Ezekiel 30: 1 – 26
Now and then – Then and now
“1 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Wail, ‘Woe to the day!’ 3 For the day is near, even the day of the LORD is near; It will be a day of clouds, the time of the Gentiles. 4 The sword shall come upon Egypt, and great anguish shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain fall in Egypt, and they take away her wealth, and her foundations are broken down. 5 “Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, all the mingled people, Chub, and the men of the lands who are allied, shall fall with them by the sword.” 6 ‘Thus says the LORD: “Those who uphold Egypt shall fall, and the pride of her power shall come down. From Migdol to Syene those within her shall fall by the sword,” says the Lord GOD. 7 “They shall be desolate in the midst of the desolate countries, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are laid waste. 8 Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have set a fire in Egypt and all her helpers are destroyed. 9 On that day messengers shall go forth from Me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great anguish shall come upon them, as on the day of Egypt; For indeed it is coming!” 10 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will also make a multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 11 He and his people with him, the most terrible of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land; They shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain. 12 I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of the wicked; I will make the land waste, and all that is in it, by the hand of aliens. I, the LORD, have spoken.” 13 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will also destroy the idols, and cause the images to cease from Noph; There shall no longer be princes from the land of Egypt; I will put fear in the land of Egypt. 14 I will make Pathros desolate, set fire to Zoan, and execute judgments in No. 15 I will pour My fury on Sin, the strength of Egypt; I will cut off the multitude of No, 16 And set a fire in Egypt; Sin shall have great pain, No shall be split open, and Noph shall be in distress daily. 17 The young men of Aven and Pi Beseth shall fall by the sword, and these cities shall go into captivity. 18 At Tehaphnehes the day shall also be darkened, when I break the yokes of Egypt there. And her arrogant strength shall cease in her; As for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity. 19 Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt, then they shall know that I am the LORD.” 20 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, that the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 21 “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and see, it has not been bandaged for healing, nor a splint put on to bind it, to make it strong enough to hold a sword. 22 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Surely I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, both the strong one and the one that was broken; and I will make the sword fall out of his hand. 23 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them throughout the countries. 24 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 will groan before him with the groanings of a mortally wounded man. 25 Thus I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; they shall know that I am the LORD, when I put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt. 26 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.’”
When we study prophecies from our Holy Father we see that He greatly accomplishes many things. You have heard the statement, ‘kill two birds with one stone’. Our Lord Is able to match up two events one in the present and one in the future, using the same exact prediction. This doesn’t just happen once out of the clear blue but our amazing Holy God shows us His power and control over everything at all times. We are going to see His awesome wisdom in this chapter as He Is able to apply the same actions in the future as He was currently performing against Egypt and all the other Gentile nations.
“1 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Wail, ‘Woe to the day!’ 3 For the day is near, even the day of the LORD is near; It will be a day of clouds, the time of the Gentiles. 4 The sword shall come upon Egypt, and great anguish shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain fall in Egypt, and they take away her wealth, and her foundations are broken down. 5 “Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, all the mingled people, Chub, and the men of the lands who are allied, shall fall with them by the sword.”
The ‘Day of the Lord’ is a phrase when our Blessed Master visits the nations in judgment to bring about His final purposes. Let’s take a look at a couple of interesting scriptures relative to this point.
Isaiah 2, “12 For the day of the LORD of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up— and it shall be brought low— 13 Upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan; 14 Upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up; 15 Upon every high tower, and upon every fortified wall; 16 Upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all the beautiful sloops. 17 The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; The LORD alone will be exalted in that day, 18 But the idols He shall utterly abolish. 19 They shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, from the terror of the LORD and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily. 20 In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made, each for himself to worship, to the moles and bats, 21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the crags of the rugged rocks, from the terror of the LORD and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily.”
Joel 3, “ 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.”
