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This week we are studying Ezekiel 30, which contains Ezekiel’s third and fourth oracles against Egypt. There are seven in total.

Day of the Lord

In the third oracle, God commanded Ezekiel to wail over Egypt. He said, “The Day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations” (30:1). Ezekiel proclaimed that the “Day of the Lord” would bring devastation to Egypt and its neighboring nations (30:1-19). The oracle painted a grim picture of Egypt’s downfall, describing the destruction of cities, the slaughter of people, and the collapse of power structures.

The “Day of the Lord” is a complex theme in the Bible’s prophetic books. Though frequently mentioned, the phrase is used in various ways by different prophets. It always refers to God’s judgment being fully revealed, but its application differs. Some prophets used it to foretell events that would happen soon, while others, with an eschatological perspective, linked it to events far in the future.

Initially, the Day of the Lord was seen as a time when God would execute judgment on Israel’s foes. The prophet Joel, for instance, envisioned all of Judah’s enemies gathering in the Valley of Jehoshaphat on this day (Joel 4). For Joel, the Day of the Lord would be when God restores Judah’s fortunes and repays the surrounding nations for their injustices, ensuring God’s justice prevails and Judah triumphs. Similarly, Obadiah envisioned the Day of the Lord as the time when God would finally eliminate Edom, Judah’s fraternal enemy.

Amos was the first prophet to reframe the Day of the Lord (Amos 5:18-20; 8:9-10). He cautioned the Israelites that the Day of the Lord would not be as expected. Instead of bringing triumph over their enemies, it would bring darkness and judgment upon Israel itself due to their own injustices and failures to live up to the covenant. From Amos on, the prophets counted the unfaithful of Israel and Judah among God’s enemies. On the Day of the Lord, a remnant would be delivered, but the rest of Israel and Judah would have to reckon with their sin. The prophet Isaiah warned that the Day of the Lord would crush all the prideful, disobedient, idol worshippers in Judah (Isa. 2:12-17). Zephaniah foresaw a global judgment where all those who sinned against the Lord, Jews and Gentiles, would be punished by the divine fire (Zeph. 1: 18).

In Ezekiel 30, the “Day of the Lord” signifies God’s judgment against Egypt. In Ezekiel’s earlier prophecies, he often uses the sword as a metaphor to represent the Babylonians as instruments of divine punishment (21:1-17). In the “sword song,” the Babylonians wield this sword of God’s wrath, directing it at Jerusalem. As Jerusalem was surrounded by the Babylonian army, Ezekiel announced, “a sword shall come upon Egypt” (30:4), linking the sword to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (30:10).

Continuing with the “Day of the Lord” theme, God declared, “On that day, messengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the secure Cushites, and anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt’s doom, for it is coming!” (30:9). This means that God would send messengers on warships to Ethiopia, spreading the news of Egypt’s impending downfall. Historically, Ethiopia and Egypt alternated between being adversaries and allies. During Ezekiel’s time, they had allied against the Babylonian threat. Like Jerusalem, Ethiopia was overconfident in the protection an Egyptian alliance provided. News would spread throughout the region that Egypt’s streets were filled with the bodies of the slain (30:11).

To make sure that no one would question Yahweh’s hand at work, he would hasten Egypt’s end by drying up the Nile River. While Nebuchadnezzar may have appeared to be the agent responsible for Egypt’s military devastation, only a divine force could wield such power over the Nile. God was the ultimate source of Egypt’s punishment, regardless of the earthly instruments involved. He proclaimed, “Thus I will execute acts of judgment on Egypt. Then they shall know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 30:19).

Cities and Allies

Ezekiel referred to Egypt’s allies as “the people of the allied land” (30:5). As the devastation spread, they too would fall victim to Babylon’s sword as it swept through the region. He named Cush, Put, and Lud as specific targets for punishment. Cush is Ethiopia, Chub is Libya, and Lud is Lydia. Each of them would collapse alongside Egypt (29:4). They were the fish that had been stuck to the scales of the Nile crocodile left to perish in the desert. Egypt had encouraged them to join her in rebelling against Babylon, as it had also done with Tyre and Judah. Ezekiel warned, “those who support Egypt shall fall, and its proud might shall come down” (30:6). Egypt’s arrogance guaranteed her ruin and that of her allies.

Ezekiel offered a lengthy inventory of important cities in Egypt marked for destruction: Memphis (Noph), Tanis (Zoan), Pathros, Thebes (No), Pelusium, On, Pi-beseth, and Sin. The prophet Isaiah also predicted the downfall of three of the same Egyptian cities (Isa. 19:1-15). Ezekiel may have been following Isaiah’s style. Both prophets described the cities as being laid to waste, conquered, and losing their power and influence.

The order of Ezekiel’s city names seems random and haphazard, even repetitive. However, these were some of the most important cities in Egyptian history—former capitals, spiritual centers, and economic hubs. Each city had its own local gods, which numbered in the hundreds. God warned that he would destroy the idols of Egypt as an expression of his sovereign judgment and power over the nations (30:13, 19).

If you have ever had the chance to visit Egypt, and see all that remains of its ancient past, you fill the enormity of God’s task. Ancient Egyptian cities, especially prominent centers like Memphis, housed an abundance of temples and shrines. Statues and idols dotted their urban landscapes. Egyptians viewed the statues and monuments as embodying the spirits and essences of deities and the immortality of pharaohs. The Egyptian pantheon interwove past pharaohs, but God warned that he would also put an end to the Pharaonic office. He said, “there shall no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt” (30:13). That prophecy would not be literally fulfilled until Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in 332 BCE and put an end to the 3,000 years of native pharaonic rule.

