The Prophecy Against Pharaoh & Egypt

Modern scholarship dates the founding of the First Dynasty in Egypt to around 3100BC. Taking a strict biblical chronology, this was 26 years before Adam died. Methuselah was still a young man at age 217 and Noah would not be born for another century and a half. This is WAY back in the misty past.

The Bible attributes the name “Egypt” (Mizraim) to a son of Ham (grandson of Noah).

“The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.” Genesis‬ ‭10‬:‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Egypt is called “the land of Ham” in Psalm 105:23, 27 and 106:22

At times, the land of Cush and lands named after descendants of Mizraim were part of various Egyptian Kingdoms.

Genesis 10:6-20 records the nations that came from Ham and it reads like a Who’s Who of the ancient world:

• Cush (ancient Ethiopia and the Arabian peninsula)
  • Sheba was a descendant of Cush
  • Nimrod was the first post-flood guy to become world famous.
• Mizraim (Egypt)
  • Descendants include the Philistines, Caphtorites, and many other African and Mediterranean peoples.
• Put/Phut (Libya and the northern and northwestern African coast)
• Canaan (the Lavant / Canaan “the Promised Land”)
  • Descendants included the ancient Phoenicians and Hittites as well as the many “-ites” encountered by Israel in the Promised Land:
    • Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites

The families of Ham are major players in the world of the Bible. While Mesopotamia was the oldest civilization on earth, they tend to sit in the background in Genesis and Exodus while Egypt is THE big dog of the ancient biblical world. By the time of Ezekiel, the Egyptian Civilization is well over 2,500 years old.

😏 Egypt’s mummies have socks 🧦 older than most other nations on earth.

Exactly.

It’s like when a teenager tries to tell a 50 year old how life works. The older person just rolls their eyes.

Egypt has seen kingdoms come and go. They’re probably rolling their eyes at Judah trying to take on Babylon. They’ve been around the block a few times and know how these things usually work out.

But Yahweh has a bone to pick with Egypt.

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Yahweh calls Pharaoh “the great dragon.” We’ve talked about the Hebrew word tanniyn [tan-neen] before. Way back in Exodus when Moses’ staff turned into a tanniyn we learned about the Nile Monitor.

But there is another solid contender for the “monster” Pharaoh is being compared to… The Nile Crocodile.

For perspective… The average wildebeest stands 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 meters) tall at the shoulder, reaches 5 to 8 feet (1.5 to 2.4 meters) in length, and weighs between 350 and 600 pounds (160 to 270 kg).

There is a man-eating Nile Crocodile in Lake Tanganyika, Burundi, that is estimated to have eaten around 300 people. His nickname is Gustav and he is estimated to be about 17 feet long (5.2 meters) and around 2000 pounds (900kg). I think he’s a certified monster.

Then there’s this old chap. Meet Henry.

(He’s the croc, not the guy in the picture)

Henry was born in 1900. He was captured in Botswana in 1903 and moved to his current home in South Africa in 1985. He is over 16 ft long, weighs about 1540 pounds, and has fathered over 10,000 offspring in captivity. In his early days his favorite food was the locals but he has slowed down and now peacefully shares his habitat with a couple of female Nile Crocodiles who provide all the excitement he needs.

Based on the ancient concepts of what a “dragon” was, I am quite confident that Henry qualifies for the title.

By calling Pharaoh “the great dragon” of the Nile, Yahweh is picturing him as the apex predator; the top of the food chain.

And the dragon is taking credit for, and ownership of, the whole Nile civilization.

“…‘My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.’”
‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭29‬:‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

You’ve probably noticed a pattern lately of Yahweh causing the nations to know Who He is. The LORD is about to take the “great dragon” out of “his Nile” and chuck him into the desert. All the dragon’s fish will be tossed out with him. It’s a way to show the “apex predator” (and all who fear him) that there is actually someone MUCH bigger.

Not only does the great dragon get thrown out of “his river,” he’s going to be fed to “the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven,” (v5).

“Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord…”
‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭29‬:‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The two indictments against Egypt:

1. Egypt was a weak “staff” – Israel leaned on them for support 🩼 and instead of steadying Israel, Egypt snapped and made them stumble.
2. Pharaoh and the Egyptians (along with their gods) are taking all the credit for their civilization and claiming ownership of the Nile River itself as its creator.

😯 Oooo… them’s fightin’ words.

Yes. A fight they’re about to lose. Yahweh is going to put Egypt through a similar exile to Israel; except that it will be 40 years instead of 70. And He will bring them back into their land afterward but they will never again be what they once were.

EGYPT 🇪🇬

🔲 Globally dominant empire

☑️ Bucket list tourist destination

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In the last post about the Fall of Tyre we learned that Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to the city for 13 agonizing years. As Ezekiel writes this, it looks to me like that hasn’t even happened yet – because the siege of Tyre comes AFTER the fall of Jerusalem. But Yahweh (who is outside of time) speaks as if it’s already done. He says to Ezekiel,

“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar 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 her. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off its wealth and despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored, because they worked for me, declares the Lord God.” Ezekiel‬ ‭29‬:‭18‬-‭20‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Let’s try to imagine that we are living in Babylon when Jerusalem falls. Then we get the news 13 years later that Tyre has finally surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar. Then we hear that Nebuchadnezzar marches on Egypt and plunders them thoroughly and knocks them off their civilizational high horse…

What would you think?

Would you assume that the geo-political fluctuations are the results of ambitious men? Would you chalk it up to imperialism, saber-rattling, and national chest-thumping? Would you protest or put a symbol on your social media to show your solidarity with Jerusalem, Tyre, or Egypt because they are “being pushed around” by the latest civilizational bully, Babylon?

That’s how we tend to interpret global events. Wars are just hot-headed, ambitious men trying to grab wealth and make a name for themselves or push their ideology on the masses. But according to this chapter (and several others we’ve already read), there is more to it than that. A LOT more.

If we want to accurately interpret geo-political events, we cannot leave the LORD out of the equation.

The Babylonians were not “good people.” But Yahweh used them to accomplish HIS purpose. It’s His divine prerogative to use any group He wants to accomplish His will. You don’t have to like them. They don’t have to be saints. The ancient Assyrians were the world’s first terrorists for Pete’s sake, and the LORD used them to punish the idolatrous northern 10 tribes.

There is more going on in the world than meets the eye. The forces of Darkness are manipulating; pushing and pulling and lying and deceiving. And Yahweh is at work too. He already has this chess match beat. He has already worked out every move and countermove in His eternal Mind. We are just on the board as it is playing out.

Don’t watch it unfold and assume it’s all spontaneous and arising out of knee-jerk reactions.

The LORD had the fall of Tyre planned and written down by His prophet before the first Babylonian solider showed up.

If we only look at the surface – what the “powers that be” were doing and saying – that is NOT the whole picture. God was doing things for very good reasons. That’s one of the key things we learn from Ezekiel.

God has not changed, and the way He interacts with, and guides humanity has not changed either. He didn’t direct the nations “in the Bible days” then suddenly quit and go on vacation to Tahiti at the end of the New Testament. 🍹🏖️

If you think that the United States 🇺🇸 and Russia 🇷🇺 and China 🇨🇳 and 🇪🇺🇺🇳🇮🇱🇯🇵🇮🇳🇮🇹🇰🇷🇬🇧🇸🇦🇮🇶🇫🇷🇹🇷🇲🇽🇻🇪🇨🇺🇩🇪🇸🇾🇺🇦🇰🇵🇹🇼🇦🇪 are all just acting as maverick nations, running around on earth doing stuff while Yahweh follows them around in the heavens trying to clean up their messes…

1. I love you but…you need to repent. That attitude is an insult to the majesty, authority and wisdom of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. Did you know you can take your whole brain to Heaven’s “Customer Service Desk” and let the Lord know you’d like to make an exchange? Trade in your mind for the mind of Christ.
3. Pray for the spiritual gift of discernment.
4. No matter what the news says, choose to trust the LORD. He knows what He’s doing.