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Day 31 Ezekiel 29 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, 2 Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt: 3 Speak, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself. 4 But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales. 5 And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven. 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. 7 When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou break, and made all their loins to be at a stand. 8 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee. 9 And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the LORD: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it. 10 Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia. 11 No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years. 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. 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: 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. 15 It shall be the basest 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. 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. 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, 18 Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar 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: 19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar 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. 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. 21 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; and they shall know that I am the LORD. Have you felt as though you were being held captive? Have you wondered why your life went the way it did, as though you had no say over it? To understand what God did to Egypt you need a good commentary and other resources. I use Matthew Henry’s Commentary for most of my searching out the scriptures, along with what I can glean from the Internet. For today’s study, I found Bible Hub to be most useful. God set himself against Egypt. Egypt was a prideful nation who didn’t think it needed God for anything. Egypt had said the river is mine own and I made it myself. River denotes people. So, do fish. God would bring judgment against Egypt because they declared they didn’t need God, they were in essence declaring their king was God. Pharaoh was considered god among the people. When Nebuchadrezzar went up against Judah, Jeremiah had told them they were not to go to Egypt because famine and sword would follow them. They didn’t listen and went to Egypt anyway. Therefore, the captivity of Egypt are those Israelites who fled to Egypt to get away from the Babylonian army, and keep herself from the captivity prophesied by Jeremiah. God said they would be brought into captivity by the Babylonians for forty years. Since the total captivity of Israel was seventy years, the people who fled to Egypt were there thirty of the seventy years, thus their captivity was only forty years before God would allow them to return to Pathros, a city in Egypt. Now then, you see two parts to the prophesy God gave Ezekiel. One regarding Israel who had fled to Egypt, and one against Egypt itself, who would be destroyed because of her declaration she was god and rejected the LORD. However, when God was done with his judgment of Egypt, they would know the truth, and they would never rise again as a power in the world, which they never have. As Christians, you were also once held captive by Satan, who declared you didn’t need anyone to be God over you, because you could be your own god. It wasn’t until you started questioning what you saw and heard, and found there was a God in this world and he loved you so much, he sent his Son, Jesus, to be your Savior. Your captivity was also a short time of your life. When you accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord, God brought you back into fellowship with him as his dear child. Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. God, not you, is God, and Jesus, his Son, is your Savior. You can’t create anything by yourself. Only God can create, and restore you to your rightful place in him. Just as Israel’s captivity was for a short time, a total of seventy years, forty for those who fled to Egypt, so too your captivity to Satan was also short. When you acknowledged God, and Jesus, your Savior, you deposed Satan as god of your life, and set God on the throne of your life, never to take that position again for yourself. No one likes to be held captive by anyone, and when you recognize who is holding you captive, you can make the decision to free yourself from Satan’s captivity and accept God’s lordship over your life, and feel the freedom life in Jesus Christ brings you. Let’s pray: Father, thank you for providing a way to freedom in you, through your love and the redeeming power of your Son, Jesus, on the cross. Help me to keep you on the throne of my life, and never put myself there, as I cannot do anything to set myself free. Only you can. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 20 January 2018 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay