E
Z E K I E L
CHAP. XXIX.
Three
chapters we had concerning
Tyre and its king; next follow four chapters
concerning
Egypt and its king. This is the first of them. Egypt
had formerly been a house of bondage to God's
people; of late they had had but too friendly a correspondence with it, and
had depended too much upon it; and therefore, whether the prediction reached
Egypt
or no, it would be of use to Israel, to take them off from their confidence in
their alliance with it. The prophecies against Egypt, which are all laid
together in these four chapters, were of five several dates; the first in the
10th year of the captivity (ver. 1), the second in the 27th (ver. 17), the
third in the 11th year and the first month (ch. xxx. 20), the fourth in
the 11th year and the third month (ch. xxxi. 1), the fifth in the 12th
year (ch. xxxii. 1), and another in the same year, ver. 17. In this
chapter we have, I. The destruction of Pharaoh foretold, for his dealing
deceitfully with
Israel, ver. 1-7. II. The desolation of the land
of Egypt
foretold, ver. 8-12. III. A promise of the
restoration thereof, in part, after forty years, ver. 13-16. IV. The
possession that should be given to Nebuchadnezzar of the land
of Egypt, ver. 17-20. V. A promise of mercy to
Israel, ver. 21.
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Pride
of Pharaoh; The Ruin of Pharaoh.
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B.
C. 589.
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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, 2 Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh
king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt: 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. 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. 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 brakest, and madest all their
loins to be at a stand.
Here is, I. The date of this prophecy against Egypt. It was in the tenth
year of the captivity, and yet it is placed after the prophecy against
Tyre, which was delivered in the eleventh year, because, in the accomplishment
of the prophecies, the destruction of Tyre happened before the destruction of
Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar's gaining Egypt was the reward of his service
against Tyre; and therefore the prophecy against Tyre is put first,
that we may the better observe that. But particular notice must be taken of
this, that the first prophecy against Egypt was just at the time when the king
of Egypt was coming to relieve Jerusalem and raise the siege (Jer. xxxvii. 5),
but did not answer the expectations of the Jews from them. Note, It is good to
foresee the failing of all our creature-confidences, then when we are most in
temptation to depend upon them, that we may cease from man.
II. The scope of this prophecy. It is directed against Pharaoh king of
Egypt, and against all Egypt, v. 2. The prophecy against Tyre began
with the people, and then proceeded against the prince. But this begins with
the prince, because it began to have its accomplishment in the insurrections
and rebellions of the people against the prince, not long after this.
III. The prophecy itself. Pharaoh Hophrah (for so was the reigning Pharaoh
surnamed) is here represented by a great dragon, or crocodile, that lies
in the midst of his rivers, as Leviathan in the waters, to play
therein, v. 3. Nilus, the river of Egypt, was famed for crocodiles.
And what is the king of Egypt, in God's account, but a great dragon,
venomous and mischievous? Therefore says God, I am against thee. I am above
thee; so it may be read. How high soever the princes and potentates of the
earth are, there is a higher than they (Eccl. v. 8), a God above them,
that can control them, and, if they be tyrannical and oppressive, a God
against them, that will be free to reckon with them. Observe here,
1. The pride and security of Pharaoh. He lies in the midst of his rivers,
rolls himself with a great deal of satisfaction in his wealth and pleasures;
and he says, My river is my own. He boasts that he is an absolute
prince (his subjects are his vassals; Joseph bought them long ago, Gen. xlvii.
23),-- that he is a sole prince, and has neither partner in the government nor
competitor for it,--that he is out of debt (what he has is his own, and
none of his neighbours have any demands upon him),--that he is independent,
neither tributary nor accountable to any. Note, Worldly carnal minds please
themselves with, and pride themselves in, their property, forgetting that
whatever we have we have only the use of it, the property is in God. We
ourselves are not our own, but his. Our tongues are not our own, Ps.
xii. 4. Our river is not our own, for its springs are in God. The most
potent prince cannot call what he has his own, for, though it be so against
all the world, it is not so against God. But Pharaoh's reason for his
pretensions is yet more absurd: My river is my own, for I have made
it for myself. Here he usurps two of the divine prerogatives, to be the
author and the end of his own being and felicity. He only that is the great
Creator can say of this world, and of every thing in it, I have made it for
myself. He calls his river his own because he looks not unto the Maker
thereof, nor has respect unto him that fashioned it long ago, Isa. xxii.
