Deeper Commentary
Ezekiel 30:1 The word of Yahweh came again to me saying- The
continued trust of the people in Egypt as their last minute saviour from
Babylon called for repeated appeals at different times and perhaps to
different groups.
Ezekiel 30:2 Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Wail,
Alas for the day!- The fall of Egypt was seen as a tragedy; for Ezekiel
too was human, "son of man", and the death of any man diminishes each of us.
This lamentation may also have even been an appeal for Egypt to repent.
Ezekiel 30:3 For the day is near, even the day of Yahweh is near; it shall
be a day of clouds, a time of the nations- This is the language of
the latter day judgment upon all the nations around eretz Israel
(Joel 1:15; 2:1,2; Obadiah 15). I have explained from Ez. 26 onwards that
much of the scenario presented of the judgment of Tyre and Egypt didn't
come true as planned. It was God's intention that Judah would repent, and
the nations judged by Babylon would likewise, and together they would
reestablish God's Kingdom in Israel. But they didn't repent, and so the
prophecies will have their final fulfilment in the last days. This
explains why we read here language which is elsewhere used about the final
judgment of all nations around the time of the return of the Lord Jesus.
That will be the ultimate coming of the day of clouds (Rev. 1:7).
Ezekiel 30:4 A sword shall come on 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- "Anguish" is the
word for birth pangs; the implication could be that out of the agony of
Babylonian judgment there was to be brought forth something new, a
repentant remnant. Life was to come out of death.
Ezekiel 30:5 Ethiopia, Put and Lud, and all the mixed people, and Cub-
These were the nations confederate with Egypt whom the Jews hoped
would help them.
And the children of the land that is allied with them, shall fall with them by the sword- The reference appears to be to the Jews who had already gone down into Egypt, trusting in the alliance made with her. They were the children of their own land in that they were not in their own land but still associated with her. Jer. 42:22; 44:14 were clear that these Jews would fall by the sword along with the Egyptians. And so appears the timeless lesson- that Egypt, the world, is no safe haven and will not save us in the end.
Ezekiel 30:6 Thus says Yahweh: They also who uphold Egypt shall fall-
"Uphold" is the same word translated "lean" in Is. 36:6; whoever leaned
upon the staff of Egypt would fall, and Egypt herself would "come down" as
a result of this. Her attempt to help Judah would be her downfall rather
than her blessing, as the false prophets of Judah perhaps claimed.
And the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Seveneh shall they fall in it by the sword, says the Lord Yahweh- The tower of Syene was the border of Egypt, and as noted on Ez. 29:10, the idea is 'All of Egypt from the north to the south'.
Ezekiel 30:7 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-
Ezekiel 30:8 They shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have set a fire in
Egypt, and all her helpers are destroyed-
Ezekiel 30:9 In that day shall messengers go forth from before Me in ships
to make the careless Ethiopians afraid; and there shall be anguish on
them, as in the day of Egypt; for, behold, it comes- "Messengers" is
malak, the word also translated "Angels". As taught in the
opening vision of the cherubim in Ez. 1, the Angels were behind the
movements of Gentile nations as well as of Israel. All that happens on
earth is not random, but a reflection of the vast system of Divine
operation and control spoken of in the cherubim. The primary reference is
to messengers going from Egypt along the Nile to tell the Ethiopians of
the arrival of the Babylonians, just as they had told them about the
Assyrians in this way in Is. 18:1,2. But Angels were propelling those
messengers on their skiffs.
Ezekiel 30:10 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also make the multitude of
Egypt to cease, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon- The
idea seems to be that Egypt's large population would be noticeably reduced
by the invasion, but this didn't quite happen at the hands of the
Babylonians. The scenario that was potentially possible didn't come about
at this time, although the essence of it will in the last days.
Ezekiel 30:11 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- Such mass
destruction didn't actually happen. Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Egyptian
army at Carchemish on the Euphrates, quite far from Egypt itself (Jer.
46:2). Egypt was then placed under tribute and in this way, the
Babylonians received their "wages" for besieging Tyre. But there is no
record of any major Babylonian incursion into Egypt;
Herodotus doesn't mention it whilst providing an otherwise detailed
history of these times.
Ezekiel 30:12 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, Yahweh, have spoken it- This is
the idea of Is. 19:6, that the "brooks of defence shall be emptied", the
artificial canals would dry up. But as noted on :11, the Babylonians
didn't completely do this to Egypt; and so the essence must be seen in the
last days. Or it may be that just as the prophecy about Nebuchadnezzar
conquering Tyre was transferred to Alexander the Great, and the prophecies
about Tyre become transferred to Babylon in the last days, so these words
about Egypt were to be transferred for fulfilment to Babylon or some other
power. For Babylon also fell as a result of her rivers being dried up. The
selling of the land may allude to how earlier the Egyptians had been
forced by famine to sell their land, but to Joseph, a good man (Gen.
47:20); now famine would dry their rivers and force them to sell their
land to wicked men.
