Monday - Ezekiel 29 - And Egypt

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EGINNING in Ezekiel 25, the exiled prophet commenced to issuing prophecies against the nations that surrounded Israel. Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, Sidon, and now, Egypt: all were in trouble with God. All were guilty of idolatry, and guilty of many crimes against Israel. Like it or not, God made a covenant with Abraham by which every nation in the world, and every nation in history, will be judged (Genesis 12:1-3, 22:17-18 & Matthew 25:31-46).

In this chapter, our attention is focused upon Egypt. Obviously, Egypt has a very long history. Egypt has been significant throughout all of the history the Jews, and it remains important in prophecy. But the prophecies are not exactly positive. To begin with, the lifeline of Egypt has always been the Nile, yet God vows to turn the Nile into a bane to the people of the land.  Defeat and inferiority were prophesied for this proud people.

A couple of different reasons were given to Ezekiel concerning why God was willing specifically to punish Egypt the way He intended to do it. First, Israel had repeatedly looked to Egypt in times when they should have been looking to God. God intended to belittle Egypt in the eyes of Israel until there was no more temptation in this regard (Ezekiel 29:16). Second, God felt like He owed Nebuchadnezzar wages for the services he had rendered to Him (Ezekiel 29:18-20).