Ezekiel Chapter 29: A Bible Commentary By Charles R. Sabo

Ezekiel:?A Bible Commentary

??????????????????????????????????????????? ??Chapter 29

Ezekiel 29-30 should be read and interpreted as two weaved-together judgments against Egypt. Many pastors and theologians misinterpret these two chapters correctly, because they do not understand the time-indicators within them. As I had explained in 29:8-16, the prophecy concerning the Tower of Syene can only be associated with the end-times events, because it had not been until 1970 A.D. that the Tower of Syene had ever existed, after Ezekiel’s prophecy. Then, when we have a break in the word, and the king of Babylon is brought in, that becomes the other time indicator.

Chapter 29:1-7 spoke of a prophecy against Pharaoh-Hophra of Egypt, then 29-8-16 took readers forward to the end-times with the time-indicator being the Tower of Syene (29:10). Ezekiel 29:17-21 disclosed the payment for the Babylonians for their services, because they spent thirteen years seizing and destroying mainland Tyre (chapter 26). The Lord announced that His payment to the Babylonians was to be Egypt.

Chapter 30:1-9 brought us back to the future, while showing us our time-indicator as the Tower of Syene in 30:6. After leaving the future annihilation of northern Africa for two verses (30:10-11), Ezekiel took us back to the future “day of the Lord” (30:6), which was first mentioned in 29:8-16, and then again in 30:1-9. The disclosure of verses 30:10-11, verified the fulfillment of the committed payment to Babylon mentioned within 29:17-21. The declaration of judgment against Pharaoh-Hophra in 29:1-7 became entwined within these two chapters, weaved into verses 29:1-7, 29:17-21, 30:10-11, and then 30:20-26. Meanwhile, the end-times judgment against Egypt is weaved within 29:8-16, 30:1-9, and 30:12-19. Readers need to realize the two time-indicators (Tower of Syene & king of Babylon) before ever getting a proper interpretation of these two chapters.

Ezekiel 29:1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, It was the tenth year of?the captivity of King Jehoiachin and Ezekiel by the Chebar River in Babylon. It was the fifth year of the priesthood of Ezekiel which began on Tammuz 5, 593 B.C. (in the estimated secular year). Since we know that Ezekiel was called into his priesthood at age 30 (Ezek. 1:1), then we can conclude that Ezekiel was thirty-five years old when he wrote Ezekiel chapter 29, which was on Tevet 12, 588 B.C. This was 362 days after King Nebuchadnezzar had surrounded Jerusalem in his nineteen-month siege of Jerusalem (Tevet 10, 589 B.C. [24:1-2]). The destruction of the city of Jerusalem was still seven months, or two-hundred and nine days into the future (Av 9, 587 B.C.). ?On Tevet 12, 588 B.C, the Lord had brought Ezekiel word of His next declaration of judgment.

It seems that the organizers of the original writings of Ezekiel had inserted chapters 26-28 in before chronological order with this prophecy (tenth year), since this prophecy was clearly written before the eleventh year of the captivity of King Jehoiachin and Ezekiel (26:1). This may have been, in order to keep the Egyptian judgments together, because we can find that Ezekiel wrote verses 29:17-21 seventeen years after verses 29:1-16.

Ezekiel 29:2 Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt: Once again, Ezekiel was being commanded to focus (set your face) against an adversary of God. This time Ezekiel was to focus the Lord’s declaration (prophesy) of judgment against the Pharaoh of Egypt, as well as all of Egypt.?

Ezekiel 29:3 Speak, and say, “Thus says the Lord God; Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his rivers, which has said, ‘My river is my own, and I have made it for myself.’” The Lord declared judgment by letting the Pharaoh of Egypt know that He was against him. As scary as it sounds, the Lord God Almighty was indicating that He was against this king, while He insinuated that this Pharaoh was “the great dragon.” The translators misinterpreted the Hebrew verb “rā?a?” as “lies,” when the context requires the other definition: “to stretch oneself out.” The Egyptians were not laying in the rivers, but had stretched themselves out in the midst of them like the great dragon (Satan [Is. 27:1, Rev. 12:3-4; 13:4; 20:2]). This is a statement declaring satanic dominance of the rivers and not laying down in submission to anyone. The Pharaohs of Egypt had historically declared themselves as gods, while here this Pharaoh had declared that God’s rivers in Egypt were his (Pharaoh’s) rivers and took credit for creating them (and I have made it for myself). Just as the wicked king of Tyre in 28:1-9 had declared himself as God, so was this wicked Pharaoh of Egypt.

