087. IV. The Predictions Of Ezekiel Against Foreign Nations (Ezekiel 25-32)
IV THE PREDICTIONS OF EZEKIEL AGAINST FOREIGN NATIONS (Ezekiel 25-32) 1. Prophecies against Judah’s Immediate Neighbors (Ezekiel 25)
Fellow-Israelites, Jehovah has revealed to me his sovereign will regarding the nations on our borders, whose true attitude toward us and toward him these days of our humiliation have made known.
Ammon shall pass in to oblivion (Ezekiel 25:1-7). Against our late allies, the sons of Ammon, whose joy was undisguised when our sanctuary was profaned, our landpillaged, and our people made captives, he pronounces the judgment of national extinction. The ruins of the splendid city of Rabbah shall serve as a stable for the camels of the wandering Arabs, and the whole land shall become a pasturage for their flocks. A nation so devoid of the impulses of true friendship deserves only oblivion.
Moab shall suffer invasion (Ezekiel 25:8-11). Against Moab[25] his sentence is less severe. Her scoffing glee over the thought that Judah has been proven by her misfortunes to be no better than other nations, deserves a stern rebuke. Her border fortresses, so long an impenetrable barrier against the Arab raiders, shall no longer serve their purpose. From Ammon’s fate she shall be spared, but the plundering hordes shall execute a retribution which all will recognize as coming from Jehovah.
[25] The words “and Seir” should be omitted. Edom is mentioned later.
Edom shall be destroyed by Judah herself (Ezekiel 25:12-14). Since Edom has ungenerously seized the time of her rival’s weakness as an occasion for avenging her own long-cherished wrongs. Jehovah will empower Judah in the day of her restoration to carry out an exemplary penalty. Edom shall be made a desolation from one end of the kingdom to the other. The Philistines shall be annihilated (Ezekiel 25:15-17). Since the Philistines, too, have yielded to their passion for revenge against their rulers, Jehovah declares that he will utterly annihilate them.
2. Prophecies against Phœnicia (Ezekiel 26-28) (1) The Coming Destruction of Tyre (Ezekiel 26) The sin of Tyre—selfishness (Ezekiel 26:1-2). Even Tyre, the queen of the sea, has earned Jehovah’s displeasure by her exultation over the downfall of Judah. With sordid greed for gold she rejoices that in her inland traffic she will no longer have a rival or a barrier. “O selfish city,” declares Jehovah, “nations will come to you in great numbers, but not for trade. Its punishment (Ezekiel 26:3-6). They shall besiege and capture you, destroy your defences, and leave an unsightly and barren rock, fitted only for drying fishermen’s nets, where now are splendid palaces.”
Nebuchadrezzar to be Jehovah’s instrument (Ezekiel 26:7-14). The divine agent shall be Nebuchadrezzar and his mighty army. Having destroyed your dependent cities on the coast, he will persistently lay siege to you. The day will come when the hoofs of his many horses shall raise clouds of dust in the streets of your city, while the rumbling of his chariots will cause the very walls to shake. Then shall he slaughter your citizens, throw down the famous symbols of Melkarth, and give you up to spoil. In that day you will have no heart for exultant song, for your history will be at an end. The lament of her dependencies (Ezekiel 26:15-18). With what dismay and fear will the groans of your dying citizens be heard throughout your colonies and among your allies. Their rulers, with every outward sign of grief and horror, shall bewail your untoward fate, saying:
How art thou vanished from the sea, O renowned city! Who was strong through the sea She and her inhabitants, How didst thou impose thy terror On all her inhabitants.
Now tremble the coastlands In the day of thy fall. And dismayed are the isles of the sea At thy departure. The catastrophe to be irretrievable (Ezekiel 26:19-21). Amply will their grief be justified, for when the deep waters have swallowed all the traces of your once powerful and populous city, no more shall you have a place and name in the land of the living.
(2) A Dirge over her Downfall (Ezekiel 27)
Tyre a beautiful vessel laden with the wealth of nations (Ezekiel 27:1-25). Who would not mourn, as he contemplates the ruin of the mistress of the seas, the imperial city, to which the whole world has paid tribute! Fitly may one liken you, O Tyre, to a stately trireme, riding proudly at anchor, attractive to the eye, built of the choicest woods and sumptuously furnished. Skilled mariners of every nation and mercenaries from the remotest quarters of the earth obey your captains, and enable them to bring you wealth. From distant Tarshish to Arabia and the far East traders come to load you with their merchandise. Her shipwreck (Ezekiel 27:26-27). Thus deeply laden, while on your voyage in the open sea, a wind from the east has caused you to founder. All your cargo and crew have perished in the sea. The lament of the mariners (Ezekiel 27:28-36). Alas! what a lamentation arises from the mariners of the deep. With breaking hearts they give way to frenzied exhibitions of grief, uttering a weird wail[26] for the proud vessel, laden with attractive wares, once serving all mankind, but now a miserable wreck.
