutions of Egypt]. More than from anything else, may be understood from Israels reminiscences as a people, and the impress of Egyptian style and manner even upon their sacred things, their abiding sympathetic turning back toward Egypt. That Israel could not let Egypt go out of sight had its root in human nature; we must learn even from the children of this world (Luk 2:6<\/span>). But it had also its dangerous side. It was Israels worldliness, relapse, since Israel had been delivered by Jehovah from this world, and Jehovah had through Moses threatened them in connection with Egypt with the greatest evils (Deu 28:68<\/span>). We have tribulation in the world, and we may have fear before the world; such fear, however, may be salutary in its operation. But dangerous is the stay that is sought in Egypt, trust and confidence therein. In this respect Egypt is designated a remembrancer of iniquity (Eze 29:16<\/span>), since for Israel it had, and not as of yesterday, but from of old (comp. also Eze 16:26<\/span>; Eze 23:8<\/span>; Eze 23:19<\/span>), the fatal significance of a pride which resists Jehovah and leads away from Him, of a consciousness of worldly power, which amid the characteristic Pharaonic arrogance expressed itself just as distinctly (Eze 29:3<\/span>; Eze 29:9<\/span>) as in Exo 5:2<\/span>, and had this the more seductively, as a self-conscious abiding worldly power is in fact fitted to impose on people. Friendship with Egypt is the most contemptuous relation in which Israel can be thought of, on account of the indifference which it necessarily implied on the part of the Israelitish people not only in regard to their former house of bondage, but also to the mighty deliverance obtained from it, and generally in what concerned their relation to Jehovah, on whom, as their own and their fathers God, they had been thrown from their state of childhood. To make account of this specific historical position in respect to each other, according to which the growth, bloom, and decay of Israel were closely interwoven with Egypt, the prophecy of Ezekiel dwells at greater length on Egypt than on the other nations (Hv.). Still more, however, it serves to explain the representation of the judgment upon Egypt as strikingly parallel with that on Israel, and to the last carried out (comp. Eze 29:5<\/span>; Eze 29:9<\/span> sq., 12, 13, etc.). Not less remarkable, because singular, is the prospect and declaration in regard to the resuscitation of Egypt, and of it alone, which have been introduced into the prediction of our prophet; by this also is Egypt quite expressly kept parallel with Israel. The reminiscence which brings up Egypt so distinctly is not simply that of the house of bondage, or of iniquity, but it is Josephs post of honour, and the corn granaries of Jacob, together with his family. Comp. also Deu 23:7<\/span>.<\/p>\n

4. The interpretation of Neteler strikes out what is certainly a quite different path, strikingly reminding one of Cocceius, only with a specially Catholic tendency. According to him, the prophecies against the foreign nations constitute four groups, each of which contains four pieces: the first, Ezekiel 25<\/span>; the second, the overthrow of the Canaanitish culture – development, standing in contrast to the higher calling of Jerusalem, and reaching its culmination in Tyre. The prophecy against Sidon he severs from Tyre, in the interest of this fourfold division; it belongs to the Egyptian group, inasmuch as Sidons bloom falls into the time in which Egypt was the bearer of the Hamitic power and culture, and the Sidonian development was a shoot of the Hamitic-Egyptian. The promises for Israel in this third section (Eze 28:20<\/span> to Eze 30:19<\/span>) must stand parallel with those of the same kind in the first group, wherein punishment is threatened to the four nations with reference to Israel; as the first group, through Ezekiel 21<\/span> (Ammon), is placed in connection with the first destruction of Jerusalem, so the third stands, through the opening of the mouth which occurs in it, in closer relation to the symbol of the second destruction of Jerusalem. The four last prophecies against Egypt are mere symbols, according to Neteler. As Ammon drove the surviving remnant, after the destruction of Jerusalem, out of Judea, so had Moab decoyed Israel into gross idolatry before their entrance into Canaan; and so, in the prophecies against Ammon and Moab, the beginning and end of Israel in regard to Canaan are connected together. The punishment of Edom and the Philistines must point to the re-establishment of the house of David. In regard to Tyre Neteler expresses himself thus: The command given to Israel to root out the Canaanites, but by them neglected to their destruction, God will execute on Tyre through Nebuchadnezzar; and this command must stand in a noteworthy relation to the historical development of the last period of 800 years before Christ, in which those to the west (Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans) brought a real advance, while those to the east (the Hamitic kingdoms of Ethiopia and Egypt, the Semitic kingdoms of Assyria and Chaldea, the Japhetic Medians and Persians) repeat the development of the two earlier periods in smaller measure, yet as if thereby the problem of the western circle should be solved. He says: If Israel, through the extirpation of the Canaanites, according to Num 36:6-9<\/span> (!), had entered into the place of the Phnicians, it would have formed the first member in the development of this period, and would have shown the right path to the Greek culture which came forth in the second third of it. To retrieve as much as possible that which was neglected (! ?), Nebuchadnezzar must subject the Hamitic Tyre, even to the pillars of Hercules, and unite the eastern circle to the monstrous Chaldean kingdom, so that the externally insignificant Israel might be set in the centre of this gigantic Semitic power, which extended its sway even over the Turanian tribes in the high north. This contrast between the Semitic and Hamitic races (already occurring in the prophecy of Noah) must be of great importance for the understanding of the symbolical representation of Ezekiel in the prophecies relating to Tyre and Egypt. Upon the third group which Neteler distributes, and which reaches to Eze 30:19<\/span>, we learn that, first of all, in the prophecy against Sidon, the second possession of the land is associated with the first, as in Ezekiel 20<\/span> the first deliverance from Egypt is made parallel with a deliverance in a higher sense. As Israel did not fully carry out the extirpation of the Canaanites, whose place, according to Num 33:54<\/span>, it was their part to occupy, these were turned for them into thorns and briers. With the second possession, on the other hand, the servitude of Canaan, which was announced even by Noah, was after a sort realized, since the Canaanitish history becomes extinct. The second piece in this section, namely Eze 29:1-16<\/span>, connects the end of the first Israelitish sojourn in Canaan, brought about by Egypts iniquity, with the end of Egypt; and the humiliation of Egypt is such an elevation of Israel, that Christianity will not be under temptation to lean upon a decaying heathenism. The forty years occurring at Eze 29:11<\/span> sq. must not be distinguished from the forty years of Judah, for which the prophet had to lie forty days upon his right side; that is, as Neteler remarks on Ezekiel 4<\/span>, a symbolical designation of the time, reaching from the destruction of the temple to the return from exile, derived from the sojourn in Kadesh. The two first pieces, Eze 28:20<\/span> to Eze 29:16<\/span>, set forth the world-historical ideas, which were to be realized by the introduction of Christianity, but give, as to the way and manner in which the realization should be prepared for, begun, and carried forward, no informationthis being first introduced by the prophet in the third piece (Eze 29:17-21<\/span>). The might of Shem, through which God conquered Canaan in the worlds history, must also carry forward the work in regard to Egypt. In the interest of Israel, whose service to God stands in contrast to Canaanitish industry, God will turn the Semitic world-power against Egypt, by which Israel was compelled to do Canaanitish work, and establish for them, on account of their labour in respect to Canaan, claims for compensation, which God would render valid because of the bondage laid by Egypt on the Israelites. The booty which God took from Egypt after the conflict, on occasion of the first deliverance, was only a type of a later plundering, which in a preparatory manner was begun by Nebuchadnezzar, and after the second deliverance from Egypt, that is, after the redemption achieved by the sufferings of the Servant of God was realized, when all power in heaven and on earth was committed to the episcopate<\/em> of the Church (!!). The consequence of this victory over Egypt (Eze 30:1-19<\/span>) is given in the form of a judgment upon Egypt, in which is delineated its desolation and the annihilation of its idols and yokes; but the sons also of the covenant – land are smitten by the judgment, which points to a fall that should take place among them. The continuation of this Catholic-theological-historical explanation and interpretation of Ezekiel will be given in No. 9.<\/p>\n

5. Cocceius remarks on Eze 29:21<\/span> : Evil Merodach gave Jehoiachin freedom, and the first place of honour among the kings. Farther, Daniel was great in the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar, and under the Persian dominion. Cyrus was called by God to give command to lead the people back, that they might rebuild the temple. Still higher grew the horn of Israel when they became free, and their priests assumed the diadem, as a sign of the freedom of the people, and the Israelites had become greater than their fathers, as announced in Deu 30:5<\/span>. But most especially was it so, when out of Davids house the horn grew, which set the people free from all slavery, which subdued their enemies, and rendered the Gentiles subject to Israel, Psa 132:13-18<\/span>.<\/p>\n

6. The day of Jehovah, Kliefoth remarks, is not judgment in one<\/em> point of time and destruction over the whole heathen world; and then he continues: The day of Jehovah is a period of indefinite duration, in the course of which God will punish with judgment and destruction all heathen nations in succession, just as they have shown their hostility to the people of God, and He sees that their time has come. From this point of view, also, is the announcement always to be understood, that this day of Jehovah is at hand. The day continues so long, that it lasts till, in the final judgment, the whole world, in so far as hostile to God, shall be destroyed; but it constantly begins anew, when any particular people, on account of their malevolence manifested to the people of God, falls under the righteous doom of perdition. Hence the day of Jehovah upon the heathen nations has, in the several prophecies, a different terminus a quo<\/em>, according as they refer to this or that kind of relations. Only it must not be overlooked, that in Eze 30:1<\/span> sq. not indeed Egypt alone is contemplated, but Egypt in its connection with heathen nations; and yet, that it is not the day of judgment upon all anti-theocratic powers that is to be understood, as already Hvernick makes the prophet see this general idea obtaining realization; but as the time of Jerusalem was come, the time when judgment had begun at the house of God, so the time must now be near when this judgment of God shall go forth upon the heathen. Hengstenberg finds here the fundamental passage for Luk 21:24<\/span>, and points to the overthrow of the Roman Empire,the mountain which was to be cast into the sea after the fig-tree of the Jewish people was withered (Matthew 21<\/span>.), the mulberry-tree which was to be plucked up and removed into the sea (Luk 2:7<\/span>.).<\/p>\n

7. As in the kingdom of Tyre, Ezekiel 28<\/span>, allusion was made to a time of sacredness upon the holy mount of God, so there was also found there, by way of similitude, a bringing to remembrance of Eden, and especially of the garden of God. This retrospect of paradise furnishes the beau-ideal<\/em>, the standard for the Old Testament world generally; hence with Assyria, and in connection therewith in reference to Egypt, which had not the same historical position as Tyre, it appropriately comes back again in Ezekiel 31<\/span>. As in the New Testament all is measured with heaven, so in the Old Testament what is or was glorious upon earth is made to hold of Eden and paradise.<\/p>\n

8. On the derivation of the word Sheol there confessedly prevails a great diversity of opinion. For the biblical idea, especially the signification of the word in the Old Testament, this only is to be learned from this matter of etymological controversy, that as well the derivation from , to be hollow (therefore for ), since it points to hollowing, and in so far to the grave, as the derivation which Hupfeld adopts from: to sink down, and: to go apart from one another, therefore: sinking down, depth, abyss, and: cleft, hollow, empty spacesince the burying and the being in the sepulchre can be thereby expressedboth alike avail for the affirmation, that Sheol and the grave more or less run together. The derivation, on the other hand, from to demand, expresses as to Sheol only what constitutes generally the power and manner of death to demand for itself with insatiable desire all living beings (comp. Isa 5:14<\/span>; Hab 2:5<\/span>; Pro 27:20<\/span>; Pro 30:16<\/span>). As to form an infinitive verbal substantive, the use of the word belongs predominantly to the poetic language of the Old Testament, whence also is to be explained the circumstance that it never stands with the article. Sheol appears as the aggregate of all graves. Who could venture to deny this aspect of the matter, at least for the 31st and 32d chapters of Ezekiel? It is the universal grave, which calls down to itself all earthly life, how high soever it may have reached, however magnificent it may have been, however valiantly it may have fought. But much, also, as Sheol and the grave () sometimes appear to approach (comp. also Isa 14:11<\/span>; Isa 14:15<\/span>), to cover one another, it must still not be overlooked that the grave, more exactly considered, is only the entrance into Sheol (Psa 16:10<\/span>), which certainly, as it is commonly represented, keeps the hue of the grave, in generals as well as in particulars ( , Eze 32:23<\/span>); it is the carrying over of the grave to the future state (while the grave as such is still always something here). It is quite reconcilable with this representation when Sheol is conceived of as a locality, and indeed as a deep abyss, just as the standing form of speech: to go down, to be thrown down, is thence explained as equivalent to being consigned to the dead. The occasional poetic delineation of this future must only not be formally dogmatized into an actual under-world with gates, rivers, etc. (Job 38:17<\/span>; Psa 18:5<\/span> sq.) The going down of the company of Korah (Num 16:30<\/span>) is often what is floating before the writers mind; and not so much the locality of Palestine, which was rich in grottoes and caverns, or the darkness of the Hebrew family tomb-vaults, the stillness of the Egyptian catacomb-world. The interior and inmost part of the earth (Eze 26:20<\/span>; Eze 32:18<\/span>), however, is not the earths inner region as such, but is the Sheol beneath (the underground, Eze 31:14<\/span>); that is, partly the contrast to heaven as the region of the divine life, partly the distinction from the surface turned toward heaven, the face of the earth. Out of that contrast, in which, however, the earth also and its life have their place, and still more in accordance with this distinction from the earthly life, must Sheol and what is connected therewith be understood. The death to which one is surrendered (Eze 31:14<\/span>) is not simply a going down, not annihilation, but as punishment for sin, the necessary consequence of the negation of God. Considered as a state, it is the contrast in respect to God, as curse, as judgment upon the sinner; hence the contrast in respect to life as divine, as salvation and blessedness, even to eternal perdition; and so Sheol posits a concrete, individual prolongation of life: the dead are represented in Ezekiel (Ezekiel 31<\/span>.) as living on individually and in space. Passages such as Psa 104:29<\/span>; Psa 146:4<\/span>, and others, certainly have respect to the earthly life in the body, with its purposes and undertakings, doing and thinking, knowledge and wisdom together, Ecc 9:10<\/span> (so our Lord Himself in Joh 9:4<\/span> makes account of it for His diligence in working while in the flesh). As life on earth in a mortal body is for all men a troublesome, poor, and sorrowful thing, so certainly the advancing decay of the powers of life, with the dissolution of the union between soul and body, necessarily becomes quiescence, impotence, and withdrawal of their life-energy in regard to the appointed sphere of action. But passages like Job 26:5<\/span> sq., Eze 38:17<\/span>, Pro 15:11<\/span>, Psa 139:8<\/span>, testify to the presence of the living God, through whom the subsisting and passing away of all beings is conditioned, as is said also in the made parallel with Sheol (comp. Mar 12:27<\/span>; Luk 20:38<\/span>). The contrast, therefore, to the heavenly upper world as the proper region of the divine life is not that of not-being and being; and just as little is the continued existence in Sheol an unconscious shade-existence, at least not according to Ezekiels representation: the heroes in Sheol speak and know themselves as such over against others, feel, etc. As the designation of shades () for the dead in the Old Testament times cannot be proved, so the appearance, for example, of Samuel (1 Samuel 28<\/span>.), so entirely accordant with the spirit and address of Samuel as he actually lived, is not at all brought forward as an exception, somewhat after the manner of the Theban seer Tiresias (Odyss<\/em>. x. 492 sq.). In the Old Testament, also, we read nothing of an instinctive repetition and continuation of the past life connected with the possession of blood. The representation of Sheol, into which there has often been greatly too much imported of heathen elements, is in no respect the localizing of the image, which, as Meier says, remains like a blanched, bloodless, shadowy form, in the spirit of the living, of their dead and buried fellow-men. Life in Sheol cannot, indeed, run counter to the conditions that prevail in respect to human life. Man is soul, but he has spirit, which for him constitutes the power wherein the life of the individual consists; while the soul is plainly the seat of that, as the body is its organ. If the life connected with the body appears as life in the flesh, when separated therefrom it will become an existence of the spirit, and departed men will necessarily have to be thought of as spirits, and can only in so far be termed souls as a retrospective sense of the earlier corporeal life has place. On this side the description of Sheol is certainly, and especially as contradistinguished from the earthly upperground life, kept in due regard to the state of things existing there. With the going down into the grave, the bright joyful sunlight vanishes for men; hence Sheol is the land of darkness and of the shadow of death (Job 10:21<\/span>). While the world of light is an organized one, the midnight region of Sheol appears as a confused intermingling of substances, chaotic (Job 10:22<\/span>). Busy life, so repeatedly designated tumult in this chapter of Ezekiel, becomes motionless in the grave; so in Psa 115:17<\/span> the dead go down to silence, to stillness (comp. Psa 104:17<\/span>; Psa 31:18<\/span>). The expression, however, of land of forgetfulness, Psa 88:12<\/span>, must not be overstretched, though the reference is to be held fast in which it is said that, as God has given the earth to the children of men (Psa 115:16<\/span>), so the manifestation of His wonder-working power and righteousness is promised to them on the earth while they are in the flesh. Not in the heathen materialistic sense, but Christologically, however still on the temporal side, the thought as to its form was presented in the Old Covenant. And thence are such passages as Psa 6:5<\/span>; Psa 30:10<\/span> [Psa 30:9<\/span>], Psa 88:10-11<\/span>, Psa 115:17<\/span>, Isa 38:18<\/span>, to be understood. The dead, accordingly, are done (Psa 88:5<\/span>); their state, Sheol, is without a history (on the other hand, comp. 1Co 15:19<\/span>). But to complete our knowledge of the Old Testament Sheol, the ethical side is not to be overlooked, that is, the idea of recompense comes therein likewise into consideration (comp. Eze 32:23<\/span> sq.). The godly are there gathered to their fathers (Gen 25:8<\/span>; Gen 35:29<\/span>, etc.). It is a mode of representation which incidentally receives a very touching illustration in Luk 16:22<\/span> for the poor, who has no brother in the world, who is an abject, forlorn, when he is said to be received into Abrahams bosom. The righteous snatched away enters into peace, and rests therein upon the foundation of the grave (Isa 57:1<\/span>). How far with the soul, when unclothed of the body, there takes place an ineffectual tormenting effort to consolidate itself corporeally (Beck)the spirit, however, being incapable of being contemplated apart from the soul, which conditions its individuality, therefore also not to be thought of as sunk after death into the corruption of the fleshmay be left undecided. It is enough that the rich man found himself in torment. With justice, however, Lange presses the thought that for the wicked Sheol is still not hell.<\/p>\n