Jews in Egypt

In Ezekiel’s list of Egypt’s targeted populations, he mentioned “the people of the covenant land” (30:6). This could be interpreted as including the significant Jewish community living in Egypt at the time. Although Ezekiel didn’t specifically name the Jews in Elephantine, he may have been implying their inclusion. Jeremiah, a prophet of the same period, often spoke of the Jewish diaspora in Egypt (Jer. 44:1).

Following Jerusalem’s fall to the Babylonians in 586 BCE, many more Jews fled to Egypt. However, Jewish communities had long existed in Egypt before this influx. A prominent example is a Jewish military colony at Elephantine, an island in the Nile in southern Egypt, which was well-established by the sixth century BCE.

Much of what we know about life in Elephantine comes from the discovery of ancient papyri there. The Elephantine papyri, a collection of over 100 documents dating primarily to the fifth century BCE after the Babylonian exile, include legal documents, letters, and accounts. These reveal that the Jewish community in Elephantine was prosperous and well-established. While this community followed Jewish law and traditions, they also engaged in syncretic religious practices. Jeremiah criticized the Jewish diaspora in Egypt for worshipping the “Queen of Heaven,” indicating their adoption of Egyptian deities (Jer. 44:15-19, 25). They maintained a temple dedicated to the Jewish god Yahu (a form of YHWH), but the papyri suggest they worshiped other gods alongside Yahu, including the goddess Anat and possibly others. It seems that the Jews in Egypt blended their ancestral religion with that of their host nation, a practice that was disapproved of by God.

Jeremiah warned the Jews in Judah not to escape to Egypt after Jerusalem’s fall (Jer. 42:13-22), knowing they might be tempted to join the diaspora there. Jews in Egypt believed that if Jerusalem couldn’t protect them, the powerful Egyptian empire could resist a Babylonian attack. However, both Jeremiah and Ezekiel predicted otherwise.

Jeremiah, like Ezekiel, prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar would conquer Egypt, bringing judgment upon both the Egyptians and the Jews seeking refuge there. Jeremiah warned that the Jews in Egypt would suffer from sword and famine, with only a small remnant surviving to return to Judah. Despite these warnings, many Jewish refugees, including Jeremiah, who was forcibly taken, ended up in Egypt (Jer. 43:4-7).

Pharaoh’s broken arm

In the last six verses of the chapter, Ezekiel delivered his fourth oracle against Egypt, declaring judgment upon Egypt’s ruler. The prophecy is dated April 29, 587 BCE, right before Jerusalem’s fall. Perhaps at the time, some in Jerusalem and in exile hoped that Egypt could rebuff the Babylonian army. God told Ezekiel, “Mortal, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; it has not been bound up for healing or wrapped with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword” (30:21). A strong arm represented a leader’s strength. God broke the Pharaoh’s arm so badly that it had no chance of healing.

After God broke the Pharaoh’s arm, it would never heal enough to hold a sword. The limp arm symbolized Egypt’s weakened state and its inability to defend or assert itself, particularly in the face of Babylonian power. The prophecy was likely an answer to Pharaoh Hophra’s failed attempt to stop the Babylonian siege. The Pharaoh’s second arm, the one that represented Egypt’s remaining strength, would also be shattered (31:22). Egypt would be left incapacitated, unable to resist Babylon’s advance. A country unable to protect itself couldn’t promise others protection.

The historical background to this prophecy may be the death of Pharaoh Hophra at the hands of his own countrymen. After Hophra failed to prevent Jerusalem’s fall, he conducted another botched campaign against forces in Libya. Both defeats eroded confidence in his leadership and led to unrest and rebellion within Egypt. In response to the internal crisis, a usurper, Amasis II, emerged as a prominent challenger. With the support of disgruntled Egyptian troops, Amasis declared himself Pharaoh. The ensuing conflict between Hophra and Amasis resulted in a civil war. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, Hophra was initially treated with respect by Amasis, likely due to his royal status. However, due to pressure from the Egyptian populace who viewed him as a failed leader, Hophra was eventually executed by strangulation around 570 BCE. By the time Babylon attacked Egypt, the country was already weakened from infighting, much like a soldier with limp arms.

The Exodus parallels

Interestingly, Ezekiel’s broken arm prophecy echoed elements of the Exodus narrative. The last time God taught Egypt a lesson was through the power of his own mighty and outstretched arm (Exodus 6:6, 7:5, 15:12). He freed the Israelites from slavery through a series of miraculous events that demonstrated God’s supreme power over Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt.

In Ezekiel 30, the imagery of God breaking Pharaoh’s arms contrasts with the Exodus narrative where God’s outstretched arm held strong. Exodus highlighted God’s strong arm in rescuing his people from the grip of Pharaoh. Ezekiel reversed the arm imagery to signify God’s judgment against a different Pharaoh. By depicting the breaking of Pharaoh’s arm, Ezekiel conveyed the message that the power and strength of Egypt, once a dominant force over Israel, were subject to God’s will.

Ezekiel’s fourth oracle against Egypt draws a thematic connection to the Exodus, highlighting that just as God once liberated the Israelites from Egypt’s control, he now holds power over Egypt’s destiny. During the Exodus, God humbled Egypt’s pharaoh, land, and people to free his people. This time, however, he would not immediately free his people, but His promise to vindicate them remained firm. Egypt would not escape consequences for being an unreliable ally. Thank you for listening and please continue to take part in this Bible Reading Challenge.

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Shabbat Shalom and Am Israel Chai