II. The Destruction of the Cities.
Thus saith the Lord G.o.d: I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph; and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt; and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt. And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments in No. And I will pour my fury upon Sin, the strength of Egypt; and I will cut off the mult.i.tude of No. And I will set fire in Egypt: Sin shall have great pain, and No shall be rent asunder, and Noph shall have distresses daily. The young men of Aven and of Phi-beseth shall fall by the sword; and these cities shall go into captivity. At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity. Thus will I execute judgments in Egypt; and they shall know that I am the Lord (verses 13-19).
Their idols and images were to be destroyed so as to reveal their nothingness. So it was many centuries before when Israel was in the house of bondage and the power of G.o.d in judgment exposed the things which the Egyptians worshipped. Noph, which is mentioned in verse 13, is Memphis. Memphis was the prominent seat of the worship of Ptah and Apis. It was the great temple city, founded by Menes. What has become of this marvellous city with its magnificent temple structures and carved, colossal images and idols?
Abd-ul-Latif, an Arab traveller, who visited it in the thirteenth century, says: "Its ruins still offer to the eyes of the spectator a collection of wonderful works which confound the intellect, and to describe which the most eloquent man would labor in vain. The longer we look upon the scene, the higher rises the admiration it inspires; and every new glance that we cast upon the ruins reveals a new charm.
Scarcely have they awakened a distinct idea in the soul of the spectator, than a still more admirable idea suggests itself; and just as you believe you have gained complete knowledge of them, at that very moment the conviction forces itself on the mind, that what you think you know is still very far from the truth."
But even the magnificent ruins, the mute witnesses of a past glory, are gone. The very site of Noph (Memphis) is now a matter of dispute. Only a few immense carved stones remain in the desert sand. Temples, idols and images are forever gone. The prophet Ezekiel knew undoubtedly of the far-famed city, its influence and power in the religious life of Egypt.
How could he announce such utter ruin for that city unless the Lord had revealed it to him and put His own words into his mouth? What a great evidence prophecy is that the Bible is the Word of G.o.d! "No," mentioned three times in verses 14-16, is Thebes, the ancient capital of Egypt, called by the Greeks "Diospolis," the City of Jupiter. "No" is also mentioned by Nahum (iii:8). Her ruins bear witness of a past, indescribable splendor. The great Temple of Carnac was there. An authority saith: "The ruins of the temple of Carnac is the largest and most splendid ruin of which, perhaps, either ancient or modern times can boast. All here is sublime, all majestic. With pain one tears oneself from Thebes. Her monuments fix the traveller"s eyes and fill his mind with vast ideas. Beholding colossal figures and stately obelisks which seem to surpa.s.s human powers." What a city No, Thebes the capital, must have been! The Lord alone could foretell that it should be rent asunder.
The ruins bear witness that G.o.d"s message was faithfully delivered by Ezekiel. And so was fulfilled, "There shall be no more a prince out of the land of Egypt." No native prince has had complete rule over the land. The other places mentioned are Sin, which is Pelusium, now completely buried in the sand. Aven is Heliopolis, the center of the worship of Ba, the G.o.d of the sun. Pi-beseth is Bubastis, where the sacred cats were mummied, likewise a desolation now. Tehaphnehes or Daphnis also pa.s.sed through the judgment. What a remarkable fulfillment of what the Lord announced through His servant Ezekiel! May we here be reminded in our solemn times that the same omniscient Lord, who knows the end from the beginning, has spoken concerning this age, now closing in its predicted apostasy. Nations today steeped in bloodshed; nations filled with covetousness and hatred; an apostate professing Christendom and the indifferent ma.s.ses have written over against them the judgment-wrath of the coming King. And He who fulfilled the words spoken through Ezekiel will also fulfill every other prediction uttered by His Holy prophets and apostles.
III. The Work of Nebuchadnezzar.
And it came to pa.s.s in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, lo, it shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to bind it, to make it strong to hold the sword. Therefore thus saith the Lord G.o.d: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand; but I will break Pharaoh"s arms, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly-wounded man. But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the countries; and they shall know that I am the Lord (verses 20-26).