Isaiah 26, “1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks. 2 Open the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in. 3 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. 4 Trust in the LORD forever, for in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength. 5 For He brings down those who dwell on high, the lofty city; He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He brings it down to the dust. 6 The foot shall tread it down— The feet of the poor and the steps of the needy.” 7 The way of the just is uprightness; O Most Upright, You weigh the path of the just. 8 Yes, in the way of Your judgments, O LORD, we have waited for You; The desire of our soul is for Your name and for the remembrance of You. 9 With my soul I have desired You in the night, yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; For when Your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. 10 Let grace be shown to the wicked, yet he will not learn righteousness; In the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD. 11 LORD, when Your hand is lifted up, they will not see. But they will see and be ashamed for their envy of people; Yes, the fire of Your enemies shall devour them. 12 LORD, You will establish peace for us, for You have also done all our works in us. 13 O LORD our God, masters besides You have had dominion over us; But by You only we make mention of Your name. 14 They are dead, they will not live; They are deceased, they will not rise. Therefore You have punished and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish. 15 You have increased the nation, O LORD, you have increased the nation; You are glorified; You have expanded all the borders of the land. 16 LORD, in trouble they have visited You, they poured out a prayer when Your chastening was upon them. 17 As a woman with child is in pain and cries out in her pangs, when she draws near the time of her delivery, so have we been in Your sight, O LORD. 18 We have been with child, we have been in pain; We have, as it were, brought forth wind; We have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth, nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen. 19 Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; For your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. 20 Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation is past. 21 For behold, the LORD comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth will also disclose her blood, and will no more cover her slain.”
Matthew 24, “3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. 15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. 23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together. 29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 32 “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So you also, when you see all these things, know that it[d] is near—at the doors! 34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. 36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. 45 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. 47 Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, 51 and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Egypt made alliances with other countries [mingled] besides Israel. ‘The sons of the land’ refer to Israelites who joined up to fight with the Egyptians. These countries sent mercenaries to fight. Cush is the Sudan; Put and Lud are in Africa, and Cub plays in Chicago. Only kidding. Cub is Lybia.
6 ‘Thus says the LORD: “Those who uphold Egypt shall fall, and the pride of her power shall come down. From Migdol to Syene those within her shall fall by the sword,” says the Lord GOD. 7 “They shall be desolate in the midst of the desolate countries, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are laid waste. 8 Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have set a fire in Egypt and all her helpers are destroyed. 9 On that day messengers shall go forth from Me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great anguish shall come upon them, as on the day of Egypt; For indeed it is coming!”
You know if you hang around bad people you will take the same fall as being an accomplish to the crime. Even though you might not have pulled the trigger, you still receive the same punishment. Other countries had signed agreements with Egypt to assist her if attacked by the Babylonians. The God of all the earth had spoken through His prophets that the nation of Babylon was His agent in bringing about His Judgment on Israel. Anyone who interfered in their actions was going against the Holy Judge.
Migdol is a city in the north and Sevench is a city in the south. Other words, the whole land will be laid desolate from the north to the south throughout the whole land.
Have you ever watched on TV the fires that sweep through California? The fire engulfs everything in its path. Whole cities are destroyed. Our Holy Father describes this scene as though a fire was started in Egypt and spread and consumed all these other countries.
The messengers are the Babylonians who also travel by ship on the Nile River to Cush. There the Sudan had just sent mercenaries to fight with Egypt. They never expected the tables to be turned on them [careless]. They never expected to see a whole bunch of marines from Babylon. [to make the careless Cush afraid].Needless to say they were not ready for an invasion.
10 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will also make a multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 11 He and his people with him, the most terrible of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land; They shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.”
Picture yourself watching a war movie. When an enemy sweeps through the land – the invaders take livestock and valuable items away. Innocent citizens are brutally treated and slaughtered. Nothing is respected. Evil runs rampant until it is satisfied with total destruction. This is the path of sinful man if left to himself without a Holy Ghost Who refrains mankind from killing off everyone on the planet. In the book of Matthew chapter 24 we see this fact in more detail, 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”
When our Lord was teaching His disciples about the end of days this is what man is capable of doing if the Holy Spirit did not intervene.
“ 12 I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of the wicked; I will make the land waste, and all that is in it, by the hand of aliens. I, the LORD, have spoken.”
Besides using the Babylonian army for His weapon against the Egyptians our Righteous Ruler commanded the rains to cease in the land. The results were drought and famine. The tributaries that flowed into the Nile River dried up. Therefore, the Nile’s water level fell where it was no longer useful for travel. Speculators would come into the land and purchase for a song and a a dance vast acreage, homes, and buildings.
A country should take warning when it notices droughts, earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, pestilences, etc. and seek through repentance God’s forgiveness. Let us be honest and tell it like it is, our nation is experiencing these same horrors that we have been reading about here. We have to take our heads out of the sand and realistically evaluate our lives and our nations ways. We do not want to face it but in reality we are pretty awful.