9. Neteler (comp. 4) maintains concerning Eze 30:21<\/span> to Eze 32:32<\/span>, that is, the fourth of the groups set off by him, that through four symbols the overthrow of a power standing in antagonism to the Church is exhibited, and that what is said is to be taken eschatologically in a wider sense. Egypt is considered by him as a symbol of the power of Magog, and under the Chaldeans is found a combination of Romans and Germans. And here Netelers book dwells on the Russian Panslavism. The two last symbols must be fulfilled in the overthrow of Magog only provisionally, so that their complete fulfilment belongs to a still later future.<\/p>\n

HOMILETIC HINTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Ch. 29<\/p>\n

Eze 29:1-5<\/span>. The close is made with Egypt, as Egypt was the beginning in respect to Israel.Egypt is with Ezekiel the oldest country of his peoples disgrace (Umer.).How clear is what God causes to be said to us! The address is plainly written, and can occasion no doubt to whom the word is directed; and not less clearly does it shine forth whose subscription stands under it, and who, therefore, will look after the punctual execution of the things spoken. It will not proceed according to mans sayings and opinions, but as God the Lord has said.The prophetic word so much the surer as the fulfilment of it now lies completely before us.What still survives of the Pharaohs lies in the midst of the wilderness; they are ruins to which the sand has still refused burial!Where can a mortal say: This is mine, or: This remains to me? But prosperity, where it is not understood as Gods blessing, makes people stupidly proud. See there, too, the blessing of tribulations, which demonstrate before our eyes, that nothing is our right, and nothing our abiding property (Stck.).Those who do not seek after the things which are above regard the Nile, which flows on the earth, with precisely such eyes.But that there is also a spiritual Egypt may be seen from Rev 11:8<\/span>, and that is a people, kingdom, and dominion which holds in fetters the people of God and makes them slaves. Now, as under the great dragon in the sea Antichrist also comes to be considered, together with his scales and members that stick to him, and are in a manner innumerable, so shall this power also after the prince of Tyre receive his doom, with all his adherents, who by overbearing conscience have done so much wrong to the faithful. Then also will appear the vain help which the house of Israel has sometimes assumed as belonging to the reed of the fleshly arm (B. B.).Satan says to Jesus: All this will I give thee, all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, though still there was not an atom thereof in reality his (Luther).Oh how vain is man in prosperity! (St.)<\/p>\n

Eze 29:4-5<\/span>. Higher still than the highest is the Most High. He who comes from heaven is higher than all.It is bad when only amid loss people come wisely to learn that they had all of God, of which they were<\/strong> so proud and boasted themselves (Stck.).Pharaoh in the wilderness, and Jesus in the wilderness.They who set themselves up above others may readily observe that they are thrown off and away before they are themselves aware of it!The judgment of Jehovah upon the Pharaohs!Jehovah at the Pyramids, a very different object from Napoleon before them.The overthrow in the wilderness an image of a desolate ruin.<\/p>\n

Eze 29:6-7<\/span>. God punishes not those only who rely upon flesh, but those also who are flesh and yet wish others to find comfort in them.No knowledge of God and no knowledge of selfthis is what gives false self-confidence, and false confidence in man.The love of God in discovering the false and rotten props.A reed is everything that is in this world, as mans favour, temporal prosperity, beauty, yea, the corporeal life itself; from without it appears like a staff, and as if many were walking with it, but within it is hollow and brittle (Stck.).But for none is such a reed more suspicious than for the people to whom God has pledged Himself, and therewith all His wisdom and His omnipotence.It is certainly the same with the deceit and show of ones own righteousness, good purposes, and pious works. One cannot keep hand and shoulder far enough from these.How many a one has such like splinters in his conscience!The false reed-splinters in our bones, which make our going so feeble and our holding so insecure.The soldiers give to Christ a reed in mockery, Matthew , 27. (Luther).<\/p>\n

Eze 29:8-16<\/span>. The judgment of God by the sword in its significance for enemy and friend, warrior and conqueror, land and people.Desolation is always a mark of punishment. First men become waste, then their place is laid waste.Where the people become waste as regards God, there God causes the land to be waste of its people.Whosoever will have it that he has made himself to be what he says that he is, with him God must make an end, so that he may learn what he himself is, and how still God can do all.The mine and thine, as the grand controversy which moves the worlds history.So the sin of the people is their ruin; but though ancient history is full of examples, those who now live are not disposed to profit by them.Should one not be ashamed of such a speech, since it must so soon be changed into a pastit has been mine; and this often with much sorrow? (B. B.)The description of the earth is also a description of divine justice.By means of fragments and arrow-heads in the yellow sands of the desert, and obelisks which still point heavenwards, people now read the names of men, of kings, and such like; but the feci<\/em> of God is likewise to be read there.The divine seasons of respite.The years of humiliating in their significance for Egypt and for us all as punishments and deliverance from high-mindedness.To stand low is to stand more secure than to go beyond bound and limit.All changes in the world have their bearing ultimately on the Church (St. ).God knows how to withdraw from the eyes of His own what dazzled their eyes and held them captive.Such is the aim of all the judgments that are inflicted, to withdraw the body of the faithful from confidence in what is human, and to supplant it by a firm trust in God (B. B.).<\/p>\n

Eze 29:17-21<\/span>. Warrior service hard service. He who serves God does not serve without pay.The recompense of our works is never made on the ground of merit, but is always of grace.The downfall of the world is the deliverance of the chosen (H. H.). Therefore lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh (Luk 21:28<\/span>).When the world becomes poor, then the bones of the righteous flourish.The new life out of ruins.Upon silence to speak is better than to be silent upon speech.It is God who must open the mouth for us, and He also can do it.Immortality in the world and the eternal life in the sanctuary, Psa 23:6<\/span>.<\/p>\n

On Ch. 30<\/p>\n

Eze 30:1-9<\/span>. The judgments of God pass from His own people to other peoples; hence the day of the heathen could not be far off (Cocc.).Despair howls, hope waits.A day in clouds is also the day of death; the earth is shrouded from the eye, and especially when first the heaven has been covered to the spirit. Darkness then reigns below and above. How dark, then, is the grave!Bad times are met by watchfulness; howling merely goes before them as the loud blast before the outburst of the thunderstorm.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:4-5<\/span>. Many others are carried along with the fall of one. In every judgment that takes place in the world, behold a type and prelude of the judgment which is to be executed on the world.If not with the sinner immediately, yet on the sinner, and therefore through the sinner his companions shall be punished.Where God strikes the blow, there not only is the stir which a people makes, and with which it makes such a noise, its work and gain brought down, but also law and order and that whereon all rests are overthrown.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:6-7<\/span>. How helpless with all his appliances may one that was helpful to us prove in a night! May God be our help, who has made heaven and earth.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:9<\/span>. Everything does service as a messenger for God; in particular His word, which hence cannot be bound, but accomplishes that whereto it is sent.Gods seat of judgment stands always among mankind, and the worlds history is Gods judgment.The terrors in the history of the world.As there is a false security in individual men, so is there also a bad security with whole peoples.The national security a national loss.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:10-19<\/span>. When men do not sanctify God on holidays, God makes their bustling activity to keep holiday.When God wills, a mans name can cause terror to the world. But only One Name is given under heaven to men wherein we can happily exult before all terrors.Upon deeds of violence come still more violent ones, and tyrants are precipitated through tyrants.Whosoever sells himself to sin has already in doing so sold himself to his enemy (Stck.).Gods blessing fills, His curse impoverishes a land.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:13<\/span>. The hand of God alights some time upon all idols.From the overthrow of heathenism is seen the vanity of idols.Where are the famous cities of the olden times? Why do they lie buried in disorderly stone-heaps? Sinner, behold what sin may effect (St.),how it may build very high indeed, yet not for continuance, and still more may destroy.Gods and princes combined the common delusion of idolatry, at first in splendour, so afterwards in ruin!Terror is the opposite of courage, but not the fear of the Lord.Where God kindles a fire, it is always for judgment; the old is consumed therein, but a new springs forth out of the ruins.Without casting down, no progress in the life of humanity.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:16<\/span>. Must not man always be engaged in conflict?<\/p>\n

Eze 30:17<\/span>. With its youth the human future of a people goes down. Even the youth should be the chosen of God; instead of this, Satan at no period has so much of his nature in men as in the season of youth.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:18-19<\/span>. Walk in the light while ye still have the light,we, that is, who have the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ.The judgment of God may, through the dogmas of men and a false philosophy, veil to us also the sun of truth, and wrap in darkness to mens view heaven and eternity.When at length, with the authority of God, the authority also of the law over men gives way, then, where superstition gives place to unbelief, there falls upon them yoke for yoke, one in the room of another; there is only an exchange of tyrants.How much old and high renown have the gravediggers of the worlds history already buried under the sod among other sweepings! What is gloria mundi?<\/em>a transit<\/em>.The new plagues of Egypt.The spirit of Pharaoh continued to be the spirit of the Pharaohs.Self heights are no heightsnone, at least, that stand in the judgment of God, and remain above though all else should go down and disappear; but a height in the true sense is that simply whereof it is said, As high as heaven is above the earth, Psa 103:11<\/span>. This ought to be recognised, and that not merely at the last, amid howlings and gnashings of teeth, but betimes, when it may still serve for peace, with the calm open eye.The most wretched of all thoughts is that of having no part in God. How many an evil-doer has readily presented his head to the sword, in the conviction that through the punishment he should become a partaker of God! (H.)<\/p>\n

Eze 30:20-26<\/span>. How many the things are that men prize as an arm, and how easily these arms are broken!The arm of the Lord (Isaiah 53<\/span>.), and the arm of man, and the armies of princes.More easily is an arm broken than healed; but now first of all the conscience, how Gainfully does it sting, and how long is it in healing! (Stck.)What God has broken, God only can heal.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:22<\/span>. But man never has enough by a fracture; so long as he can still move and stir otherwise, he must show himself. Therefore shall there come to be a destruction without mercy, if we will not submit to God on the footing of grace.Sickness breaks one arm, death both arms (Stck.).Every breakage which we must suffer is a call to repentance.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:23<\/span>. He who will not fear God in his fatherland has no injustice done him, if in a foreign land he is made to experience all sorts of misfortune (St.).<\/p>\n

Eze 30:24-26<\/span>. Strength and weakness come both from God (W.).Upon whose side Jehovah stands, that man prevails in the conflict; to him there is prosperity in life; he enjoys a blessing with his work. But this favour has the Lord promised to the righteous. Without God all ends unfortunately, mournfully, and in perdition (Stck.).What serves God, that serves also the kingdom and the power of the Spirit; just as at the last, all the kingdoms of this world shall become Gods and His Christs.<\/p>\n

On Ch. 31<\/p>\n

Eze 31:1-2<\/span>. The greatness of Egypt was the presumption against the warnings of the prophet. But greatness is no security against destruction; no greatness upon earth can withstand the strokes of God (H.).With justice are kingdoms compared in Scripture to trees, as well on account of their form, the protection and shadow they afford to men and beasts, as also on account of their fruits; and still farther in this respect, that kingdoms, like trees, flourish and again cease to exist, torn up by the wind, or cut down by the hatchet of man (L.).It is very well for people to compare themselves with others, though not for the purpose of thinking better of themselves than others, as the Pharisee in the temple over against the publican, or in order to envy others; but humbly to learn that we are a part of mankind, and that what is human may befall us, and shall at last take place without exception. Also to make each one more contented with his lot, a comparison with others is, as a rule, fitted to be serviceable.Both the one and the other inference is right: As God has elevated that humble one, so can He, in His own time, elevate me; as God has abased that proud one, so may it also be done with me (Stck.).<\/p>\n

Eze 31:3-9<\/span>. The histories of the world might teach great lords much, that they should not rely upon their own powers (Lg.).Rulers and princes should be shady trees to the righteous.God has done good also to the heathen, that they might seek Him, if haply they might find Him, Act 17:26-27<\/span> (Stck.).Oh, what streams of grace flow upon the unthankful, if they would only perceive them! The waters are indeed not of one sortone portion swims in pure felicity, another in tribulation and adversity; but the aim is uniform, and the divine loving-kindnesses which are concealed under the latter are certainly greater than the former, in the eyes of those who know to estimate things aright (B. B.).But their favourable condition and the friendliness of God only serve with many to puff them up, and render them proud and arrogant,an end for which certainly all this was not given.He with whom it overflows should make it trickle over upon others.<\/p>\n

Eze 31:7<\/span>. To be radical in the proper sense is a good thing, namely, that one should know that his root is in God.The true comeliness of a prince stands in comely virtues, which adorn every man, especially a prince,clemency and justice above all; to afford protection and solace to the persecuted; to spread forth as it were his branches to the miserable; to have about him servants resplendent with his own virtues, so that, as in every branch the nature of the tree, so in every servant the character of the prince, may appear reflected. He and they must not be terrible to the good, nor oppressive to his subjects. The love of the people is a good root for a race of princes (Cocc.).<\/p>\n

Eze 31:8<\/span>. Better to be envied than commiserated. God makes man beautiful, as He alone also makes him good; the latter is the divine nature, the former the divine form, of a man.<\/p>\n

Eze 31:10-13<\/span>. I have given thee into the hand of such and such an onethis explains much darkness.The haughty spirit going before, the key to the fall afterwards.Now, however, we are all in Adam inclined to pride of soul; and the perishing things of this world, riches, honour, splendour, beauty, knowledge, etc., nourish our natural inclination, being all things which we overestimate. However, even a plain smockfrock often covers a repulsive arrogance. But kings are through their flatterers nourished in this vice, which is the root of all others (L.).One must grow in order to be able to lift the top so high; this is not so quickly reached;on the other hand, to arrive at the lowest depth there needs only one overthrow, which may take place in a single moment.One falls more quickly down a stair than one mounts up again.God cannot suffer pride; I am meek and lowly in heart, it was said by Him who was God manifest in the flesh, Mat 11:29<\/span>.Out of the heart of man proceed also all high things that are offensive to God, which need not always wear a crown, but may have merely a pen behind the ear, or a pair of spectacles on the nose.<\/p>\n

