Day 248 Ezekiel 29-31

The following chapters—29-32—contain seven oracles against Egypt and its pharaoh, each of the dated—quite a remarkable thing, actually.
Oracle 1 –dated January 7, 587 B.C.
Here "Pharaoh King of Egypt" is compared a "dragon"—probably a Nile crocodile. He says, "My Nile is my own; I made it for myself" (29:3), intimating that he is himself a god, capable of creating. The pharaoh did claim for themselves divine precedents. But we know that LORD's level of toleration for presumption is zero. Idols, especially human ones, must be dealt with summarily. With him, it is a point of honor. So he promises that he will draw the crocodile pharaoh out of the Nile "with the fish of [his] channels"—his people—"sticking to his scales" (29:4). And he "will fling [the carcass of the dragon] into the wilderness" with his fish to rot there (29:5). The ancient Egyptians attached inordinate importance to the careful preparation and burial of the dead. The bodies of Egyptian pharaohs were meticulously prepared for burial and interred with sumptuous grave goods. But this pharaoh—his throne name is Hophra--will
"fall in the open field, and not be gathered or buried" (29:5). The carrion foul will devour his body—a terrible thing for the Egyptians because it meant that he would wander as a homeless ghost for all eternity.
Searching for some relief from the humiliating position in which found himself, King Zedekiah of Judah had attempted to make an alliance with Egypt against the crushing power of Babylon, but now Israel will realize—rather too late--that pharaoh was "a staff of reed" (29:6). The LORD is the only ally upon whom Israel can ultimately depend. Now because Pharaoh vaunted himself as a god, Egypt shall be conquered and depopulated for forty years (29:11)—just as Judah will be. Only then will the LORD gather the Egyptians from the nations, just as he will gather the people of Judah from their exile in Babylon. Then he will "restore the fortunes of Egypt, and bring them back to the land of Pathros" (29:14)—this is another name of southern Egypt, so-called upper Egypt. But Egypt will never again be a major player in world affairs, and it shall "never again be the reliance of the house of Israel. When Israel is restored it shall repent of the
idolatry of depending upon foreign powers and rely only upon the LORD GOD (29:16).
Oracle 2—April 26, 571 B.C.
This is the latest of Ezekiel's oracles—the date establishes it as such. In it the LORD informs the prophet what is indeed the case—though Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has "made his army labor hard against Tyre" (29:18), he has failed to take the city. It is great news for Tyre but bad for Egypt, because as compensation the LORD has given the Babylonian king the rich land of Egypt and its spoil—"it shall be wages for his army" (29:19). The last verse reaches toward a future in which the kingdom of Israel will be restored. "On that day," the LORD says, "I will cause a horn to sprout up for the house of Israel" (29:21). In the language of apocalyptic literature horns are symbols of power. This "horn" undoubtedly refers to a future king from the house of David who will return from exile to reign in the land of promise.
Oracle 3—This oracle against Egypt is undated
The prophet bids his hearers lament the coming destruction of mighty Egypt. The "day of the LORD is near," says the LORD(30:3)—"the Day" will be a "time of doom" when the LORD will step into human affairs take a direct role in history; then old scores will be settled and wrong will be made right. On that day the people of Egypt shall fall by the sword "from Migdol to Syene"—from the far northern terminus of the Nile to the borders of Ethiopia. Nebuchadnezzar as the LORD's agent will scour the whole country from one end to the other, even terrifying "the unsuspecting Ethiopians" (30:9) in the far south. The Babylonian invaders will destroy the principal Egyptian cities—they are named in our text-- each with its own particular proprietary god or goddess. Using the Babylonians as his mercenaries, the LORD is making war on the gods of Egypt. He "will destroy the idols and put an end to the images" (30:13), so that the
Egyptians—and all the earth-- will "know that [he is] he LORD" (30:19)—and that their goofy gods amount to nothing.
Oracle 4 April 29, 587 B.C.
Honoring his alliance with the Judean king Zedekiah, the Pharaoh Hophra sent a force on unknown size against the Babylonian besiegers in order to relieve Jerusalem. We are not told anything about the battle, only that Egypt was defeated, and the LORD proclaims that he has "broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt." Apparently he will not try to help Judah again because the broken arm will not "be bound up for healing or wrapped in a bandage, so that it may become strong enough to wield the sword" (30:21). His failure seals Zedekiah's doom. God is working against the pharaoh of Egypt and for the king of Babylon, who is in turn working for the LORD in order that he may "scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries" (30:26), and send his people into exile in Babylon.
Oracle 5 June 21, 587 B.C.
Here Egypt is compared with Assyria, which has also been destroyed by the power of Babylon. Assyria is compared to "a cedar of Lebanon" (31:3); these trees remarkable in the ancient world for their great height and beauty. The Assyrian tree is of truly mythic proportions—"its top [is] among the clouds" and its roots are watered by the primordial deep (31:4). It was so great that "in its shade all great nations lived" (31:6)—it overshadowed the whole world in its time. No tree "in the garden of God could . . . rival it" (31:8), nor could any equal it in beauty (31:8). It was "the envy of all the trees of Eden" (31:9).
Yet the tree was too proud of its height and beauty for its own good, and so the LORD "gave it into the hand of the prince of the nations (Babylon); he has dealt with it as its wickedness deserves" (31:11). He has cast it down. It lies ruined and dismembered on the mountains, and "all the peoples of the earth [have gone] away from its shade and left it" (31:12). In this allegory there is a lesson to all nation-states in all times; it goes to show that "no tree" may grow to such a "lofty height," that its top is "among the clouds." Pride in nations as in men is always punished by destruction. "All of them"—nations and empires—"are handed over to death, to the world below, along with all mortals, with those who go down to the Pit" (31:14). Nations are like human beings—their lives, though longer than ours, do end. When Assyria fell, "all the trees of Eden" who mourned its fall went down to Sheol"—the underworld,
the realm of the dead—"with it" (31:17).
Egypt is a great cedar too, surely as great as Assyria—"Which among the trees of Eden [is] like you in glory and in greatness?" asks the LORD (31:18). But now Egypt will also be brought down to "lie among the uncircumcised," (31:18), with those outside God's covenant people, who are nothing more than carrion and crows' meat. "Pharaoh and his horde"--like Assyria and its king--will fall into oblivion, together with all nations who put their heads in the cloud and dream of their own immortality.