Ezekiel - Lesson 30

Lesson 30, Announcing the Doom of the Kraken of the Nile, Ezekiel 29, 1 to 16. According to Merriam-Webster, Kraken was the fifth most searched word of 2020, after pandemic, coronavirus, defund, and mamba. When I first heard the word, I thought immediately of my brother-in-law, a chicken farmer in Manitoba who served for many years on the board of the Canadian Egg Marketing Agency, whose registered motto was Get Kraken. I had never heard of Kraken with a K. But I was one of those early birds who had to search for it on the internet because, on July 23, 2020, the new NHL hockey franchise in Seattle announced its selection of Kraken as the mascot of the team. But what on earth is a Kraken? This is a Scandinavian word for the mythical sea monster, known in Rome as Neptune, in Greece as Poseidon, and in Canaan as Yam. In Norse mythology, the Kraken was a horrifying giant sea creature said to be one mile long. Stories generally describe it as a terrifying octopus or squid-like creature that attacked ships. Ezekiel 29 introduces us to the ancient Egyptian version, the Kraken of the Nile. In Ezekiel 29.1, attention has turned from the Phoenician city-states of Tyre and Sidon toward Egypt, where it will remain for the next four chapters. Nowhere in the book does the arrangement of prophecies follow such a clear seven-fold pattern as in 29.1 to 32.32. Ezekiel will deal with Egypt, the seventh nation, in seven separate oracles. Except for the third prophecy, Ezekiel introduced them all with a date notice, producing the highest concentration of such notices in the book. These chronological notations lent authenticity to the oracles and kept the prophets' utterances down to earth. These are utterances delivered in real time and in real space. Like Jeremiah, Ezekiel appears to have been more interested in Egypt than any other foreign nation. No doubt this was the case because of Egypt's position in the international community, particularly her involvement in Judean affairs at the end of their history. To Ezekiel, Nebuchadnezzar was Yahweh's agent of judgment against Judah because of their persistent revolt against him. Instead of listening to prophetic admonitions to return to God, the Judeans appealed to Egypt for help in resisting the Babylonians. But Ezekiel interpreted any outside interference in Nebuchadnezzar's Palestinian campaign as the challenge to the plan of God. So let's give a little historical background to Ezekiel's prophecies against Egypt. Egypt had been involved in Israel's affairs for more than a millennium. A thousand years earlier, Israel's ancestors had migrated to Egypt as most favored guests. But several centuries later, their descendants languished in slavery in this African land. Ezekiel alludes to that in 20 verses 5 to 8. In the process of delivering the Israelites from Egyptian bondage, Yahweh had revealed himself clearly in the signs and wonders of Egypt, and then with the establishment of his covenant with them at Sinai. The First Testament never mentions contacts between Egyptians and Israelites after this until the 10th century, when Solomon married an Egyptian princess, 1 Kings 3.1. Within five years of Solomon's death, Pharaoh Shishank, Shishak I, arrived and invaded Judah, making off with the vast royal and temple treasures that Solomon had accumulated, 1 Kings 14.25 to 26. In the 8th century BC, an Ethiopian dynasty took over Egypt. Eager to enhance their influence in Palestine, they encouraged the northern kingdom of Israel to resist the Neo-Assyrians at that time. And at that time, Isaiah had warned Judah not to seek aid from Egypt, but because their security was guaranteed by Yahweh alone, 2 Kings 18.21 and Isaiah 36.6. In the end, the Assyrian emperor Esarhaddon and his son Ashurbanipal conquered Egypt, extending Assyrian control as far south as Thebes. In the latter part of the 7th century, under the new Syed dynasty, Egypt regained her independence, Semiticus I, 664 to 610 BC, extricated his country from Assyrian control without a fight. With keen historical sense, his successor, Pharaoh Necho II, 610 to 596 BC, recognized that Assyria was no longer the principal threat to his ambitions in Palestine. Reversing long-standing foreign policy, he led his army northward through Palestine to lend support to the tottering Assyrians against an emerging Babylonian power. For some unknown reason, the Judean king, Josiah, attempted to stop him at Megiddo, but this act of foolishness cost him his life, 2 Kings 23, 29 to 30, and 2 Chronicles 35, 20 to 24. Capitalizing on