11. What we have we have received from God and must use for God, so that we
cannot say, We made it, much less, We made it for ourselves; and why then do
we boast? Note, Self is the great idol that all the world worships, in
contempt of God and his sovereignty.
2. The course God will take with this proud man, to humble him. He is a great
dragon in the waters, and God will accordingly deal with him, v. 4, 5.
(1.) He will draw him out of his rivers, for he has a hook and a cord
for this leviathan, with which he can manage him, though none on earth
can (Job xli. 1): "I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy
rivers, will cast thee out of thy palace, out of thy kingdom, out of all
those things in which thou takest such a complacency and placest such a
confidence." Herodotus related of this Pharaoh, who was now king of
Egypt, that he had reigned in great prosperity for twenty-five years, and was
so elevated with his successes that he said that God himself would not cast
him out of his kingdom; but he shall soon be convinced of his mistake, and
what he depended on shall be no defence. God can force men out of that in
which they are most secure and easy. (2.) All his fish shall be drawn
out with him, his servants, his soldiers, and all that had a dependence on
him, as he thought, but really such as he had dependence upon. These shall stick
to his scales, adhere to their king, resolving to live and die with him.
But, (3.) The king and his army, the dragon and all the fish that stick to his
scales, shall perish together, as fish cast upon dry ground, and shall be meat
to the beasts and fowls, v. 5. Now this is supposed to have had its
accomplishment soon after, when this Pharaoh, in defence of Aricius king of
Libya, who had been expelled his kingdom by the Cyrenians, levied a great
army, and went out against the Cyrenians, to re-establish his friend, but was
defeated in battle, and all his forces were put to flight, which gave such
disgust to his kingdom that they rose in rebellion against him. Thus was he
left thrown into the wilderness, he and all the fish of the river with
him. Thus issue men's pride, and presumption, and carnal security. Thus men
justly lose what they might call their own, under God, when they call it their
own against him.
3. The ground of the controversy God has with the Egyptians; it is because
they have cheated his people. They encouraged them to expect relief and
assistance from them when they were in distress, but failed them (v. 6,
7): Because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. They
pretended to be a staff for them to lean upon, but, when any stress was laid
upon them, they were either weak and could not or treacherous and would not do
that for them which was expected. They broke under them, to their great
disappointment and amazement, so that they rent their shoulder and made
all their loins to be at a stand. The king of Egypt, it is probable, had
encouraged Zedekiah to break his league with the king of Babylon, with a
promise that he would stand by him, which, when he failed to do, to any
purpose, it could not but put them into a great consternation. God had told
them, long since, that the Egyptians were broken reeds, Isa. xxx. 6, 7.
Rabshakeh had told them so, Isa. xxxvi. 6. And now they found it so. It was
indeed the folly of Israel to trust them, and they were well enough served
when they were deceived in them. God was righteous in suffering them to be so.
But that is no excuse at all for the Egyptians' falsehood and treachery, nor
shall it secure them from the judgments of that God who is and will be the
avenger of all such wrongs. It is a great sin, and very provoking to God, as
well as unjust, ungrateful, and very dishonourable and unkind, to put a cheat
upon those that put a confidence in us.
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Fall
and Restoration of Egypt.
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B.
C. 589.
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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. 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.
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.
This explains the foregoing prediction, which was figurative, and looks
something further. Here is a prophecy,
I. Of the ruin of Egypt. The threatening of this is very full and particular;
and the sin for which this ruin shall be brought upon them is their pride, v.
9. They said, The river is mine and I have made it; therefore their
land shall spue them out. 1. God is against them, both against the king and
against the people, against thee and against thy rivers. Waters signify
people and multitudes, Rev. xvii. 15. 2. Multitudes of them shall be
cut off by the sword of war, a sword which God will bring upon them to destroy
both man and beast, the sword of civil war. 3. The country shall be
depopulated. The land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste (v.
9), the country not cultivated, the cities not inhabited. The wealth of both
was their pride, and that God will take away. It shall be utterly waste
(wastes of waste, so the margin reads it), and desolate (v.
10); neither men nor beasts shall pass through it, nor shall it be
inhabited (v. 11); it shall be desolate in the midst of the
countries that are so, v. 12. This was the effect not so much of
those wars spoken of before, which were made by them, but of the war which the
king of Babylon made upon them. It shall be desolate from one end of the land
to the other, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia.
The sin of pride is enough to ruin a whole nation. 4. The people shall be
dispersed and scattered among the nations (v. 12), so that those who
thought the balance of power was in their hand should now become a
contemptible people. Such a fall does a haughty spirit go before.
