1
March 585 B.C. “Lamentation for Pharoah of Egypt.” This is a few months after the exiles would
have heard news of the destruction of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 33.21?). See Ezekiel 32.1-15 below. Ezekiel sends God’s “Funeral Dirge” and message to
the King of Egypt, a Pharoah. Think
Beethoven’s “Funeral Dirge” or a gathering of a TEC General Convention (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmm2k4fRUO4). Enjoy the dirge as you read Ezekiel 32 and
the memo to Egypt. And, as you read
modern Episcopal history in the US, Canada, and England.
Backstory.
There were 2 deportations of
Jewish believers (reprobate and elect) by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar
into exile. That was 605 and 597 B.C. By Aug 586 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar destroyed
Jerusalem. The exiles got word of this
in Jan 585 B.C. Egypt gloated.
So, God sent Ezekiel a memo to
forward to Egypt. In 568 B.C., Babylon
paid, shall we say, a destructive visit to Egypt to clip their arrogant wings.
Ezekiel 32:1-15
1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)
32 2
The Prophet is commanded to bewail Pharaoh King of Egypt. 12 He prophesieth
that destruction shall come unto Egypt through the King of Babylon.
1 And in
the [a]twelfth
year in the twelfth month, and in the first day of the month, the
word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 Son of
man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou
art like a [b]lion
of the nations, and art as a [c]dragon
in the sea: thou castedst out thy rivers [d]and
troubledst the waters with thy feet, and stampedst in their rivers.
3 Thus
saith the Lord God, I will therefore spread my net over thee a great multitude
of people, and they shall make thee come up into my net,
4 Then
will I leave thee upon the land, and I will cast thee upon the open
field, and I will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee, and I
will fill all the beasts of the field with thee.
6 I will
also water with thy blood the land wherein thou [f]swimmest,
even to the mountains, and the rivers shall be full of thee.
7 And
when I shall [g]put
thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark: I will
cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.
8 All
the lights of heaven will I make dark for thee, and bring [h]darkness
upon thy land, saith the Lord God.
9 I will
also trouble the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction
among the nations, and upon the countries which thou hast not known.
10 Yea, I
will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be astonished with
fear for thee, when I shall make my sword to glitter against their faces, and
they shall be afraid at every moment: every man for his own life in the day of
thy fall.
11 For
thus saith the Lord God, The sword of the king of Babel shall come upon thee.
12 By the
swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall: they all shall be
terrible nations, and they shall destroy the [i]pomp
of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be consumed.
13 I will
destroy also all the beasts thereof from the great watersides, neither shall
the foot of man trouble them anymore, nor the hooves of beasts trouble them.
14 Then
will I make [j]their
waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord God.
15 When I
shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country with all that is
therein, shall be laid waste: when I shall smite all them which dwell therein,
then shall they know that I am the Lord.
Footnotes:
- Ezekiel 32:1 Which was the first year of the general captivity under Zedekiah.
- Ezekiel 32:2 Thus the scriptures compare tyrants to cruel and huge beasts which devour all that be weaker than they, and such as they may overcome.
- Ezekiel 32:2 Or, whale.
- Ezekiel 32:2 Thou preparest great armies.
- Ezekiel 32:5 With heaps of the carcasses of thine army.
- Ezekiel 32:6 As Nile overfloweth Egypt, so will I make the blood of thine host to overflow it.
- Ezekiel 32:7 The word signifieth to be put out as a candle is put out.
- Ezekiel 32:8 By this manner of speech is meant the great sorrow that shall be for the slaughter of the king and his people.
- Ezekiel 32:12 This came to pass in less than four years after this prophecy.
- Ezekiel 32:14 To wit, of the Chaldeans thine enemies, which shall quietly enjoy all thy commodities.
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