Scripture Daily

Context No. 1457 of 4322 · Ezekiel

Context · Reflection

Ezekiel 30:6-12: in context

6“‘The LORD says: “They also who uphold Egypt will fall. The pride of her power will come down. They will fall by the sword in it from the tower of Seveneh,” says the Lord GOD. 7“They will be desolate in the middle of the countries that are desolate. Her cities will be among the cities that are wasted. 8They will know that I am the LORD when I have set a fire in Egypt, and all her helpers are destroyed. 9“‘“In that day messengers will go out from before me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid. There will be anguish on them, as in the day of Egypt; for, behold, it comes.” 10“‘The Lord GOD says: “I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 11He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, will be brought in to destroy the land. They will draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain. 12I will make the rivers dry, and will sell the land into the hand of evil men. I will make the land desolate, and all that is therein, by the hand of foreigners. I, the LORD, have spoken it.”

This is part of a series of oracles against Egypt. The LORD declares that Egypt will fall, and with her all who lean on her: those who uphold Egypt will fall, the pride of her power will come down, her helpers will be destroyed. God announces that he will bring Nebuchadnezzar against the land, dry up its rivers, and make it desolate, so that Egypt and all who relied on her will know that he is the LORD. The great nation that seemed unshakable is declared destined to fall.

The phrase at the center is the pride of her power will come down. Egypt was one of the great and enduring powers of the ancient world, a nation that seemed permanent, a natural refuge for smaller peoples to lean on; and God declares that its proud strength will be brought down like anything else. But notice a detail worth catching: those who uphold Egypt will fall, her helpers will be destroyed. Egypt does not fall alone; those who had leaned on her, who had made her their support and refuge, fall with her. This is the danger of putting our confidence in worldly power, in a strong nation, a wealthy patron, an impressive institution, anything that looks unshakable. Such powers, however permanent they seem, come down in the end, and those who staked their security on them come down too. The smaller peoples who trusted Egypt to protect them discovered that their refuge was itself doomed, and they shared its fall. There is a warning in this against leaning on the proud powers of the world for our security. What looks unshakable is not; the strong nation, the imposing institution, the impressive human strength we might be tempted to rely on, will one day have its pride brought down, and those who leaned on it rather than on God will fall with it. The only refuge that does not fall is God himself; every other, however grand, is an Egypt whose helpers go down with her.

Where have I leaned on some worldly power for my security, a strong institution, a wealthy patron, an impressive human strength that seemed unshakable, and do I see that such powers come down and take their dependents with them, so that only God is a refuge that does not fall?

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