seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Ezekiel 30:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘Wail and say,
“Alas for that day!”
3 For the day is near,
the day of the Lord is near—
a day of clouds,
a time of doom for the nations.
4 A sword will come against Egypt,
and anguish will come upon Cush.[a]
When the slain fall in Egypt,
her wealth will be carried away
and her foundations torn down.
“Alas for that day!”
3 For the day is near,
the day of the Lord is near—
a day of clouds,
a time of doom for the nations.
4 A sword will come against Egypt,
and anguish will come upon Cush.[a]
When the slain fall in Egypt,
her wealth will be carried away
and her foundations torn down.
5 Cush and Libya, Lydia and all Arabia, Kub and the people of the covenant land will fall by the sword along with Egypt.
6 “‘This is what the Lord says:
“‘The allies of Egypt will fall
and her proud strength will fail.
From Migdol to Aswan
they will fall by the sword within her,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
7 “‘They will be desolate
among desolate lands,
and their cities will lie
among ruined cities.
8 Then they will know that I am the Lord,
when I set fire to Egypt
and all her helpers are crushed.
and her proud strength will fail.
From Migdol to Aswan
they will fall by the sword within her,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
7 “‘They will be desolate
among desolate lands,
and their cities will lie
among ruined cities.
8 Then they will know that I am the Lord,
when I set fire to Egypt
and all her helpers are crushed.
9 “‘On that day messengers will go out from me in ships to frighten Cush out of her complacency. Anguish will take hold of them on the day of Egypt’s doom, for it is sure to come.
10 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt
by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
11 He and his army—the most ruthless of nations—
will be brought in to destroy the land.
They will draw their swords against Egypt
and fill the land with the slain.
12 I will dry up the waters of the Nile
and sell the land to an evil nation;
by the hand of foreigners
I will lay waste the land and everything in it.
by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
11 He and his army—the most ruthless of nations—
will be brought in to destroy the land.
They will draw their swords against Egypt
and fill the land with the slain.
12 I will dry up the waters of the Nile
and sell the land to an evil nation;
by the hand of foreigners
I will lay waste the land and everything in it.
I the Lord have spoken.
13 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘I will destroy the idols
and put an end to the images in Memphis.
No longer will there be a prince in Egypt,
and I will spread fear throughout the land.
14 I will lay waste Upper Egypt,
set fire to Zoan
and inflict punishment on Thebes.
15 I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium,
the stronghold of Egypt,
and wipe out the hordes of Thebes.
16 I will set fire to Egypt;
Pelusium will writhe in agony.
Thebes will be taken by storm;
Memphis will be in constant distress.
17 The young men of Heliopolis and Bubastis
will fall by the sword,
and the cities themselves will go into captivity.
18 Dark will be the day at Tahpanhes
when I break the yoke of Egypt;
there her proud strength will come to an end.
She will be covered with clouds,
and her villages will go into captivity.
19 So I will inflict punishment on Egypt,
and they will know that I am the Lord.’”
and put an end to the images in Memphis.
No longer will there be a prince in Egypt,
and I will spread fear throughout the land.
14 I will lay waste Upper Egypt,
set fire to Zoan
and inflict punishment on Thebes.
15 I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium,
the stronghold of Egypt,
and wipe out the hordes of Thebes.
16 I will set fire to Egypt;
Pelusium will writhe in agony.
Thebes will be taken by storm;
Memphis will be in constant distress.
17 The young men of Heliopolis and Bubastis
will fall by the sword,
and the cities themselves will go into captivity.
18 Dark will be the day at Tahpanhes
when I break the yoke of Egypt;
there her proud strength will come to an end.
She will be covered with clouds,
and her villages will go into captivity.
19 So I will inflict punishment on Egypt,
and they will know that I am the Lord.’”