Like the passage, ‘and will sell the land into the hands of evil men.’ We are already there. Don’t believe me? Travel to Manhattan in New York City and checkout who owns the buildings. What percentage do you think are owned by US citizens or corporations compared to foreigners? I think you know the answer.
“13 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will also destroy the idols, and cause the images to cease from Noph; There shall no longer be princes from the land of Egypt; I will put fear in the land of Egypt. 14 I will make Pathros desolate, set fire to Zoan, and execute judgments in No. 15 I will pour My fury on Sin, the strength of Egypt; I will cut off the multitude of No, 16 And set a fire in Egypt; Sin shall have great pain, No shall be split open, and Noph shall be in distress daily. 17 The young men of Aven and Pi Beseth shall fall by the sword, and these cities shall go into captivity. 18 At Tehaphnehes the day shall also be darkened, when I break the yokes of Egypt there. And her arrogant strength shall cease in her; As for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity. 19 Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt, then they shall know that I am the LORD.”
A variety of cities are listed in no particular order. In part to let us know that throughout and continual, the land of Egypt is being overrun by the Babylonians. If you were up in a space ship and looking down in the land of Egypt, you would see it all lit up with fires. Following are the name of the Egyptian cities and what they are called today;
. Noph = Memphis or today ‘Mit Ranch’ – capital of lower Egypt
. Zoan = Tapis – in the northeast delta
. No = Thebes – today called ‘Karnak’ – capital of southern Egypt
. Sin = Pelusium – modern ‘Tel Farama’ – sea coast
. Pathros = Upper Egypt between Cairo and Aswan
. Aven = Heliopolis – major religious center in lower Egypt – also known as ‘On’
. Tehaphnehes = Tahpanes - today ‘Tel Deferineh’ – Pharaoh’s residence
. Pi-beseth = Bubastes – today ‘Basta’
“20 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, that the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 21 “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and see, it has not been bandaged for healing, nor a splint put on to bind it, to make it strong enough to hold a sword.”
We now pick up our Holy Adoni’s fourth oracle against Egypt. Pharaoh Hophra had attempted to break the siege on Jerusalem by the Babylonian army but was un-successful. This futile attempt is described as the breaking of his arm. ‘Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and see, it has not been bandaged for healing, nor a splint put on to bind it, to make it strong enough to hold a sword.’ The arm of Pharaoh was so badly broken that it could not be fixed or repaired. This would prevent him from making any other attacks. As a result he had to retreat back to Egypt.
“22 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Surely I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, both the strong one and the one that was broken; and I will make the sword fall out of his hand. 23 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them throughout the countries.”
This is a no brainier. If you have two broken arms you are in effect – powerless. You are at the mercy of your opponent who can render to you anything he pleases.
When you take the time to do a little research, it often amazes me to find more treasures that our Lord shares. It comes to be that Pharaoh often had images of himself flexing his arms like a weight lifter. In his hands he wielded a sword. He took on the title of ‘he who is possessed of a strong or muscular arm.’ Our Lord’s description of how He will deal with Pharaoh now becomes clearer.
“24 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 will groan before him with the groanings of a mortally wounded man. 25 Thus I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; they shall know that I am the LORD, when I put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt.”
If God Is for you, no one can stand against you. The battle is already won. It is just a matter of you going through the motions to take the spoil. The holding of the arms is a very interesting phrase. Remember Moses in the book of Exodus chapter 17 where the Israelites were attacked by the Amalekites, “8 Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9 And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. 14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-LORD-Is-My-Banner; 16 for he said, “Because the LORD has sworn: the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”
Here Aaran and Hur lifted up the arms of Moses and the Israelites prevailed in the battle. As believers today we should also lift up one another’s arms including our own.
Psalm 10, “12 Arise, O LORD! O God, lift up Your hand! Do not forget the humble”
Psalm 28, “2 Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You, when I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary.”
Psalm 63, “4 Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.”
Psalm 119, “48 My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on Your statutes.”
Psalm 134, “2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.”
“26 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.’”
How quickly do we forget. History not learned will be repeated. Throughout the centuries the nations that have hated Israel and have tried to cause it harm have received over and over again defeat, destruction, and devastation. You would think ‘hey’ maybe we should just leave Israel alone. But inspired by demonic influences these nation attempts to re-arm for another go against God’s elect. The outcome here will be repeated until the Supreme Righteous Ruler comes and take control once and for all times. Even so, come quickly my Lord Jesus.