To identify this Pharaoh, we must look to Jeremiah 44:30, to find that this was Pharaoh-Hophra. He was not favored by the Lord, as the judgment was stated to come against him.

Ezekiel 29:4 But I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will cause the fish of your rivers to stick unto your scales, and I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers, and all the fish of your rivers shall stick unto your scales. This imagery reflects back to verse 29:3, when the Lord referred to the Pharaoh of Egypt as “the great dragon.” Imagery is important to understand. The Book of Job provides a description of the fire-breathing dragon called Leviathan.?

Can you draw out leviathan with a hook, or his tongue with a cord which you let down? (Job 41:1)

His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal. (Job 41:15)

The Lord declared that He was going to put hooks into this dragon’s jaw (singular in original manuscript), which needs to be evaluated. The history behind Pharaoh-Hophra is recorded that he went on his last military campaign in Cyrene (Greek settlement in Libya) and was pulled into a military conquest (by the hooks in his jaw), which was likely to block the Babylonian expansion of that time. The fish of the rivers were Pharaoh’s soldiers, who were led into their demise by him (scales/pride), when the military of Cyrene crushed these Egyptians. The imagery here proposes that the Lord drew Pharaoh into this conquest away from Egypt (his rivers), and he brought his soldiers (fish) to their loss in Cyrene, which caused a rebellion of his soldiers (fish). The fish stuck to his (great dragon) scales (pride [Job 41:15]). These fish (soldiers) cannot fight very well away from their own rivers (fish out of water).[1]

Ezekiel 29:5 And I will leave you thrown into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers: you shall fall upon the open fields; you shall not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given you for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven. This is the crushing defeat to the Cyrenians, which left many of the soldiers (fish of your rivers) dead in the wilderness.[2] ?

Thus says the Lord; Behold, I will give Pharaoh-Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life. (Jer. 44:30)

After the loss in Cyrene, the frustrated soldiers rebelled against the Pharaoh; Hophra sent his commander Amasis to subdue the rebellion, but the Egyptian army crowned the general as their king (you shall not be brought together); because of Pharaoh’s pride (scales), many of his soldiers (fish) lost their lives. This caused Hophra to gather his loyal mercenaries and brought them to a civil war in MoMemphis (Kom el-Hisn),[3] which eventually led to his own death. In all, the Lord brought this judgment against the great dragon (Pharaoh-Hophra), because of his pride (scales). The dead bodies laid on the battleground without burial, and were eaten by the animals and scavenger birds of the heaven (I have given you for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven). ??

Ezekiel 29:6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. With the news of this defeat having come into Egypt, the Egyptians would be aware of this prophecy from Ezekiel 29:1-6, and they (all) would then have known that God is the Lord over all things. The reason is then given here, which is specific to the impact that Egypt had on the fate of the people of Judah. Because the Judeans went to Egypt for military help, they leaned on them as onto a staff of a reed (imagery).

Ezekiel 29:7 When they took hold of you by your hand, you did break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon you, and you broke, and made all their loins to be at a stand. The reed was not able to support the weight of the needs of Judah, and had broken (did break) the hand leaning onto it (Jer. 37:5-7, 2 Kgs. 24:7). The Egyptian military left the people of Jerusalem behind, after centuries of influence and inadequate support of Judah and Jerusalem.

?And the king of Egypt came not again anymore out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt. (2 Kgs. 24:7)

Ezekiel 29:8 Therefore, thus says the Lord God; “Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and cut off man and beast out of you.” There is a prophecy in the Book of Daniel that has yet to be fulfilled, which presents king of Egypt as the king of the south, while the king of the north is to inflict heavy military losses to Egypt (Dan. 11:40-43). We must consider this prophecy as yet to be fulfilled here, because the conditions of the desolation of Egypt have yet to occur. Verses 29:10-12 state that the land between two locations will not have a human, nor an animal set foot in that land for forty years. Throughout history, there has never been such a devastation to Africa, which would cause no foot of any kind to walk through it. Such a devastation has nuclear fallout implications.?

The Lord had implied that the sword was to be brought upon the Egyptians, though contemporary weapons of the modern age are more sophisticated. If you want to get specific, there may still be swords in the modern fighting. Though the singular version of “man” was used here ('ā?ām), it should be interpreted as mankind, therefore all men. In addition, this statement declares that man and beast will be “cut off,” or killed. Militaries have never, in the history of the world, inflicted efforts in destroying all animals (beasts) along with all men (cut off man and beast out of you).??

?Ezekiel 29:9 And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the Lord: because he has said, “The river is mine, and I have made it.” Though this declaration made by this Egyptian leader (he) resembles the declaration made by the Pharaoh 2,600 years ago, it does not concern that particular Pharaoh (29:3). The resemblance is just that, the attitude of this end-times Egyptian leader is the same ungodly, prideful attitude as the ancient Pharaoh. God of heaven and Earth made the river, and it is his; by not giving God the glory for His creation, causes wrath to come (Rom. 1:19-21). The timeline should have already been concluded to be a nuclear event, based on the previous verse; the land of Egypt will be desolate and waste, which does match verse 29:7 (cut off man and beast out of you). This devastation has never happened to Egypt in their past, though there had been many defeats suffered by the history of the Pharaohs. If one were to do their historical research, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Medes and the Persians, even Alexander the Great and his generals, had never inflicted this kind of destruction onto the land of Egypt. Never had any of these militaries killed all man and beast from Egypt, nor even left behind a land of desolation. The ten plagues of the Exodus had left Egypt in their worst devastation in their history, but that had never come again (Ex. 9-14), yet the Lord had not focused on the death of man and beast as He had specified here against the land in verse 29:10.

Ezekiel 29:10 Behold, therefore I am against you, and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia. The Lord is not only against the inhabitants of Egypt, but also the rivers. As we have already determined, this unfulfilled prophecy begins with verse 29:8; the Lord God has declared that He will cut off(kāra?) all man and beast from a predetermined land section within the land of Egypt. ?Verse 29:9 has declared that this specified location will be desolate and waste (uninhabitable), then stated in 29:11 for a predetermined time period by the Lord.

The date that Ezekiel wrote down this prophecy was stated in verse 29:1 as “Tevet 12, 588 B.C.” In can be researched very easily, while one will find that there never had been a tower in the city of Syene ever since Ezekiel wrote of it. It was not until A.D. 1970 that this prophecy could even become truly fulfilled. In 1960, a massive Russian hydroelectric plant took 10 years to build, and is known as the Aswan Dam. This dam measures 360 feet in height, 10,200 feet (almost two miles) long, and 3,200 feet wide at the base.?Backed up behind it is 300-mile-long Lake Nasser of incalculable gallons of water, and the waters of the Nile pool all the way back into formerly Ethiopia (now Sudan). This is glorified by the celebrated structure known as “The Lotus Tower of Syene.”

The Lord God has provided very specific details for this coming prophecy fulfillment; the possibility has all come to be a reality, once this Tower of Syene was built. The devastation described within verses 29:8-9 is now due to come to pass; the exact location will run south from the Aswan Dam all the way to the northern border of ancient Ethiopia. The fact that this 300-mile-long Lake Nasser runs to Ethiopia, is an amazing prophecy fulfillment, but the northern border of Ethiopia was changed on January 1, 1956; the separation of land from Ethiopia became the country of Sudan, while its southern border became the northern border of Ethiopia. The prophecy is specific to the border of the time that Ezekiel had written this prophecy down. The northern border of present-day Sudan was the northern border of Ethiopia.

On the Mosaic map below, we see Nubia between Ethiopia and Egypt, which was around seven centuries before Ezekiel’s time.

?? ?“Nubia is traditionally divided into two regions. The southern portion, which extended north to the southern end of the second cataract of the Nile was known as Upper Nubia; this was called Kush (Cush) under the 18th-dynasty pharaohs of ancient Egypt and was called Ethiopia by the ancient Greeks.”[4]??From the time of the Mosaic map, to the time of Ezekiel, this land of Nubia was well known as Ethiopia. The most logical name to call this region is Ethiopia, because Nubia no longer exists, and Sudan had not existed until 1956. The same reasoning can be applied to the reference pertaining to Ethiopia within Ezekiel 38-39.

It seems that God is targeting the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser, which is a man-made lake; this then falls back on the reason for the judgment; the Egyptians have built a dam on God’s Nile River, and say unto God: “The river is mine, and I have made it.” The Egyptians proudly celebrate Lake Nassar as being their creation, while celebrating it with the Lotus Tower of Syene.

