Ezekiel 29:1-21--Prophecy Against Egypt

Ezekiel 29
English Standard Version

Prophecy Against Egypt
29 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt; 3 speak, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD:

“Behold, I am against you,
    Pharaoh king of Egypt,
the great dragon that lies
    in the midst of his streams,
that says, ‘My Nile is my own;
    I made it for myself.’
4 I will put hooks in your jaws,
    and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales;
and I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams,
    with all the fish of your streams
    that stick to your scales.
5 And I will cast you out into the wilderness,
    you and all the fish of your streams;
you shall fall on the open field,
    and not be brought together or gathered.
To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens
    I give you as food.

6 Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the LORD.

“Because you have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel, 7 when they grasped you with the hand, you broke and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke and made all their loins to shake. 8 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast, 9 and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

“Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I made it,’ 10 therefore, behold, I am against you and against your streams, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush. 11 No foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years. 12 And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries, and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries.

13 “For thus says the Lord GOD: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered, 14 and I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom. 15 It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, and never again exalt itself above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations. 16 And it shall never again be the reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.”

17 In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 18 “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was rubbed bare, yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against her. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off its wealth and despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored, because they worked for me, declares the Lord GOD.

21 “On that day I will cause a horn to spring up for the house of Israel, and I will open your lips among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

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The Egyptian people were a superpower for years, but this prophecy is addressed directly to the Pharaoh of Egypt who was worshiped as a god.  The LORD will not share his glory with any other, nor will He have His people continue to run to Egypt, the people that enslaved them, for help when He commanded them never to return to Egypt for help lest Egypt try to enslave them again or the people be tempted to return to the Egyptian gods they were used to during their time of slavery. 

The LORD is going to give Egypt and its wealth to the Babylonians and to King Nebuchadnezzar because King Nebuchadnezzar took no spoil from his destruction of Tyre (though it was a wealthy city-state).  The LORD will give Egypt to Babylon as compensation for the work they did in destroying Tyre, and Egypt will never again be the superpower/empire that it was in the past.  For forty years, the Egyptians would be dispersed among the nations, and then, after 40 years, they would return to their land (that seems like a long time, but Israel was in exile for 70 years).  Egypt would never be in a position to conquer Israel or be in a place for Israel to look to them for military or financial support.

That may raise some questions about Egypt today being a strong nation, and it seems like they are at times allies with Israel, so how does that square with this prophecy?  There is other prophecy that says that both Egypt and Assyria would have a great time of turning to the LORD in the end times, and that in the end, the Egyptians and the Assyrians would be full of the people of God and would love the Jewish people.  I hope that we are seeing the beginnings of that happening through the evangelistic efforts that are going on in the Middle East at this time.  It will be a great day when Israel has friends on every side and they no longer have to worry about defending their borders.  Yet, we know that in the end of days, all nations of the world will be tempted to march against Israel and try to take the Kingdom for themselves by trying to once again kill the King's people and the King Himself, if possible (it didn't work the first time, and it won't work this time either).  God's people will survive because the LORD will once again deliver them, and all those who choose to be enemies of the LORD and the LORD's people will be destroyed and no one will remember them.