the dynastic turmoil in Jerusalem, Necho placed on the throne of Judah his own puppet, Jehoiakim, one of Josiah's sons, 2 Kings 23, 35. However, at the Battles of Carchemish and Hamath, the Babylonians shattered Egyptian dreams of control over Palestine, and by the turn of the century, Nebuchadnezzar was in firm control of Judah. But this did not end Egypt's ambitions in Judah. Her rulers continued to encourage resistance to the Babylonians. The weak-willed king, Zedekiah, vacillated between obedience to Nebuchadnezzar and reliance upon the Egyptian kings, 1 Semiticus II, 595 to 89 BC, Ezekiel 19, 224, then Hophra, Apres, 589 to 570 BC. While Nebuchadnezzar was pitching his forces against Jerusalem, Hophra sent an army against the Babylonians, Jeremiah 37, 5 to 8. And meanwhile, back in Jerusalem, the prophet Jeremiah insisted the Egyptians would be no help for the Judeans against Nebuchadnezzar, and that Hophra would be given into Nebuchadnezzar's hand, just as Zedekiah had been, Jeremiah 44, 30. Josephus suggested the fulfillment of this prediction by noting that Nebuchadnezzar eventually conducted campaigns against the Libyans in North Africa, implying that Egypt had also been overrun, Antiquities 10, 11, 1. Let's come back to Ezekiel 29 now, looking at this text, first of all, within that historical context, but in accord with its own structure. This historical material is all background for our next seven oracles. In this lesson, we begin with a fascinating oracle against Pharaoh, the Kraken of the Nile, 29, 1 to 16. This first prophecy is structurally complex, but the following outline reflects the flow of thought. It divides into three major parts. First of all, as we've come to expect, is a preamble, verses 1 and 2. Second, we hear of Yahweh's disposition toward the Pharaoh now, 29, 3 to 9a. And third, Yahweh's intention concerning Egypt in the future, 29, 9b to 16. Here's the preamble. We’ll begin there. Verses 1 and 2, in the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the following message of Yahweh came to me. Human, son of man, direct your face toward Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. Speak and declare. Well, the opening date notice fixes the time of Ezekiel's first prophecy against Egypt as January 7, 587 BC. Yes, with our information now in ancient calendars, we can be that specific with great confidence. This was two days more than one year after Nebuchadnezzar had begun his siege of Jerusalem, January 5, 587 BC. And it was two years before the fugitive would bring news of the fall of the city of Jerusalem to Ezekiel in 3321. This is the earliest of Ezekiel's dated prophecies against the foreign nations. Compare this with 26.1, where he dealt with Tyre. It reflects Yahweh's response to political and military developments in Judah, or more accurately, his reaction to the Judean exile's response to those events in Babylon. They, the exiles, were his real audience. Yahweh opened by commanding his human spokesman, Ben Adam, to turn toward his addressee, identified as Pharaoh, as opposed to the king of Tyre. This one is addressed to the pharaoh rather than to a nation, like the king of Tyre after two oracles against the city of Tyre in 26 and 27, chapters 26 and 27. The Egyptian word pharaoh means the great house. Originally, it designated the royal living quarters of the palace complex in Memphis, but by extension came to signify royal authority and the king himself, perhaps synonymous with his majesty in English. For the sake of his Hebrew audience, Ezekiel explained the title as king of Egypt, pharaoh, king of Egypt. Although Ezekiel never identified this pharaoh by name, from Jeremiah 44, 30, we learn that it was Hophra, Greek, apres. Thus says Yahweh, look, I will give Pharaoh, Hophra, king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, just as I gave Zedekiah, king of Judah, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life. In the first decade of the sixth century, the restrained policy of Semiticus II had enabled Nebuchadnezzar to capture Jerusalem without interference from Egypt. But Hophra was more ambitious. Responding to Zedekiah's call for aid, remember the parable of the eagles in chapter 17, not the greatest eagle, but the second eagle? He challenged the Babylonians by sending troops into Palestine, which forced Nebuchadnezzar briefly to lift the siege of Jerusalem. But the efforts proved futile for Zedekiah as the Babylonians quickly drove the Egyptians from Judean soil, Ezekiel 17, 11 to 21, and Jeremiah 37, and Josephus, Antiquities 10, 108 to 