The ancient Egyptians recognized that at night the lotus closed its flowers and sank into the water, then opened up in the morning hours. They came to associate the flower with rebirth and the sun. Its symbol of rebirth became important in their pagan-occult, religious worship. Once again, when mankind takes glory from the Lord God, and glorifies their abominable works with occult symbols, He gets very angry. Intentionally changing the natural course of Nile River does seem to upset the Lord, because He had said it in 29:9: “because he has said, “The river is mine, and I have made it.” When the Lord destroys the Aswan Dam in the future, then Egypt will know that He had declared it, along with His reason.

Ezekiel 29:11 No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years. This particular statement gives clear indication of the precise method of destruction. In the current age, powerful militaries have developed many weapons of mass destruction. We live in a nuclear age, as well as a bio-technological age. A forty year fall-out period is indicated here, which can either be a nuclear bomb, or a bio-chemical weapon. The fallout will be devastating enough to prevent man or beast from treading through it for forty years. With this consideration, we have to give our conclusion to be nuclear, because the intent is to devastate the Aswan Dam; the destruction has to be a nuclear blast in order to make a destructive impact on the dam.

The devastation of this nuclear fallout goes much further than the location between Syene and northern Sudan (Lake Nasser). The Nile River flows from south to north through eastern Africa. It begins in the rivers that flow into Lake Victoria (located in modern-day Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya), and empties into the Mediterranean Sea which consists of the biggest river delta in the world. Egypt’s entire economy depends on the Nile River Delta for its natural resources and food. When the waters of Lake Nasser evaporate from extreme nuclear heat, the remaining water (boiling at first) will continue to flow north uninhibited by the Aswan Dam and will flow quickly north through the Nile River Delta. This will be deadly radio-active water flowing through the delta and into the Mediterranean Sea for forty years. (neither shall it be inhabited forty years).

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The prophecies of Isaiah 18-19 are based on the hardships of Egypt (Cushites) during this time, and will find help from Israel during the days before the Second Coming of Christ (Is. 18:1-2).[5]

Ezekiel 29:12 And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. The survivors of the Egyptian catastrophe will flee from the nuclear fallout. They may travel by sea, or even by vehicle, horse, or by foot. The airport in Cairo, Egypt will be likely overwhelmed with the nuclear fallout (see map).

?And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, says the Lord, the?Lord?of hosts. (Is. 19:4) ?

To keep this timeline of events consistently moving to the last judgment spoken of in Isaiah 19:1, the timing of verse 4 coincides with the end-times events. The fierce king, who will rule over them, will be Antichrist. The Lord gives the Egyptians over into his hand. That would seem to imply that there is to be a conflict, which will cause them to resist being ruled over by Antichrist.

40?And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. (Dan. 11:40)?

?“And at the time of the end” is clearly the time period being referred to here as the time of the end of the current age, or dispensation. We must realize that the prophecies in Daniel 11 are working on a timeline. With verses 11:36-39 referring to the Antichrist of the Seventieth Week of Daniel, then we must conclude that the “time of the end” is during this time as well. The exact timing of this battle, between the king of the north and king of the south, cannot be determined based on information that has been given as of yet. Once a certain prophecy is fulfilled, in these end times, the timing may start to become clearer.[6]

Daniel 11:40 has been misinterpreted by most theologians. They seem to fail to use proper pronoun-to-noun references, in order to determine who Daniel is referring to in this prophecy. If one refers to the pronoun “him” in the phrase “shall the king of the south push at him,” we need to refer to the previous noun in verses 11:36-39. Since Daniel uses pronouns in verses 36-39 that refer to the first noun mentioned in verse 36, we must refer to that noun also. Verses 11:36-39 refer to “the king,” who has been determined by most theologians to be Antichrist. With this being understood, one can then plug “Antichrist” in place of the pronoun “him” in verse 40 (shall the king of the south push at Antichrist).[7]?