II. Of the restoration of Egypt after awhile, v. 13. Egypt shall lie desolate
forty years (v. 12) and then I will bring again the captivity of
Egypt, v. 14. Some date the forty years from Nebuchadnezzar's
destroying Egypt, others from the desolation of Egypt some time before;
however, they end about the first year of Cyrus, when the seventy years'
captivity of Judah ended, or soon after. Then this prediction was
accomplished, 1. That God will gather the Egyptians out of all the countries
into which they were dispersed, and make them to return to the land of
their habitation, and give them a settlement there again, v. 14.
Note, Though God will find out a way to humble the proud, yet he will not
contend for ever, no, not with them in this world. 2. That yet they shall not
make a figure again as they have done. Egypt shall be a kingdom again,
but it shall be the basest of the kingdoms (v. 15); it shall
have but little wealth and power, and shall not extend its conquests as
formerly; it shall be the tail of the nations, and not the head. It is a mercy
that it shall become a kingdom again, but, to humble it, it shall be a
despicable kingdom; it shall be a long time before it recover any thing like
its ancient lustre. For two reasons it shall be thus mortified:-- (1.) That it
may not domineer over its neighbours, that it may not exalt itself above
the nations, nor rule over the nations, as it has done, but that it
may know what it is to be low and despised. Note, Those who abuse their power
will justly be stripped of it; and God, as King of nations, will find out a
way to maintain the injured rights and liberties, not only of his own, but of
other nations. (2.) That it may not deceive the people of God (v. 16): It
shall no more be the confidence of the house of Israel; they shall no more
be in temptation to trust in it as they have done, which is a sin that brings
their iniquity to remembrance, that is, provokes God to punish them not
for that only, but for all their other sins. Or it puts them in mind of
their idolatries to return to them, when they look to the idolaters, to
repose a confidence in them. Note, The creatures we confide in are often therefore
ruined, because there is no other way effectually to cure us of our confidence
in them. Rather than Israel shall be ensnared again, the whole land of Egypt
shall be laid waste. He that once gave Egypt for their ransom (Isa.
xliii. 3) will now give Egypt for their cure; and it shall be destroyed rather
than Israel shall not in this particular be reformed. God, not only in
justice, but in wisdom and goodness to us, breaks those creature-stays which
we lean too much upon, and makes them to be no more, that they may be no more
our confidence.
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A
Promise to Nebuchadnezzar.
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B.
C. 589.
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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, Nebuchadrezzar 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 Nebuchadrezzar 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 labour wherewith he served against it, because they
wrought for me, saith the Lord GOD.
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.
The date of this prophecy is observable; it was in the twenty-seventh year of
Ezekiel's captivity, sixteen years after the prophecy in the former part of
the chapter, and almost as long after those which follow in the next chapters;
but it comes in here for the explication of all that was said against Egypt.
After the destruction of Jerusalem Nebuchadnezzar spent two or three campaigns
in the conquest of the Ammonites and Moabites and making himself master of
their countries. Then he spent thirteen years in the siege of Tyre. During all
that time the Egyptians were embroiled in war with the Cyrenians and one with
another, by which they were very much weakened and impoverished; and just at
the end of the siege of Tyre God delivers this prophecy to Ezekiel, to signify
to him that that utter destruction of Egypt which he had foretold fifteen or
sixteen years before, which had been but in part accomplished hitherto, should
now be completed by Nebuchadnezzar. The prophecy which begins here, it should
seem, is continued to the twentieth verse of the next chapter. And Dr.
Lightfoot observes that it is the last prophecy we have of this prophet, and
should have been last in the book, but is laid here, that all the prophecies
against Egypt might come together. The particular destruction of Pharaoh-Hophrah,
foretold in the former part of this chapter, was likewise foretold Jer. xliv.
30. This general devastation of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar was foretold Jer.
xliii. 10. Observe,
I. What success God would give to Nebuchadnezzar and his forces against Egypt.
God gave him that land, that he might take the spoil and prey
of it, v. 19, 20. It was a cheap and easy prey. He subdued it with very
little difficulty; the blood and treasure expended upon the conquest of it
were inconsiderable. But it was a rich prey, and he carried off a great deal
from it that was of value. Their having been divided among themselves, no
doubt, gave a common enemy great advantage against them, who, when they had
been so long preying upon one another, soon made a prey of them all. En!
quo discordia cives perduxit miseros--What wretchedness does civil discord
bring! Jeremiah foretold that Nebuchadnezzar should array himself with
the land of Egypt as a shepherd puts on his coat, which intimates what a
rich and cheap prey it should be.
