A Lament for Egypt

 

Ezekiel 30:1-12

 

January 9, 2024

 

A Lament for Egypt

The word of the Lord came to me:  “Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God: “Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’ For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.  A sword shall come upon Egypt, and anguish shall be in Cush, when the slain fall in Egypt, and her wealth is carried away, and her foundations are torn down.

Cush, and Put, and Lud, and all Arabia, and Libya, and the people of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.  “Thus says the Lord: Those who support Egypt shall fall, and her proud might shall come down; from Migdol to Syene they shall fall within her by the sword, declares the Lord God.  And they shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries, and their cities shall be in the midst of cities that are laid waste. Then they will know that I am the Lord when I have set fire to Egypt, and all her helpers are broken. “On that day messengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting people of Cush, and anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt's doom; for, behold, it comes!  “Thus says the Lord God: “I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.  He and his people with him, the most ruthless of nations, shall be brought in to destroy the land, and they shall draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain.  And I will dry up the Nile and will sell the land into the hand of evildoers; I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it, by the hand of foreigners; I am the Lord; I have spoken.

 

I have a strong feeling many of my readers in the USA will not be, in agreement, with this writer.  God often uses men who are not the most socially expectable, just not nice people, and they come across as bullies, rude, and even say things that a leader should not say.  President Trump is such a man, and so was Nebuchadnezzar, whom God used to bring judgment on Israel, Judah, Tyre, and Egypt and the nations that were aligned with them.

 

As we study the Scripture, we must be open to this one truth, God’s ways are not our ways, His thoughts are much higher than ours.  God often used men and even women whom we would not have used to both bless and bring judgment. 

 

The danger is that often we are aliening against God’s will and purpose when we allow our desires to be against God’s purpose and, will.

 

In the case of our ex-president, I voted for him and will do so again, and yet I do not care for his social skills, but I do believe he loves our Nation and puts it above the one-world people who want open borders and be like Europe.  May I remind you that people came from Europe for freedom of religion, to not be under a king, and to live as a free people?  To have laws that cover all people and not just the lower class, and that was what our government was founded on, we are in danger of losing that because we have no understanding of history or the ways of God. 

 

I’m not sure most of us would want to hang out with either King Nebuchadnezzar or Cyrus, but both were used by God to bring both freedom and judgment.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice