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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Ezekiel XXIX].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>E Z E K I E L.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXIX.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Three chapters we had concerning Tyre and its king; next follow four
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chapters concerning Egypt and its king. This is the first of them.
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Egypt had formerly been a house of bondage to God's people; of late
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they had had but too friendly a correspondence with it, and had
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depended too much upon it; and therefore, whether the prediction
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reached Egypt or no, it would be of use to Israel, to take them off
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from their confidence in their alliance with it. The prophecies against
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Egypt, which are all laid together in these four chapters, were of five
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several dates; the first in the 10th year of the captivity
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:1">ver. 1</A>),
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the second in the 27th
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:17">ver. 17</A>),
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the third in the 11th year and the first month
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+30:20"><I>ch.</I> xxx. 20</A>),
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the fourth in the 11th year and the third month
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:1"><I>ch.</I> xxxi. 1</A>),
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the fifth in the 12th year
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+32:1"><I>ch.</I> xxxii. 1</A>),
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and another in the same year,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:17">ver. 17</A>.
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In this chapter we have,
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I. The destruction of Pharaoh foretold, for his dealing deceitfully
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with Israel,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:1-7">ver. 1-7</A>.
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II. The desolation of the land of Egypt foretold,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:8-12">ver. 8-12</A>.
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III. A promise of the restoration thereof, in part, after forty years,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:13-16">ver. 13-16</A>.
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IV. The possession that should be given to Nebuchadnezzar of the land
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of Egypt,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:17-20">ver. 17-20</A>.
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V. A promise of mercy to Israel,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:21">ver. 21</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Eze29_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze29_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze29_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze29_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze29_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze29_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze29_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Pride of Pharaoh; The Ruin of Pharaoh.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 589.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 In the tenth year, in the tenth <I>month,</I> in the twelfth <I>day</I>
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of the month, the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came unto me, saying,
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2 Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and
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prophesy against him, and against all Egypt:
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3 Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; Behold, I <I>am</I>
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against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth
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in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river <I>is</I> mine
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own, and I have made <I>it</I> for myself.
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4 But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish
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of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up
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out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers
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shall stick unto thy scales.
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5 And I will leave thee <I>thrown</I> into the wilderness, thee and
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all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields;
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thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given
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thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the
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heaven.
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6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I <I>am</I> the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of
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Israel.
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7 When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break,
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and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou
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brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. The date of this prophecy against Egypt. It was in the <I>tenth year
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of the captivity,</I> and yet it is placed after the prophecy against
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Tyre, which was delivered in the eleventh year, because, in the
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accomplishment of the prophecies, the destruction of Tyre happened
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before the destruction of Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar's gaining Egypt was
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the reward of his service against Tyre; and <I>therefore</I> the
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prophecy against Tyre is put first, that we may the better observe
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that. But particular notice must be taken of this, that the first
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prophecy against Egypt was just at the time when the king of Egypt was
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coming to relieve Jerusalem and raise the siege
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+37:5">Jer. xxxvii. 5</A>),
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but did not answer the expectations of the Jews from them. Note, It is
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good to foresee the failing of all our creature-confidences, then when
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we are most in temptation to depend upon them, that we may <I>cease
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from man.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. The scope of this prophecy. It is directed against <I>Pharaoh king
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of Egypt, and against all Egypt,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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The prophecy against Tyre began with the people, and then proceeded
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against the prince. But this begins with the prince, because it began
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to have its accomplishment in the insurrections and rebellions of the
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people against the prince, not long after this.</P>
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<P>
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III. The prophecy itself. Pharaoh Hophrah (for so was the reigning
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Pharaoh surnamed) is here represented by a <I>great dragon,</I> or
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crocodile, that <I>lies in the midst of his rivers,</I> as Leviathan in
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the waters, to <I>play therein,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Nilus, the river of Egypt, was famed for crocodiles. And what is the
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king of Egypt, in God's account, but a <I>great dragon,</I> venomous
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and mischievous? Therefore says God, <I>I am against thee. I am above
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thee;</I> so it may be read. How high soever the princes and
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potentates of the earth are, there is a <I>higher than they</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:8">Eccl. v. 8</A>),
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a God above them, that can control them, and, if they be tyrannical and
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oppressive, a God against them, that will be free to reckon with them.