(3) Tyre’s Opportunity and Well-deserved Fate (Ezekiel 28:1-19)
Presumptuous self-exaltation deserves a humiliating punishment (Ezekiel 28:1-10). Against the prince of Tyre Jehovah announces his judgment. “Because of your wonderful success in gathering wealth and skill in producing objects of use and beauty, and cleverness in making your situation so secure, you have come to think yourself as wise and powerful and great as God. Such impious self-exaltation cannot go unpunished. These very possessions in which you glory shall effect your ruin. By brutal Babylonian soldiers you shall be humiliated and spoiled and given a dishonored grave.
Tyre’s violence and wickedness the reason for her destruction (Ezekiel 28:11-19). “How appropriate, then, a lament over you! Once you were worthy in your glorious perfection to live with heavenly beings in the garden of God, adorned with costly jewels and gold; but you lost God’s favor because your pride was so overweening and because you did not hesitate at violence and outrage in your dealings with mankind. He will cast you from your throne of power; as a fire unexpectedly bursting forth consumes to ashes that which feeds it, so shall your sin become your own destruction.”
(4) The Fate of Sidon (Ezekiel 28:20-26)
Sidon shall yet revere Jehovah (Ezekiel 28:20-23). For Sidon, also, Jehovah has a message of judgment. Punished by pestilence and bloody invasion, she shall come to acknowledge that he is the great and holy Ruler of the universe. Then shall Israel at last be freed from the interference and humiliating experience which have thwarted and crippled and harassed her during the centuries past. Then Israel will attain her true development (Ezekiel 28:24-26). When her Shepherd brings back his scattered flock and pastures his people once more in the fair fields of Palestine, they shall be free to live a life of true and loyal service.
3. Prophecies against Egypt (Ezekiel 29-32) (1) Egypt to be Humbled to the Dust (Ezekiel 29:1-16; Ezekiel 30:1-19)
Egypt, the crocodile of the Nile, to meet a crocodile’s fate (Ezekiel 29:1-7). Not long before Jerusalem’s fall, while many were still cherishing a hope that the Pharaoh might possibly extend some aid to the beleaguered city, I received this prophetic word: “Jehovah’s curse is against the arrogant dweller by the Nile who, like the huge crocodile of his river, imagines himself to be the creator of that which he enjoys. The Lord will drag him out of his beloved river and leave him on the banks to die, a prey for birds and beasts. Egypt shall be thus treated because she has ever invited the confidence of Israel only to betray it.
Because of her boastfulness and real incapacity (Ezekiel 29:8-12). “To punish Egypt’s overweening pride, the Almighty will transform her boasted fertility into an uninhabited desert and scatter her people, far and wide. For a generation shall her desolation continue, and it shall be universal. Never again to be a leading nation (Ezekiel 29:13-16). Then will Jehovah restore the nation to its home, but not to its former prominence. It shall be of inferior rank, no longer able to delude Israel by empty boasts of power and wealth, and to tempt her to distrust her God. The day of Jehovah will be a day of humiliation for Egypt (Ezekiel 30:1-9). “O peoples, raise a cry of lamentation, for Jehovah’s day draws near, a day of darkness and of grief to all of his foes. Unto Egypt and her allies it will be a day of death and anguish. She shall be humbled to the dust and at last will acknowledge Jehovah as the supreme power in the universe.
Nebuchadrezzar will perform Jehovah’s will (Ezekiel 30:10-19). “Jehovah’s agent of judgment will be the mighty Nebuchadrezzar. His ruthless and invincible warriors will spread ruin and desolation throughout the land. Egypt’s ruling classes and her strong cities will offer no effective opposition to their advance, and her young men will be carried off as slaves. Then Egypt’s pride will completely break down and Jehovah Will receive honor and respect.”