The arm of Pharaoh, King of Egypt was to be broken completely. No bandage would suffice to make it strong again to hold the sword. It was a break beyond remedy. Jeremiah had received a similar message. "Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt, in vain shalt thou use many medicines, for thou shalt not be cured" (Jere.
xlvi:11). And Jeremiah also announced that Nebuchadnezzar should be used in carrying out the overthrow of Egypt. "The word that the Lord spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, should come and smite the land of Egypt. Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph and in Tehaphnehes, say ye, Stand fast and prepare thee, for the sword shall devour round about thee" (Jere. xlvi:13-17).
Nebuchadnezzar wielded the sword of the Lord. "And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the King of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt." The sovereign G.o.d had not only used the King of Babylon to execute His judgments upon Jerusalem, but He had also given other lands into his hands and made him the head of the times of the Gentiles, typified in his great dream-image by the head of gold. "And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
And all nations shall serve him and his son and his son"s son, until the very time of his land come, and then many nations and great Kings shall serve themselves of him" (Jere. xxvii:5-7). The times of the Gentiles are still in force, and when they end Egypt will pa.s.s through another judgment to receive afterward the blessings promised through the prophet Isaiah (Is. xix:18-25).
PHARAOH"S GREATNESS AND HIS OVERTHROW.
Chapter x.x.xi.
Two more chapters speak of the downfall and judgment of Egypt. First, the fall of Pharaoh is described in a parable and then follows the lamentations, a funeral dirge over Pharaoh. The message of the thirty-first chapter has three well defined parts. The King of Egypt, like the a.s.syrian of the past, is pictured as a great cedar in Lebanon.
Then the fall of the tree is shown, and finally the shaking of the nations on account of his fall.
II. The Greatness and Glory of the King of Egypt.
And it came to pa.s.s in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his mult.i.tude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness? Behold, the a.s.syrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs. The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field. Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the mult.i.tude of waters, when he shot forth. All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations. Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters. The cedars in the garden of G.o.d could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of G.o.d was like unto him in his beauty. I have made him fair by the mult.i.tude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of G.o.d, envied him (verses 1-9).
The Lord commands the prophet to ask a question of Pharaoh and his mult.i.tude: "Whom art thou like in thy greatness?" Then the divine questioner answers and reveals the greatness and glory of Pharaoh. He uses the a.s.syrian in his past greatness to describe Pharaoh"s greatness and glory. Some have applied the prophecy entirely to the a.s.syrian, as if Ezekiel spoke concerning this northern power altogether. But this is incorrect, for the a.s.syrian power was then no longer in existence, and the last verse of this chapter shows that Pharaoh is meant. "This Pharaoh and his mult.i.tude, saith the Lord G.o.d" (verse 18). The description of the a.s.syrian is given to show that Pharaoh, King of Egypt, is in greatness like the a.s.syrian who had been dealt with in judgment by Jehovah. The a.s.syrian, once so powerful and proud, is used as a solemn warning, that the King of Egypt would not be spared, but suffer the same fate. The Cedar in Lebanon is a picture of the greatness of the a.s.syrian and Pharaoh; its height and wide-spreading branches; its superior place among all the trees are used to symbolize both of them.
The Cedar is a most majestic tree, often reaching a great height; the branches are thick and long, spreading out horizontally from the enormous trunk. The Cedar is also employed as a type of the righteous and of Israel. "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon" (Psalm xcii:12). "His branches shall spread ... and his smell like Lebanon" (Hos. xiv:6). But here the cedar means human grandeur and national greatness, full of arrogant pride and therefore doomed to be abased. Isaiah in his sublime prophecy on the coming day of the Lord uses thus the cedars of Lebanon: "For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low. And upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan" (Isa. ii:12-13).
Of interest are the words in the sixth verse: "All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs." The same statement is made in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, in which the King of Babylon had seen a great tree, "and the fowls of heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof" (Dan. iv:12). And our Lord spoke a parable of the mustard seed which became a tree "so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof"
(Matt. xiii:32). The fowls mean peoples who a.s.sociated with a.s.syria, Egypt and the King of Babylon, while these powers became proud and lifted up. The mustard tree in the parable of our Lord represents the development of Gentile-Christendom as an earthly inst.i.tution and organization, lifted up like a big tree, and the birds which find shelter there are the symbols of the unclean, the unsaved ma.s.ses, nominally professing Christians. And G.o.d who dealt with the a.s.syrians, with the King of Egypt, G.o.d, who humbled Nebuchadnezzar, will yet deal in His coming great judgments with the Gentile nations of today for their pride and wickedness, as well as with Christendom.
