Death is the Great Leveler

God takes no pleasure in the death or demise of the wicked. Ezekiel makes that statement and before he does, you can see it in the message God sends him to deliver. 

In Ezekiel 29, the prophet pronounced Egypt's doom; in Ezekiel 30, the 1, the prophet lamented her doom at God's command. In Ezekiel 31, the prophet pronounced Pharoah's doom and now in Ezekiel 32, the prophet once again laments.

Ezekiel 32:1–2 (ESV) In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: “You consider yourself a lion of the nations, but you are like a dragon in the seas; you burst forth in your rivers, trouble the waters with your feet, and foul their rivers.

The prophet's lamentation is not so much a song of sorrow about the judgment but the sad reality that becomes a nation or leader due to that judgment. We see that clarification after the lamentation over Egypt is written:

Ezekiel 32:13–16 (ESV) I will destroy all its beasts from beside many waters; and no foot of man shall trouble them anymore, nor shall the hoofs of beasts trouble them. 14 Then I will make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil, declares the Lord GOD. 15 When I make the land of Egypt desolate, and when the land is desolate of all that fills it, when I strike down all who dwell in it, then they will know that I am the LORD. 16 This is a lamentation that shall be chanted; the daughters of the nations shall chant it; over Egypt, and over all her multitude, shall they chant it, declares the Lord GOD.”

God tells Egypt she will join the other once great nations in the place of the dead. 

Ezekiel 32:22(ESV) “Assyria is there, and all her company, its graves all around it, all of them slain, fallen by the sword...

Ezekiel 32:24 (ESV) “Elam is there, and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into the world below, who spread their terror in the land of the living; and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

Ezekiel 32:26 (ESV) “Meshech-Tubal is there, and all her multitude, her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they spread their terror in the land of the living.

Ezekiel 32:29 (ESV) “Edom is there, her kings and all her princes, who for all their might are laid with those who are killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.

Ezekiel 32:30 (ESV) “The princes of the north are there, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, for all the terror that they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword,...

A repeated phrase to show this proud nation that just as other proud kingdoms before her did not stand in God's day of wrath, neither will she. 

Then a curious statement is made by the prophet in verse 31:

Ezekiel 32:31 (ESV) “When Pharaoh sees them, he will be comforted for all his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, declares the Lord GOD.

What comfort could there be in this terrible fate for Pharaoh? Perhaps the only comfort of knowing he was not the only one there. God judges impartially and fairly. All nations are a drop in the bucket to Him.

Death is a topic we avoid thinking about. But it is the one topic we all MUST face. It is the great leveler. No matter how high you climb in life, death is the inevitable result. What will your death be? Will it be the denunciation of your Creator or the loving embrace of His Son? You have this moment to decide and should do so now. Do not be like those stubborn nations who saw themselves as invincible. They learned too late that all must come to nothing. 

In Christ, the sting of death is removed (1 Corinthians 15:55), and the event becomes a glorious transition of hope. 

Philippians 1:23 (ESV) I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.