Ezekiel · chapter 30 of 48
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Ezekiel 30 announces the day of the Lord for Egypt: a day of clouds, sword and anguish that also strikes its allies, among them Cush, Put and Lud. The Lord will use Nebuchadnezzar and his army to devastate Egypt and destroy its idols and cities. The chapter ends with the image of Pharaoh's arms broken while the Lord strengthens the arms of the king of Babylon.
This is the second of seven oracles against Egypt. Egypt had been one of the great powers for centuries, and its fall was hard for Ezekiel's contemporaries to imagine. The prophet uses the language of the day of the Lord, which in other prophets announces God's judgment on his own people but here is aimed at a foreign nation and its allies.
The Lord tells Ezekiel to wail and announce that the day of the Lord is near, a day of clouds and of doom for the nations. A sword will come on Egypt, anguish will fall on Cush, and the slain will fall. Its allies, among them Cush, Put, Lud, Arabia and Libya, will fall by the sword along with it. Those who support Egypt will fall, and the pride of its power will come down from Migdol to Syene.
Then the Lord names the instrument: Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, with his people, the most ruthless of the nations, who will draw their swords against Egypt until the land is filled with the slain. The Nile's streams will dry up and the land will pass into foreign hands. God will destroy the idols and images of Memphis, set fire to Zoan and Thebes, pour out his wrath on Pelusium, and bring ruin on other cities, from On to Pi-beseth and Tahpanhes, where the yoke of Egypt will be broken.
In the eleventh year, the first month, on the seventh day, the Lord says he has broken the arm of Pharaoh, and it has not been bandaged or healed so that it can hold a sword. God will break both of Pharaoh's arms and strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, putting his sword in his hand. Egypt will be scattered among the nations, and they will know that he is the Lord.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The day of the Lord is near, a day of clouds and a time of doom for the nations. The prophet takes an expression familiar to Israel and applies it to Egypt, as a reminder that God's judgment is not limited to his own people.
The Lord ends Egypt's wealth by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar and his people, the most ruthless of the nations. God uses a human power to carry out his judgment, without making the instrument good.
The Lord will destroy the idols and images of Memphis, and there will no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt. The gods of Egypt, on which the country's identity depended, will not be able to save it.
The Lord strengthens the arms of the king of Babylon while Pharaoh's arms fall. The image of the arm shows whose strength it really is: the power of nations comes and goes as God gives or takes it.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: As a day of clouds, the day of the Lord, a time of doom for the nations. — Ezekiel 30:2-3
Answer: Its allies, among them Cush, Put and Lud. — Ezekiel 30:4-5
Answer: Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, with his people. — Ezekiel 30:10-11
Answer: The idols and images. — Ezekiel 30:13
Answer: He has broken it, and it has not been bandaged or healed. — Ezekiel 30:21
Answer: The Lord strengthens them and puts his sword in his hand. — Ezekiel 30:24-25
This chapter reminds us that no nation, however powerful, is beyond the Lord's reach. The powers of this world, whether economic, political or cultural, sometimes seem immovable, and believers can feel fear or discouragement. Ezekiel 30 teaches us to see history from God's perspective: he breaks and strengthens the arms of governments as he wills.
In a small group you can talk about how to pray for rulers and nations without trusting them blindly or fearing them. Those who trust the Lord can stay calm even when empires shake.
Ezekiel 30 shows the day of the Lord on Egypt and its allies with the image of Pharaoh's broken arms. Chapter 31 continues with a parable of Pharaoh as a great cedar that is cut down.
It is a time when God intervenes visibly to judge evil and establish his justice. In some prophets it is aimed at Israel and in others at the nations, and in the New Testament it is linked with the return of Christ. In Ezekiel 30 it is applied to a historical judgment on Egypt, which anticipates the final judgment.
Because it describes the reach of the judgment: from Memphis in the north to Thebes in the south, and from Zoan to Tahpanhes in the Delta. Each city was a religious or political center, and naming them shows that no corner of the country would be spared. For ancient readers it was a way of saying the fall would be total.