The next phrase that follows is where many will stumble upon “and the king of the north shall come against him.” Using the same pronoun to noun referencing, one should understand that the “king of the north” shall come against the “king of the south.” If we search back through the entirety of Daniel 11, we will find that Daniel only refers to the “king of the south” and “king of the north” initially, then he uses pronouns to reference back to them. Never will we see Daniel referring to them, at any time, as just a “king;” he only calls them king of the south, or king of the north. With that understanding, Daniel did not call this king of the north as just the “king,” nor did he refer back to the pronoun used previously, as he did in the first phrase that referred back to verses 11:36-39. If Daniel meant for this “king of the north” to be Antichrist, he would have used the pronoun “he,” or called him “king” only (and he shall come against him, or, and the king shall come against him). Instead, Daniel calls him “king of the north” which refers to the king from a northern empire. The king of the north, historically, has been an Aramean king from the Seleucid Dynasty. Because the time clock has fast-forwarded to the “time of the end,” the location that the king of the north rules over is more difficult to determine.[8]

The Antichrist will send his “king of the north” to inflict war on the king of the south, which is Egypt. The same pronoun referencing occurs within Daniel 11:41-42, which points to the king of the north, who was the last noun mentioned in verse 11:40. “He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape” (Dan. 11:42). With Daniel 11:42 implying that Egypt shall not escape, that confirms what Isaiah says here in verse 4, when the Lord will “give over into the hand” of the Antichrist, or “cruel lord.” Ezekiel 30:3-6 indicates that Egypt will fall by the sword during the same time of decimation, where they will eventually become desolate in verse 7; it could be that the war ends with a nuclear blast as stated in Ezekiel 29:9-11.?The king of the north does the police work for the Antichrist. The Antichrist is the “fierce king” who “shall rule over them.”[9]??

5?And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up. (Is. 19:5) ?

?In order for the waters to fail, they would have to stop being water, or dried completely up. This judgment should not be interpreted allegorically like some will attempt to do; it is a literal interpretation to be applied here. “And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.” (Rev. 16:3) The Apostle John prophesies of the seas being turned to blood, which would imply that the water will fail to be water. With the decimation of the Nile River spoken of within the Ezekiel 29:9-11 prophecy, we can then envision the re-routing of the Nile River, because of the totally new topography of the land. There is also a possibility that the Nile River will be dry and possibly not even be in existence within these decimating times on the Earth.

?“?And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither” (Is. 19:6)

?The pronoun “they” is one that refers back to Isaiah 19:4. With the battle between the Egyptians and the “king of the north” coming to pass, the decimation of the Nile River may be implied here to be by those who attacked Egypt. The attackers turned the rivers away from flowing to the Mediterranean Sea, by sending a nuclear strike onto the Aswan Dam (Ezek. 29:9-11). While the Nile River dries up, so will the entire delta at the mouth of the Nile River be dried up, which has always been a natural defense for the Egyptians. With no delta, the reeds and rushes (water plants) will be dried up, which are used in day to day life. “The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and everything sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more” (Is. 19:7). Since all of the reeds and rushes need fertile and wet soil to grow, they will be no more available, because the Nile River will be no more in that area.[10]

Ezekiel 29:13 Yet thus says the Lord God; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered: The definition of the Hebrew verb “p??” is: “scattered, dispersed.” Since this event will most likely occur during the Seventieth Week of Daniel (or right before), the forty years will overlap into the Millennial Kingdom of Christ, which is entirely likely. With Jesus Christ sitting on the throne in Jerusalem, He will gather the dispersed population of Egyptians that will be remaining from out of the seven years of devastation. It is determined here in 29:13 that the nuclear fallout will be the forty-year reason to wait before gathering them back into Egypt, the original land of the Cushites. There, these mortal Egyptians will occupy their original homeland for the remainder of the one thousand years (Millennial Kingdom of Christ).

?Ezekiel 29:14 And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom. With the wars of the Ptolemy-Egyptian rule (kings of the south [Dan. 11]), the Egyptians still were warmongers. There has never been an event taking away the Egyptians into captivity after that time period. They allied with the Romans during that empire, and were never totally removed from their land.

This is directly linked to the previous verse; the Lord will be sitting on His throne in Jerusalem, and He will find these Egyptians slightly rebellious (Zech. 14:16-19). After the forty years, they will be returned physically to their land. They will occupy Egypt under “house arrest” by the Lord God. We will find within verse 29:16, that the house of Israel will be watching over them within the land of Egypt (Pathros). Mizraim’s fifth son was Pathrus while his descendants were called the Pathrusim (Gen. 10:14). They settled in northern Egypt, and can be associated with ancient Pathros, Egypt. While the English translators chose a seventeenth-century English adjective “base,” we will find that the Hebrew adjective “?āp?āl” is defined as: “lowly, humble.” The Lord will have to humble these Egyptians once they are put back in there land, because Zechariah 14:17-18 states that the Lord will have to punish them during that time. ?

And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.