II. Upon what considerations God would give Nebuchadnezzar this success
against Egypt; it was to be a recompence to him for the hard service with
which he had caused his army to serve against Tyre, v. 18, 20. 1. The
taking of Tyre was a tedious piece of work; it cost Nebuchadnezzar abundance
of blood and treasure. It held out thirteen years; all that time the Chaldean
army was hard at it, to make themselves masters of it. A large current of the
sea, between Tyre and the continent, was filled up with earth, and many other
difficulties which were thought insuperable they had to struggle with; but so
great a prince, having begun such an undertaking, thought himself bound in
honour to push it on, whatever it cost him. How many thousand lives have been
sacrificed to such points of honour as this as! In prosecuting this siege every
head was made bald, and every shoulder peeled, with carrying burdens and
labouring in the water when they had a strong tide and a strong town to
contend with. Egypt, a large kingdom, being divided within itself, is easily
conquered; Tyre, a single city, being unanimous, is with difficulty subdued.
Those that have much to do in the world find some affairs go on a great deal
more readily and easily than others. But, 2. In this service God own that they
wrought for him, v. 20. He set them at work, for the humbling of
a proud city and its king, though they meant not so, neither did their
heart think so, who were employed in it. Note, Even great men and bad men
are tools that God makes use of, and are working for him even when they
are pursuing their own covetous and ambitious designs; so wonderfully does God
overrule all to his own glory. Yet, 3. For this service he had no wages
nor his army. He was at a vast expense to take Tyre; and when he had
it, though it was a very rich city, and he promised himself good plunder for
his army from it, he was disappointed; the Tyrians sent away by ship their
best effects, and threw the rest into the sea, so that they had nothing but
bare walls. Thus are the children of this world ordinarily frustrated in their
highest expectations from it. Therefore, 4. He shall have the spoil of Egypt
to recompense him for his service against Tyre. Note, God will be behind-hand
with none for any service they do for him, but, one way or other, will
recompense them for it; none shall kindle a fire on his altar for nought. The
service done for him by worldly men, with worldly designs, shall be
recompensed with a mere worldly reward, which his faithful servants, that have
a sincere regard to his will and glory, would not be put off with. This
accounts for the prosperity of wicked men in this world; God is in it paying
them for some service or other, in which he has made use of them. Verily
they have their reward. Let none envy it them. The conquest of Egypt is
spoken of as Nebuchadnezzar's full reward, for that completed his
dominion over the then known world in a manner; that was the last of the
kingdoms he subdued; when he was master of that he became the head of gold.
III. The mercy God had in store for the house of
Israel
soon after. When the tide is at the highest it will turn, and so it will when
it is at the lowest. Nebuchadnezzar was in the zenith of his glory when he had
conquered Egypt, but within a year after he ran mad (Dan. iv.), was so seven
years, and within a year or two after he had recovered his senses he resigned
his life. When he was at the highest Israel was at the lowest; then were they
in the depth of their captivity, their bones dead and dry; but in that day
the horn of the house of Israel shall bud forth, v. 21. The day of
their deliverance shall begin to dawn, and they shall have some little
reviving in their bondage, in the honour that shall be done, 1. To their
princes; they are the horns of the house of Israel, the seat of their
glory and power. These began to bud forth when Daniel and his fellows were
highly preferred in Babylon; Daniel sat in the gate of the city; Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, were set over the affairs of the province (Dan. ii.
49); these were all of the king's seed, and of the princes, Dan. i. 3.
And it was within a year after the conquest of Egypt that they were thus
preferred; and, soon after, three of them were made famous by the honour God
put upon them in bringing them alive out of the burning fiery furnace. This
might very well be called the budding forth of the horn of the house of
Israel. And, some years after, this promise had a further accomplishment
in the enlargement and elevation of Jehoiachin king of Judah, Jer. lii. 31,
32. They were both tokens of God's favour to Israel, and happy omens. 2. To
their prophets. And I will give thee the opening of the mouth. Though
none of Ezekiel's prophecies, after this, are recorded, yet we have reason to
think he went on prophesying, and with more liberty and boldness, when Daniel
and his fellows were in power, and would be ready to protect him not only from
the Babylonians, but from the wicked ones of his own people. Note, It bodes
well to a people when God enlarges the liberties of his ministers and they are
countenanced and encouraged in their work.
Contents
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