Ezekiel 29 - Bible Study, Explanation, and Application
Ezekiel 29 Bible Study
TIMELINE:
The prophecy in the first half of chapter 29 is dated to the 10th year, in the 10th month, of the exile of King Jehoiachin, 587 or 586 BC. The prophecy in the second half of the chapter is dated to the 27th year, 570 BC.
Below is a list of kings of Judah and dates for their reign:
Amon (642-640 BC)
Josiah (640-609 BC)
Jehoahaz (also known as Shallum, 609 BC)
Jehoiakim (initially known as Eliakim, 609-598 BC)
Jehoiachin (also known as Jeconiah or Coniah, 598-597 BC)
Zedekiah (His reign ended when Babylon conquered Judah, (597-586 BC)
WHAT WE STUDIED PREVIOUSLY
Ezekiel 1 – Ezekiel had a vision of 4 living creatures, 4 wheels, and God’s throne.
Ezekiel 2 – God commissioned Ezekiel to be a prophet to his rebellious countrymen.
Ezekiel 3 – The end of the heavenly vision. Ezekiel ate a scroll of God’s words, and God called him to be a watchman over the people of Judah.
Ezekiel 4 – Ezekiel prophesies with an object lesson in the street by laying on his side for 430 days, eating rations of bread, and creating a siege scene with a brick that represents Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 5 – After the 430 days, Ezekiel cut off his hair divided it up into 3 parts and used it as a symbol for what would happen to the people of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 6 – Ezekiel prophesies against the idol worshipers in Judah, telling them their bodies will be thrown at the feet of their powerless gods.
Ezekiel 7 – God spoke to Ezekiel about the day of His judgement. The end was near for the citizens of Jerusalem, and their doom was on the horizon.
Ezekiel 8 – Ezekiel saw a vision of the Temple in Jerusalem. God guided him through the courts and gates of the Temple and showed him the secret idolatries that filled God’s house.
Ezekiel 9 – God sends a man with a writing case to mark the foreheads of those who hated the idolatries of Judah. Afterwards, God sends 6 executioners to kill everyone in Jerusalem who didn’t have the mark.
Ezekiel 10 – God’s glory departed the inner sanctuary of the Temple and ascended to His throne carried by the 4 living creatures.
Ezekiel 11 – God announced judgement on the wicked rulers of Judah. They thought they were safe in Jerusalem, like meat in a cauldron, but God promised to bring them out for death and captivity. At the end of the chapter, God spoke of a future day, when He would regather a remnant of His people and give them a new heart and new spirit.
Ezekiel 12 – Ezekiel prophesied about the downfall of King Zedekiah by carrying his possessions out of his house as if he were going into exile. God promised that His judgement was near, and anyone who suggested otherwise would be put to shame.
Ezekiel 13 – God confronted the false prophets and sorceresses amongst the people of Judah. The false prophets falsely claimed to speak with the authority of God, and the sorceresses hunted the souls of God’s people through witchcraft and divination.
Ezekiel 14 – God condemned the elders of Judah who harbored love for idols in their hearts. He told Ezekiel Jerusalem would not be spared even if righteous men like Noah, Daniel, and Job lived there.
Ezekiel 15 – God compared the citizens of Jerusalem to useless vine wood that was good for nothing except to burn.
Ezekiel 16 – God compared his people to a young woman who he had raised and cared for. When she grew up, she turned her back on God and prostituted herself with foreign nations and idols.
Ezekiel 17 – Ezekiel spoke a parable to the people of Judah about two great eagles. The parable indicated that the King of Judah would betray Babylon and be uprooted by them.
Ezekiel 18 – The people of Judah were accusing God of punishing them for the sins of their ancestors. God clarified that each man was responsible and would be held accountable only for his own sins.
Ezekiel 19 – God lamented the unfaithfulness of His people through two laments, the lament of the lion cubs and the lament of the vine.