Eze 31:12-13<\/span>. From the foreign land comes much sufferingfirst foreign sins, then punishment through foreigners.A shameful fall into sin, and a frightful fall into misfortuneboth invite to study.There must also fall into the valleys branches that have been broken off, that poor people may not think the great ones of the earth are freed from death and judgment.When the punishments of God break forth, then such as can flee gladly make off, while they were not to be enticed out of the shadow of sin, in which they delighted themselves.God shakes the luxurious tree from top to bottom, and then all that stuck to its branches fall off; and so they are struck off, since they did not allow themselves to be warned off.How does the shadow of the rich vanish with the sun of prosperity, and with the shadow depart also the flatterers and panegyrists ! (Stck.)He who chooses to be forsaken must become poor.Fate can keep up the interest, but a rich man who has become poor is a woe-begone phenomenon for the world.How often do the goods of a rich man become scattered over the world after his death! (Stck.)Discern false friends in adversity!To cut, and peck, and aid in plundering the very person in whose prosperity men formerly basked, and<\/strong> whom they hardly knew how to laud highly enough!So deeply is the friendship of the world rooted, and its caresses. So long as all goes well, friends and worshippers are readily found. But when that changes, all goes otherwise(B. B.).<\/p>\n

Ver.14. Precautions must be taken that the trees do not grow into the heavens.All are born nakedno one comes in purple into the world; but that is far from working so powerfully as the thought that the king must die as the beggar.Death the moral of the human fable.A mighty lesson for our time (Richt.).Somewhat for People who would see clearly upon the death of Napoleon.That there is to be a general judgment after this life is evident alone from death, which strikes all, even great men.The consideration of the inevitable exit of all who live should beget moderation in pretensions. We take nothing with us of that which so many desire with such eagerness (L.).<\/p>\n

Eze 31:15-18<\/span>. Great fates cast forth also great shadows.If our terrors did but lead us to the knowledge of our misery, as well as of the glory of God!The grave unites all at the last.The glory of the earth must become dust and ashes, etc.But who believes our report may be said also here: he who exalts himself shall be abased, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.Thus God throws the loftinesses of men into one heap (B. B.).And so circumcision makes a distinction in deathnot, of course, that which is done in the flesh, but the circumcised heart; so that a circumcised person may have his place also among the uncircumcised, as, on the other side, uncircumcised persons, who are not so in heart, may be counted as circumcised. At the close, however, the prophet writes the name Pharaoh on the lid of the coffin (Cocc.).<\/p>\n

On Ch. 32<\/p>\n

Eze 32:1-2<\/span>. How far otherwise have the court-poets ever and anon elegized !The comparison with lions and dragons withdraws much that is human in respect to Pharaoh.This robberfish (?) and dragon, which with his feet troubles the streams, is like the beast that should ascend out of the sea (Revelation 13<\/span>.). Pharaoh is hence the enemy of the chosen, a roaring lion, which troubles the waters of heavenly wisdom with the slime of human additions, so that they provide no proper drink for those who thirst for salvation (H. H.).Should Christian kings be like lions and dragons? They ought to be the fathers of their country, caring day and night for the welfare of their subjects (St.).Tyrants and the covetous are insatiable, and cannot be at rest (Stck.).Ah! how much misfortune can be brought about by a restless ruler! Therefore pray for a peaceful government of the kingdom (St.).<\/p>\n

Eze 32:3-10<\/span>. The godless hasten to meet their destruction, without being afraid of it, but often secretly driven thereto by God (H. H.).God is the supreme hunter and fisher; He can throw upon the lions His toils, and upon the whales His net, to catch and destroy them (W.).God knows how to tame the untamed, to humble the proud, and to curb the fierce; who can resist His power? (Stck.)To be rejected, if not thrown entirely away, is the end of the mighty after the flesh.Corruption the last strophe also in heroic poetry.How mournful is it to be cast away by God! (Stck.)Even the ass will plant his footstep on the wounded dying lion.What the rich boast themselves so much of is but a carcase, which those who live after them will divide among themselves.After death, shame and reproach overtake the wicked and shameless (H. H.).<\/p>\n

Eze 32:5-6<\/span>. Overflowing for overflowing; for the waters of Egypt, now the blood of the hosts of Pharaoh.They who formerly swam in pleasures, shall by and by swim in their own blood (Stck.).<\/p>\n

Eze 32:7<\/span>. The greatness of the calamity is described by the prophet from the sense of those whom the tribulation affects, to whom it seems as if the whole world were enveloped in darkness (H. H.).The lights of heaven truly shine only for the happy; the sun exists not but for the sunlit eye (H.).The godly sustain themselves in such circumstances by the thought that the Lord is their light, and therefore will not suffer the light of their heart to go out (L.).But he who despises the light of grace, for him the light of glory also shall not shine (Stck.).It is also dark, and the stars even fall from the heaven, when great, noble, important, eminent men, heroes, sages, lawgivers, governors, teachers, are carried off by deathor worse<\/strong>, when they fall away into superstition or unbelief, ungodliness, injustice, and violence.<\/p>\n

Eze 32:9<\/span>. Many a fall leads to the elevation of others (St.).To be frightened is still not to be awakened, and awakening without enlightenment is spiritual tumult without spiritual life.The grave, too, is an unknown land, and thither we are all journeying. Yet for faith there is a sun which rises upon it, that never goes down.So the Lord loves to inspire terror, that He may break fleshly confidence (H. H.).Happy for him whom a sincere conversion has made secure against the terrors which seize upon the whole earth!He who still has to fear for his soul, let him consider that the whole world can profit him nothing!Every moment are we in danger of death, and consequently in sight of eternity.<\/p>\n

Eze 32:11-16<\/span>. If no other cure proves effectual, then God betakes Himself to the sword.The method of salvation through blood and iron; but what is the state of society presupposed in connection with it!The guillotine and the sword both do their work quickly, and bring what is before as it were under them.<\/p>\n

Eze 32:13<\/span>. It touches a miserly man much more nearly if his beast dies, than if his children are taken from him by death (St.).A stock of cattle a state of peace.<\/p>\n

Eze 32:14-15<\/span>. The stillness of the desert is indeed stillness, but it is not peace, any more than to flow like oil is the soft nature of the spirit.There is rest in the grave, but much unrest thereafter, yea, more unrest, and of a worse kind than existed before.There go the waters softly, as in mourning (Umbr.).But God knows how to set at rest a land and its creatures which have been plagued and misused by men. Where have the oppressors gone? They also lie still.Lamentation does not take away the pain, but in the lamentation it lives on.<\/p>\n

Eze 32:17-32<\/span>. Whoever would gain a thorough insight into the dominions and powers of the earth, he must look down into hell.The instructive glance into hell.The song of hell.La divina comdia<\/em> of Ezekiel.The doctrine of Sheol as the doctrine of the state after death.What does the Sheol of the Old Testament signify? (1) According to its name, the demand of death on all persons and things, therefore the power of death over every individual person and thing; therefore that death is the wages of sin, the judgment of Gods wrath which takes effect on the flesh. (2) As to the thing, it is the state after death as existence in a spacious grave; that is, notwithstanding the dissolution of the body and the separation of soul and body, a continuous life of the spirit, and that with consciousness and recollectionhence, according to the character of this, in peace or disquiet.Woe to him whom the doom of death precipitates into condemnation in death!One can strike up no song to the living more unacceptable, yet at the same time none more profitable, than one about dying; should any one refuse to accompany it, it will still be sung upon him.He to whom the earth was all, when he sinks into the grave, all sinks with him. It is thus easily comprehensible how death stretches into the future, even into the grave, and how all appears as grave and graves.People and princes, Sheol demands both.Only to the pious is the tomb a chamber where they softly sleep, a resting-place without pain and commotion, a mothers bosom (as we are from the earth), a place of repose to lie down in (Stck.).<\/p>\n

Eze 32:19<\/span>. It will be so much the worse if one has been nothing but fleshly, for death seizes in a rough and frightful manner.<\/p>\n

Eze 32:20<\/span>. The sword cuts into the life, severs from life, sadly if also from God. For to die is what still goes on, to corrupt also; but to become lost for ever, that is the death without end, to die for evermore.<\/p>\n

Eze 32:21<\/span>. The salutation of the dead toward the living when they die.<\/p>\n

Eze 32:22<\/span> sq. What is received into the human heart, finds its grave also there; so round about the prince of death are his grave-places, wherein after a spiritual manner he is buried (Gregory).The grave for the unconverted, the condemned, the perspective of the future world.The grave is very deep, even though in a material point of view it may be but a few feet down: it is deep enough to shroud all glory (H.).Powerfully seizes the mind and humbles the pride the ever-recurring There<\/em>, when the subject of discourse has respect to a fallen king and his hosts. We look upon a limitless field of graves, and it is remarkable and peculiar to our prophet, that he transfers the graves also to the lower world (Umbr. ).As the elect come from the east and the west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God, so the cast off find their way to the uncircumcised, to the pierced by the sword, in the depths below (H. H)Here many graves, in the house of the Father many mansions.The counterpart of the fellowship of believers upon earth, of the elect in heaven.The lowest Sheol and the heavenly Jerusalem.The earth is everywhere indeed the Lords, but not all the dead die in the Lord.<\/p>\n

Eze 32:27<\/span>. Men take with them into the state of the dead their knowledge, and along therewith the judicial sentence due to their manner of life.Nothing is forgotten before God which is not forgiven.The wrath of God remains on them, it is said in John.<\/p>\n

Eze 32:31<\/span>. It is a wretched consolation which is derived from the circumstance that people see in others the same torments which themselves experience. And yet misguided mortals do really comfort themselves with it. It is a common necessity, they say; others have experienced the same, and are experiencing it daily, etc. (H. H.)The word of God, however, brings home to every man at last the application: this is such and such an one; as we find written on the tombstones: Here lies N. N.The Pharaohs prepare to swallow up without mercy: Jacobs Shepherd laughs at them, etc. (Hiller.)<\/p>\n

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

CONTENTS<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Here is still the ruin of Egypt described, and those who come to her help. The Lord promiseth to strengthen the arm of Babylon for Egypt’s destruction.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

The language is very solemn, and the subject very affecting. Indeed the horrors of war in any and every nation are enough to make all men howl, and cry woe worth the day.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Eze 30:6<\/span><\/p>\n

The last historian of the Jesuit Order, the one who brought down their own history of themselves to about 1652, since when it has not been continued lived to see the suppression of the order in 1773. He has left us his opinion as to why they were put down, why the Almighty allowed so useful a society to be extinguished; and he comes to the conclusion that it is on account of their pride. ‘We have been inordinately proud,’ he confesses; ‘we have set ourselves above everything, every institution and every office. We have assumed our own superiority, and have treated all other orders and societies with contempt. Pride has been the cause of our fall.’<\/p>\n

Dllinger.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

XVII<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

PROPHECIES AGAINST THE FOREIGN NATIONS<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 25-32<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ezekiel has grouped his prophecies in regard to the foreign nations that came in contact with Israel, as Jeremiah also groups his prophecies in Ezekiel 46-51. Isaiah also groups his, in reference to the foreign nations, in Ezekiel 13-23. These three greatest of the prophets had oracles on the nations with whom Israel came in contact during that period of their history. Amos also devotes the earlier part of his prophecies to utterances regarding these same nations. Nahum devotes his prophecy to predicting the downfall of Nineveh and the Assyrian Kingdom. Obadiah’s entire prophecy relates to the downfall of Edom.<\/p>\n

Some may ask the question, Why these prophecies against the foreign nations? Let us endeavor to find some reasons why Ezekiel should give these oracles against the foreign powers. They were written during the siege of Jerusalem, at a time when Ezekiel was perfectly sure that the city would fall, as he had been preaching for many years that doctrine to the exiles. Jeremiah had been preaching the same thing to the people in Jerusalem and Judah. The fall of Jerusalem at the hands of foreign and heathen powers would seem to establish the triumph of heathenism. The nations would conclude from this fact that because Jehovah’s kingdom, city, and Temple had fallen and the great heathen powers had triumphed, therefore Jehovah was inferior to the heathen gods.<\/p>\n

On this point the prophets of Jehovah had something to say, and such was apparently the occasion for these prophecies. They would serve to confirm the sentence of God upon Israel in showing that God dealt with the foreign nations as he did with Israel; that he punishes sin as surely and as severely among the heathen as he does in Israel, and although the heathen nations seem to survive for awhile, they are no exception to the rule of righteousness with Jehovah. Again, the downfall of these nations at the hand of Jehovah and the prophecies regarding them, would have their influence upon Israel for the future. With the heathen nations out of the way, Israel would be free to return to her land and set up the everlasting kingdom that Jeremiah and Isaiah and Ezekiel had prophesied. The enemies, the old hereditary enemies of Israel, shall be destroyed utterly and absolutely, therefore the kingdom of God shall have free course to be glorified.<\/p>\n

Ezekiel speaks of seven nations; five of them are small, but two of them are large nations. He says nothing of Babylon except by way of inference. He is living in Babylon and doubtless that was sufficient reason for refraining from speaking against that great empire.<\/p>\n

The prophecy against Ammon is found in Eze 25:1-7<\/span> . Ammon bordered on the tribe of Reuben, and when that tribe was deported by Tiglath-pileser, Ammon seized the territory of Reuben contrary to what was right. Ammon had suffered at the hands of Jephthah, and also David through his general, Joab. Ammon bore hatred against Israel, but along with Judah he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, out of no friendship to Judah, but with the possible hope of freedom for himself. When Judah was destroyed, Ammon rejoiced and because of that Ezekiel hurls his denunciation against him: “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was made desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity; therefore, behold, I will deliver thee into captivity; thou shalt be utterly destroyed and thy capital, Rabbah, shall be a stable for camels and thy territory shall be possessed by the roving Bedouin Arabs of the desert.” He holds out no hope for the future whatever. Jeremiah did prophesy a future for Ammon, but Ezekiel does not.<\/p>\n

Ezekiel’s prophecy against Moab is recorded in Eze 25:8-11<\/span> . Isaiah and Jeremiah also have oracles against Moab. Moab had, like Ammon, seized a part of the territory of Reuben and was famous for her pride, an inordinate, selfish pride. When Jerusalem fell Moab also scorned her and rejoiced over her fall and said, “Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the nations.” Because Moab said that Jehovah’s people, with their king, was just like other nations, “therefore,” says Ezekiel, “Moab shall be overwhelmed and destroyed forevermore.” No hope for the future is held out for Moab by Ezekiel. Jeremiah did give some hope to Moab, but none is given by Ezekiel.<\/p>\n

Then follows the prophecy against Edom (Eze 25:12-14<\/span> ). The country of Edom lies south of the Dead Sea and north of the Gulf of Akabah. Edom had borne hatred against Israel since the days of Esau. It was born in her, and she was nourished in animosity toward her neighbor. David almost exterminated the Edomites, and they were brought into subjection time and time again. They never forgave Israel, and when Judah and Jerusalem were overwhelmed, Edom also rejoiced and took captive all the fleeing Israelites she could and sold them into slavery. Because of that Ezekiel pronounces an irretrievable doom: “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, I will stretch out my hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; even unto Dedan shall they fall by the sword.”<\/p>\n

The prophecy against Philistia (Eze 25:15-17<\/span> ): These were likewise the old, hereditary foes of Israel. They were very much like the Edomites in their feelings against her. They were revengeful, filled with an everlasting enmity, and rejoiced when Jerusalem went up in smoke. Because of that Ezekiel hurls his denunciations against the Philistines: they were to be crushed by the yoke Nebuchadnezzar. They had already been almost wiped out by the Assyrians. They were destroyed as a nation by the Babylonians, and at the time of the Maccabees they were completely exterminated as a nation.<\/p>\n

Tyre was one of the greatest commercial nations of the old world, corresponding to the English nation in the modern world. The date of this prophecy is 586 B.C., the first day of the first month of the siege of Jerusalem. The prophet devotes three chapters to his oracles against Tyre. That city had achieved great commercial importance. She traded with every known nation in the world; she had lent her influence to every nation; she was the envy of almost every nation. She was the most active, the most aggressive, had the greatest commercial power, in some respects the greatest wisdom and the greatest skill, as well as the greatest colonizing power, of any nation at that period. From the thirteenth century Tyre was the commercial center. She had been friendly to Judah and Jerusalem under David and Solomon and some later kings, but for a century or two her relations to Judah had been changed; she had grown jealous of Judah’s commercial advantages, and was now exhibiting the same hatred and jealousy toward Judah that all the other nations were manifesting. She rejoiced over the fall of Jerusalem the same as the other nations. Her business rival was now destroyed; her own chances were enhanced and, with the true spirit of commercial greed, she was glad that her sister nation had perished.<\/p>\n

The destruction of the city of Tyre is described in Eze 26<\/span> . In Eze 26:2<\/span> the prophet gives his reason for hurling this denunciation and prophecy of destruction against Tyre: “Son of man, because that Tyre hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gate of the people; she is turned unto me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste.” Therefore, he denounced her and predicted her fate.<\/p>\n

It was by Nebuchadnezzar, and in predicting her fall and end, Eze 26:5<\/span> says, “She shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God; and she shall become a spoil to the nations.” He would scrape the great rock, the island upon which Tyre was built, so that the very dust itself would be taken off and there would be nothing there but a bare rock for spreading and drying the nets of the fishermen. That is almost literally true today and has been for centuries.<\/p>\n

From that verse on, he predicts the siege of the city by Nebuchadnezzar. Tyre was built upon an island rock a short distance from the shore and was one of the strongest forts of the world. Nebuchadnezzar had to build a causeway from the mainland to reach the city. Ezekiel describes his mode of attacking the city in verse Eze 26:9<\/span> : “And he shall set his battering engines against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers,” and he continues with a full description of the rushing of the chariots over the streets and the indiscriminate slaughter of the inhabitants, with a sack of the great city.<\/p>\n

From Eze 26:15-19<\/span> we have the consternation of the various nations over the fall of this great commercial center. If New York, that center of commercial life, were to be destroyed, it would not send a greater thrill of consternation throughout the civilized world and would not more seriously affect the industrial life of America than did the fall of Tyre shock every nation and affect the commerce of every people of the world. They are represented as being in a state of consternation and it says in Eze 26:17<\/span> , “They shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited by seafaring men, the renowned city, that was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, that caused their terror to be on all that dwelt there.” In the last two verses of that chapter he describes the inhabitants of Tyre as sinking down into Sheol, the pit, or abyss, the abode of the dead, and there abiding in darkness forever.<\/p>\n

We have a magnificent description of Tyre by Ezekiel under the figure of a great ship in Eze 27<\/span> . In this chapter we have one of the finest passages in the Old Testament and one of the best opportunities for the study of ancient commerce to be found anywhere. Tyre is pictured as a gallant ship, a splendid big ship, one of the great merchantmen of that age: “They have made all thy planks of fir trees from Senir [Hermon]; they have taken a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for thee. Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; they have made thy benches of ivory inlaid in boxwood, from the isles of Kittim [Cyprus.”] Her sail was made of fine linen from Egypt, and it was an ensign. Ships did not carry flags in that age, but they had colored sails and figures marked upon them which served the purpose of a flag. Thus the purple of Egypt served as an ensign, or flag. Blue and purple linen of Elishah [which refers to Peloponnesus] furnished the awning for the ship.<\/p>\n

The men of Sidon, a town about twenty miles north, and the men of Arvad, a town still farther north on the Mediterranean coast, were its mariners, or rowers. Ships in that age had one or two sets of rowers. The ship in which Paul sailed had rowers, and the mariners in Jonah’s ship rowed hard. The men of Tyre, the wisest of the world, as they thought, and the best seamen and navigators of the world, were their pilots. The elders of Gebal, the best carpenters, were their calkers, literally, the leak-stoppers. Look at the army on board to guard this magnificent ship: They were men of Arvad; “Persia and Lud, and Phut were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness . . . and valorous men were in thy towers.”<\/p>\n

Then he goes on in (Eze 27:12-14<\/span> ) to describe the sea commerce of the great city of Tyre. To Tarshish, away on the western coast of Spain, the Strait of Gibraltar on the Atlantic Ocean her trade extended. “Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded for thy wares.” From Javan, Tubal, (south of the Black Sea) and Meshech, they brought vessels of brass and slaves. Togarmah is supposed to be modern Armenia, probably bordering on the Black Sea also. They reached this country by ships through the Black Sea and the straits. What did they get there? Horses and mules. So much for the sea commerce.<\/p>\n

Now he gives the land commerce (Eze 27:15-25<\/span> ). Dedan was the Arab tribe bordering on the southern and eastern boundary of Palestine and Edom. Here they got horns of ivory and ebony which indicates that these merchants either went into Africa and made use of the elephant tusks, or went into India and obtained the ivory and ebony there.<\/p>\n

Syria, round about Damascus, supplied them with emeralds, purple and broidered work, fine linen, coral and rubies.<\/p>\n

Judah supplied them with wheat of Minnith, and Pannag (perhaps a kind of confection), honey, oil, and balm.<\/p>\n

Damascus supplied them with the wine of Helbon, the finest and best wine of the world at that time; also with white wool.<\/p>\n

Vedan and Javan supplied them with bright iron, cassia, and calamus.<\/p>\n

Dedan supplied them with precious clothes for riding. When the ladies would go out riding, the fine clothes they wore came all the way from Dedan, probably located in southeastern Arabia.<\/p>\n

Arabia and the princes of Kedar supplied them with lambs, rams, and goats.<\/p>\n

Sheba and Raamah supplied them with all kinds of spices, precious stones, and gold.<\/p>\n

Haran, Canneh, Eden, Asshur, and Chilmad supplied them with blue cloth and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords and made of cedar.<\/p>\n

Now that is a magnificent description of the commerce of Tyre. It is the analogue of that marvelous description which we find in Rev 18:1-20<\/span> , where John pictures all the merchants of the earth mourning over the fall of the great city, Babylon. Many things there are identical with the articles of commerce here.<\/p>\n

Next we have the fate of this magnificent ship (Eze 27:26-36<\/span> ): “Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the heart of the seas. Thy riches, and thy wares, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the dealers in thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, with all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the heart of the seas in the day of thy ruin.” Her rowers had rowed into dangerous waters, and the divine powers broke upon her. The east wind, or divine judgment, produced the fall of the great city of Tyre. In Eze 27:28-36<\/span> there is the lamentation of the nations over the fall of this great city, just as John pictures all the merchants of the world lamenting over the fall of the great mystical Babylon, Rome.<\/p>\n

The pride and fall of Tyre are represented in Eze 28:1-19<\/span> . This is a representation of what he had already said, only here he takes the prince of Tyre as a personified spirit of the city, the prince, representing the people, and gathering up in himself, as it were, the spirit of the people. He directs his lamentation against the prince. He represents the prince of Tyre as saying, “I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas.” That was the spirit of Tyre and is the spirit of every great commercial center where the commercial spirit rules and reigns.<\/p>\n

Babylon said, “I am, and there is none else beside me.” Self-glorification, self-deification, idolizing self, is the besetting sin of every great commercial city. It has been and is today, and because of this great commercialism and inordinate pride, the prince of Tyre was doomed to destruction. They had great wisdom, worldly wisdom; they had great power, great wealth, great glory, but they were great idolaters and as such they perished. In Eze 28:11-19<\/span> he pictures the prince of Tyre as a cherub in the garden of God, or on the mountain of God, clothed in all the magnificence of the finest and most precious and costliest stones that could be found. This cherub, this angelic being, fell prey to sin and was destroyed.<\/p>\n

There is also a prophecy against Sidon in Eze 28:20-24<\/span> . (For the prophecies of this passage see the text.) Sidon was an important city a few miles north of Tyre and her fate was involved in the fate of Tyre. When Nebuchadnezzar destroyed one he destroyed the other, with all the villages and towns adjacent to it.<\/p>\n

Then follows another wonderful prophecy of the restoration of Israel and the blessings upon her after her return (Eze 28:25-26<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

Egypt was a great nation, one of the greatest nations of the world, and Ezekiel devotes four chapters to her fall. The date of it was during the siege of Jerusalem, 587 B.C. The following is a summary of the prophecy against her:<\/p>\n

1. A general statement of the fall of Egypt (Eze 29:1-16<\/span> ). Egypt is compared to a dragon, a crocodile, a huge alligator floundering around in the river Nile and boasting, as he says in the latter part of verse Eze 29:3<\/span> : “My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.” That was the spirit of Egypt. That great dragon-crocodile shall be taken with hooks in his mouth and Jehovah will pull him up and drag him forth and all the little fishes that belong to him will hang onto his scales, and he will be taken out into the wilderness and there he will be meat for the beasts and fowls of the air. This means that Egypt shall be destroyed from one end to the other, from the tower of Seveneh unto the border of Ethiopia. “Yet thus saith the Lord God: At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the peoples whither they were scattered; and I will bring back the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their birth; and they shall be there a base kingdom.” After that Egypt shall be the basest of the kingdoms; “neither shall it any more lift itself up above the nations: and I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.” From that time until this, Egypt has been a poor, weak, and worthless power.<\/p>\n

2. The reward of Nebuchadnezzar for failure to get booty at Tyre (Eze 29:17-21<\/span> ). The prophecy against Tyre that we have been studying was uttered in the year 586 B.C. Shortly after the fall of Jerusalem Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre and continued the siege for thirteen years. We are not told whether he succeeded in capturing and destroying the city or not. Now, this prophecy came from Ezekiel in the year 570 B.C., the first month, first day of the month, sixteen years after he had written the previous prophecy. During those sixteen years Nebuchadnezzar had been besieging Tyre for thirteen years and had apparently destroyed the city as Ezekiel had prophesied, but had taken no spoil. Ezekiel had definitely prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar would utterly and completely overwhelm Tyre, and he had seemingly done it. This prophecy throws some light upon the situation. Eze 29:18<\/span> says, “Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre; every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet had he no wages, nor his army, from Tyre, for the service he had served against it.” How extremely hard was this thirteen years of toil I Now that plainly indicates that Nebuchadnezzar did not succeed in securing the wealth of the Tyre.<\/p>\n

The truth seems to be that the people of Tyre spirited away by ships all their wealth and most of their inhabitants, and capitulated to Nebuchadnezzar at the end of about thirteen years, and when he entered the city he had nothing to destroy nor any wealth to take. Such seems probable, though we have no history that would justify the statement.<\/p>\n

Now, because Nebuchadnezzar had performed this service for Jehovah against Tyre and had received no wages (Eze 29:19-20<\/span> ), God says, “Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon; and he shall carry off her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for which he served, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord God.”<\/p>\n

3. The terror and dismay of the surrounding nations (Eze 30:1-19<\/span> ). The fall of a nation sends a thrill of horror and dismay through the world, and the fall of a great nation like Egypt struck terror into the hearts of all the surrounding nations, Arabia, Ethiopia, Crete, etc.<\/p>\n

4. The broken arm of Egypt (Eze 30:20-26<\/span> ). Egypt had had one arm broken, probably by Nebuchadnezzar. Now Ezekiel prophesies that Egypt shall have both arms broken, and her power shall be destroyed.<\/p>\n

5. Pharaoh represented as a lordly cedar cut down (Eze 31:3<\/span> ), “Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon.” He is using Assyria as an example for Egypt. He goes on with his magnificent description of the cedar. It is cut down. The Babylonians and Medes lay the ax at the roots and the cedar falls, crashing among the nations. In Eze 31:16<\/span> he pictures them as going down into the nethermost part of the earth into the pit of Sheol to abide forever.<\/p>\n

6. Lamentation over the fall of Egypt (Eze 32:1-16<\/span> ). Here we have the picture of the dragon again, destroyed and left for a prey of the birds and beasts.<\/p>\n

7. The welcome to Sheol, or Hades, by the nations (Eze 32:17-32<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

This has been said to be the most weird piece of literature in all the world. All the people of Egypt, the princes, the mighty men, the soldiers, who were slain in these wars, go down into Sheol, the underworld, the place of the departed, and there existing in their shadowy and weak existence, grouped together and with them is Assyria and all her hosts that were slain with the sword: grouped together also and with them, Elam and all her hosts; grouped around them Mesheck, Tubal, and all her multitude; Edom, her kings, and all her princes, and all the Sidonians grouped together in Sheol. These are all in the shadowy world below, surrounding Egypt. In Eze 32:31<\/span> , Pharaoh and his hosts and all these foreign countries and their hosts, are said to be in Sheol where light is as darkness, and are gathered together in groups and Pharaoh shall see them and shall be comforted over all this multitude of slain ones. It is a picture of their conception of the underworld, Sheol, which is the place of the dead who have passed through what we know to be the grave, down into the spirit world. Thus Ezekiel leaves these nations in Sheol, the place where there is no light.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

QUESTIONS<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. What prophets prophesied against foreign nations and what can you say of the grouping of their prophecies?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

2. Why these prophecies against foreign nations?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

3. What and why the prophecy against Ammon? (Eze 25:1-7<\/span> .)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

4. What and why the prophecy against Moab? (Eze 25:8-11<\/span> .)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

5. What and why the prophecy against Edom? (Eze 25:12-14<\/span> .)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

6. What and why the prophecy against Philistia? (Eze 25:15-17<\/span> .)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

7. What can you say of Tyre’s commercial importance and her attitude toward Judah and Jerusalem?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

8. How is the destruction of the city of Tyre described in chapter 26?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

9. Give the magnificent description of Tyre by Ezekiel under the figure of a great ship (27).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

10. How is the pride and fall of Tyre represented in Eze 28:1-19<\/span> ?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

11. What is the prophecy against Sidon in Eze 28:20-24<\/span> , when fulfilled and what prophecy relative to the children of Israel?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

12. Summarize the prophecy against Egypt (Ezekiel 29-32).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

13. What is the added prophecy concerning Tyre in Eze 28:17-21<\/span> ?<\/p>\n

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Eze 30:1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,<\/p>\n

Ver. 1. The word of the Lord.<\/strong> ] See Eze 18:1<\/span> .<\/p>\n

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Ezekiel Chapter 30<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first of the two prophetic strains of our chapter is a good example of that which characterises the word of prophecy, the binding up of present or impending disasters with the great day when God will interfere in power and judge (not first the dead but) the quick. There was the direct government of God then in Israel, which dealt also with the nations that meddled with His people, as there will be by and by an incomparably better display of it when the Lord comes to reign over the earth. Meanwhile we have only the course of providence regulating sovereignly and unseen, while the Jews are for the time abandoned for their apostasy and also now their rejection of the Messiah.<\/p>\n

“The word of Jehovah came again unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah; Howl ye, Alas for* the day! For the day is near, even the day of Jehovah is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen. And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down. Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mingled people, and Chub, and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.” (Ver. 1-5) The intervention of Jehovah in the downfall of Egypt identifies itself in principle with the day of Jehovah which closes this age and spreads over that which is to come. Not only should the African races fall, but the sons of the land of the covenant, which seems to point to such Jews as had gone to live there away from the distresses of home.<\/p>\n

*Our version gives the obsolete phrase “Woe worth” instead of “Woe unto” etc.<\/p>\n

“Thus saith Jehovah; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord Jehovah. And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted. And they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and when all her helpers shall be destroyed. In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt; for, lo, it cometh.” (Ver. 6-9) Not only should the country renowned for its wisdom among the ancients but their allies or supports: from Migdol to Syene they shall fall in her, is the apparent force. Were other lands desolate? So should the Egyptians be in the midst of the general waste; no oasis in the desert, but desert all alike. Even a remoter people, apt to think themselves secure, should be terrified, and not without reason: great pain should be on them. It was coming!<\/p>\n

“Thus saith the Lord Jehovah; I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon. He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain. And I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of the wicked: and I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I Jehovah have spoken it.” (Ver. 10-12) Here the instrument of divine vengeance is named distinctly: not as if God had the smallest sympathy with the terrible of the nations and their unsheathed swords, nor with the wicked into whose hand the country was sold, nor with the strangers that wasted it. But the hour to judge its proud wickedness was at hand; and the worst was the suited executioner to do the dread office.<\/p>\n

“Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph; and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt. And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments in No. And I will pour my fury upon Sin, the strength of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No. And I will set fire in Egypt: Sin shall have great pain, and No shall be rent asunder, and Noph shall have distresses daily. The young men of Aven and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword: and these cities shall go into captivity. At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity. Thus will I execute judgments in Egypt: and they shall know that I am Jehovah.” (Ver. 13-19) It is with the gods of Egypt, as at first so now at last, God’s main controversy lies. This was before Him when the destroyer went through the land and smote the firstborn on the night of passover; it is before Him here when He adds that there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt. Fear should be in Egypt, desolation in Pathros, fire in Zoan, judgments in No (Thebes or Diospolis), fury on Sin (Pelusium), No-Amon cut off, daily distresses in Noph (the ancient Memphis). They all should be laid low and put to shame and pain, Upper, and Middle, as well as Lower, Egypt. The youths of cities famous for idol temples, Aven or On (Heliopolis), and Pibeseth or Pasht (Bubastis), should perish by the sword, and the women go into captivity, Tehaphnehes (Daphnis), the seat of royal authority and strength should be shrouded in darkness, and her daughters go into captivity. What a picture of utter overthrow, the word and work alike testifying to Jehovah!<\/p>\n

As the former message bears on the land and people and cities of Egypt, se the latter which follows on the king. “And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, lo, it shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to bind it, to make it strong to hold the sword.” (Vers. 20, 21) Had Pharaoh-Necho pushed onward the successes and conquests of Egypt? So much the more humiliating the reverses which should break the power of Egypt thenceforward. In vain did they hope for healing or recovery: Jehovah had put Pharaoh down beyond remedy. And this is pursued with greater detail in the next verses (22-26): “therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah; Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken ; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand: but I will break Pharaoh’s arms, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man. But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the countries; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.” (Ver. 22-26) It was not only foreign mercenaries that should be scattered among the nations, but the Egyptians themselves: so thorough the rent and complete the demoralisation and overwhelming the ruin caused by the king of Babylon. If it was Nebuchadnezzar, no less was it Jehovah’s sword stretched by him over the kingdom of the south. Painfully did the men of Egypt learn in their dispersion, and know that it was Jehovah’s doing.<\/p>\n

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Eze 30:1-5<\/p>\n

1The word of the LORD came again to me saying, 2Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,<\/p>\n

Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’<\/p>\n

3For the day is near,<\/p>\n

Even the day of the LORD is near;<\/p>\n

It will be a day of clouds,<\/p>\n

A time of doom for the nations.<\/p>\n

4A sword will come upon Egypt,<\/p>\n

And anguish will be in Ethiopia;<\/p>\n

When the slain fall in Egypt,<\/p>\n

They take away her wealth,<\/p>\n

And her foundations are torn down.<\/p>\n

5Ethiopia, Put, Lud all Arabia, Libya and the people of the land that is in league will fall with them by the sword.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:1 See note at Eze 29:1.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:2 prophesy This VERB (BDB 612, KB 659) is a Niphal IMPERATIVE. It is used thirty-seven times in Ezekiel. The book is a series of messages from YHWH to Judah through Ezekiel.<\/p>\n

Thus says the Lord GOD YHWH is the source of the message, not Ezekiel (cf. Eze 25:3; Amo 1:3; Amo 2:1). For the name Adonai YHWH see Special Topic: Names for Deity .<\/p>\n

Wail This VERB (BDB 410, KB 413, Hiphil IMPERATIVE) is common in<\/p>\n

1. Isaiah, Isa 13:6; Isa 14:31; Isa 15:2-3; Isa 16:7(twice); Isa 23:1; Isa 23:6; Isa 23:14; Isa 52:5; Isa 65:14<\/p>\n

2. Jeremiah, Jer 4:8; Jer 25:34; Jer 47:2; Jer 48:20; Jer 48:31; Jer 48:39; Jer 49:3; Jer 51:8<\/p>\n

3. Ezekiel (only twice), Eze 21:12; Eze 30:2<\/p>\n

4. Joel, Joe 1:5; Joe 1:11; Joe 1:13<\/p>\n

It denotes those who cry out like wounded animals at the judgment of God which has come upon them (i.e., Wail, also for the day! Eze 30:2-3).<\/p>\n

Eze 30:3 the day of the LORD See note at Eze 7:19. This reference is to the immediate invasion of Babylon, not an eschatological one.<\/p>\n

It will be a day of clouds The phrase is an idiom of gloom (i.e., sirocco east winds from the desert, cf. Eze 30:18; Eze 32:7; Eze 34:12), but it denotes more. The clouds are often the transportation of deity (e.g., Jer 4:13; Dan 7:13; Nah 1:3). See Special Topic following.<\/p>\n

SPECIAL TOPIC: COMING IN THE CLOUDS <\/p>\n

Eze 30:4 anguish This term (BDB 298) comes from birth pains (BDB 296). It describes the terrible pain, emotionally and physically, of God’s judgment<\/p>\n

1. against Philistia, Exo 15:14<\/p>\n

2. against unspecified foreign kings, Psa 48:6<\/p>\n

3. against Babylon, Isa 13:8; Isa 21:3; Jer 50:43<\/p>\n

4. against Israel, Jer 6:24; Jer 22:23<\/p>\n

5. against Lebanon, Jer 22:23<\/p>\n

6. against Moab, Jer 48:41<\/p>\n

7. against Edom, Jer 49:22<\/p>\n

8. against Egypt, Eze 30:4; Eze 30:9<\/p>\n

9. against Assyria, Nah 2:10<\/p>\n

Ethiopia This is literally Cush (BDB 468). Cush controlled Egypt during the twenty-fifth dynasty (716-663 B.C.), but had since been overthrown. However, in Eze 30:4; Eze 30:9 Cush seems to be a designation for Egypt (cf. Isa 20:4).<\/p>\n

They take away her wealth The term translated wealth (BDB 242) has several meanings.<\/p>\n

1. sound, murmur, roar of a crowd, Isa 13:4; Isa 17:12<\/p>\n

2. tumult, confusion, Isa 33:3<\/p>\n

3. crowd, multitude, Eze 7:12-13; Eze 23:42; Eze 30:4; Eze 39:11<\/p>\n

4. abundance, Isa 60:5<\/p>\n

Context must determine which fits best. Because of Eze 29:19 some choose #4, but Eze 30:4 itself supports #3. Notice the same ambiguity in Eze 30:10.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:5 This refers to (1) mercenary soldiers (cf. Eze 30:8; Eze 27:10) or (2) allies (i.e., in league, Eze 30:5; and Eze 30:6; Eze 30:8).<\/p>\n

1. Ethiopia\/Cush (BDB 468), cf. Eze 27:10; Eze 38:5; Gen 10:13<\/p>\n

2. Put\/Libia (BDB 806), cf. Gen 10:6; Jer 46:9<\/p>\n

3. Lud\/Lydia (BDB 530 [1] it is possible to link them with the northern Mediterranean, cf. Isa 66:19 or [2] it is grammatically possible that all three denote Egypt)<\/p>\n

4. Arabia (Peshitta, BDB 787) or mixed people (LXX. NKJV, BDB 786), both have the same consonants<\/p>\n

5. Libya\/Lub (BDB 464, cf. Gen 10:13, another descendant of Ham living in northeast Africa)<\/p>\n

6. the people of the land, this phrase refers to another people group, but which one is uncertain. Some commentators speculate that because the term covenant\/berith is used it refers to Jews living in north Africa.<\/p>\n

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Chapter 30<\/p>\n

In chapter 30:<\/p>\n

The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Howl ye, Woe worth the day! ( Eze 30:1-2 )<\/p>\n

So he is going around howling, “Woe worth the day!”<\/p>\n

For the day is near, even the day of the LORD is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen. And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia ( Eze 30:3-4 ),<\/p>\n

And he tells of the destruction that is going to come against these nations.<\/p>\n

Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, and all the mingled people, and Chub, and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword. Thus saith the LORD; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord. And it shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted. And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and when all her helpers shall be destroyed. In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt: for, lo, it cometh. Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon ( Eze 30:5-10 ).<\/p>\n

So the greatness which was once Egypt, one of the greatest nations in the ancient world. You study ancient history, and Egypt always stands out. And you go, of course, to Egypt and you see the tremendous monuments to the genius of the people of that ancient world. You see the ruins in Memphis and in Thebes. You see the pyramids, you see the sphinx, and all of these great monuments that were there in Egypt. And you can only stand in awe and imagine the glory that once was in Egypt. But Egypt is to fall. Not to rise into a world-dominating stature again, but to remain just a base nation from then on. And of course, such is the story. Egypt is no longer a major kind of a world empire or a major kingdom of the world, but it is just one of the many lesser nations of the world even today.<\/p>\n

And God speaks of this judgment that is going to come. And He names the various cities. The Lord said, verse Eze 30:13 ,<\/p>\n

I will destroy the idols, I will cause their images to cease out of [Memphis] Noph [is Memphis] ( Eze 30:13 );<\/p>\n

And of course, you go to Memphis and you can see these huge idols that are still there.<\/p>\n

And there shall be no more a prince in the land of Egypt ( Eze 30:13 ):<\/p>\n

That is a Pharaoh.<\/p>\n

I will put a fear in the land of Egypt. And I will make Pathros desolate, and I will set on fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments in No [which is Thebes]. I will pour out my fury upon Sin, and the strength of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of Thebes. And I will set fire in Egypt: and Sin shall have great pain, and Thebes shall be torn asunder, and Memphis shall have distresses daily. And the young men of Aven and Pibeseth shall fall by the sword: and these cities shall go into captivity. At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt ( Eze 30:13-18 ):<\/p>\n

Now it was at Tehaphnehes that Jeremiah, you remember, took stones and he buried them and he said, “Over the top of these stones Nebuchadnezzar is going to build his throne.” And of course, archaeologists in excavating at Tehaphnehes uncovered the porch of the palace and they removed the stones, the pavement, and underneath they found the very stones that Jeremiah buried as a witness against that city. And it was indeed there that Nebuchadnezzar came and set up his throne, Jeremiah says, “You’re trusting in Egypt to deliver you, look, Nebuchadnezzar is gonna set up his throne right here. Egypt isn’t going to deliver.”<\/p>\n

Now that did not happen during the period of Pharaoh Haaibre, but this portion of course happened later, seventeen years after the beginning of the siege of Tyre. Or actually, it was fifteen years after that, that God for payment to Nebuchadnezzar gave him Egypt.<\/p>\n

Verse Eze 30:20 :<\/p>\n

It came to pass now in the eleventh year ( Eze 30:20 )<\/p>\n

That is, you’re back into the first month April of 586 B.C., and it’s important that you catch these datings of these prophecies so that you know at what time these particular prophecies were made. So this now was made in April 586, the year that Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar.<\/p>\n

The word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, lo, it shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to bind it, to make it strong to hold the sword. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt [Pharaoh Haaibre again at this time], and will break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand: but I will break Pharaoh’s arms, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man. But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the countries; and they shall know that I am the LORD ( Eze 30:20-26 ).<\/p>\n

And so God’s judgments pronounced against Egypt. And the next couple of chapters he continues these judgments against Egypt, and then we get into these instructions for those of the Jewish captivity and of their coming back into the land. And we get into some very exciting prophecies as we move into next week and prophecies that we see being fulfilled today in the land of Israel.<\/p>\n

May the Lord keep His hand upon your life and may He speak to you this week through His Word. May He open up your heart and your mind and your understanding to the things of the Spirit. May He cause you to realize that His righteous principles will always prevail, that when God speaks it can be accounted as done. And when God establishes a principle, it cannot be violated. And thus, may you live in that place where God can bless you as He desires to bless you. May you keep yourself in the love of God as you walk in fellowship with Him this week. In Jesus’ name. “<\/p>\n

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Eze 30:1-5<\/p>\n

ORACLES (3) Ezekiel 30:1-19 AND (4) Ezekiel 30:20-26 AGAINST EGYPT<\/p>\n

We may outline this chapter thus:<\/p>\n

A. Announcement of the Day of the Lord (Ezekiel 30:1-5)<\/p>\n

B. Allies, Dependents also destroyed (Ezekiel 30:6-9)<\/p>\n

C. Wealth of Egypt to be carried away (Ezekiel 30:10-12)<\/p>\n

D. Princes and Cities to be destroyed (Ezekiel 30:13-19)<\/p>\n

E. God breaks Pharaoh’s arm (Ezekiel 30:20-26)<\/p>\n

THE DAY OF THE LORD COMES TO EGYPT (Ezekiel 30:1-19)<\/p>\n

Eze 30:1-5<\/p>\n

“The word of Jehovah came again unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith Jehovah: Wail ye, alas for the day! For the day is near, even the day of Jehovah is near; it shall be a day of clouds, a time of the nations. And a sword shall come upon Egypt, and anguish shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt; and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down. Ethiopia and Put and Lud, and all the mingled peoples, and Cub, and the children of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.”<\/p>\n

The announcement here that the Day of Jehovah is near cannot be separated from its eschatological overtones relating to that final and Eternal Day of the Lord when his righteous judgments shall be executed upon the fallen and rebellious race of Adam, that day of Doom and Destruction mentioned in Genesis, upon which God said, “In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die!” (Gen 2:17)<\/p>\n

Regarding that particular day, upon which God promised the death of Adam and Eve in the case of their eating of the forbidden tree, it was the seventh day of creation, a day, which, according to Hebrews 4 th chapter, is still going on and has not ended yet. The meaning of that sentence upon the sinful progenitors of our fallen race is that Adam and Eve in the person of their total posterity shall be totally destroyed, the redeemed of all dispensations and all ages “in Christ Jesus” being the sole exceptions to that universal destruction that shall at last terminate God’s Operation Adam on that Day of Jehovah.<\/p>\n

We have already written many comments relating to the Day of Jehovah, especially in Joel, Amos, and Zephaniah, etc. These will be found in the appropriate volumes of our commentaries under the following references: Isa 13:6-9; Joe 1:15; Joe 2:1; Joe 2:11; Joe 3:14; Amo 5:18-20; Oba 1:15; Zep 1:7; Zep 1:14; Zec 14:1; 1Th 5:2; 2Th 2:2; 2Pe 3:10; 2Co 5:10; Heb 9:27; Mat 25:31-46, and many other references.<\/p>\n

Many other signal judgments of God executed upon wicked nations, just like the one here prophesied for Egypt, are token judgments pointing forward to that great and final Day when, as John Milton expressed it:<\/p>\n

“God shall cast his throne in middle Air<\/p>\n

And judge before Him all the nations there!”<\/p>\n

As Feinberg wrote, “Thus we take God’s judgment on Egypt here as identified in principle with that Day upon which he will call all nations to give an account. As this same author declared, “We would not dare to interpret this chapter as if it were not related to the many other references in the Word of God to `The day of Jehovah.’<\/p>\n

The prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem given by Christ himself in Matthew 24 is another example of an earthly judgment against a wicked city that promises also an ultimate fulfillment in the Final Judgment. We also believe that there are multiple examples of this in Amos 1-2.<\/p>\n

One of the most impressive features of this chapter is the list of the principal cities of Egypt; but critics like Cooke have brought vigorous allegations against the list which he called “haphazard; three of the cities belong to Upper Egypt and five to Lower Egypt; but they are named without any sense of their geographical location, as though the writer knew them only by hearsay.” Like many another allegation of some radical critic, intent upon denying the passage to Ezekiel, this comment also is inaccurate, as indicated by the opinions of many able scholars. “All of the towns singled out for mention here, without exception, are of religious, political, or military importance. “Every single center of cultural and political power in Egypt was mentioned.” “The listing here indicates an exact knowledge of the chief cities of Egypt for that period. In this light, it is clear that Cooke’s allegations should be rejected.<\/p>\n

Some interpreters divide this oracle into four subdivisions, each of which begins with, “Thus saith the Lord,” as in Eze 30:2; Eze 30:6; Eze 30:10; Eze 30:13. However, we cannot see any necessity for such fragmentary divisions.<\/p>\n

It should be remembered that the necessity for God’s destruction of the pagan nations of that period derived from their false view that God’s punishment of Israel that resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of her people constituted a victory for their pagan gods over Jehovah. Upon the occasion of God’s deliverance of Israel from Egyptian captivity, that matter of which God was really God had been settled in the great victory for Jehovah; but the apostasy of the Chosen People and God’s ensuing destruction of them had changed all that; and it was very necessary for God, all over again, to demonstrate his own superiority over the pantheon of paganism.<\/p>\n