10. Although the first phase of this oracle will focus on Pharaoh himself, the last part of verse 2 extended its scope beyond the Egyptian royal house to all Egypt. In ancient times, the fates of nations were inextricably bound to the fate of the king. In verses 3b to 9a, we hear of Yahweh's disposition toward Pharaoh. Here Yahweh launched into his charges against the Pharaoh, citing two crimes, hubris, arrogance, 29.3b to 6a, and treachery, 6b to 9a. He developed the charge with a powerful but culturally appropriate metaphor of the great sea monster, the Egyptian Kraken. In verses 3b to 6a, we hear of the end of the great sea monster, Yahweh's response to Pharaoh's hubris. Look, I am against you, O Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great monster sprawled out in the midst of his channels, who says, My Nile belongs to me. I made it for myself. But I will place hooks in your jaws and make the fish of your channels stick to your scales. I will haul you up from your channels with all the fish of your channels sticking to your scales. I will haul you out into the wilderness, and you and all the fish of your channels, on the open field you will fall. You will not be gathered, you will not be collected. To wild animals of the earth and birds of the heavens I have consigned you as food. Then all who live in Egypt will know that I am Yahweh. As we saw in chapter 28, the rhetorical force of Ezekiel's attack on the Pharaoh derives from its satirical form, specifically his use of animal imagery to tell a story of intensified reversal. Yahweh reduced a gigantic and monstrous figure to nothing, as was the case in the oracle against the king of Tyre. The prophet painted a literary picture of the self-inflated image of a colossal Pharaoh, like we saw in British media after Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, of his great big form of the man. Ezekiel highlighted the Egyptian ruler's status by using his full title, Pharaoh, king of Egypt. However, the prophet characterized him as a great sea monster, Kraken, Hatanin Hagadol. The expression Tanin refers to a large marine creature. You have it already in Genesis 121. But by adding great, Gadol, he emphasized its extraordinary size. Whereas Tanin was used elsewhere of serpents, Exodus 7, 9, 10, and 12, Deuteronomy 32, 23, here it referred to a monstrous crocodile, characterized as the ruler of the Nile, sprawled out and relaxing in the shallower channels of the river. Some suggest Yahweh was hereby identifying the Pharaoh with Sobek, the god of the Nile, whom Egyptian sculptors and painters regularly depicted with a crocodile's head. In Egyptian mythology, Sobek, the lord of the waters, rose from the primeval waters of Nun to create the world and made the Nile from his sweat. Although he was supposedly the divine protector of Pharaohs and their armies, and by extension the Egyptian people, he was also perceived as an unpredictable deity who was sometimes allied with the forces of chaos. By using the metaphor of a crocodile for Pharaoh, Yahweh adapted his language to the cultural and geographic context, as he had done when he portrayed Tyre as a magnificent ship in chapter 27. But notice how he transformed this image. Instead of dealing directly with the god Sobek, the crocodile god, he dealt with the king, who in Egypt thought he was divine. Here the identity of king and deity merged. As had been the case in Yahweh's contest with Pharaoh at the time of Israel's exodus from Egypt, his defeat of their king signals his supremacy over the gods of Egypt, Exodus 12, 12, Numbers 33, 4. Furthermore, instead of portraying the Pharaoh as a benevolent and life-dispensing deity, he portrayed him as a sea monster, an Egyptian version of the kraken. We find this metaphor also in Egyptian literature. In a hymn to Thutmose III, 1479 to 1425 BC, the deity Amon-Re declared, I have come. I caused you to trample down those who are in faraway lands, the lands of Mitanni tremble out of fear of you. I caused them to see your majesty as a crocodile, lord of fear amidst the waters, unapproachable. Ezekiel's use of the Hebrew term tanin also carried mythological overtones. The word was often used of the mythical sea monster, the chaos god known elsewhere as Rahab, Psalm 87, 4 and 80, 11, Job 9, 13, and Leviathan, Psalm 74, 14, with heads. In fact, the great seven-headed dragon, Septuagint as Dracon Megas in Revelation 12, 3, 13, 1, 17, 3, 7, and 9. Whereas elsewhere in the first testament, this figure usually appeared in poetic texts celebrating Yahweh's victory over