Back to Egypt today, called a dirge but not really like other dirges. Another allegory of sorts. Metaphors used. It’s easy to visualize. Well, not all of it, but a lot of it is. Enjoy. Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus, You have the best way of telling stories, even when they are stories of death and disaster. Lead me Lord, and reveal the lesson for me in this. Thank You.
Ezekiel 32 – Amplified Bible
Please read Ezekiel 32:1-2
Dirge for Pharaoh and Egypt
1 In the twelfth year [after King Jehoiachin of Judah was taken into exile by the king of Babylon], in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,2 “Son of man, take up a dirge (funeral poem to be sung) over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him,
‘You have compared yourself to a young lion among the nations,
But you are like a monster in the seas;
You burst into your rivers
And disturbed and muddied the waters with your feet
And fouled their rivers [the source of their prosperity].’”
In a few verses He’s going to rectify the muddied waters. But can you visualize chariots chasing through the waters back in Exodus when they all drown? That would likely be how they ‘burst into the rivers’. Though it’s feet this time, not horse hooves.
Please read Ezekiel 32:3
3 Thus says the Lord God,
“I will spread out My net over you
With a company of many nations,
And they will bring you up in My net.”
This sounds strange, but wait for it, it is not a good thing. His shield is a good thing. His net is not.
Please read Ezekiel 32:4-5
4 “Then I will leave you (Egypt) on the land;
I will hurl you on the open field.
And I will make all the birds of the sky dwell on you,
And I will satisfy the animals of all the earth with you.
5 “And I will scatter your flesh on the mountains
And fill the valleys with your debris [your corpses and their worms].
Their corpses will feed the animals. Our God is Holy.
Please read Ezekiel 32:6-8
6 “I will also water the land with your flowing blood
As far as the mountains,
And the ravines will be full of you.
7 “And when I extinguish you,
I will cover the heavens [of Egypt] and darken their stars;
I will cover the sun with a cloud
And the moon will not give its light.
8 “All the bright lights in the heavens
I will darken over you
And I will place darkness on your land,”
Says the Lord God.
And that land will be watered. And dark. And empty of living people. Remember this is the country that will have 40 years of desolation.
Please read Ezekiel 32:9-10
9 I will also put fear into the hearts of many peoples when I bring your destruction [and captivity] among the nations, into countries which you have not known. 10 I will make many peoples appalled at you [at your judgment and your defeat], and their kings will be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword [of judgment] before them; they will tremble and shudder every moment, every man for his own life, on the day of your downfall.”
Fear of this God is not unusual. Yet to know Him is to Know He is love and holiness and righteousness and His judgments are always accurate.
Please read Ezekiel 32:11-15
Pride and Presumption of Egypt
11 For thus says the Lord God, “The sword of the king of Babylon will come on you. 12 I will make your horde [of people] fall by the swords of the mighty—all of them are tyrants among the nations,
And they will devastate the pride and presumption of Egypt,
And all its hordes will be destroyed.
13 “I will also destroy all its cattle from beside its great waters;
And the foot of man will not muddy them anymore
Nor will the hoofs of the animals muddy them.
14 “Then I will make their waters quiet and clear;
I will make their rivers run [slowly and smoothly] like oil,”
Says the Lord God.
15 “When I make the land of Egypt desolate,
And the country is stripped and deprived of all that which filled it,
When I strike all those who live in it,
Then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.
Quiet and clear waters. Slow and smooth running rivers. That is one indicator that God did it. The other is verse 15. Both ways are indicators that He is the Lord. Blessed be His name.
All of them…
Please read Ezekiel 32:16-23
16 “This is the dirge (funeral poem to be sung) and they shall sing it [for her]. The daughters of the nations shall sing it; for Egypt and for all her hordes they shall sing it,” says the Lord God.
17 In the twelfth year [after King Jehoiachin of Judah was taken into exile], on the fifteenth of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 18“Son of man, wail over the hordes of Egypt and cast them down, both her and the daughters of the powerful and majestic nations, to the nether world (the place of the dead), with those who go down to the pit;
19 ‘Whom [among them] do you surpass in beauty?
Go down and make your bed with the uncircumcised (the barbaric, the boorish, the crude).’
20 They will fall among those who are slain by the sword. She (Egypt) is handed over to the sword; they have drawn her and all her hordes away [to judgment]. 21 The strong among the mighty rulers will say of him (Pharaoh) and his allies from the midst of Sheol, ‘They have gone down [defeated]; they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.’
22 “Assyria is there with all her warriors; their graves are all around her. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, 23 whose graves are set in the remotest parts of the pit and her army is all around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the living.
All of them… Blessed be the Lord.
Egypt’s Neighbors
Please read Ezekiel 32:24-32
24 “[a]Elam [a conquest of Assyria] is there and all her hordes around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who have gone down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth, who made their terror spread in the land of the living and bore their shame and defeat with those who went down to the pit. 25 They have made a bed for her among the slain with all her hordes. Her graves are around it; they are all uncircumcised (barbaric, boorish, crude), slain by the sword (for their terror had been spread in the land of the living), and they bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit; they were laid among the slain.
26 “Meshech, Tubal, and all their hordes are there; their graves [b]surround them. All of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, for they spread their terror in the land of the living. 27 Nor do they lie beside the fallen heroes of the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid [with honors] under their heads. The punishment for their sins rested on their bones, for the terror of these heroes was once in the land of the living. 28 But you will be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised and you will lie [without honors] with those who are slain by the sword.
29 “Edom is there also, her kings and all her princes, who for all their power and strength are laid with those who were slain by the sword; they will lie [in shame and defeat] with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit.
30 “The princes of the north are there also, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who in spite of the terror resulting from their power, have gone down in shame with the slain. So they lay down uncircumcised with those slain by the sword and bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit.
31 “Pharaoh will see them, and he will be comforted for all his hordes slain by the sword—Pharaoh and all his army,” says the Lord God. 32 “Though I instilled a terror of him in the land of the living, yet he will be made to lie down among the uncircumcised along with those slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his hordes,” says the Lord God.
This is how Jesus can call death sleeping. The seeing, the feeling and the fear after ‘death’ is all an indicator that death is just another form of sleep for the unbelievers. And also how the believers won’t see or experience death themselves. Amazing God, Amazing. Thank You, Lord, for these illustrations and for leading me today. I praise Your Name. Amen.
Footnotes
[a] Ezekiel 32:24 -Elam- Southwestern part of current day Iran.
[b] Ezekiel 32:26 -surround them- Lit are around him.
The Ezekiel links page is here.
The Quick Study on Matthew links are here.