EGYPT AND A KING OF BABYLON

An exposition, a word in wisdom for the wise, 

and for them that are with understanding.

CHAPTER 41                         LINK TO OTHER PAGES

Thus spoke the Lord, the Almighty God:

  1.  "Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt; 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 streams, that says, `My Nile is my own; I made it.'

  2. A stream of water, a river if you will, my own makings, my own government, I, or we made this rule, this government of the people, a society in the makings of our own hand.   Yes, surely, so you think O you rulers of the earth, governors of the nations, you Pharaoh's, you kings of the earth.

  3. The Lord said to me in speaking to Ezekiel the prophet, to set my face against the kings of the earth, and against all their people.   For Egypt in the term thereof, as also Babylon in the term thereof, translates into the whole of the world, each in their own perspective.  

  4. And so you are dragons O you kings of the earth, breathing out fire and mischief, and priding yourselves in your own handiwork as if you made it, as if the governance of your hand was of your own.

  5. But you are dead men, for the Lord my God will put hooks in your mouth, and draw you up with all your subjects, your people, all of them clinging to you, to cast you into the nether world, into a land you have not known.  For thus spoke the Lord my God:

  6. "I will put hooks in your jaws, and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales; and I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams, with all the fish of your streams which stick to your scales.  

  7. And I will cast you forth into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your streams; you shall fall upon the open field, and not be gathered and buried. To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the air I have given you as food."

  8. It is the day of the Lord my God, the day of His judgment against you O you rulers of the earth, and all your mighty ones with you, to fill the earth with your corpses.    You thought to rule the earth, and to own it with all its liars, its thieves and murderers, and you did not consider how it is He who made the earth and man in it who rules.

  9. You thought you were alone, and who is the Almighty One that we should fear Him, so were the thoughts in your heart.  You did as it pleased you, but your deeds were not the deeds of righteousness, nor was there integrity in your mind.  

  10. And whom are these, the people of the Lord, of the Almighty God, that we should restrain ourselves, or be a staff unto them, so your pride and your arrogance made you unreliable and abominable.

  11.  How will you call yourself eminent when your carcasses are rotting in the streets, and upon the open fields O you mighty ones in the earth?  In that day with your spirits in reprove then both you, and as the Lord said:   "Then all the inhabitants of Egypt", that is all the inhabitants of the world, of the nations of Gentiles,  "shall know that I am the Lord.". 

  12. And so spoke the Lord my God;  "Because you have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel;  when they grasped you with the hand, you broke, and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned upon you, you broke, and made all their loins to shake."

  13. Do you wish me to enumerate it for you?  And upon which of the last twenty centuries shall I make a choosing O you nations of Gentiles?  Since then you of the last century are the most apostate I will recount your own time.  

  14. You knew all about it those of the West and those of the North, as those of the South that the sons of Israel were systematically being gassed to death, but you shut your eyes and you closed your ears, all of you, as if it were only a rumor.

  15. But even before that day when they were being robbed and demoralized, and they leaned on you, you let them down, and even refused them entry.  You know very well who are the guilty ones in both mind and deed, nor are the thoughts of your heart concealed.   It is therefore that the Lord said:

  16. "Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast;  and the land of Egypt (The world of Gentiles) shall be a desolation and a waste. Then they will know that I am the Lord. "Because you said, `The Nile is mine, and I made it."

  17.   I was speaking of Egypt and a king of Babylon, thus - I spoke of a king of the world, of the world of Gentiles.  But who is that king, and how did he become a king of Egypt, as a king of the whole of the world?  

  18. It's a siege, and years of labor with no return.   You greedy ones cheated on his labor, casting his spoil into the sea, therefore now the sea will become his property, for thus spoke the Lord:

  19. "Son of man, Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre; every head was made bald and every shoulder was rubbed bare; yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against it."  

  20. "Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and her spoil, and take her prey, and it shall be for wages for his army:   I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for which he labored, because they worked for me, says the Lord God."

  21. "On that day I will cause a horn to spring forth to the house of Israel, and I will open his lips among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

  22. Cryptic -  are they not these words of the Lord my God, for what is that day, and who is that horn, and who is the "your" whose lips are opened?  The King James version has it as" In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them."

  23. It seems obvious that a horn is to sprout for the house of Israel, but the reference to the one who will have an opening of the mouth is mistreated by all of the translators.  If I were to correct their mistreatment I would say: "And I will open 'his' lips among them."    For who shall be the "you", - or the "thee"?   Shall it be that "Son of man," Ezekiel, as the Lord began to speak to that prophet, in speaking of Nebuchadnez'zar?  Or shall it be Nebuchadnez'zar?