evil, this tanin has been thoroughly historicized and domesticated. He was the king of Egypt who defied Yahweh like the king of Tyre had in chapter 28. Ezekiel grounded his satirical attack on the pharaoh on an arrogant claim, Quoting the monster is a rhetorical device to help hearers, readers, assume his point of view. The pharaoh made outlandish claims. More importantly, he declared his sovereignty over the Nile, implying that, like the crocodile, he would tolerate no challenges. However, the second claim was even more extravagant. On the surface, the Hebrew looks like an affirmation of self-creation, I have made myself, and this is how some interpreted it. This could make sense here, given the Egyptian's perception of the pharaoh as a god, and specifically Atum's claim to be self-created. But the sense I have given it is preferred, I made it for myself, that is the Nile, especially if the pharaoh identifies with Sobek, who, as we saw earlier, claims to have made the Nile with his sweat. While more subtle than the claims of the prince of Tyre, who said, I am a god, I am divine, 28-2, the image of pharaoh as owner and creator of the Nile fits perfectly with Egyptian doctrines of divine kingship and of the significance of the Nile for the well-being of Egypt. This kraken, who lived in the Nile, not only created it, he also caused the river and its channels annually to flood the land with fresh, fertile silt from upstream that made Egypt what Herodotus called the gift of the Nile, Histories 2-4. Yahweh took the claim as a challenge. I created this place for my own sake, and I make the whole ecological formula work for my own sake. By quoting the pharaoh, the prophet invited his hearers to interpret this boast against the background of Yahweh's self-introduction. I am Yahweh, I have spoken, and I will perform. However, with uninhabited hubris, the pharaoh claimed to be the primary actor in earthly affairs, and no one would stand in his way. Well, was he in for a surprise? Yahweh must answer such overweening arrogance. Shifting into semi-poetic mode, Ezekiel transcribed a grotesque literary cartoon reflecting Yahweh's hostility to the pharaoh, starting with, Look, I am against you, O pharaoh, king of Egypt, verse 3a. But he did not limit the judgment to the king. His target alternated between the pharaoh and his people. With brilliant satirical rhetoric of reversal, the prophet described the collapse of the myth of pharaonic and Egyptian greatness as God reduced the great sea monster Hattanin Haggadol to an ordinary fish dog, not only incapable of delivering himself but also dragging down to his death other fish caught in his scales. We may summarize the A-A-B-B-C-C pattern of Yahweh's threatened actions like this. Under A, Yahweh will catch the monster, pharaoh, with hooks in his jaws, nullifying his claims to independence. Perhaps because the crocodile was venerated in some regions of Egypt as a god, hunting scenes involving this creature are rare in Egyptian art. A-prime, Yahweh will capture the fish of the Nile, the citizens of Egypt, by causing them to stick to the scales of the kraken. B-stage two, Yahweh will haul the monster, pharaoh, up out of his channels, nullifying his claim to the Nile. B-prime, Yahweh will bring the fish of the channels, the citizens, up with him in his scales. C-stage three, Yahweh will cast the monster onto the desert sand away from his natural habitat. C-prime, Yahweh will cast all the fish of his channels out on the sand with him. In each case, the first line focused on the monster, while the second line implicated the fish in the monster's fate. Yahweh spelled out his objective in verse 5b, you will not be gathered, you will not be collected to wild animals of the earth and birds of the heavens, I have consigned you as food. Intent on destroying the monster, Yahweh delivered him and the fish clinging to him to the hyenas and vultures, the scavengers of the desert. But the picture is grotesque and macabre. In this point, to this point, this prophecy offered no hints of pharaoh Hophra's Judean adventures or his interference with Nebuchadnezzar whom Yahweh had sent against Jerusalem. The issue was one of principle, for all his arrogant pretensions, the glorious Lord of the Nile was no match for the one true and living God, who not only toyed with him as a fisherman plays with his catch, he also threw him away as carry-on, garbage, unfit for human consumption. Ultimately, it was not Hophra who determined the outcome of the last act, but Yahweh. And when he had disposed of the pharaoh, all his boastful claims would be silenced. Even the Egyptians would acknowledge him as supreme. In verses 6b to 9a, the metaphor changes to the end of the broken reed, Yahweh's response to pharaoh's treachery, not arrogance now, but treachery. Changing the metaphor in verse 6b, the judgment of Egypt moved into a second phase. Now the charges against pharaoh became specific, and his interference in Israelite affairs became the critical issue. In verses 6b to 7, we find the accusation, and in verses 8 to 9, we have Yahweh's announcement of judgment. Verse 6b, because you are a reed crutch to the house of Israel, when they grasp you, you splinter in their hand and totally tear up their armpits. When they lean on you, you shatter, causing their hips to collapse. Therefore thus has the Lord Yahweh declared, I will bring a sword against you and cut off from you both human and animal. Then the land of Egypt will be desolate wasteland, and they will know that I am Yahweh. Yahweh cast his second accusation with a new metaphor. As a crutch, pharaoh was worse than useless. By definition, a crutch, mish eneth, is designed to assist a feeble person to stand or walk. But the verb sha'an often refers to trusting another person for support, as in Isaiah 10.10, 2 Chronicles 16.7, or relying on horses in battle, Isaiah 31.1, or gods, Isaiah 50.10, or properly relying on Yahweh, Micah 3.11, Isaiah 10.20, and other places. Ezekiel's reference to pharaoh as a mish eneth kaneh, a reed staff, was sarcastic, employing an image of Egyptians who lived in a land without trees. More than a century earlier, in 2 Kings 18.21, equals Isaiah 36.6, the Assyrian Rav Shache had taunted Hezekiah, look, you rely on the staff of this crushed reed, Egypt, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is pharaoh to all who rely upon him. Once again, Egypt's support would prove worthless for the house of Israel. In fact, instead of helping Judah stand, Egypt would maim her, splintering the hands of those who used the Egyptians as a cane and tearing the armpits of those who used it like a crutch. The meaning for Ezekiel's exilic audience was clear. Do not trust the Egyptians to rescue Jerusalem from Nebuchadnezzar. You will not be going home anytime soon. If pharaoh Hophra persists in trying to stop the Babylonians, he and his people will be the target of the same covenant curses that Yahweh was about to inflict on his own people. He would attack them with a sword, Leviticus 26.25. He would cut off all life, human and animal, compare Ezekiel 14, 13, 17, and 19. And he would turn the land of Egypt into a wasteland, Chorba, Waste, 5.14 and 25.13. And when that happened, even the Egyptians would acknowledge Yahweh, which should have shamed Ezekiel's immediate audience, the exiles. To God, Egypt's crime was assisting Zedekiah in resisting Nebuchadnezzar. By blocking the intent of Yahweh's agent, Egypt had not only infuriated the Babylonians, they had also infuriated the God of Israel. This oracle represents the obverse side of what we saw in chapter 17. There Zedekiah, the Judean king, had appealed to Egypt for help instead of submitting to Babylon. By resisting Babylon, Hophra interfered with Yahweh's inexorable plan for Israel, and for that he would pay dearly. In verses 9b to 16, Ezekiel turns his attention to Yahweh's intentions concerning Egypt. Like the previous sections, verses 9b to 12, this consists of two parts, typical of judgment speeches, with the accusation and the announcement of judgment introduced by because, Ya'an, and therefore, L'chaim. So, here, Yahweh's immediate plan concerning Egypt, verses 9b to 12. Hear the prophet, I will turn the land of Egypt into the most desolate of all desolate lands, and her cities will be the most desolate among ruined cities for forty years, and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the lands. These verses deliberately echo verse 3, though Yahweh reversed the order of the true two principal parts. The brief opening accusation repeated the earlier presumptuous boast of Pharaoh in verse 3, the Nile belongs to me, I have created it myself. Yahweh responded by repeating his fundamental opposition to the Pharaoh, I am against you and against your river channels. By now, he had reduced the Kraken of the Nile to nothing. Yahweh and his prophet refused to honor the Pharaoh by naming him or even referring to him by title Pharaoh or King of Egypt now. In fact, they did not refer to Pharaoh explicitly at all. Yahweh turned his face away from the Pharaoh and declared his opposition to the channels