II. The Fall and Desolation of the Tree.
Therefore thus saith the Lord G.o.d; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height; I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness. And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him. Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches: To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit (verses 10-14).
Judgment came upon a.s.syria and was also soon to fall upon Egypt because they were lifted up and defied G.o.d. "Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height, I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the nations; he shall surely deal with him; I have driven him out for his wickedness." Behind these nations of the past stood, as we saw in connection with the King of Tyrus (chap.
xxviii), the dark shadow of the enemy of G.o.d. He is still the master over the nations which act at the close of the times of the Gentiles.
Satan"s crime is that he was and is lifted up with pride. He fell because he said, "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of G.o.d ... I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High" (Isa. xiv:13-14). And this awful being, the prince of this world, the G.o.d of this age, who domineers still over the kingdoms of this world, till he is dethroned by the coming of the Lord, has led in the past and still leads nations into ruin and ripens them for divine judgment through pride and what goes with it, defiance of G.o.d. Today our boasting, proud, lifted up and G.o.d-defiant age, an age which rejects G.o.d"s best, the Gospel of His Son, is rapidly approaching the threatened judgment, a judgment far more severe than those which overtook a.s.syria and Egypt.
The one mentioned as "the mighty one of the nations" is Nebuchadnezzar, whom G.o.d used to bring judgment upon Egypt, as we learned from the previous chapters. He was the golden head of the image which represents the times of the Gentiles, which may soon take on their final form, the ten kingdoms in the revived Roman Empire (Dan. ii). Nebuchadnezzar also became lifted up and G.o.d humbled him for seven years, as G.o.d will yet humble the nations of Christendom.[25] And the judgments of the past, upon a.s.syria and others is to be a warning to others "to the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height"
(verse 13). But who among the nations is wise and heeds the warnings of G.o.d"s holy Word? See also Rom. xi:16-24, where Christendom is warned not to boast and not to be high minded.
[25] See Exposition of Daniel, by A. C. G., on Dan. iii-vi.
III. The Overthrow and the Consternation among the Nations as the result of Egypt"s fall.
Thus saith the Lord G.o.d; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him. I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to h.e.l.l with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth. They also went down into h.e.l.l with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen. To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: "thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncirc.u.mcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his mult.i.tude, saith the Lord G.o.d" (verses 15-18).
The word "h.e.l.l," mentioned several times in this paragraph does not mean the lake of fire, the final and eternal abode of the wicked, but the word is "sheol," the abode of the dead, the unknown regions. It does not mean the grave, for which there is another word used in the Hebrew. The grave receives the bodies; but the immaterial part of man, that which has endless being, goes to Sheol, a word which expresses the unseen and unknown. To sheol the wicked and the nations who forget G.o.d have been turned (Psalm ix:17) to await their final doom as revealed in Rev.
xx:11-15. The fate of a.s.syria as well as of Egypt inspired the surrounding nations with fear; these nations are mentioned under the figure of trees, "and all the trees of the field mourned for him." The nations shook with terror when the powerful world-power was stripped of all its greatness and pa.s.sed away. And when a.s.syria came into sheol and also Egypt, they found other nations there. These are mentioned by the term "all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water." These terms are symbolical of human greatness, glory and prosperity. And these once powerful and prosperous nations were "comforted" to find that even Pharaoh would share their fate and the fate of a.s.syria. It shows that the disembodied state in sheol is not an unconscious state, but one of consciousness. The next chapter, the final one on Egypt"s judgment and fate will show us more of this.
LAMENTATION OVER PHARAOH AND THE FUNERAL DIRGE.
Chapter x.x.xii.
The final prophecy of this section was given almost two years after the message of the previous chapter and about eighteen months after the fall of Jerusalem. First Ezekiel is told to take up a lamentation for Pharaoh and announce for the last time the work of judgment by the sword of the King of Babylon. After that follows another wail, a solemn dirge, over the Egyptian mult.i.tudes which have pa.s.sed into sheol. It is a vivid description of sheol and those who have descended there. This conclusive prophecy was uttered by the prophet a few days after the lamentation over Pharaoh.
I. The Lamentation Over Pharaoh.
And it came to pa.s.s in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouldedst their rivers. Thus saith the Lord G.o.d; I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in my net. Then will I leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon the open field, and will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee. And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with thy height. I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee. And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord G.o.d. I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known. Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall (verses 1-10).
