Tyndale Open Study NotesEzekiel 32

• This section contains a series of messages of judgment against nearby nations. There are six shorter messages against Judah's immediate neighbors, arranged in a clockwise order, followed by a final message against Egypt (Ezekiel 30–32). Through experiencing God's judgment, the nations would recognize God's control over everything. The nations might be used to carry out God's judgment on his people, but they would not avoid judgment themselves.

• One of the main purposes of these messages was to show that the negative part of God's promise to Abraham ("I will … curse those who curse you," Genesis 12:3) was still active. No one can harm God's people and avoid consequences, even when God's people are under his judgment.

• The seventh and final message of judgment against the nations targets Egypt, an old enemy and ally of Israel. This message is the longest and, like the one against Tyre, it addresses both Egypt and its ruler.

• Egypt often tempted Israel and Judah to turn away from their loyalty to the Lord. Soon after leaving Egypt, Israel fell into the trap of Egypt's idolatry. Egypt led Judah to rely on chariots and horses instead of the Lord, but Egypt was unreliable when it mattered most. The Lord judged Egypt for leading his people astray (compare Luke 17:1–2).

In the twelfth year, on the first day of the twelfth month: This event happened two months after the exiles in Babylon learned about Jerusalem's fall (see Ezekiel 33:21).

• Ezekiel compares Pharaoh to a powerful beast (Ezekiel 29:3).

• Egypt's pharaohs used the lion and a monster in the seas (or crocodile) as symbols of strength. These animals represented power and control. However, both lions and crocodiles can be hunted and killed. The same would happen to Pharaoh.

  God would act through his chosen agents (Ezekiel 32:11–12). They would hunt Pharaoh, capture him, and drag him away.

mountains … valleys … mountains … ravines: In Hebrew, this is a literary device called a merism (a way of naming the outer parts to include everything in between). It shows both the boundaries and all that lies within them. Here, it emphasizes that God’s judgment would cover the whole land.

The description of destruction uses hyperbole (intentional exaggeration). This strong language shows that Egypt’s defeat would be complete.

As in the previous chapter, Pharaoh’s downfall would bring global darkness and widespread mourning. These images were often linked to the day of the Lord (see Joel 2:30). In this case, the darkness would also remind the Egyptians of the plague during the exodus (Exodus 10:21–22).

The nations around Egypt and their kings would be filled with fear when Egypt fell. They would worry that the same judgment might come upon them.

The human instrument of God’s judgment was the sword of the king of Babylon. He was coming to break Egypt’s power completely and permanently.

This destruction would be greater than what happened at the first Passover. At that time, only the firstborn sons of Egypt and the firstborn male animals died (Exodus 12:29). This time, the judgment would be far more severe.

The great sea monster (Ezekiel 32:2), a picture of Pharaoh, would no longer struggle in the river and stir up the mud like an angry crocodile.

After Pharaoh’s death, the waters of Egypt would become calm again. They would flow smoothly and quietly, like oil poured out. The land would be silent and still, like the quietness that follows death.

This complete destruction of Egypt would lead them to recognize the Lord's power, just like during the exodus.

This final message against Egypt brings the whole series of messages to a close. It gathers together the main themes from God’s judgments against all the nations.

In an earlier message (Ezekiel 31:17–18), God said that Egypt would go down to join other nations in the place of the dead. Here that idea is explained more fully.

Egypt would share the fate of those who were rejected and those killed by the sword. They would go to the Pit, a word that describes the place of the dead.

This place of judgment was already filled with many nations. These nations were once powerful, but they had fallen and been destroyed (compare Isaiah 14:9–11).

Assyria … Elam … Meshech and Tubal … Edom … the leaders of the north and the Sidonians: In the past, these nations filled people with fear. Now they are described as weak shadows of what they once were. Their power is gone, and they exist in a place without joy or purpose.

Assyria had been defeated by the Babylonians and the Medes between 627 and 609 BC. After that time, it was no longer a great world power.

Pharaoh and all the power of Egypt would share the same fate as these other nations.

For a time chosen by God, Pharaoh caused fear among the nations. But when God decided to act, Egypt’s power was broken completely and permanently.