of the Nile, that is all the people who relied on the river for their well-being. Pharaoh had become irrelevant. The second part of verse 10 functions as a thesis statement for verses 11 to 12. Yahweh will transform the land into an utter wasteland. The prophet highlighted the thoroughness of the coming devastation with seven literary elements. One, he heaped up terms for desolation, literally turning the land into wastes of waste and desolation, that is an utterly desolate wasteland. Second, he declared the ruin of all Egypt. In Egypt, saying from Migdal to Sien was like an Israelite saying from Dan to Beersheba or an American from New York to Los Angeles or a Canadian from Vancouver to Halifax. Migdal, fortress tower, referred to the northernmost military outpost in the delta, and Sien, modern Aswan, located on the first cataract of the Nile, was the last fortress in the south from which to launch campaigns into Ethiopia, hence the explanatory the border of Cush, here modern Sudan or Ethiopia. Third, he announced the end of all normal creaturely activity in Egypt. The feet of neither humans, adam, nor livestock, behemah, will pass through the land. Four, with twin superlatives, he declared the unprecedented scope of the disaster. Verse 12, I will turn the land of Egypt into the most desolate of all desolate lands, and her cities will be the most desolate among ruined cities. Among ruined cities and countries, Egypt would represent a new benchmark of devastation. Five, twice he announced that the ruination would last forty years. The figure recalls Ezekiel 4, 4-8, according to which the prophet was to lie on his right side for forty days, one day for every year of the devastation of Judah and the exile of her people. Presumably, Yahweh's goal here was similar, to punish a generation that had dared to interfere with Yahweh's plans for Judah and the Babylonians. Sixth, he announced the exile of Egypt's population. Echoing earlier warnings of the deportation of Judah's inhabitants, which we find in 11, 16, 12, 15, 28, 23, and elsewhere, he declared that Egypt would herself experience what Judah, whom they tried to help, had experienced. And seven, Ezekiel predicted the exile of Egypt's population among the nations and countries of the earth. Seven devastations. In verses 13 to 16, we hear Yahweh's long-range plans for Egypt. These were the short-range plans. Verse 13, that is, thus has the Lord Yahweh declared, at the end of forty years, I will gather Egypt from among the peoples where they have been scattered. I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. There they will be a lowly kingdom. It will be the lowliest of kingdoms and will never again assert itself over the nations. I will keep them small so they never again lord it over the nations. Never again will they serve as an object of trust for the house of Israel, a reminder of the guilt they incurred when they turned toward them. Then they will know that I am the Lord Yahweh. The opening of verse 13 is awkward and catches us by surprise, but it draws attention to a shocking and dramatic new development. If the earlier references to a forty-year devastation had spoken of Egypt's total destruction, Ezekiel ended this oracle with a word of gospel, actually good news, a ray of hope for the Egyptians. Whereas the oracles against Tyre had announced the absolute end of the island state, 2621, 2736, 2819, here Yahweh limited Egypt's desolation to forty years. Yahweh would not be angry with Egypt forever. No, when this generation had been punished, he would arise and act on the nation's behalf. Remarkably, in this picture of restoration, the pharaoh, the Kraken of the Nile, was scarcely visible. Yahweh referred to his kingdom, the word suggests the king is still there, but he had been reduced to the lowest of rulers on earth, which means his kingdom will also be the lowest. Here the focus was on the restoration of Pharaoh's land and his people, not on the tyrannical and overweening ruler. Ezekiel’s description sounds like the prophet's stereotypical promises of restoration for his own people. I will restore the fortunes of Egypt, we've heard, I will restore the fortunes of Jacob or Israel or Judah, often, and I will bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. In short, the God of Israel would reverse his judgment of Egypt by gathering the dispersed population and bringing them home to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. Pathros was a designation for the southland, that is, Upper Egypt, the ribbon along the Nile between the