  24. You are looking to me to provide you with an answer, and it shall surely not be Nebuchadnez'zar - so you reason - since he is long in his grave.  But then so is the prophet Ezekiel although not in death, he is no longer in the flesh upon the earth, and yet the Lord speaks of a day that He calls "that" day in which a horn will sprout towards Israel.  And that very sentence follows the decree which the Lord pronounces for a king of the world.

  25. And so what was it that I spoke at the start?  Were not these my words: "A word in wisdom, for the wise, for them with understanding"?   To whom therefore may I be speaking, to such as do not know how to correct a word in translation, to the sons of man?

  26. Be assured of this that, he will come to own the entire lot of you, because you deprived me of my wages. And whether you like it or not - what relevance does that have?  Who will pay me for anything - when they dip their hand in my treasury?

  27.    Then again the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the prophet saying:

  28. "Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God: "Wail, `Alas for the day!'  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.   

  29. A sword shall come upon Egypt, and anguish shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain fall in Egypt, and her wealth is carried away, and her foundations are torn down.   Ethiopia, and Put, and Lud, and all Arabia, and Libya, and the people of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword."

  30. The Lord my God just got through speaking to Ezekiel about Nebuchadnez'zar, and of a day as "that" day, and here the Lord follows with a day that will be a day of clouds and of doom for the nations, a day the Lord my God calls "His" day, as "the day of the Lord"   

  31. And what else does the Lord pronounce for that day?  Is it not for a sword to come upon the world, as upon Egypt?  Or is "doom for the NATIONS" in the plural a singular term for the land of Egypt alone?

  32. Shall I now reiterate what that king was to do, quote  "And he shall take her multitude, and her spoil, and take her prey, and it shall be for wages for his army:"   It is a sword to come upon Egypt is it not?  Upon the greater Egypt, the world as a whole, upon all that are in league!   

  33. While therefore the first Nebuchadnez'zar received Egypt as wages for his labor, the second is to receive the world for his labor, and for those with him, for all the terrible ones of the nations.

  34. And so where do you stand in your rebirth as were you born again unto Christ?  Will you look to the world to partake with her and also claim to know Him to whom one looks for salvation?   Think again whom it is that you are serving, for thus said the Lord my God: 

  35. "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, says the Lord God.   And she shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries and her cities shall be in the midst of cities that are laid waste.  Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have set fire to Egypt, and all her helpers are broken."

  36. When I have set fire to the whole of the world, and all its ministers and its preachers are put to shame, then these and you will indeed know that the Lord is Lord, and that contrary to your estimation - His name "is" Holy.   And somewhere I heard it said - "Suddenly",  and so spoke the Lord:

  37. "On that day swift messengers shall go forth from me to terrify the unsuspecting Ethiopians; and anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt's doom; for, lo, it comes!   "Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt, by the hand of Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon."   

  38. He and his people with him, the most terrible of the nations, shall be brought in to destroy the land; and they shall draw their swords against Egypt , and fill the land with the slain."

  39. Shall I explain the term Nebo, as the name of Nebuchadnez'zar, and whom he really is, or the one to come to whom Nebuchadnez'zar was a foreshadowing?  It was the one to protect the boundaries, one who is god of the sciences and of learning. To him you will be for wages.

  40. And so you heard it said O you blind ones, - by the hand of Nebuchadnez'zar - to put an end to the wealth of the whole of the world, in a day that is many years after the passing of that former king of Babylon.   And the Lord speaks of "swift messengers" and a people He calls "the most terrible of the nations", to handle a sword.    

  41. And whose sword might that be?  Or for that matter who are these most terrible of the nations?  I will let you guess at it, but you will come to experience that their order is to destroy the earth.  For so spoke the Lord: 

  42. "And I will dry up the Nile, (that is the river of men) and will sell the land into the hand of evil men; I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it, by the hand of foreigners; I, the Lord, have spoken."

  43. "By the hand of foreigners", and who might be foreign to the earth?  You provide the answer!   As for me I will continue with the next prophesy that came "In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month", and so spoke the Lord:

  44.  "Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and lo, it has not been bound up, to heal it by binding it with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword.  Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken; and I will make the sword fall from his hand."

  45. Any takers for a definition?  You my people would not believe it if I told you so, that it is you, both the strong ones, as the weak ones, the whole and the wounded, your arms O you nations of the earth will be broken, both of them, since however there be many nations, there are but two arms in the metaphor.   It is the fall of nations of which I warned you in many ways.  

  46. The next sentence, quote; I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them throughout the lands. unquote; - is a word you cannot comprehend since as I beheld you as babes, not as yet ready for the greater formula.   But I will define the words that follow.

  47.   "And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand; but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him like a man mortally wounded.  

  48. I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall; and they shall know that I am the Lord.    When I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, he shall stretch it out against the land of Egypt."

  49. And to translate the last sentence:  "When I put my sword into the hand of the Prince of the earth, he shall stretch it out against the whole of the nations of the earth, the whole of the Gentile nations."  What shall I pronounce, O what shall I pronounce to you mighty ones of the earth?   