Each one of the cities mentioned later in the chapter was the seat of some pagan god.<\/p>\n

The allies and dependencies of Egypt would do her no good when the judgment fell.<\/p>\n

“Put, Lud, and Cub …” (Eze 30:5). “Put and Lud were two tribes living west of Egypt in Africa; however, “Cub is an unknown name. These peoples were allies of Egypt and were considered part of her strength (see Nah 3:9). What is stressed here is that allies and dependents alike will experience destruction along with Egypt.<\/p>\n

“The children of the land that is in league …” (Eze 30:5). The marginal reading in our version has “children of the land of the covenant”; and if this is allowed, the reference is to the Jews who, following the murder of Gedaliah had returned to Egypt contrary to the stern warnings of Jeremiah. Beasley-Murray denied that this reading should be followed; but, in any case, whether stated here or not, those Jews who had returned to Egypt would (and did) suffer the same destruction as that of Egypt.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

The third prophecy described the process by which Nebuchadnezzar would accomplish the purpose of Jehovah. It opens with an introductory word announcing the nearness of the day of the Lord, and foretelling the anguish which would fall on all the peoples in the hour of Egypt’s overthrow. This anguish would be caused by the fact that all who had helped her would be made desolate, thus sharing in her judgment. As for Egypt itself, the stroke of Jehovah would fall on the land, whose rivers would be dried as it passed under the domination of evil men. The stroke would also fall on the idols, and finally on all the great cities of the land.<\/p>\n

The fourth prophecy was directed against the power of Pharaoh. Judgment against him was described as the breaking of his arm, for which breaking there would be no healing, and therefore he would have no power to hold the sword. This would be accomplished by the king of Babylon, and Ezekiel contrasted his power with the weakness of Pharaoh by declaring that Jehovah would strengthen his arms, so that he might hold the sword and execute His judgment on the land of Egypt. Thus the Egyptians would be scattered among the nations, and dispersed through the countries. Again, each of these prophecies concludes with the clear declaration of purpose, “They shall know that I am Jehovah.”<\/p>\n

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Chapter Thirty<\/p>\n

Details Of Egypts Judgment<\/p>\n

In this chapter the prophet continues to declare the word of the Lord concerning the judgments which were to come upon Egypt, all of which were fulfilled in due time.<\/p>\n

The word of Jehovah came again unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Wail ye, Alas for the day! For the day is near, even the day of Jehovah is near; it shall be a day of clouds, a time of the nations. And a sword shall come upon Egypt, and anguish shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt; and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down. Ethiopia, and Put, and Lud, and all the mingled people, and Cub, and the children of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword-vers. 1-5.<\/p>\n

Alas for the day! The day referred to was the day in which Jehovah was to use Nebuchadnezzar and his armies to chastise the people of the land of Egypt for their idolatry and corruption. It was to be a day of clouds, and it was called specifically a time of the nations. This expression is very much like the one used by our Lord in Luk 21:24, where He tells us that Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. While the two terms seem at first sight to be similar, the context in each instance shows that they have a very different application. The time of the nations here in Ezekiel was the time when judgment was to fall upon the nations surrounding the land of Palestine-the nations with which the people of Israel had trafficked for years, and from some of which they had suffered greatly. In Luk 21:24 the Lord uses the expression, the times of the Gentiles, to cover the entire period during which Palestine, the city of Jerusalem, and the people of the Jews, are under Gentile domination. This began with the rise of Nebuchadnezzar, and is still in progress, and will continue until the day when the Lord Himself appears from heaven in His glorious second advent to execute judgment upon the nations and to set up His own heavenly kingdom over all this lower universe.<\/p>\n

The sword of Nebuchadnezzar was to come upon Egypt, and not only upon Egypt, but also upon the lands contiguous to it, Ethiopia, Put, and all the mingled people, and Cub-these are all lands bordering upon Egypt according to their ancient names. Ethiopia alone still retains the name it had at that time. In addition, judgment was to fall upon the children of the land that is in league, or, as the margin of the Revised Version gives it, the children of the land of the covenant. This undoubtedly refers to the Jews who had fled from Palestine and settled in the land of Egypt, hoping thereby to find relief from the troublesome times that had fallen upon their own country, but their hope was in vain. In looking to Egypt for help they trusted in a bruised reed.<\/p>\n

Thus saith Jehovah: They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Seveneh shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord Jehovah. And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted. And they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and all her helpers are destroyed. In that day shall messengers go forth from before Me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid; and there shall be anguish upon them, as in the day of Egypt: for, lo, it cometh-vers. 6-9.<\/p>\n

The Lord now proceeds to mention definitely certain cities and sections of the land of Egypt against which His judgment was to be executed in order that the pride of her power might be destroyed. All the way from Migdol to Seveneh (from the tower to Seveneh) the people were to fall by the sword. These two places mentioned are at the northern and southern extremities of upper Egypt. This entire part of the land was to become desolate and her cities wasted; thus should the Egyptians know that they had to deal with the Eternal One, Jehovah, whom they had defied in years gone by. Messengers would go from them to the careless Ethiopians who were allies of Egypt at this time. Because of the almost inaccessible character of their country, they dwelt in utter indifference to the conflicts going on elsewhere, but the fall of Egypt would be to them a serious omen, foretelling the desolation coming upon their own land.<\/p>\n

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought in to destroy the land; and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain. And I will make the rivers dry, and will sell the land into the hand of evil men; and I will make the land desolate, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I, Jehovah, have spoken it-vers. 10-12.<\/p>\n

By the overrunning of the armies of the King of Babylon, the multitude of Egypt would be made to cease. The terrible Chaldean conquerors would not draw their sword against Egypt in vain, but through them the land was to be filled with the slain. Moreover, providential judgments were to fall upon the country itself so that the rivers, that is, the streams of the Delta, would be made dry, and the land sold into the hands of evil men; thus should it become desolate and strangers inherit what once belonged to the Egyptians. There could be no way of escape, for Jehovah Himself had spoken it.<\/p>\n

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause the images to cease from Memphis; and there shall be no more a prince from the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt. And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set a fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments upon No. And I will pour My wrath upon Sin, the stronghold of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No. And I will set a fire in Egypt: Sin shall be in great anguish, and No shall be broken up; and Memphis shall have adversaries in the daytime. The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth shall fall by the sword; and these cities shall go into captivity. At Tehaphnehes also the day shall withdraw itself, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt, and the pride of her power shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity. Thus will I execute judgments upon Egypt; and they shall know that I am Jehovah-vers. 13-19.<\/p>\n

From early days Egypt had been a land of idolatry, and her great images have remained throughout the centuries as the memorials of her false religion. Against these idols, which really represented demons as we know, Gods heavy judgments were to be executed. Memphis, or Noph, was one of the leading cities devoted to such worship. Its vast temples and colossal images were among the greatest in the world, but God declared He would cause these things of nought to cease. And in that connection we are told, There shall be no more a prince from the land of Egypt. This prophecy was soon literally fulfilled. When the dynasty then ruling Egypt died out there was never again a genuine Egyptian king ruling over the land. The Ptolemies who were strangers from the outside came in later, but even they were destroyed eventually; and through all the years since to the present day no prince of Egyptian blood has ever ruled that land. Egypt has a king, but King Fuad was not an Egyptian but an Albanian, and his son now reigning is not of real Egyptian blood.<\/p>\n

Pathros, which is usually the name for upper Egypt in the prophetic writings, was to be made desolate, and a fire kindled in Zoan. Zoan is generally supposed to be identical with the land of Goshen where the people of Israel dwelt. Upon a portion of this land, in which was situated the capital of the shepherd kings of the Hyksos rulers, Gods sore judgments fell in the days of His controversy with the king who knew not Joseph.<\/p>\n

No is No-Amon or Thebes, another great center of idolatry. Upon this, too, Gods judgment was to fall, so that Thebes was to become but an empty ruin. God declared, I will cut off the multitude of No. His wrath was to be poured upon Sin, which is generally identified with Pelusium. All these cities were utterly ruined, and today men look with wonder on the evidences of their former greatness, and perhaps few realize that their present condition is the result of divine indignation against them.<\/p>\n

The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth, or Bubastis, were also to fall by the sword, and the people in the cities to be carried into captivity. At Tehaphnehes where many of the Jews congregated, the power of Egypt was to be broken and a cloud cover her, and her daughters go into captivity. In this way was God to execute His judgments upon Egypt that men might know that He was Jehovah God.<\/p>\n

In the last section of the chapter, from verse 20 to the end, the Lord makes it plain that whatever efforts Egypt might make to strengthen itself against Babylon, they would be in vain.<\/p>\n

And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, lo, it hath not been bound up, to apply healing medicines, to put a bandage to bind it, that it be strong to hold the sword. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong arm, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse Lhem through the countries. And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put My sword in his hand: but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man. And I will hold up the arms of the king of Babylon; and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I shall put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries; and they shall know that I am Jehovah-vers. 20-26.<\/p>\n

Pharaoh and his hosts had been completely defeated by the Chaldeans and retreated to Egypt. Pharaoh had endeavored to rebuild his army and to fit it for another trial of strength with the Babylonian leader, but God Himself declared that He was against Pharaoh, whom He likened to a man with a broken arm, endeavoring to stand against a powerful foe. Whatever efforts he might make to defend himself would prove abortive: his armies would be destroyed, and his people would be dispersed among the nations, for God who puts up one and puts down another, was at this time using the king of Babylon as a sword in order to judge the nations with whom He had a controversy. Through Nebuchadnezzar the armies of Pharaoh would be broken, and he would cry out as a deadly wounded man, but the arms of the king of Babylon were to be upheld by God Himself until He should have executed the judgments decreed upon Egypt and the nearby nations, for it was Jehovah who had put His sword into the hand of the Chaldean leader, and that sword was not to be sheathed until the predicted doom fell upon all the land of Egypt, and the Egyptians were Scattered among the nations and dispersed through the countries, to learn in abject captivity that it was a vain thing to fight against Jehovah.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Reciprocal: Jer 43:11 – he shall smite Eze 29:2 – against all<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Eze 30:1-2. The prophet is told to express lamentation or howl in view of what is to happen to Egypt. Worth has no word in the original as a separate term, but is included with the same one for woe and means the same as saying “Ah, alas!<\/p>\n

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Eze 30:5. Ethiopia, Libya, and Lydia or Ludd. These allies of Egypt fell alike under the Assyrians, justly called the bloody Assyrians. The western shores of the Nile were then fertile districts; but now the western storms blow the sands of the deserts into the river, and impoverish the adjacent soil.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:13. I will cause images to cease out of Noph. The vengeance should begin on their images or idol gods; and after that, as foretold by another prophet, the sceptre of Egypt should depart away. Noph, sometimes called Moph, or Memphis, a celebrated town in Egypt, on the western banks of the Nile, once contained many beautiful temples of idolatrous worship, which are here the objects of prophetic denunciation. Through this city also the Nile once flowed with such an expanse of waters that in the Hebrew scriptures it is sometimes called the sea. The lake Mereotis was in the time of Herodotus seventy five miles in circumference, though it is now only twenty five miles round its shores. The pyramids, twenty in number, extend fourteen miles from north to south, along the banks of the Nile. The largest of them is no less than four hundred and eighty five feet in perpendicular height, on a square base, each of whose sides is also four hundred and eighty feet, enclosing full eleven acres of ground. The inside of the pyramid is full of receptacles for the dead, the outside is ascended by steps, connected with superior entrances, evidently designed as places of retreat in case of future inundations. These stupendous monuments, whose beauty and grandeur still astonish the modern traveller, were apparently erected during the sojourn of Israel in Egypt, and not long after the tremendous inundation of one of the superior rivers in the time of Ogyges, the most ancient king of Greece. But though these huge monuments still exist, the images of Noph or Memphis have long ceased, and even the scite on which the city stood is now unknown. The ruins of its fallen grandeur were conveyed to Alexandria to beautify its palaces, or to adorn the neighbouring cities.<\/p>\n

It is also here foretold that there shall no more be a native prince of the land of Egypt. Her dynasties had subsisted from Menes, her first king, who is said to have reigned in the year of the world 2251, to the destruction of the Pharaohs by Nebuchadnezzar, which terminated the reign of the Egyptian princes, and showed the fulfilment of prophecy, and the judgments of God upon the oppressors of his people.<\/p>\n

Eze 30:15. I will cut off the multitude of No. The prophet Nahum asks Nineveh, What art thou better than populous No, whose rampart was the sea; yet she was carried away into captivity. Cyaxares, king of Media, and Nabopolassar king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzars father, took Nineveh, and destroyed the Assyrian empire about twenty three years after this, and so fulfilled the prophecy of Nahum and Zephaniah. The priests of Memphis told Herodotus, as in the beginning of his second book, Euterpe, that Menes was the first king that had ever reigned, and that the Egyptians were the first nation who had discovered the names of the twelve gods, which the Greeks had borrowed. That they were also the first who had erected altars to the gods, and introduced statues into the temples. That in Menes time all Egypt was a morass, excepting Thebaid, of which Thebes was the capital. That the land from the lake Mereotis to the sea had then no existence; and that the country for seven days journey had been warped up by depositions of the water. And from the appearance of the country this judicious traveller entirely concurs in opinion with the ancient priests of Egypt.<\/p>\n

Juvenal describes No-ammon as the old Thebes, having a hundred fortified gates. Atque vetus Thebae centum jacet obruta.Sat. 15. It is called by the Greeks Diospolis, the city of Jupiter, Lower Egypt being formed by depositions of the sea and the Nile: the sea once indented itself as high as Thebes. It is probable that the Ethiopians, prior to the annals of history, had sacked this city, and ruined upper Egypt, which flourished again after the expulsion of the shepherds. Gen 46:34. Herodotus says that Egypt, in the time of king Amasis, had twenty thousand towns and villages densely populated.<\/p>\n

The ruins of Thebes, surnamed Hecatompylos, because of its hundred gates, are found on the eastern shore of the Nile, in north latitude 25 40. The geologist will make no scruple to believe the prophet Nahum, that the sea once reached the ramparts of Thebes. The Rev. Mr. Ray has proved that the sea once washed the shores of Canterbury, and that there are six acres of oysters near Reading. The tides once played, and for a long time, at the foot of the Craven hills near Keighley in Yorkshire, depositing a broad line of bowlders, and also mixed with bowlders of limestone, and of a character quite dissimilar from any liases in this country. <\/p>\n

Eze 30:17. The young men of Aven and of Phibeseth. The Vulgate reads, Heliopolis, the city of the sun, and Babastos. The former city is the Greek name for On.<\/p>\n

REFLECTIONS.<\/p>\n

We are here struck with the exact accomplishment of the prophecies against Egypt, against its cities and its princes, by the wars of Assyria and surrounding nations. When the measure was full, the visitation came. Therefore Isaiah, Nahum, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, must have been inspired by Him to whom futurity is without a veil. What instruction then should the ruins of ancient cities where powerful kings once reigned, suggest to the flourishing cities of Europe who imitate them in every species of crime, and forget the Lord, who does what he pleases in the heavens above, and in the earth below. Ah, we want all the energies of religion to be in active operation, to counteract the evils of the heart, that righteousness and peace may everywhere flourish and abound. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Ezekiel 30. The Desolation of Egypt.The interrupted denunciation of Egypt is resumed. The neighbours and allies will be involved in her ruin, which is to be effected by Nebuchadrezzar and his terrible army (Eze 30:1-12). (In Eze 30:5, for Put and Lud see Eze 27:10 : for mingled people read Arabians. For Cub, read Lub = Lybians; and for the next clause read the Cretans.)<\/p>\n

The collapse of Egypt is then described in detail, the towns which are singled out for special mention being all of religious, political, or military importance (Eze 30:13-19). (In Eze 30:13, the LXX omits the clause referring to idols, and rightly reads magnates for images. Noph (Isa 19:13*) = Memphis (near Cairo), capital of Lower Egypt. Pathros = Upper Egypt. Zoan (Isa 19:11*), on the second easterly arm of the Nile. No (Nah 3:8*) = Thebes, capital of Upper Egypt. Sin = Pelusium. on eastern frontier. Aven should be On = Heliopolis. Pi-beseth = Bubastis, in Lower Egypt, like On. Tehaphnehes, a fortress near Pelusium. In Eze 30:18, for yokes read sceptres.)<\/p>\n