Delta and Ethiopia. The reference to Pathros as the land of their origins reflects an anti-Delta disposition. That was where Hophra's capital, Sais, was located. When the nation would be restored, this world will look different, a fact reinforced by the last line of verse 14 and verse 15. The people may be regathered and the nation reestablished, but Yahweh will ensure that she remained a low kingdom. The great nation that had ruled over others would herself become a vassal state, referring to Zedekiah's or alluding to Zedekiah's vassal status in 1714, Memlaka Shephalah. To whom Egypt would be subject after the restoration, Yahweh didn't disclose. But it could not be Nebuchadnezzar because he will be gone long before the 40-year limitation had expired. Perhaps Ezekiel had already anticipated the rise of Persia, whose domination over Egypt was followed by successive Greek and Roman empires. More likely, he was thinking of Yahweh as Egypt's suzerain. He is the subject of the actions in verses 13 to 15. He will keep the nation small so she never again imposes her power over the nations or indulges in the hollow boasting we heard in verses 3 and 9. In verse 16, Ezekiel returned to Yahweh's specific complaint against Egypt. She had encouraged the house of Israel to trust her for relief against Nebuchadnezzar, his agent. But rather than providing Israel with another opportunity for help, her restoration will remind Yahweh's own people of her own perfidy, awone, iniquity, twistedness, entrusting anyone other than himself. Ever since Isaiah, the prophets had condemned Judah for relying on Egypt. For them, this was a sure ticket to disaster, Isaiah 25, 37, 36, 6, Jeremiah 37, 5 to 10, and other places. The prophet concludes with a final reminder that when Egypt's punishment and restoration are complete, her people will recognize the One, capital O, the One behind all these events is the sovereign Yahweh. But why would Ezekiel hold out such hope for Egypt when he held out no hope for the other nations? Previously, Yahweh had spoken of cutting B'nai off from among the peoples, making her perish from the lands, and destroying her, erasing the memory of the Moab from among the nations, 25, 10, cutting off all life and laying the entire land of Edom waste, cutting off the Karathites, the Philistines, and destroying the remnant of the Sea Peoples, and eliminating Tyre altogether, 26, 21, 27, 31, and 28, 19.Why should he single out Egypt for preferential treatment and bring them back in 40 years? Well, if we cast the translations more formally, the correspondence between 28, 24, and 29, 16 provides a hint. In 28, 24, we read, and there will be no more for the house of Israel a prickling briar or painful thorn from any of their neighbors who treated them with contempt, and they will know that I am the Lord Yahweh. Remember, that's the fulcrum of this teeter-totter consisting of the oracles against all these other little nations on the first plank, and now the oracles against Egypt on this plank. But now we hear, and there will be no more for the house of Israel an object of trust, a reminder of iniquity when they turned to Egypt, and they will know that I am the Lord Yahweh. In 28, 24, Ezekiel had spoken of the other nation states as prickling briars and painful thorns because they gloated over the destruction of Israel, and they saw in her demise an opportunity to take over her land. Yahweh answered by announcing the elimination of those enemies. With Egypt, the problem was the reverse. Whatever her motives, Egypt had tried to prevent the collapse of Judah, leaving Yahweh free to pursue a different course with her to ensure this would never happen again. This could be accomplished by merely reducing Egypt to vassal status and neutralizing her imperialistic ambitions. Isaiah went much farther in his oracles against Egypt, Isaiah 18 to 19, foreseeing a day when Judah would occupy a hegemonic position over Egypt. The Egyptians would worship Yahweh, and they, along with Assyria, would be fully incorporated into the people of Yahweh. All three nations had played significant roles as agents of Yahweh in Israel's history. A millennium earlier, Egypt was Yahweh's divinely commissioned host of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In their midst, whom they had greeted with most favored nation status, but there they had been transformed into an innumerable host. As for Assyria and Babylon, they had served as Yahweh's agents of judgment against a rebellious chosen people. Yahweh would not forget that service that they had