Ezekiel 30:13 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also destroy the idols and
I will cause the images to cease from Memphis; there shall be no more a
prince from the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt-
As explained on :11, the immediate prophetic potential for Egypt was
precluded from fulfilment by the lack of repentance. And so the idols
continued in Egypt. And likewise the idea that Egypt would never have a
prince was not immediately fulfilled; Egypt has had plenty of local rulers
in its long history. The idea is more as in GNB, speaking of that
immediate generation: "There will be no one to rule Egypt, and I will
terrify all the people". Or we could read with the LXX: "I will also
destroy the nobles from Memphis, and the princes of Memphis out of the
land of Egypt; and they shall be no more".
Ezekiel 30:14 I will make Pathros desolate, will set a fire in Zoan and
will execute judgments on No-
Ezekiel 30:15 I will pour My wrath on Sin, the stronghold of Egypt; and I
will cut off the multitude of No- "Sin" is LXX "Syene". We wonder why
all these details are given when the potential scenario wasn't to come
about. But that is the same question as to why we have Ez. 40-48 recorded.
This is the whole tragedy- that such detailed plans are laid by God, but
human lack of response and repentance precludes so much potential from
coming about. Divine volumes could likewise be written about our own lives
and wasted potentials. And yet in essence, all these things shall come
true albeit in a different application and time.
Ezekiel 30:16 I will set a fire in Egypt; Sin shall be in great anguish,
No shall be broken up and Memphis shall have adversaries in the daytime-
Ezekiel 30:17 The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth shall fall by the
sword; and these cities shall go into captivity- "Aven" is On. And
the idols of On were accepted by Judah (Hos. 4:15; 10:5 LXX). The record
of the destruction of Egypt's idols and the cities in which they were
enshrined was directly relevant to the Judah of Ezekiel's day, who had
accepted the worship of these idols in return for Egypt's military
support. That is the implication of the passages describing Judah's
adultery in Ez. 16,23.
Ezekiel 30:18 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- The day withdrawing itself is language used about
the latter day time of judgment (Am. 5:20; 8:9; Is. 5:30; Jer. 13:16).
This will be the time when the spirit of these prophecies comes to its
final fulfilment. We note the connection between pride and power. God's
hatred of pride, and desire to save us the humble, is one reason He
doesn't give secular "power" to many of His children lest they be lifted
up in pride.
Ezekiel 30:19 Thus will I execute judgments on Egypt; and they shall know
that I am Yahweh- The purpose of Divine judgment is not simply
punishment, nor merely the expression of His anger and irritation. It is
designed ultimately to restore and to bring the likes of Egypt to "know"
Him, to walk in relationship with Him. This is and was His intention for
Egypt. The link between His judgments and positive human response to them
may be one reason why not all these judgments were actually carried out
upon Egypt.
Ezekiel 30:20 It happened in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the
seventh day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying-
This was at or about the time of the abortive attempt of Pharaoh-Hophra to
come to save Jerusalem from the Babylonians (Jer. 34:21; 37:5-7).
Ezekiel 30:21 Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt;
and behold, it has not been bound up, to apply healing medicines, to put a
bandage to bind it that it be strong to hold the sword- This again
suggests that God had worked to bring about the healing of Egypt in her
repentance after her first defeat by the Babylonians. But she didn't
respond. Jer. 46:17 therefore says of Pharaoh: "he has let the appointed
time pass by". He was given a window of repentance but he refused it. The
breaking of Pharaoh's arm was in fact by being a staff of reed to Judah
which collapsed. This was all the very opposite narrative to that which
the faithless Jews at the time wished to believe- that the strong arm of
Pharaoh would save them from the Babylonians. Instead, both Judah and
Egypt would collapse as it were in a heap together before the Babylonians.
And from this debased state they were both intended to arise as repentant,
knowing Yahweh. But they didn't.
Ezekiel 30:22 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 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-
One arm had already been broken by the first Egyptian conflict with the
Babylonians. They ought to have repented and turned to Yahweh as a result
of this. But as a result of that, they would now again be punished, and
left with no strength, no arm, and no ability to hold a sword in their own
defence, let alone in that of Judah.
Ezekiel 30:23 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will
disperse them through the countries- Scattering and dispersal was the
judgment threatened upon Judah (Ez. 12:15; 20:23; 22:15). This didn't
literally happen to the Egyptians to the same extent, but the idea was
that they would suffer Judah's judgment rather than save Judah from that
judgment.
Ezekiel 30:24 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-
Ezekiel 30:25 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 Yahweh, when I
shall put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall
stretch it out on the land of Egypt- This was absolutely not what the
initial audience of Ezekiel wanted to hear; that God would hold up the
arms of Babylon and make the arms of Pharaoh, their hoped for saviour, to
wax feeble. God would put His sword in Babylon's strengthened arms. Our
message too is unpopular and counter instinctive to what our society wants
to hear.
Ezekiel 30:26 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse
them through the countries; and they shall know that I am Yahweh-
Scattering and dispersal was the judgment threatened upon Judah (Ez.
12:15; 20:23; 22:15). This didn't literally happen to the Egyptians to the
same extent, but the idea was that they would suffer Judah's judgment
rather than save Judah from that judgment. But the final Divine intention
was that Egyptians and perhaps also Babylonians [for the grammar is
purposefully ambiguous here] could come to know / have relationship with
Yahweh. This didn't happen, and so the final fulfilment of the essence of
all this must be in the last days.
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