The next oracle (Eze 30:20-26) announces that the threat has already been partially fulfilled. Nebuchadrezzar, who is really Yahwehs servant and wields Yahwehs sword (cf. Eze 21:3) has already broken one arm of Pharaoh, so that it can no longer hold the swordan allusion apparently to Egypts unsuccessful attempt to relieve the beleaguered Jerusalem (cf. Jer 37:5). All these experiences are designed to teach Egypt the power and character of Yahweh. (In Eze 30:21, roller = bandage.)<\/p>\n

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

3. The destruction of Egypt and her allies 30:1-19<\/span><\/p>\n

Of the seven oracles against Egypt, this is the only one that is undated. Most of the commentators assumed that Ezekiel gave it in 587 B.C., the same year as the first, second, and third oracles. But he could have given it in 571 B.C. after his sixth oracle (Eze 29:17-21). I think he gave it in 571 B.C. and that the writer placed it here in the text, after the other late oracle, because both of them contain specific references to Nebuchadnezzar. Knowledge that Nebuchadnezzar would be God’s instrument in judging Egypt is helpful in interpreting the remaining oracles against Egypt. If this chronology is correct, this would have been the last prophecy that Ezekiel gave that this book records.<\/p>\n

This oracle appears to be a mosaic of four separate messages. Note the recurrence of the introductory clause "thus says the Lord God" in Eze 30:2; Eze 30:6; Eze 30:10; Eze 30:13.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Ezekiel was to wail and bemoan the fact that the day of the Lord was near. It would be a dark day for several nations since it would involve judgment for them. "The day of the Lord" is any day in which God acts in a dramatic way in history. The phrase "the day of the Lord" usually describes an eschatological day, but that is not its meaning here as is clear from what follows (Eze 30:9; cf. Eze 7:7; cf. Eze 7:10; Lam 2:21-22). This judgment would come on Egypt soon.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

EGYPT<\/p>\n

Eze 29:1-21; Eze 30:1-26; Eze 31:1-18; Eze 32:1-32<\/p>\n

EGYPT figures in the prophecies of Ezekiel as a great world-power cherishing projects of universal dominion. Once more, as in the age of Isaiah, the ruling factor in Asiatic politics was the duel for the mastery of the world between the rival empires of the Nile and the Euphrates. The influence of Egypt was perhaps even greater in the beginning of the sixth century than it had been in the end of the eighth, although in the interval it had suffered a signal eclipse. Isaiah (chapter 19) had predicted a subjugation of Egypt by the Assyrians, and this prophecy had been fulfilled in the year 672, when Esarhaddon invaded the country and incorporated it in the Assyrian empire. He divided its territory into twenty petty principalities governed by Assyrian or native rulers, and this state of things had lasted with little change for a generation. During the reign of Asshurbanipal Egypt was frequently overrun by Assyrian armies, and the repeated attempts of the Ethiopian monarchs, aided by revolts among the native princes, to reassert their sovereignty over the Nile Valley were all foiled by the energy of the Assyrian king or the vigilance of his generals. At last, however, a new era of prosperity dawned for Egypt about the year 645. Psammetichus, the ruler of Sais, with the help of foreign mercenaries, succeeded in uniting the whole land under his sway; he expelled the Assyrian garrison, and became the founder of the brilliant twenty-sixth (Saite) dynasty. From this time Egypt possessed in a strong central administration the one indispensable condition of her material prosperity. Her power was consolidated by a succession of vigorous rulers, and she immediately began to play a leading part in the affairs of Asia. The most distinguished king of the dynasty was Necho II, the son and successor of Psammetichus. Two striking facts mentioned by Herodotus are worthy of mention, as showing the originality and vigour with which the Egyptian administration was at this time conducted. One is the project of cutting a canal between the Nile and the Red Sea, an undertaking which was abandoned by Necho in consequence of an oracle warning him that he was only working for the advantage of foreigners-meaning no doubt the Phoenicians. Necho, however, knew how to turn the Phoenician seamanship to good account, as is proved by the other great stroke of genius with which he is credited-the circumnavigation of Africa. It was a Phoenician fleet, despatched from Suez by his orders, which first rounded the Cape of Good Hope, returning to Egypt by the straits of Gibraltar after a three years voyage. And if Necho was less successful in war than in the arts of peace, it was not from want of activity. He was the Pharaoh who defeated Josiah in the plain of Megiddo, and afterwards contested the lordship of Syria with Nebuchadnezzar. His defeat at Carchemish in 604 compelled him to retire to his own land; but the power of Egypt was still unbroken, and the Chaldaean king knew that he would yet have to reckon with her in his schemes for the conquest of Palestine.<\/p>\n

At the time to which these prophecies belong the king of Egypt was Pharaoh Hophra (in Greek, Apries), the grandson of Necho II Ascending the throne in 588 B.C., he found it necessary for the protection of his own interests to take an active part in the politics of Syria. He is said to have attacked Phoenicia by sea and land, capturing Sidon and defeating a Tyrian fleet in a naval engagement. His object must have been to secure the ascendency of the Egyptian party in the Phoenician cities; and the stubborn resistance which Nebuchadnezzar encountered from Tyre was no doubt the result of the political arrangements made by Hophra after his victory. No armed intervention was needed to ensure a spirited defence of Jerusalem; and it was only after the Babylonians were encamped around the city that Hophra sent an Egyptian army to its relief. He was unable, however, to effect more than a temporary suspension of the siege, and returned to Egypt, leaving Judah to its fate, apparently without venturing on a battle. {Jer 37:5-7} No further hostilities between Egypt and Babylon are recorded during the lifetime of Hophra. He continued to reign with vigour and success till 571, when he was dethroned by Amasis, one of his own generals.<\/p>\n

These circumstances show a remarkable parallel to the political situation with which Isaiah had to deal at the time of Sennacheribs invasion. Judah was again in the position of the “earthen pipkin between two iron pots.” It is certain that neither Jehoiakim nor Zedekiah, any more than the advisers of Hezekiah in the earlier period, would have embarked on a conflict with the Mesopotamian empire but for delusive promises of Egyptian support. There was the same vacillation and division of counsels in Jerusalem, the same dilatoriness on the part of Egypt, and the same futile effort to retrieve a desperate situation after the favourable moment had been allowed to slip. In both cases the conflict was precipitated by the triumph of an Egyptian party in the Judaean court; and it is probable that in both cases the king was coerced into a policy of which his judgment did not approve. And the prophets of the later period, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, adhere closely to the lines laid down by Isaiah in the time of Sennacherib, warning the people against putting their trust in the vain help of Egypt, and counselling passive submission to the course of events which expressed the unalterable judgment of the Almighty. Ezekiel indeed borrows an image that had been current in the days of Isaiah in order to set forth the utter untrustworthiness and dishonesty of Egypt towards the nations who were induced to rely on her power. He compares her to a staff of reed, which breaks when one grasps it, piercing the hand and making the loins to totter when it is leant upon. Such had Egypt been to Israel through all her history, and such she will again prove herself to be in her last attempt to use Israel as the tool of her selfish designs. The great difference between Ezekiel and Isaiah is that, whereas Isaiah had access to the councils of Hezekiah and could bring his influence to bear on the inception of schemes of state, not without hope of averting what he saw to be a disastrous decision, Ezekiel could only watch the development of events from afar, and throw his warnings into the form of predictions of the fate in store for Egypt.<\/p>\n

The oracles against Egypt are seven in number:<\/p>\n

(1) Eze 29:1-16;<\/p>\n

(2) Eze 29:17-21;<\/p>\n

(3) Eze 30:1-19;<\/p>\n

(4) Eze 30:20-26;<\/p>\n

(5) Eze 31:1-18.;<\/p>\n

(6) Eze 32:1-16;<\/p>\n

(7) Eze 32:17-32.<\/p>\n

They are all variations of one theme, the annihilation of the power of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, and little progress of thought can be traced from the first to the last. Excluding the supplementary prophecy of Eze 29:17-21, which is a later addition, the order appears to be strictly chronological. The series begins seven months before the capture of Jerusalem, {Eze 29:1} and ends about eight months after that event. How far the dates refer to actual occurrences coming to the knowledge of the prophet it is impossible for us to say. It is clear that his interest is centred on the fate of Jerusalem then hanging in the balance; and it is possible that the first oracles {Eze 29:1-16; Eze 30:1-19} may be called forth by the appearance of Hophras army on the scene, while the {Eze 30:20-26} plainly alludes to the repulse of the Egyptians by the Chaldaeans. But no attempt can be made to connect the prophecies with incidents of the campaign; the prophets thoughts are wholly occupied with the moral and religious issues involved in the contest, the vindication of Jehovahs holiness in the overthrow of the great world-power which sought to thwart His purposes.<\/p>\n

Eze 29:1-16 is an introduction to all that follows, presenting a general outline of the prophets conceptions of the fate of Egypt. It describes the sin of which she has been guilty, and indicates the nature of the judgment that is to overtake her and her future place among the nations of the world. The Pharaoh is compared to a “great dragon,” wallowing in his native waters, and deeming himself secure from molestation in his reedy haunts. The crocodile was a natural symbol of Egypt, and the image conveys accurately the impression of sluggish and unwieldy strength which Egypt in the days of Ezekiel had long produced on shrewd observers of her policy. Pharaoh is the incarnate genius of the country; and as the Nile was the strength and glory of Egypt, he is here represented as arrogating to himself the ownership and even the creation of the wonderful river. “My river is mine, and I have made it” is the proud and blasphemous thought which expresses his consciousness of a power that owns no superior in earth or heaven. That the Nile was worshipped by the Egyptians with divine honours did not alter the fact that beneath all their ostentatious religious observances there was an immoral sense of irresponsible power in the use of the natural resources to which the land owed its prosperity. For this spirit of ungodly self-exaltation the king and people of Egypt are to be visited with a signal judgment, from which they shall learn who it is that is God over all. The monster of the Nile shall be drawn from his waters with hooks, with all his fishes sticking to his scales, and left to perish ignominiously on the desert sands. The rest of the prophecy (Eze 29:8-16) gives the explanation of the allegory in literal, though still general, terms. The meaning is that Egypt shall be laid waste by the sword, its teeming population led into captivity, and the land shall lie desolate, untrodden by the foot of man or beast for the space of forty years. “From Migdol to Syene”-the extreme limits of the country-the rich valley of the Nile shall be uncultivated and uninhabited for that period of time.<\/p>\n

The most interesting feature of the prophecy is the view which is given of the final condition of the Egyptian empire (Eze 29:13-16). In all cases the prophetic delineations of the future of different nations are coloured by the present circumstances of those nations as known to the writers. Ezekiel knew that the fertile soil of Egypt would always be capable of supporting an industrious peasantry, and that her existence did not depend on her continuing to play the role of a great power. Tyre depended on her commerce, and apart from that which was the root of her sin could never be anything but the resort of poor fishermen, who would not even make their dwelling on the barren rock in the midst of the sea. But Egypt could still be a country, though shorn of the glory and power which had made her a snare to the people of God. On the other hand the geographical isolation of the land made it impossible that she should lose her individuality amongst the nations of the world. Unlike the small states, such as Edom and Ammon, which were obviously doomed to be swallowed up by the surrounding population as soon as their power was broken, Egypt would retain her distinct and characteristic life as long as the physical condition of the world remained what it was. Accordingly the prophet does not contemplate an utter annihilation of Egypt, but only a temporary chastisement, succeeded by her permanent degradation to the lowest rank among the kingdoms. The forty years of her desolation represent in round numbers the period of Chaldean supremacy during which Jerusalem lies in ruins. Ezekiel at this time expected the invasion of Egypt to follow soon after the capture of Jerusalem, so that the restoration of the two peoples would be simultaneous. At the end of forty years the whole world will be reorganised on a new basis, Israel occupying the central position as the people of God, and in that new world Egypt shall have a separate but subordinate place. Jehovah will bring back the Egyptians from their captivity, and cause them to return to “Pathros, the land of their origin,” and there make them a “lowly state,” no longer an imperial power, but humbler than the surrounding kingdoms. The righteousness of Jehovah and the interest of Israel alike demand that Egypt should be thus reduced from her former greatness. In the old days her vast and imposing power had been a constant temptation to the Israelites, “a confidence, a reminder of iniquity,” leading them to put their trust in human power and luring them into paths of danger by deceitful promises (Eze 29:6-7). In the final dispensation of history this shall no longer be the case: Israel shall then know Jehovah, and no form of human power shall be suffered to lead their hearts astray from Him who is the rock of their salvation. <\/p>\n

Eze 30:1-19.-The judgment on Egypt spreads terror and dismay among all the neighbouring nations. It signalises the advent of the great day of Jehovah, the day of His final reckoning with the powers of evil everywhere. It is the “time of the heathen” that has come (Eze 30:3). Egypt being the chief embodiment of secular power on the basis of pagan religion, the sudden collapse of her might is equivalent to a judgment on heathenism in general, and the moral effect of it conveys to the world a demonstration of the omnipotence of the one true God whom she had ignored and defied. The nations immediately involved in the fall of Egypt are the allies and mercenaries whom she has called to her aid in the time of her calamity. Ethiopians, and Lydians, and Libyans, and Arabs, and Cretans, the “helpers of Egypt,” who have furnished contingents to her motley army, fall by the sword along with her, and their countries share the desolation that overtakes the land of Egypt. Swift messengers are then seen speeding up the Nile in ships to convey to the careless Ethiopians the alarming tidings of the overthrow of Egypt (Eze 30:9). From this point the prophet confines his attention to the fate of Egypt, which he describes with a fulness of detail that implies a certain acquaintance both with the topography and the social circumstances of the country. In Eze 30:10 Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldaeans are for the first time mentioned by name as the human instruments employed by Jehovah to execute His judgments on Egypt. After the slaughter of the inhabitants the next consequence of the invasion is the destruction of the canals and reservoirs and the decay of the system of irrigation on which the productiveness of the country depended. “The rivers” (canals) “are dried up, and the land is made waste, and the fulness thereof, by the hand of strangers” (Eze 30:12). And with the material fabric of her prosperity the complicated system of religious and civil institutions which was entwined with the hoary civilisation of Egypt vanishes for ever. “The idols are destroyed; the potentates are made to cease from Memphis, and princes from the land of Egypt, so that they shall be no more” (Eze 30:13). Faith in the native gods shall be extinguished, and a trembling fear of Jehovah shall fill the whole land. The passage ends with an enumeration of various centres of the national life, which formed, as it were, the sensitive ganglia where the universal calamity was most acutely felt. On these cities, each of which was identified with the worship of a particular deity, Jehovah executes the judgments, in which He makes known to the Egyptian His sole divinity and destroys their confidence in false gods. They also possessed some special military or political importance, so that with their destruction the sceptres of Egypt were broken and the pride of her strength was laid low (Eze 30:18). <\/p>\n

Eze 30:20-26.-A new oracle dated three months later than the preceding. Pharaoh is represented as a combatant, already disabled in one arm and sore pressed by his powerful antagonist, the king of Babylon. Jehovah announces that the wounded arm cannot be healed, although Pharaoh has retired from the contest for that purpose. On the contrary, both his arms shall be broken and the sword struck from his grasp, while the arms of Nebuchadnezzar are strengthened by Jehovah, who puts His own sword into his hand. The land of Egypt, thus rendered defenceless, falls an easy prey to the Chaldaeans, and its people are dispersed among the nations. The occasion of the prophecy is the repulse of Hophras expedition for the relief of Jerusalem, which is referred to as a past event. The date may either mark the actual time of the occurrence, {as in Eze 24:1} or the time when it came to the knowledge of Ezekiel. The prophet at all events accepts this reverse to the Egyptian arms as an earnest of the speedy realisation of his predictions in the total submission of the proud empire of the Nile.<\/p>\n

