Ezekiel

Ezekiel Chapter 29

Ezekiel 29:1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

About six months before the fall of Jerusalem this prophecy was given to Ezekiel. The captivity of Babylon was in its 10th year. Sixty years to go for Israel to be out from under the rule of Babylon.

Ezekiel 29:2 Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt:

This Pharaoh was the one Zedekiah looked upon to help him overcome the siege of Babylon but the Pharaoh failed in that task. Zedekiah should have trusted in the Lord instead of trusting in help from Egypt. It is folly to have one nation come can take over one's country but to look to another nation that is also evil in that they serve false gods, it's futile. The Lord is the only power that can save when a mighty nation such as Babylon is allowed to have the power to rule the nations. Babylon also fell when it was time but until that day came, none could help but the Lord. That is the one they needed to trust in and not Egypt.

Ezekiel 29:3 Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.

The dragon was probably referring to the crocodile that was a symbol of Egypt.

Ezekiel 29:4 But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.
5 And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.
6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the LORD, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

The reason for this judgment is:

Because they betrayed Judah
Pride
Idolatry
They were once a nation that oppressed Israel.
For some reason they claimed the river as their own

I wonder sometimes why so many resist God when He is our only assurance of eternal life. This life is very temporary.

Ezekiel 29:7 When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou didst broke, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.
8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.
9 And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the LORD: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.
10 Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia.
11 No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.

They were taken over by Babylon for forty years. When they were free from Babylon they became a base kingdom, never to rise again to rule over any other nation. They are still like that today.

Ezekiel 29:12 And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.
13 Yet thus saith the Lord GOD; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered:
14 And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom.
15 It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.

After the fall of Babylon, Egypt was ruled by Persia, Greece, and Rome. They finely gained independence from Britain in latter times but they are still a base kingdom.

Ezekiel 29:16 And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which bringeth their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them: but they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

It is interesting that Israel does not look to Egypt for help any longer. We see so much proof of God's word being true by bible prophecy that we can see come to pass and will continue to come to pass.

Ezekiel 29:17 And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
18 Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it:
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army.
20 I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord GOD.

God is the one that sent Babylon against these nations including Israel. He rewarded the king of Babylon by giving him Egypt also.

Lest we find fault with God, we must remember that before he allowed all this evil to come upon Israel and Egypt, he sent his prophets to warn them.

Israel was sent more than one prophet time and time again. They were warned to turn from their idolatry and turn back to the living God that was able to save them but they laughed, mocked and preferred to listen to prophets that told them what they wanted to hear. They preferred the ear tickling prophets that spoke only of God the way God is spoken of today. God is love, God doesn't bring judgment. God only wants to bless everyone. While those things are true about God, they are true only if we obey His word that He so graciously gave us.

People today expect God to bless them even though they ignore all His teachings, cast Him out of schools as unconstitutional, despise anyone who tries to warn or correct them and even go so far as to call evil good and good evil.

This siege of Babylon is a result of all the evil that Israel did when they began to worship the idols of the Babylonians and Egyptians instead of staying true to the real God. This idolatry then led to other evils for the evil spirits are behind idol worship and in fact any false religion. These evil spirits will lead its followers into sexual immorality and even murdering the innocent.

Live children were placed in the burning bosom of these idols and they were burned alive in the fire. Idolatry and false religion, not only harm the body but destroy the soul.

God allowed the very nations they were lusting after and copying after to overtake them and lead them into captivity for 70 years.

Afterward He judged Babylon also but He did use Babylon to judge Israel.

This is what makes me fear for our own country. God gave us a country where after a few struggling years we had freedom to worship God from our conscience and because we wanted to be free to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Some came to this country for wealth but most came for religious freedom.

We struggled for a while. Some got a little too strict in New England and the result of that is that it came back to haunt us in later years. They used the mistakes of the past as an excuse to cast God completely out of our schools in the name of freedom.

We then struggled to get rid of the evil of slavery and racial prejudice that was morally wrong. That part was good when we finally passed laws to protect free speech, religion and civil rights for all races. However, now we are in bondage to sin, moral decay and we do that in the name of freedom.

In the 60s God was cast out, in the 70s the murder of unborn babies became legal in the United States. Now we have those that desire to legally molest children by lowering the age of consent so as to make it legal to sexually assault children. When our government starts to harm innocent children by not upholding laws against this type of thing, we will see judgment fall on this nation.

Little by little we have those that are destroying the moral foundation of this country. When we destroy families, we will die as a nation. Strong families make a strong nation. The nation is collapsing morally. If we say anything about this, we are accused of trying to force religion on people when in reality, we are trying to save them. The evil of sexual immorality, divorce, and lack of the fear of God is killing our nation.

Ezekiel 29:21 In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

This may be a prophecy of Israel's restoration in the latter days. Israel already has been established in their own land but they still need the return to the Lord in spirit and in truth.

We really need a revival in the United States. We do not even see ourselves like we should. The first step is to begin to have respect for the word of God again. It has been ignored and cast aside like it is nothing when in reality it is our life. Without God we will die. Without His word we lose our direction. We need God back and the only way to God is through His Son, Jesus Christ. Without the cleansing of sin that comes through faith in Jesus Christ, no one can ever get to God. This is what is taught in the word we neglect so badly.

Sin is separating us from God. We are nation that is dying spiritually. Will God have to allow a Babylon to come upon us too?

Ezekiel Chapter 30

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