  50. You will groan indeed.  In mortal agony you will beg for mercy, but why should I extend mercy unto you who refused to consider mercy when my people looked to you for mercy?

  51. I will feed you with your own venom, and reward you with your own mercy, for as a man lived so also he will die, and with what payment you paid, you will be repaid.

  52.   And now in the same year, but two months later quote:   "In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: "Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude: 

  53. "Whom are you like in your greatness?  Behold, I will liken you to a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches and forest shade, and of great height, its top among the clouds.  The waters nourished it, the deep made it grow tall, making its rivers flow round the place of its planting, sending forth its streams to all the trees of the forest."

  54. Are you with me so far you governors of the earth, for this concerns you?!    "So it towered high above all the trees of the forest; its boughs grew large and its branches long, from abundant water in its shoots.  

  55. All the birds of the air made their nests in its boughs; under its branches all the beasts of the field brought forth their young; and under its shadow dwelt all great nations.  It was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for its roots went down to abundant waters."

  56. You made sure you were not lacking in anything, even at the cost of others, but you ignored to acknowledge from where your riches were.  And quote: 

  57. "The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it, nor the fir trees equal its boughs; the plane trees were as nothing compared with its branches; no tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty.  I made it beautiful in the mass of its branches, and all the trees of Eden envied it, that were in the garden of God."

  58. You of course were fitted to the axiom where "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely", although that axiom applies to the sons of the lower regions.  And so the word continues:

  59. "Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because it towered high and set its top among the clouds, and its heart was proud of its height,  I will give it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations; he shall surely deal with it as its wickedness deserves,   (for, or and) I have cast it out."

  60. A mighty one of the nations, so it reads; that King of Babylon with its host as the next words convey, quote"  "Foreigners, the most terrible of the nations, will cut it down and leave it."    They are not going to stay around or mourn over you.    And where will you be you one-time governors?

  61. "On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches will fall, and its boughs will lie broken in all the watercourses of the land; and all the peoples of the earth will go from its shadow and leave it."

  62. You will look so despicable, and abhor-able that you will no longer be beloved or desired, and all that was subject to you will vanish as a breath in the air that can not be seen.  And your new home is also mentioned in the words that follow, quote:

  63. "Upon its ruin will dwell all the birds of the air, and upon its branches will be all the beasts of the field.  All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to lofty height or set their tops among the clouds, and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height; for they are all given over to death, to the nether world among mortal men, with those who go down to the Pit."

  64. The pit, the nether world, is your new home, and you will never again measure up to anything, as the Lord spoke of that mighty one of the nations to -- "surely"" deal with you as you deserve."  While then your carcasses may become food for the vultures - there will nonetheless be those to mourn over you, namely those who went before you to the pit as you may realize from the words that follow:

  65.  "Thus says the Lord God: When it goes down to Sheol I will make the deep mourn for it, and restrain its rivers, and many waters shall be stopped; I will clothe Lebanon in gloom for it, and all the trees of the field shall faint because of it.  

  66. I will make the nations quake at the sound of its fall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who go down to the Pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, will be comforted in the nether world."

  67. Those in the nether world will realize that they are not alone, nor the worst to have been, but that their offspring is like the saying; like mother like daughter, or like father like son.  Nor will you or these be alone, but their people, their hordes along with them, quote:

  68.  "These also shall go down to Sheol with it, to those who are slain by the sword; yea, those who dwelt under its shadow among the nations shall perish."    Wherefore,

  69. "Whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? You shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the nether world; you shall lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.  This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord God."

  70. Or shall I translate this last sentence for you to read; "These are the kings of the earth and all their multitudes with them, says the Lord God."

  71.   And for a final word I will leave you with the word of Isaiah, that is self explanatory. Quote:    The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.

  72. On a bare hill raise a signal, cry aloud to them; wave the hand for them to enter the gates of the nobles.  I myself have commanded my consecrated ones, have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger, my proudly exulting ones.

  73. Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come!  Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every man's heart will melt, and they will be dismayed. Pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in travail. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame.

  74. Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the earth a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it.  For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising and the moon will not shed its light.

  75. I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant, and lay low the haughtiness of the ruthless. I will make men more rare than fine gold, and mankind than the gold of OphirThe earth shall be utterly laid waste and utterly despoiled; for the Lord has spoken this word.

  76. The earth mourns and withers, the world languishes and withers; the heavens languish together with the earth. The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left:"

  77. And:   "For the Lord is enraged against all the nations, and furious against all their host, he has doomed them, has given them over for slaughter.  Their slain shall be cast out, and the stench of their corpses shall rise; the mountains shall flow with their blood.  

  78. All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall fall, as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree."

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