rendered for him. Now, when we reflect on the theological significance and perhaps practical implications of a text like this for us, it may sound redundant, but with Ezekiel, we must keep reiterating key theological principles that he taught throughout the book, but now especially in his oracles against the foreign nations. This text reinforces several principles we've already learned from previous oracles. First, Yahweh is the divine Lord of history. In their hubris, nations and people individually, particularly superpowers, may perceive themselves as suave and sophisticated, like the image of Sobek, who tenderly holds young Amenhotep III in his arms. They may perceive themselves as independent and in control of their destinies, but Yahweh is able to change this illusion overnight. Indeed, he times the rise and fall of nations according to his calendar. The announcement of the 40-year devastation of Egypt and the exile of her population reminded Ezekiel's audience and us of his lordship over the specifics as well as the generalities of history. Second, whether they realize it or not, those who stand in the way of Yahweh's plans render themselves his enemies. Because Nebuchadnezzar was Yahweh's agent, Egypt's efforts to stop him represented a challenge to the divine power behind the Babylonian throne. This reminds us of Josiah's encounter with Hofer's predecessor, Necho. II Kings 23, 28-30 offers no theological reflection on the event when Josiah was killed when he tried to stop Pharaoh. But with additional hindsight, the author of II Chronicles 35, 20-27 was aware of Egypt's historical role. This reminds us of Josiah's encounter with Hofer's predecessor, Necho. II Kings 23, 28 offers no theological reflection on the event. But with additional hindsight, the author of II Chronicles 35, 20-27 was aware of Egypt's and Babylon's historical role. Necho claimed to have an appointment with destiny in Syria. O king of Judah, what quarrel is there between you and me? It is not you I am attacking at this time, but the dynasty with which I am at war. And God has told me to hurry, to stop interfering with God, who is with me. So stop interfering with God, who is with me, or he will destroy you. Those are amazing words from the Pharaoh. However, the story turned out very differently from Necho's plan. His intention was to stop the rise of Babylon, but by allying with the Assyrians whom Nebuchadnezzar eventually defeated at Carchemish in 605, he opened the door to Palestine for the Babylonians. This was part of Yahweh's plan to neutralize both Assyria and Egypt and open the way for Nebuchadnezzar.But in this case, the good king Josiah had foolishly stepped into the path of God's activity. Third, just because outside powers and agencies defend those who claim to be the people chosen by God does not mean the Lord's favor rests on them. These days we often hear Christians say we need to support Israel no matter what. Well, the Egyptians tried to defend Judah, who viewed themselves as the people of Yahweh, but at this time they were a wicked people whose rebellion had become intolerable. We should never turn a blind eye to anyone's missteps and inhuman treatment of others and godlessness. Although Orthodox Jews play a prominent role in the present nation's life, conceptually the nation of Israel today is a secular state. Ezekiel would scarcely have recognized it as the restored nation of which he would speak in such detail later. In my mind, the very existence of the Jewish state of Israel demonstrates God's enduring interest in the descendants of Abraham. But as Paul declared in Romans 4, he calls out a people who are Abraham's spiritual seed, which ultimately is not demonstrated by physical circumcision or other external marks of membership in the covenant people or even residence in a state called Israel, but by circumcision of the heart. The same principle applies to church-state relations. Just because the state stands with those who call themselves Christians doesn't mean that the state is the object of the Lord's favor. If the people who claim the name of Christ are apostate, corrupt in their theology and ethic, have no interest in evangelism or refuse to submit to the authority of Scripture, neither they nor a state that defends them has the favor of God. May the Lord replace our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh. May the Lord circumcise our hearts so that we walk in his ways. May the Lord help us, help and forgive us for putting our trust in political leaders when we should be trusting in him alone.