seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Ezekiel 32:1 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month on the first day, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, take up a lament concerning Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:
“‘You are like a lion among the nations;
you are like a monster in the seas
thrashing about in your streams,
churning the water with your feet
and muddying the streams.
you are like a monster in the seas
thrashing about in your streams,
churning the water with your feet
and muddying the streams.
3 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘With a great throng of people
I will cast my net over you,
and they will haul you up in my net.
4 I will throw you on the land
and hurl you on the open field.
I will let all the birds of the sky settle on you
and all the animals of the wild gorge themselves on you.
5 I will spread your flesh on the mountains
and fill the valleys with your remains.
6 I will drench the land with your flowing blood
all the way to the mountains,
and the ravines will be filled with your flesh.
7 When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens
and darken their stars;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
and the moon will not give its light.
8 All the shining lights in the heavens
I will darken over you;
I will bring darkness over your land,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
9 I will trouble the hearts of many peoples
when I bring about your destruction among the nations,
among[a] lands you have not known.
10 I will cause many peoples to be appalled at you,
and their kings will shudder with horror because of you
when I brandish my sword before them.
On the day of your downfall
each of them will tremble
every moment for his life.
I will cast my net over you,
and they will haul you up in my net.
4 I will throw you on the land
and hurl you on the open field.
I will let all the birds of the sky settle on you
and all the animals of the wild gorge themselves on you.
5 I will spread your flesh on the mountains
and fill the valleys with your remains.
6 I will drench the land with your flowing blood
all the way to the mountains,
and the ravines will be filled with your flesh.
7 When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens
and darken their stars;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
and the moon will not give its light.
8 All the shining lights in the heavens
I will darken over you;
I will bring darkness over your land,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
9 I will trouble the hearts of many peoples
when I bring about your destruction among the nations,
among[a] lands you have not known.
10 I will cause many peoples to be appalled at you,
and their kings will shudder with horror because of you
when I brandish my sword before them.
On the day of your downfall
each of them will tremble
every moment for his life.
11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘The sword of the king of Babylon
will come against you.
12 I will cause your hordes to fall
by the swords of mighty men—
the most ruthless of all nations.
They will shatter the pride of Egypt,
and all her hordes will be overthrown.
13 I will destroy all her cattle
from beside abundant waters
no longer to be stirred by the foot of man
or muddied by the hooves of cattle.
14 Then I will let her waters settle
and make her streams flow like oil,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
15 When I make Egypt desolate
and strip the land of everything in it,
when I strike down all who live there,
then they will know that I am the Lord.’
will come against you.
12 I will cause your hordes to fall
by the swords of mighty men—
the most ruthless of all nations.
They will shatter the pride of Egypt,
and all her hordes will be overthrown.
13 I will destroy all her cattle
from beside abundant waters
no longer to be stirred by the foot of man
or muddied by the hooves of cattle.
14 Then I will let her waters settle
and make her streams flow like oil,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
15 When I make Egypt desolate
and strip the land of everything in it,
when I strike down all who live there,
then they will know that I am the Lord.’
16 “This is the lament they will chant for her. The daughters of the nations will chant it; for Egypt and all her hordes they will chant it, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
17 In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 18 “Son of man, wail for the hordes of Egypt and consign to the earth below both her and the daughters of mighty nations, along with those who go down to the pit. 19 Say to them, ‘Are you more favored than others? Go down and be laid among the uncircumcised.’ 20 They will fall among those killed by the sword. The sword is drawn; let her be dragged off with all her hordes. 21 From within the realm of the dead the mighty leaders will say of Egypt and her allies, ‘They have come down and they lie with the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.’
22 “Assyria is there with her whole army; she is surrounded by the graves of all her slain, all who have fallen by the sword. 23 Their graves are in the depths of the pit and her army lies around her grave. All who had spread terror in the land of the living are slain, fallen by the sword.
24 “Elam is there, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword. All who had spread terror in the land of the living went down uncircumcised to the earth below. They bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. 25 A bed is made for her among the slain, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword. Because their terror had spread in the land of the living, they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are laid among the slain.
26 “Meshek and Tubal are there, with all their hordes around their graves. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword because they spread their terror in the land of the living. 27 But they do not lie with the fallen warriors of old,[b] who went down to the realm of the dead with their weapons of war—their swords placed under their heads and their shields[c] resting on their bones—though these warriors also had terrorized the land of the living.
28 “You too, Pharaoh, will be broken and will lie among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.
29 “Edom is there, her kings and all her princes; despite their power, they are laid with those killed by the sword. They lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.
30 “All the princes of the north and all the Sidonians are there; they went down with the slain in disgrace despite the terror caused by their power. They lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.