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Observe here,</P>
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<P>
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1. The pride and security of Pharaoh. He <I>lies in the midst of his
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rivers,</I> rolls himself with a great deal of satisfaction in his
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wealth and pleasures; and he says, <I>My river is my own.</I> He boasts
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that he is an absolute prince (his subjects are his vassals; Joseph
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bought them long ago,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+47:23">Gen. xlvii. 23</A>),--
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that he is a sole prince, and has neither partner in the government nor
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competitor for it,--that he is out of debt (what he has is his
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<I>own,</I> and none of his neighbours have any demands upon
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him),--that he is independent, neither tributary nor accountable to
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any. Note, Worldly carnal minds please themselves with, and pride
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themselves in, their property, forgetting that whatever we have we have
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only the use of it, the property is in God. We ourselves are not our
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own, but his. Our <I>tongues are not our own,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+12:4">Ps. xii. 4</A>.
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Our river is not <I>our own,</I> for its springs are in God. The most
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potent prince cannot call what he has his own, for, though it be so
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against all the world, it is not so against God. But Pharaoh's reason
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for his pretensions is yet more absurd: <I>My river is my own,</I> for
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<I>I have made it for myself.</I> Here he usurps two of the divine
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prerogatives, to be the author and the end of his own being and
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felicity. He only that is the great Creator can say of this world, and
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of every thing in it, <I>I have made it for myself.</I> He calls his
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river his own because he <I>looks not unto the Maker thereof, nor has
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respect unto him that fashioned it long ago,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+22:11">Isa. xxii. 11</A>.
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What we have we have received from God and must use for God, so that we
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cannot say, We made it, much less, We made it for ourselves; and why
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then do we boast? Note, Self is the great idol that all the world
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worships, in contempt of God and his sovereignty.</P>
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<P>
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2. The course God will take with this proud man, to humble him. He is a
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great dragon in the waters, and God will accordingly deal with him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:4,5"><I>v.</I> 4, 5</A>.
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(1.) He will draw him out of his rivers, for he has <I>a hook and a
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cord</I> for this <I>leviathan,</I> with which he can manage him,
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though none on earth can
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+41:1">Job xli. 1</A>):
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"<I>I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers,</I> will cast
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thee out of thy palace, out of thy kingdom, out of all those things in
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which thou takest such a complacency and placest such a confidence."
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Herodotus related of this Pharaoh, who was now king of Egypt, that he
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had reigned in great prosperity for twenty-five years, and was so
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elevated with his successes that he said that <I>God himself would not
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cast him out of his kingdom;</I> but he shall soon be convinced of his
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mistake, and what he depended on shall be no defence. God can force men
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out of that in which they are most secure and easy.
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(2.) <I>All his fish</I> shall be drawn out with him, his servants, his
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soldiers, and all that had a dependence on him, as he thought, but
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really such as he had dependence upon. These shall <I>stick to his
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scales,</I> adhere to their king, resolving to live and die with him.
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But,
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(3.) The king and his army, the dragon and all the fish that stick to
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his scales, shall perish together, as fish cast upon dry ground, and
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shall be <I>meat to the beasts and fowls,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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Now this is supposed to have had its accomplishment soon after, when
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this Pharaoh, in defence of Aricius king of Libya, who had been
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expelled his kingdom by the Cyrenians, levied a great army, and went
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out against the Cyrenians, to re-establish his friend, but was defeated
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in battle, and all his forces were put to flight, which gave such
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disgust to his kingdom that they rose in rebellion against him. Thus
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was he left <I>thrown into the wilderness, he and all the fish of the
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river</I> with him. Thus issue men's pride, and presumption, and carnal
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security. Thus men justly lose what they might call their own, under
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God, when they call it their own against him.</P>
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<P>
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3. The ground of the controversy God has with the Egyptians; it is
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because they have cheated his people. They encouraged them to expect
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relief and assistance from them when they were in distress, but failed
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them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:6,7"><I>v.</I> 6, 7</A>):
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<I>Because they have been a staff of reed to the house of</I> Israel.
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They pretended to be a staff for them to lean upon, but, when any
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stress was laid upon them, they were either weak and could not or
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treacherous and would not do that for them which was expected. They
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<I>broke under them,</I> to their great disappointment and amazement,
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so that they <I>rent their shoulder</I> and <I>made all their loins to
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be at a stand.</I> The king of Egypt, it is probable, had encouraged
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Zedekiah to break his league with the king of Babylon, with a promise
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that he would stand by him, which, when he failed to do, to any
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purpose, it could not but put them into a great consternation. God had
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told them, long since, that the Egyptians were broken reeds,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:6">Isa. xxx. 6, 7</A>.
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Rabshakeh had told them so,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+36:6">Isa. xxxvi. 6</A>.
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And now they found it so. It was indeed the folly of Israel to trust
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them, and they were well enough served when they were deceived in them.