Chapter 31 occupies the same position in the prophecies against Egypt as the allegory of the richly laden ship in those against Tyre (chapter 27). The incomparable majesty and overshadowing power of Egypt are set forth under the image of a lordly cedar in Lebanon, whose top reaches to the clouds and whose branches afford shelter to all the beasts of the earth. The exact force of the allegory is somewhat obscured by a slight error of the text, which must have crept in at a very early period. As it stands in the Hebrew and in all the ancient versions the whole chapter is a description of the greatness not of Egypt but of Assyria. “To whom art thou like in thy greatness?” asks the prophet (Eze 31:2); and the answer is, “Assyria was great as thou art. yet Assyria fell and is no more.” There is thus a double comparison: Assyria is compared to a cedar, and then Egypt is tacitly compared to Assyria. This interpretation may not be altogether indefensible. That the fate of Assyria contained a warning against the pride of Pharaoh is a thought in itself intelligible, and such as Ezekiel might very well have expressed. But if he had wished to express it he would not have done it so awkwardly as this interpretation supposes. When we follow the connection of ideas we cannot fail to see that Assyria is not in the prophets thoughts at all. The image is consistently pursued without a break to the end of the chapter, and then we learn that the subject of the description is “Pharaoh and all his multitude” (Eze 31:18). But if the writer is thinking of Egypt at the end, he must have been thinking of it from the beginning, and the mention of Assyria is out of place and misleading. The confusion has been caused by the substitution of the word “Asshur” (in Eze 31:3) for “Tasshur,” the name of the sherbin tree, itself a species of cedar. We should therefore read, “Behold a Tasshur, a cedar in Lebanon,” etc.; and the answer to the question of Eze 31:2 is that the position of Egypt is as unrivalled among the kingdoms of the world as this stately tree among the trees of the forest.<\/p>\n

With this alteration the course of thought is perfectly clear, although incongruous elements are combined in the representation. The towering height of the cedar with its top in the clouds symbolises the imposing might of Egypt and its ungodly pride (cf. Eze 31:10, Eze 31:14). The waters of the flood which nourish its roots are those of the Nile, the source of Egypts wealth and greatness. The birds that build their nests in its branches and the beasts that bring forth their young under its shadow are the smaller nations that looked to Egypt for protection and support. Finally, the trees in the garden of God who envy the luxuriant pride of this monarch of the forest represent the other great empires of the earth who vainly aspired to emulate the prosperity and magnificence of Egypt (Eze 31:3-9).<\/p>\n

In the next strophe (Eze 31:10-14) we see the great trunk lying prone across mountain and valley, while its branches lie broken in all the water-courses. A “mighty one of the nations” (Nebuchadnezzar) has gone up against it, and felled it to the earth. The nations have been scared from under its shadow; and the tree which “but yesterday might have stood against the world” now lies prostrate and dishonoured-“none so poor as do it reverence.” And the fall of the cedar reveals a moral principle and conveys a moral lesson to all other proud and stately trees, its purpose is to remind the other great empires that they too are mortal, and to warn them against the soaring ambition and lifting up of the heart which had brought about the humiliation of Egypt: “that none of the trees by the water should exalt themselves in stature or shoot their tops between the clouds, and that their mighty ones should not stand proudly in their loftiness (all who are fed by water); for they are all delivered to death, to the underworld with the children of men, to those that go down to the pit.” In reality there is no more impressive intimation of the vanity of earthly glory than the decay of those mighty empires and civilisations which once stood in the van of human progress; nor is there a fitter emblem of their fate than the sudden crash of some great forest tree before the woodmans axe.<\/p>\n

The development of the prophets thought, however, here reaches a point where it breaks through the allegory, which has been hitherto consistently maintained. All nature shudders in sympathy with the fallen cedar: the deep mourns and withholds her screams from the earth; Lebanon is clothed with blackness, and all the trees languish. Egypt was so much a part of the established order that the world does not know itself when she has vanished. While this takes place on earth, the cedar itself has gone down to Sheol, where the other shades of vanished dynasties are comforted because this mightiest of them all has become like to the rest. This is the answer to the question that introduced the allegory. To whom art thou like? None is fit to be compared to thee; yet “thou shalt be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lower parts of the earth, thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that are slain of the sword.” It is needless to enlarge on this idea, which is out of keeping here, and is more adequately treated in the next chapter.<\/p>\n

Chapter 32 consists of two lamentations to be chanted over the fall of Egypt by the prophet and the daughters of the nations (Eze 32:16, Eze 32:18). The first (Eze 32:1-16) describes the destruction of Pharaoh, and the effect which is produced on earth; while the second (Eze 32:17-32) follows his shade into the abode of the dead, and expatiates on the welcome that awaits him there. Both express the spirit of exultation over a fallen foe, which was one of the uses to which elegiac poetry was turned amongst the Hebrews. The first passage, however, can hardly be considered a dirge in any proper sense of the word. It is essential to a true elegy that the subject of it should be conceived as dead, and that whether serious or ironical it should celebrate a glory that has passed away. In this case the elegiac note (of the elegiac “measure” there is hardly a trace) is just struck in the opening line: “O young lion of the nations!” (How) “art thou undone!” But this is not sustained: the passage immediately falls into the style of direct prediction and threatening, and is indeed closely parallel to the opening prophecy of the series (chapter 29). The fundamental image is the same: that of a great Nile monster spouting from his nostrils and fouling the waters with his feet (Eze 32:2). His capture by many nations and his lingering death on the open field are described with the realistic and ghastly details naturally suggested by the figure (Eze 32:3-6). The image is then abruptly changed in order to set forth the effect of so great a calamity on the world of nature and of mankind. Pharaoh is compared to a brilliant luminary, whose sudden extinction is followed by a darkening of all the lights of heaven and by consternation amongst the nations and kings of earth (Eze 32:7-10). It is thought by some that the violence of the transition is to be explained by the idea of the heavenly constellation of the dragon, answering to the dragon of the Nile, to which Egypt has just been likened. Finally all metaphors are abandoned, and the desolation of Egypt is announced in literal terms as accomplished by the sword of the king of Babylon and the “most terrible of the nations” (Eze 32:11-16).<\/p>\n

But all the foregoing oracles are surpassed in grandeur of conception by the remarkable Vision of Hades which concludes the series-“one of the most weird passages in literature” (Davidson). In form it is a dirge supposed to be sung at the burial of Pharaoh and his host by the prophet along with the daughters of famous nations (Eze 32:18). But the theme, as has been already observed, is the entrance of the deceased warriors into the under-world, and their reception by the shades that have gone down thither before them. In order to understand it we must bear in mind some features of the conception of the underworld, which it is difficult for the modern mind to realise distinctly. First. of all, Sheol, or the “pit,” the realm of the dead, is pictured to the imagination as an adumbration of the grave or sepulchre, in which the body finds its last resting-place; or rather it is the aggregate of all the burying-grounds scattered over the earths surface. There the shades are grouped according to their clans and nationalities, just as on earth the members of the same family would usually be interred in one burying-place. The grave of the chief or king, the representative of the nation, is surrounded by those of his vassals and subjects, earthly distinctions being thus far preserved. The condition of the dead appears to be one of rest or sleep; yet they retain some consciousness of their state, and are visited at least by transient gleams of human emotion, as when in this chapter the heroes rouse themselves to address the Pharaoh when he comes among them. The most material point is that the state of the soul in Hades reflects the fate of the body after death. Those who have received the honour of decent burial on earth enjoy a corresponding honour among the shades below. They have, as it were, a definite status and individuality in their eternal abode, whilst the spirits of the unburied slain are laid in the lowest recesses of the pit, in the limbo of the uncircumcised. On this distinction the whole significance of the passage before us seems to depend. The dead are divided into two great classes: on the one hand the “mighty ones,” who lie in state with their weapons of war around them; and on the other hand the multitude of “the uncircumcised, slain by the sword”-i.e., those who have perished on the field of battle and been buried promiscuously without due funeral rites. There is, however, no moral distinction between the two classes. The heroes are not in a state of blessedness; nor is the condition of the uncircumcised one of acute suffering. The whole of existence in Sheol is essentially of one character; it is on the whole a pitiable existence, destitute of joy and of all that makes up the fulness of life on earth. Only there is “within that deep a lower deep,” and it is reserved for those who in the manner of their death have experienced the penalty of great wickedness. The moral truth of Ezekiels representation lies here. The real judgment of Egypt was enacted in the historical scene of its final overthrow; and it is the consciousness of this tremendous visitation of divine justice, perpetuated amongst the shades to all eternity, that gives ethical significance to the lot assigned to the nation in the other world. At the same time it should not be overlooked that the passage is in the highest degree poetical, and cannot be taken as an exact statement of what was known or believed about the state after death in Old Testament times. It deals only with the fate of armies and nationalities and great warriors who filled the earth with their renown. These, having vanished from history, preserve through all, time in the underworld the memory of Jehovahs mighty acts of judgment; but it is impossible to determine whether this sublime vision implies a real belief in the persistence of national identities in the region of the dead.<\/p>\n

These, then, are the principal ideas on which the ode is based, and the course of thought is as follows. Eze 32:18 briefly announces the occasion for which the dirge is composed; it is to celebrate the passage of Pharaoh and his host to the lower world, and consign him to his appointed place there. Then follows a scene which has a certain resemblance to a well-known representation in the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah (Isa 14:9-11). The heroes who occupy the place of honour among the dead are supposed to rouse themselves at the approach of this great multitude, and hailing them from the midst of Sheol, direct them to their proper place amongst the dishonoured slain. “The mighty ones speak to him: Be thou in the recesses of the pit: whom dost thou excel in beauty? Go down and be laid to rest with the uncircumcised, in the midst of them that are slain with the sword.” Thither Pharaoh has been preceded by other great conquerors who once set their terror in the earth, but now bear their shame amongst those that go down to the pit. For there is Asshur and all his company; there too are Elam and Meshech and Tubal, each occupying its own allotment amongst nations that have perished by the sword (Eze 32:22-26). Not theirs is the enviable lot of the heroes of old time who went down to Sheol in their panoply of war, and rest with their swords under their heads and their shields covering their bones. And so Egypt, which has perished like these other nations, must be banished with them to the bottom of the pit (Eze 32:27-28). The enumeration of the nations of the uncircumcised is then resumed; Israels immediate neighbours are amongst them-Edom and the dynasties of the north (the Syrians), and the Phoenicians, inferior states which played no great part as conquerors, but nevertheless perished in battle and bear their humiliation along with the others (Eze 32:29-30). These are to be Pharaohs companions in his last resting-place, and at the sight of them he will lay aside his presumptuous thoughts and comfort himself over the loss of his mighty army (Eze 32:31 f.).<\/p>\n

It is necessary to say a few words in conclusion about the historical evidence for the fulfilment of these prophecies on Egypt. The supplementary oracle of Eze 29:17-21 shows us that the threatened invasion by Nebuchadnezzar had not taken place sixteen years after the fall of Jerusalem. Did it ever take place at all? Ezekiel was at that time confident that his words were on the point of being fulfilled, and indeed he seems to stake his credit with his hearers on their verification. Can we suppose that he was entirely mistaken? Is it likely that the remarkably definite predictions uttered both by him and Jeremiah {Jer 43:8-13; Jer 44:12-14; Jer 44:27-30; Jer 46:13-26} failed of even the partial fulfilment which that on Tyre received? A number of critics have strongly maintained that we are shut up by the historical evidence to this conclusion, They rely chiefly on the silence of Herodotus, and on the unsatisfactory character of the statement of Josephus. The latter writer is indeed sufficiently explicit in his affirmations. He tells us that five years after the capture of Jerusalem Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt, put to death the reigning king, appointed another in his stead, and carried the Jewish refugees in Egypt captive to Babylon. But it is pointed out that the date is impossible, being inconsistent with Ezekiels own testimony, that the account of the death of Hophra is contradicted by what we know of the matter from other sources (Herodotus and Diodorus), and that the whole passage bears the appearance of a translation into history of the prophecies of Jeremiah which it professes to substantiate. That is vigorous criticism, but the vigour is perhaps not altogether unwarrantable, especially as Josephus does not mention any authority. Other allusions by secular writers hardly count for much, and the state of the question is such that historians would probably have been content to confess their ignorance if the credit of a prophet had not been mixed up with it.<\/p>\n

Within the last seventeen years, however, a new turn has been given to the discussion through the discovery of monumental evidence which was thought to have an important bearing on the point in dispute. In the same volume of an Egyptological magazine Wiedemann directed the attention of scholars to two inscriptions, one in the Louvre and the other in the British Museum, both of which he considered to furnish proof of an occupation of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar. The first was an Egyptian inscription of the reign of Hophra. It was written by an official of the highest rank, named “Nes-hor,” to whom was entrusted the responsible task of defending Egypt on its southern or Ethiopian frontier. According to Wiedemanns translation, it relates among other things an irruption of Asiatic bands (Syrians, people of the north, Asiatics), which penetrated as far as the first cataract, and did some damage to the temple of Chnum in Elephantine. There they were checked by Nes-hor, and afterwards they were crushed or repelled by Hophra himself. Now the most natural explanation of this incident, in connection with the circumstances of the time, would seem to be that Nebuchadnezzar, finding himself fully occupied for the present with the siege of Tyre, incited roving bands of Arabs and Syrians to plunder Egypt, and that they succeeded so far as to penetrate to the extreme south of the country. But a more recent examination of the text, by Maspero and Brugsch, reduces the incident to much smaller dimensions. They find that it refers to a mutiny of Egyptian mercenaries (Syrians, Ionians, and Bedouins) stationed on the southern frontier. The governor, Nes-hor, congratulates himself on a successful stratagem by which he got the rebels into a position where they were cut down by the kings troops. In any case it is evident that it falls very far short of a confirmation of Ezekiels prophecy. Not only is there no mention of Nebuchadnezzar or a regular Babylonian army, but the invaders or mutineers are actually said to have been annihilated by Hophra. It may be said, no doubt, that an Egyptian governor was likely to be silent about an event which cast discredit on his countrys arms, and would be tempted to magnify some temporary success into a decisive victory. But still the inscription must be taken for what it is worth, and the story it tells is certainly not the story of a Chaldean supremacy in the valley of the Nile. The only thing that suggests a connection between the two is the general probability that a campaign against Egypt must have been contemplated by Nebuchadnezzar about that time. <\/p>\n

The second and more important document is a cuneiform fragment of the annals of Nebuchadnezzar. It is unfortunately in a very mutilated condition, and all that the Assyriologists have made out is that in the thirty-seventh year of his reign Nebuchadnezzar fought a battle with the king of Egypt. As the words of the inscription are those of Nebuchadnezzar himself, we may presume that the battle ended in a victory for him, and a few disconnected words in the latter part are thought to refer to the tribute or booty which he acquired. The thirty-seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar is the year 568 B.C., about two years after the date of Ezekiels last utterance against Egypt. The Egyptian king at this time was Amasis, whose name (only the last syllable of which is legible) is supposed to be that mentioned in the inscription. What the ulterior consequences of this victory were on Egyptian history, or how long the Babylonian domination lasted, we cannot at present say. These are questions on which we may reasonably look for further light from the researches of Assyriology. In the meantime it appears to be established beyond reasonable doubt that Nebuchadnezzar did attack Egypt, and the probable issue of his expedition was in accordance with Ezekiels last prediction: “Behold, I give to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the land of Egypt; and he shall spoil her spoil, and plunder her plunder, and it shall be the wages for his army”. {Eze 29:19} There can of course be no question of a fulfilment of the earlier prophecies in their literal terms. History knows nothing of a total captivity of the population of Egypt, or a blank of forty years in her annals when her land was untrodden by the foot of man or of beast. These are details belonging to the dramatic form in which the prophet clothed the spiritual lesson which it was necessary to impress on his countrymen-the inherent weakness of the Egyptian empire as a power based on material resources and rearing itself in opposition to the great ends of Gods kingdom. And it may well have been that for the illustration of that truth the humiliation that Egypt endured at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar was as effective as her total destruction would have been.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, Third prophecy Ezek. 30:1-19 against Egypt, probably to be connected with the previous verses (compare Eze 30:10 with the Eze 29:17-21 note). Some consider it to belong to the earlier part of Ezek. 29 (compare Eze 29:10, Eze 29:12 with Eze 30:5-6). Fuente: Albert Barnes’ … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 30:1”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21216\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}