31 “Pharaoh—he and all his army—will see them and he will be consoled for all his hordes that were killed by the sword, declares the Sovereign Lord. 32 Although I had him spread terror in the land of the living, Pharaoh and all his hordes will be laid among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
a. Ezekiel 32:9 Hebrew; Septuagint bring you into captivity among the nations, / to
b. Ezekiel 32:27 Septuagint; Hebrew warriors who were uncircumcised
c. Ezekiel 32:27 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text punishmen
I read a few commentaries this morning. None of them were better or worse..... not one of them was basic and easy to understand. Bible-studys.org came closest for me.
This prophecy comes 19 months after the destruction of Jerusalem or (585 B.C.), 12 years from the deportation of Judah (in 597 B.C.).
The carcasses of the Egyptians would be food, enough for thousands of birds of prey to feed upon. The wild animals would feed upon them, too. This is speaking of the dead bodies that will not be buried. The vultures, and the wild beasts, will feed on them.
Ezekiel, being a Hebrew, speaks of the unsaved as the uncircumcised
This is from the enduringword.com site.You are like a monster in the seas: Pharaoh and his kingdom were mighty forces in the world, second only to Babylon – and Babylon had only recently subdued Egypt at the battle of Carchemish in 605 BC. Egypt was still a great force with the ability to influence and trouble other nations.
Like a young lion among the nations…like a monster in the seas: “Here we have Pharaoh’s regard for himself as a lion, whereas he is no more than a crocodile stirring up mud and filth. So God will haul him out and throw him on land to be eaten by birds and beasts.” (Wright)
Troubling the waters with your feet: “Pharaoh thrashed about in the water and made a big scene, but all he did was muddy the waters and create problems by disobeying the Lord.” (Wiersbe)
I will therefore spread My net over you: Regarding Pharaoh as a great sea monster, God promised to capture him in a great net and drag him to land (I will leave you on the land). There he would become food for both birds and beasts.
Spread My net over you: “With which both lions and crocodiles might be taken, and in which this lion and crocodile should certainly be taken; for God, whose hand never erreth, will spread the net.” (Poole)
I will cast you out on the open fields: “It was literally fulfilled in the deserts of Libya, where the slain of Hophra’s army were left to be devoured by fowls and beasts. Metaphorically it is gathering a mixture of people, soldiers, like ravenous birds and beasts. from all parts to spoil Egypt.” (Poole)
Pharaoh will see them and be comforted: Ezekiel ironically mentioned some small comfort that would come to Pharaoh on the day he entered hell. The comfort would come from knowing he was not the only one to suffer such shame and disgrace in judgment.
“This is the only consolation Pharaoh can find. He is in the company of every kind of fallen greatness.” (Wright)
“Pharaoh also, who said he was a god, shall be found among the vulgar dead.” (Clarke)
“The prophet’s declaration that ‘Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted,’ is appalling, as it reveals that the only comfort that can come to him is the profound sense of the operation of infinite justice in the punishment of all, himself included, who have been guilty of the abominations which have issued in the judgment of Jehovah.” (Morgan)
OK.... the monster in the seas does inspire people to jump up and take notice..... The demise of this monster reminds me of the proposed demise of the snakehead fish. It's going to be killed.... gutted.... left for the predators. A snake head fish is not good for human consumption. It's a menace to the other sea life....so people fish for it, kill it.... and leave it dead..... you have to kill it because it's a snake head fish.... it has feet.... little feet that it would use to get back in the water..... so it has to be killed.There was another big fish in the sea..... that fish that ate Jonah was a huge fish..... like whale big. It was so big it spit Jonah out on the beach when he learned his lesson. The pharaoh wouldn't be so lucky..... his fish is dead.... there's no burping the pharaoh back to work.
OK.... so this Monster in the seas has indeed sparked my imagination. I went to a museum in Mystic Seaport, Conn., when I was a kid. We learned about the whaling industry. Now that's a big fish......
Imagine going fishing for the day in the Nile.... I read that there is a fish called the Nile Perch..... and it can weigh as much as 20 pounds. Compared to the little perch that my dad and I caught.... that Nile Perch is a monster.
I can remember sitting on the dock at an apartment I rented a long long long time ago. The apartment was actually a porch, converted to a one bedroom apartment. It was one of those conversions with the bathroom and kitchen together..... anyway... it had a dock right out the front door..... and since it was a porch.... the view of Norman's Creek [right off the Chesapeake] was excellent. I remember being told that the fish were "tiny now." A guy who grew up fishing Norman's Creek told me that compared to the fish when he was a kid.... the fish were too small..... they weren't getting enough time to grow before being fished out to flop in the frying pan.
If the perch in the River Nile still weigh in at 10 to 20 pounds..... they must have weighed 100 pounds back in the days of pharaoh. So a monster fish.... it would have taken a lot of fisherman to pull it to shore..... and when it was gutted.... the blood would have created a huge puddle of red.
Egypt was a big fish....... and the Babylonians gutted it...... and left it to die in the hot sun...