And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. (Zech. 14:17-18)

Ezekiel 29:15 It shall be the based (humbled) of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations. The reality of this effort by the Lord will bring a humbling of the remaining Egyptian people. The God of heaven and Earth will judge them, all the while He sits on high in Jerusalem; they will realize that He is the Lord God, and be the most humbled of the many individual kingdoms during the millennial reign of Christ. They will accept their place in the Millennial Kingdom of Christ, and live peacefully.

Ezekiel 29:16 And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which brings their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them: but they shall know that I am the Lord God. Egypt had always been the society of people that the pagan-hearted children of Israel ran to for military aide and security. Here, the Lord will have people of the house of Israel looking after the Egyptians in Egypt; this will be all while seeing them, and being reminded of the many times that they betrayed the Lord, by running so many times to the ancestors of these Egyptians. The house of Israel will be the most honored of the mortals, but will oversee the Egyptian’s progress and reform, thus be reminded of their own ancestor’s backsliding.

?Ezekiel 29:17 And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Amazingly, the rest of this chapter came to Ezekiel seventeen years after the first sixteen verses. It was the twenty-seventh year of the captivity of King Jehoiachin and Ezekiel by the Chebar River in Babylon. It was the twenty-second year of the priesthood of Ezekiel, which began on Tammuz 5, 593 B.C. (in the estimated secular year). Since we know that Ezekiel was called into his priesthood at age 30 (Ezek. 1:1), then we can conclude that Ezekiel was thirty-five years old when he wrote Ezekiel chapter 29:1-16, which was on Tevet 12, 588 B.C. (29:1). On Nisan 1, 571 B.C, the Lord had brought him word of His next declaration of judgments, when Ezekiel was fifty-two years old.

Ezekiel 29:18 Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it: The honor of God is amazing, because He knew that He asked His servant, King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian military to accomplish a tremendous service. If we look back to the time that it took for the siege and destruction of mainland Tyre (26:1-4), we can realize that the Babylonians spent between 586-573 B.C. scraping that city clean to the rocks of its foundations. According to the Lord here, He still owed King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian military their wages (earnings) for such a service.

Ezekiel 29:19 Therefore, thus says the Lord God; “Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army.” Though I cannot find anywhere in the history books any confirmation that Nebuchadnezzar went to Egypt and took spoils, nor did he claim it as his. It is entirely possible, that the demise of Pharaoh Hophra, when he gathered his loyal mercenaries and brought them to a civil war in MoMemphis (Kom el-Hisn), which eventually led to his own death (29:1-7). The timing of that time was approximately 570 B.C., which was one year after Ezekiel wrote this prophecy (Nisan 1, 571 B.C). The Lord gave the land of Egypt to the king of Babylon, but he never claimed the land as his own. The siege and claiming of the booty in Egypt may have been all that this king wanted. 2 Kings 24:7 is pretty specific, when it declares that the king of Babylon took spoils from the river of Egypt back to the Euphrates River in Babylon. ?

And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt. (2 Kgs. 24:7)

?Ezekiel 29:20 I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, says the Lord God. The translators used a seventeenth century verb “wrought” for the Hebrew verb “?ā?a,” which means: “accomplish.” The Lord’s honor and graciousness is again felt here; though the king never claimed the gift of the land, he most likely went in when they had been weakened by the Cyreneans in 570 B.C.; the Babylonian king destroyed many cities, while never claiming the land; it was a heart of a believer in Yahweh, that no longer desired power and riches, but only to serve the Lord (Dan. 4).

Ezekiel 29:21 In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give you the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the Lord. The Lord’s biggest goal in the demise of Egypt was to show Israel that they were wrong to ever rely on the power and wealth of Egypt. When Ezekiel got word that King Nebuchadnezzar had taken his army through Egypt supposedly in 570 B.C., Ezekiel was to blow the horn of the house of Israel to the captives for the announcement of the fall of Egypt. The captives of Israel would know that God is the Lord, because he had declared it.

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[1] Bryan Windle, Hophra: An Archaeological Biography, (Blog at WordPress.com, https://biblearchaeologyreport.com/2022/02/04/hophra-an-archaeological-biography/: Bible Archaeology Report, Feb 4, 2022).

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4]The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, (Nubia; Ancient Region, Africa. website, https://www.britannica.com/place/Nubia: Encyclopaedia Britannica, April 15, 2022).

[5] Sabo, Isaiah, 129-133.

[6] Ibid., 141.

[7] Ibid., 142.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid., 142-143.

[10] Ibid., 143.?