Learn the Lesson or Relive It

Nations are like people because they reflect the will of those within them. And the will of most people is stubborn rebellion. That's how we are born. No one teaches a child to resist instruction; it comes standard in their makeup. Like people, nations will resist the will of God. Like people, nations will not learn the lessons of their past. Like people, nations will cut themselves down in their stubborn refusal to listen to the Lord and submit to His authority. 

In the list of nations that should have learned NOT to mistreat Israel, Egypt was on the top. This was the captive nation who stubbornly refused, through her Pharoah, not to listen to the God of Israel. It was this nation that experienced the wrath of God for weeks through 10 mighty plagues, eventually cutting off the life of Pharoah's own son. It should have been this nation who should have known better than to ever touch Israel in a way that displeased the Lord who so resoundingly exposed their vain idols and powerless gods centuries before. 

But like people, Nations can be stubborn. 

So, in Ezekiel 30, we have a storm from the Lord coming to bring judgment upon this ancient, stubborn nation. 

Ezekiel 30:2–4 (ESV) “Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: “Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’ 3 For the day is near, the day of the LORD is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations. 4 A sword shall come upon Egypt, and anguish shall be in Cush, when the slain fall in Egypt, and her wealth is carried away, and her foundations are torn down.

The day of the Lord is a term of judgment. Amos warns those who look forward to it. It will be a day of darkness and not light. God will bring judgment on Egypt and those who support her.

Ezekiel 30:6–8 (ESV) “Thus says the LORD: Those who support Egypt shall fall, and her proud might shall come down; from Migdol to Syene they shall fall within her by the sword, declares the Lord GOD. 7 And they shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries, and their cities shall be in the midst of cities that are laid waste. 8 Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have set fire to Egypt, and all her helpers are broken.

God outlines the specifics of this judgment, taking away Egypt's wealth, her source of life (the Nile) and the authority of her government (the Prince). 

Ezekiel 30:10–13 (ESV) “Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 11 He and his people with him, the most ruthless of nations, shall be brought in to destroy the land, and they shall draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain. 12 And I will dry up the Nile and will sell the land into the hand of evildoers; I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it, by the hand of foreigners; I am the LORD; I have spoken. 13 “Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will destroy the idols and put an end to the images in Memphis; there shall no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt; so I will put fear in the land of Egypt.

What's interesting in this chapter is that God will bring all these judgments on Egypt through the sword of Babylon and the leadership of Nebuchadnezzar. In the times of Moses, it was God's own hand that struck this nation; this time, it will be the hand of God's servant for judgment, the king of Babylon. God can use whatever means necessary to humble us. But when we see Egypt in this text, we should learn the lesson sooner than they did. Do not despise nor neglect the lessons of God's discipline in the past. He has many ways to bring us to our knees and cause us to know Him. 


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