20 In the eleventh year, in the first month on the seventh day, the word of the Lord came to me: 21 “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. It has not been bound up to be healed or put in a splint so that it may become strong enough to hold a sword. 22 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt. I will break both his arms, the good arm as well as the broken one, and make the sword fall from his hand. 23 I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries. 24 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 mortally wounded man. 25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall limp. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he brandishes it against Egypt. 26 I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
a. Ezekiel 30:4 That is, the upper Nile region; also in verses 5 and 9
This is from the easy English site.
Until this event, Egypt was a proud and strong nation. Now the power of Egypt would end. The Babylonians would kill many people in the country called Egypt. They would start in the north and continue to the south. They would destroy the cities in all of Egypt. News of the attack would reach Cush (Ethiopia) by ship up the River Nile. The people in Cush felt safe while Egypt was strong. But they would be afraid when the Lord punished Egypt.
Ezekiel mentions the main cities that the army would destroy. In each city, the Lord would remove the false gods. There would be nobody to lead the Egyptians. Fear would spread through the nation. Many of the people would die. Of those people that did not die, many would go into exile.
The Lord spoke this to Ezekiel in April 587 BC. This was about 3 months before the Babylonians broke down the walls of Jerusalem.
In 588 BC, King Hophra had tried to stop the Babylonians so that they could not attack Jerusalem. He did not succeed. His army lost the battle and they went back to Egypt. This message from God came just a few months later. Then Nebuchadnezzar came again to fight against Jerusalem.
The arm and a hand that held a sword were picture language. They were a sign of the king of Egypt’s strength. Hophra had given himself a name that meant ‘the strong arm’. Therefore, God said that he had broken the arm of Hophra. The arm could not hold a sword. God had taken away his power. God made him weak. Nobody would try to cure that arm. Hophra would remain weak.
But God would make the ‘arm’ of Nebuchadnezzar stronger. In other words, he will become even more powerful. He will be the agent of God to destroy Egypt. He will break both the arms of the king of Egypt. He will defeat the army of Egypt. He will send the Egyptians into exile in other countries. This happened in about 568 BC.
This is a different take on the "broken arm" from enduringword.com.I have broken the arm of Pharaoh: As an act of judgment and as a demonstration of His strength, God metaphorically broke the arm of Pharaoh and it had been bandaged for healing. It was therefore not strong enough to hold a sword, leaving Pharaoh and Egypt defenseless.
“The breaking of the arm of Pharaoh may refer to the unsuccessful attempt of Egypt to help Jerusalem in the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar (see Jeremiah 37:5 ff.).”
“The flexed arm was a common Egyptian symbol for the Pharaoh’s strength. Often statues or images of the Pharaoh have this arm flexed, wielding a sword in battle. A king with great biceps was especially a popular concept under the Saites Dynasty of Ezekiel’s day. In addition Hophra took a second formal title that meant ‘possessed of a muscular arm’ or ‘strong-armed.’” (Alexander)
I went on a search for the symbol of the flexed arm. The Egyptians had a god named ka. The symbol for this god named ka was two shoulders and two arms joined with hand reaching up to the sky. I read that the Egyptians thought ka was some kind of potter who sculptured babies of clay and put them in the womb. God already had a problem with Egypt. That pharaoh who gave Moses a hard time had a big head too. He claimed to be god too. You would think the problems that pharaoh had would have been a warning for Egypt.... but apparently Hophra and the rest of those stupid humans didn't get the message. They are still worshiping objects and people....
It seems to me that God has shown me that He was well aware of what those stupid human pharaohs were saying and doing. This god ka..... well I guess he made "perfect" babies...... and maybe the babies they sacrificed on the lap of molech [that metal idol that they fired up until it was glowing and then laid a baby on it.... and sang to cover up the screams of the baby].... maybe those babies were the "broken" babies.... or worse yet.... the "imperfect" babies.
When I read this chapter for the first time.... I thought of all those statues in museums without arms. I had no idea there was a god named ka whose symbol was two bent arms..... I learn something new every morning..... but when I finally found the symbol.... so I can post it here.... I said to myself "touchdown".
Idols.... don't talk about idols.....