Ezekiel 20 - The elders of Israel wanted to consult with God, but God refused them based on their continual and cyclical rebellion against His laws. God spoke of His future judgement on Judah and His future grace that would restore the nation.
Ezekiel 21 – Ezekiel spoke of the sword of the Lord that God had sharpened to punish Judah. The king of Babylon stood at a fork in the road, and God was going to direct him and his army to Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 22 – God condemned Judah for a litany of sins and their total neglect of any attempt to keep His commands. He told them He would melt them down like metal within the furnace of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 23 – God illustrated the unfaithfulness of Israel and Judah with a story about two sisters, Oholah and Oholibah.
Ezekiel 24 – God compared Jerusalem to a corroded pot that would be emptied and melted down. In the second half of the chapter, Ezekiel’s wife died, and God instructed him not to mourn for her publicly as a sign of the fate of the citizens of Jerusalem and their beloved city.
Ezekiel 25 – God prophesied against Ammon, Edom, Seir, Moab, and the Philistines.
Ezekiel 26 - God prophesied against the city of Tyre. God was going to judge them by bringing the nations against them and destroying them. Babylon would attack first, followed by the Greeks under the command of Alexander the Great (332 BC).
Ezekiel 27 – God described the downfall of the city of Tyre. His judgement on them was going to take them from the mountain of wealth, power, and influence, down to obscurity in the depth of the sea, never to rise again.
Ezekiel 28 - God rebuked the king of Tyre, because in his pride, he elevated himself to the status of a God. Some believe the language is comparing the downfall of Tyre’s king to the fall of Satan. God promised to restore Judah, but Tyre would never be restored.
OUTLINE:
PROPHECY AGAINST EGYPT (29:1-16):
God told Ezekiel to prophesy against Egypt and Pharaoh.
God described Pharaoh as a great dragon who claimed ownership of the Nile River. He said, “My Nile is my own; I made it for myself” (29:3).
Ezekiel prophesied that God would put hooks in the dragon’s mouth, pull him out of the river, and throw him in the wilderness to be food for the wild animals.
When Israel and Judah leaned on Egypt for help, Egypt was like a fragile reed used as a walking stick, one that broke under the weight of its user. Egypt could never be relied on.
Sense they were proud and unhelpful to His people, God declared that He would bring the sword against Egypt.
He was going to make Egypt a “desolation and a waste” for 40 years. Like the Israelites who wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, the Egyptians were going to be made to go through a wilderness of their own.
At the end of the 40 years, God would reestablish Egypt, but not as the superpower they had once been. They would be a “lowly kingdom.”
EGYPT GIVEN TO NEBUCHADNEZZAR AS PAYMENT FOR TYRE (29:17-21):
In the 27th year of Jehoiachin’s exile, 570 BC, God told Ezekiel He was going to give the spoil of the nation of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, because Nebuchadnezzar had carried out God’s judgement on Tyre, attacking them for 13 years, but had not been paid for his labor.
This was because Nebuchadnezzar was unable to conquer the island portion of Tyre. He subjugated them, but only partially.
God said, “I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off its wealth and despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army… because they worked for Me.” (29:19-20).
HOW GOD’S JUDGEMENT MAY STILL EFFECT THE WORLD:
When we think of modern-day North Africa, most people think of dry and agriculturally challenged land.
The Sahara Desert stretches across several of the most northern countries in the continent.
When my wife and I lived in Tunisia, I was shocked to learn that ancient writers referred to that country as lush and green.
This is confirmed by modern geologists, who suggest north Africa used to be much greener, and the Saraha Desert was once not a desert at all but well-watered savannah.
Though not clarified in the Bible, the prophecies in Ezekiel about Egypt make me wonder if God’s judgement on the nation was partially carried out by significant climate change in the region of North Africa.
God intended to keep Egypt a lowly kingdom. One way He could have done that was by stripping them of their agriculture and natural resources.