(2) The Pharaoh to be Crippled (Ezekiel 30:20-26) The misfortune of Egypt (Ezekiel 30:20-22). When Pharaoh Hophra, having advanced to the support of the people of Judah, had been repulsed by Nebuchadrezzar and driven home, Jehovah announced through me to the wondering people: “The arm of Pharaoh I have caused to be broken; never again shall it wield the sword. Jehovah will only increase it (Ezekiel 30:23-26). His other arm, too, I will disable, rendering him utterly incapable of self-defence. Then shall his pitiless adversary, by me made strong for combat, give him his death-stroke. His people I will disperse far and wide.”
(3) Egypt the Fallen Cedar (Ezekiel 31)
Egypt a stately cedar of surpassing beauty (Ezekiel 31:1-9). A fitting symbol of the majesty and influence of Egypt’s king is a stately cedar[27] of Lebanon of towering height and with spreading branches which shelter all the fowls of air, whose roots strike deep into the earth and drink freely of its waters, surpassing all other trees in the beauty of its foliage and form, and envied even by the trees of Eden.
[27] The subject in verse 3 cannot well be “the Assyrian,” but was probably originally indefinite. Its sure downfall (Ezekiel 31:10-14). So overweening is your pride, O Egyptian cedar, that Jehovah will send against you a skilful wielder of the axe. Soon will your huge trunk lie prostrate across the mountain peaks while your branches fill up every valley. Those who have nestled under your protection will make haste to desert you. May your fate be a warning against impious self-exaltation! Her welcome in Sheôl (Ezekiel 31:15-18). In the day of your fall, all nature will feel the shock and be moved to grief. Those who have preceded you to the realm of departed shades will rejoice because you have joined them. Superior as you are, you must go down with them and there remain.
(4) Egypt’s Coming Desolation (Ezekiel 32:1-16) The capture and death of the river-monster, Egypt (Ezekiel 32:1-6). O king of Egypt, so long regarded by many nations as a devouring masterful lion, Jehovah will prove that you are rather like the powerful crocodile of your rivers, active in display of strength, but successful only in fouling the waters in which you live. He will capture you in his net and expose your carcass to the birds and beasts of prey. Your huge bulk will fill the earth, and the rivers will run red with your blood. The effect of this calamity upon nature and mankind (Ezekiel 32:7-10). All creation will be stirred by the news of your death. The sun in mid-heaven shall be eclipsed, the moon and stars shall withhold their light. Dismay and terror shall fill every human heart, when they see a just retribution overtake you. The completeness of the ruin (Ezekiel 32:11-16). This will Jehovah accomplish by the sword of King Nebuchadrezzar and his invincible warriors. Every living creature shall they sweep away. The streams of Egypt, untroubled by the foot of man or beast, shall run smooth as oil. The once powerful and populous country shall become a desolation, bewailed by all nations.
(5) The Dirge for the Dead (Ezekiel 32:17-32)
Egypt’s humiliation in the underworld (Ezekiel 32:17-20). Let this dirge be sung at the burial of Pharach and all his host. “Do you go down to the underworld expecting to receive that deference which you have always exacted? The heroes who are honored among the shades will meet you when you appear and direct you to take your place among the dishonored dead in the lowest portion of the pit.
She will be comforted by her company (Ezekiel 32:21-32). “There will you find your predecessors, terror-inspiring Assyria, fierce and brutal Elam, the violent and bloodthirsty nations of the north. Theirs is not the enviable lot of the heroes of old who went down to Sheôl in their panoply of war, buried with all appropriate rites. Edom also and Syria and Phœnicia, those who perish in battle, will bear their humiliation along with the rest in the lowest abode of the shades. At the sight of these companions in misery you will be reconciled to your lot.”
(6) Egypt to be Nebuchadrezzar’s Reward (Ezekiel 29:17-21)
Ezekiel’s latest prophecy Sixteen years after the fall of Jerusalem, when the thirteen years’ siege of Tyre by Nebuchadrezzar had come to a disappointing end, the prophet presented a modified explanation of Jehovah’s purpose against Tyre and Egypt.
Egypt Nebuchadrezzar’s reward for his long service against Tyre (Ezekiel 29:17-21). “Nebuchadrezzar, my servant, has labored earnestly in my behalf against Tyre. His warriors are worn and weary, yet they have received no pay for their toil. Lo, the land of Egypt shall be their recompense! They shall take its spoil and enslave its people. When Egypt is thus humiliated, Israel will once again become strong and my prophetic teachings will be honored by all.”