February 7, 2023
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Ezekiel? Here’s today’s reading:
Ezekiel 29 (NIV)
A Prophecy Against Egypt
Judgment on Pharaoh
1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month on the twelfth day, 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 to him and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“ ‘I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,
you great monster lying among your streams.
You say, “The Nile belongs to me;
Ezekiel 29
Ezekiel 29
Egypt will also fall to destruction due to their own pride and arrogance. God reminds them specifically of their arrogance about the Nile and to be so presumptuous that this most economically advantageous feature has anything to do with themselves but rather God is the Creator of all and what He gives He can also take away.
He will reward Nebuchadnezzar for his efforts in Tyre and bring restoration back to Israel. I love that God always reminds us no matter how far away we go from Him there is always forgiveness and a return to Him available to us!
God turns His attention to Egypt and they too will suffer destruction due to their pride and the resulting disregard for the God of the Jews. The Jews had a long history with Egypt and often saw them as a source of relief and yet God makes clear here that He will end that relationship and decimate them so as to prevent Israel from turning to them again. It reinforces to us that God should be our only hope and confidence and we need to be careful of the other things we may turn to that effectively replace Him. But God also has a soft spot for the Egyptians. He will return them to their land but they will never recapture their former glory. It is also interesting to read that Nebuchadnezzar is a tool in God’s hand as well and He has been doing His bidding around that part of the world. And it is so all will understand that the God of the Jews is the true God!
Ezekiel 29
Reflection on 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
This verse tells us what to do when we sin. We tell God about our sin, and we acknowledge that what we did was wrong. And every time we do this, we experience Gods forgiveness, and he purifies us as we move forward with living a godly life.
To actually say the Nile was his! Again he scatters the people of Egypt among all the nation. The Lord does let them return but nothing will ever be the same. They will be looked at as the weakest of all nations.
God pronounces judgement against Egypt.
It is interesting that He even references Egypt was the continual “fall back” for Israel. Whenever things went awry they would talk about wanting to be back in Egypt, or why did we leave Egypt. Well, they won’t be saying that anymore.
“At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered. 14 I will bring back the captives of Egypt and cause them to return to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom. 15 It shall be the lowliest of kingdoms; it shall never again exalt itself above the nations, for I will diminish them so that they will not rule over the nations anymore. 16 No longer shall it be the confidence of the house of Israel, but will remind them of their iniquity when they turned to follow them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord God.” ’ ”
Ezekiel 29