THE DAY OF THE LORD
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Opening Prayer
Father in Heaven, thank you for your Word and for its power to change lives, for its power to restore and transform. Thank you for its power that is at work in me.
Read EZEKIEL 30
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
A Lament Over Egypt
30 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘Wail and say,
“Alas for that day!”
3 For the day is near,
the day of the Lord is near—
a day of clouds,
a time of doom for the nations.
4 A sword will come against Egypt,
and anguish will come upon Cush.[a]
When the slain fall in Egypt,
her wealth will be carried away
and her foundations torn down.
5 Cush and Libya, Lydia and all Arabia, Kub and the people of the covenant land will fall by the sword along with Egypt.
6 “‘This is what the Lord says:
“‘The allies of Egypt will fall
and her proud strength will fail.
From Migdol to Aswan
they will fall by the sword within her,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
7 “‘They will be desolate
among desolate lands,
and their cities will lie
among ruined cities.
8 Then they will know that I am the Lord,
when I set fire to Egypt
and all her helpers are crushed.
9 “‘On that day messengers will go out from me in ships to frighten Cush out of her complacency. Anguish will take hold of them on the day of Egypt’s doom, for it is sure to come.
10 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt
by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
11 He and his army—the most ruthless of nations—
will be brought in to destroy the land.
They will draw their swords against Egypt
and fill the land with the slain.
12 I will dry up the waters of the Nile
and sell the land to an evil nation;
by the hand of foreigners
I will lay waste the land and everything in it.
I the Lord have spoken.
13 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘I will destroy the idols
and put an end to the images in Memphis.
No longer will there be a prince in Egypt,
and I will spread fear throughout the land.
14 I will lay waste Upper Egypt,
set fire to Zoan
and inflict punishment on Thebes.
15 I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium,
the stronghold of Egypt,
and wipe out the hordes of Thebes.
16 I will set fire to Egypt;
Pelusium will writhe in agony.
Thebes will be taken by storm;
Memphis will be in constant distress.
17 The young men of Heliopolis and Bubastis
will fall by the sword,
and the cities themselves will go into captivity.
18 Dark will be the day at Tahpanhes
when I break the yoke of Egypt;
there her proud strength will come to an end.
She will be covered with clouds,
and her villages will go into captivity.
19 So I will inflict punishment on Egypt,
and they will know that I am the Lord.’”
Pharaoh’s Arms Are Broken
20 In the eleventh year, in the first month on the seventh day, the word of the Lord came to me: 21 “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. It has not been bound up to be healed or put in a splint so that it may become strong enough to hold a sword. 22 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt. I will break both his arms, the good arm as well as the broken one, and make the sword fall from his hand. 23 I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries. 24 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him like a mortally wounded man. 25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall limp. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he brandishes it against Egypt. 26 I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 30:4 That is, the upper Nile region; also in verses 5 and 9
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
‘… at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord.’1
Like Jeremiah, Ezekiel had the difficult task of communicating to his Judaean hearers an unpatriotic message, the prophetic truth that God’s judgment was at work in the fall of Jerusalem. Ezekiel had to work hard to dispel the commonly held, but vain, hope that salvation would come for the people of Judah through the assistance of Egypt, emphasizing that the Judaeans ‘had put their political and providential eggs into the wrong basket.’2 He had previously attempted to show the exiles that God’s judgment on Jerusalem was as justified as it was certain. In fact, Egypt was now facing the same destiny as Israel itself: namely, the day of the Lord.3
The breaking of Pharaoh’s arm (v. 21) may refer to the defeat of his army, which attempted to relieve the siege of Jerusalem.4 The Babylonian attack on Egypt could be the breaking of his other arm. There is a certain irony that one of Pharaoh Hophra’s titles was ‘mighty of arm.’ Big Chief Strong Arm had become Little Chief Broken Arm.5
The day of the Lord was a familiar Old Testament concept.6 It was originally a term that summarized Israel’s expectations that God would defeat their enemies and raise Israel itself up in victory and salvation, but for Ezekiel, it meant the day of God’s judgment. The final day was yet to come when God would put an end to all sin everywhere. Interim days of the Lord became patterns for and previews of the final day. Having previously mentioned it in chapter 7 in relation to Israel, Ezekiel now proclaimed it as a day of judgment for Egypt. The end of the story is summed up in the familiar refrain: ‘Then they will know that I am the Lord’ (v. 26).
Apply
In our eagerness to communicate to people the love of God, how can we proclaim God’s judgment without appearing judgmental?
Closing prayer
Holy Spirit, I ask for wisdom as I reach out to others, sharing with them the wonder of the gospel. Help me that, in my words and actions, they will not only understand God’s requirement for justice but also his offer of grace and mercy.
1 Phil 2:10,11 2 LC Allen, Word Biblical Commentary, Ezekiel 20–48 (Zondervan Academic, 1990), 117. 3 C Wright, The Message of Ezekiel (IVP, 2001), 250. 4 Jer 37:5 5 C Wright, 251 6 Isa 2:12–21; Joel 1:15; 2:2, 3; Amos 5:18–20; Zeph 1:7,14–18
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