Pharaoh is addressed as a young lion among the nations. Some have rendered it "a lion of the nations is upon thee," applying it to Nebuchadnezzar; but this is only a paraphrase and not warranted by the Hebrew text. He is also compared again to the dragon or crocodile.[26]
(See xxix:3). What the crocodile does in the rivers and waters, troubling them and stirring up the dirt, fouling the rivers, Pharaoh had done among the nations. And now his wicked doings would be arrested; a net would be spread over him with a company of many peoples, who would bring him out of his dominion like a crocodile taken out of the water.
He would be cast upon the open field, "and I will cause all the fowls of the heavens to settle upon thee and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee." Then the political destruction of the great land of Egypt is to be fully accomplished, here mentioned in symbolical terms, such as the darkening of the stars, the covering of the sun with a cloud and the withholding of the light from the moon. But while all this has a primary meaning as to Pharaoh and Egypt, these words of judgment also related to that which is yet, and soon to come upon this earth. Egypt is the type of the world as it lieth in the wicked one.
[26] "A whale in the seas" is an incorrect translation.
Nations to-day are doing what Egypt did. These nations, the final actors of the times of the Gentiles, in their inhuman, G.o.d and man defying actions, will not be permitted to go on forever. A day comes in which G.o.d will deal with them as He dealt with Egypt of old. When that day comes, the day of Jehovah, their complete overthrow will take place as described so frequently in the prophetic Word. Then the great judgment supper of G.o.d will take place, when the fowls under heaven are called upon to gather together and feed upon the slain. There is an interesting suggestion between verse 4 of this chapter and Revelation xix:17-18. The same is true when we compare verses 7-8 with Revelation viii:12. Then read Isaiah xiii:10 and Amos viii:9; Joel iii:15 and Matthew xxiv:29.
That day announced in these Scriptures and others is rapidly approaching and will bring the complete overthrow of the domineering, autocratic world-powers and the G.o.d of this age, who controls them.
II. The Final Announcement of the Sword of Nebuchadnezzar.
For thus saith the Lord G.o.d; The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee. By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy mult.i.tude to fall, the terrible of the nations, all of them: and they shall spoil the pomp of Egypt, and all the mult.i.tude thereof shall be destroyed. I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside the great waters, neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them. Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord G.o.d. When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country shall be dest.i.tute of that whereof it was full, when I shall smite all them that dwell therein, then shall they know that I am the Lord. This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament her: the daughters of the nations shall lament her: they shall lament for her, even for Egypt, and for all her mult.i.tude, saith the Lord G.o.d (verses 11-16).
The sword of the Lord to fall upon Egypt was the King of Babylon, previously announced in chapters xxix and x.x.x. At the close of the times of the Gentiles the predicted judgment will not come upon nations through some other nation, but the Lord Himself will appear and fight against the nations who are rebellious against G.o.d and against His anointed (Ps. ii). The stone, which Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream, will fall and deal its destructive blow; and that stone is the Lord Jesus Christ in His personal Coming. Then the pomp of Egypt, this present age with all its boasted progress and glory, will pa.s.s away and the kingdom from above will be set up. "Then shall they know that I am the Lord." It is not a spiritual knowledge, or a knowledge unto salvation, but a knowledge in the judgments which take place.
"It is important to remark one point in this series of prophecies, which commences with the judgment of Jerusalem, the centre of the former system of nations. They are executed with the object of making them all know Jehovah: only in Israel"s case there is besides this, the understanding and the special verification of prophecy. See chapter xxiv:24-27, Israel; chapter xxv:5, 7, 11, Ammon and Moab; verses 15-17, especial vengeance on the Philistines; chapter xxvi, Tyre; chapter xxviii:22, Zidon; chapter xxix:19, Egypt; as also chapters x.x.x:26, x.x.xii:15. With respect to Edom (chap. xxv:14), it is only said that Edom shall know the vengeance of Jehovah by means of Israel--a further proof that in certain respects this prophecy extends to the last days. These prophecies, then, furnish us in general with the manifestation of Jehovah"s power, so as to make Him known to all by the judgments which He executed; already partially realized in the conquests of Nebuchadnezzar, but to be fully accomplished by-and-by in favor of Israel."[27]
[27] Even so the Lord will yet be known to the nations of the earth by His judgments.
III. The Dirge and Unveiling of the Unseen World.