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God was righteous in suffering them to be so. But that is no excuse at
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all for the Egyptians' falsehood and treachery, nor shall it secure
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them from the judgments of that God who is and will be the avenger of
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all such wrongs. It is a great sin, and very provoking to God, as well
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as unjust, ungrateful, and very dishonourable and unkind, to put a
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cheat upon those that put a confidence in us.</P>
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<A NAME="Eze29_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze29_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze29_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze29_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze29_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze29_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze29_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze29_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze29_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Fall and Restoration of Egypt.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 589.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>8 Therefore thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; Behold, I will bring a
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sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.
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9 And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they
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shall know that I <I>am</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: because he hath said, The river
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<I>is</I> mine, and I have made <I>it.</I>
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10 Behold, therefore I <I>am</I> against thee, and against thy
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rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste <I>and</I>
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desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of
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Ethiopia.
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11 No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast
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shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.
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12 And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of
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the countries <I>that are</I> desolate, and her cities among the
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cities <I>that are</I> laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I
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will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse
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them through the countries.
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13 Yet thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; At the end of forty years will
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I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were
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scattered:
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14 And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will
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cause them to return <I>into</I> the land of Pathros, into the land of
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their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom.
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15 It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it
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exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish
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them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.
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16 And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of
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Israel, which bringeth <I>their</I> iniquity to remembrance, when they
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shall look after them: but they shall know that I <I>am</I> the Lord
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G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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This explains the foregoing prediction, which was figurative, and looks
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something further. Here is a prophecy,</P>
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<P>
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I. Of the ruin of Egypt. The threatening of this is very full and
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particular; and the sin for which this ruin shall be brought upon them
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is their pride,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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They said, <I>The river is mine and I have made it;</I> therefore their
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land shall spue them out.
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1. God is against them, both against the king and against the people,
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<I>against thee and against thy rivers.</I> Waters signify <I>people
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and multitudes,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+17:15">Rev. xvii. 15</A>.
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2. Multitudes of them shall be cut off by the sword of war, a sword
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which God will bring upon them to destroy <I>both man and beast,</I>
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the sword of civil war.
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3. The country shall be depopulated. The <I>land of Egypt shall be
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desolate and waste</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
the country not cultivated, the cities not inhabited. The wealth of
|
|
both was their pride, and that God will take away. It <I>shall be
|
|
utterly waste (wastes of waste,</I> so the margin reads it), <I>and
|
|
desolate</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>);
|
|
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|
<I>neither men nor beasts shall pass through it, nor shall it be
|
|
inhabited</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>);
|
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|
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it shall be <I>desolate in the midst of the countries that are so,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
This was the effect not so much of those wars spoken of before, which
|
|
were made by them, but of the war which the king of Babylon made upon
|
|
them. It shall be desolate from one end of the land to the other,
|
|
<I>from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia.</I> The
|
|
sin of pride is enough to ruin a whole nation.
|
|
|
|
4. The people shall be dispersed and scattered among the nations
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
so that those who thought the balance of power was in their hand should
|
|
now become a contemptible people. Such a fall does a haughty spirit go
|
|
before.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Of the restoration of Egypt after awhile,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
Egypt shall lie <I>desolate forty years</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>)
|
|
|
|
and then <I>I will bring again the captivity of Egypt,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Some date the forty years from Nebuchadnezzar's destroying Egypt,
|
|
others from the desolation of Egypt some time before; however, they end
|
|
about the first year of Cyrus, when the seventy years' captivity of
|
|
Judah ended, or soon after. Then this prediction was accomplished,
|
|
|
|
1. That God will gather the Egyptians out of all the countries into
|
|
which they were dispersed, and make them to <I>return to the land of
|
|
their habitation,</I> and give them a settlement there again,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Though God will find out a way to humble the proud, yet he will
|
|
not contend for ever, no, not with them in this world.
|
|
|
|
2. That yet they shall not make a figure again as they have done. Egypt
|
|
shall be <I>a kingdom</I> again, but it shall be the <I>basest of the
|
|
kingdoms</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>);
|
|
|
|
it shall have but little wealth and power, and shall not extend its
|
|
conquests as formerly; it shall be the tail of the nations, and not the
|
|
head. It is a mercy that it shall become a kingdom again, but, to
|
|
humble it, it shall be a despicable kingdom; it shall be a long time
|
|
before it recover any thing like its ancient lustre. For two reasons it
|
|
shall be thus mortified:--
|
|
|
|
(1.) That it may not domineer over its neighbours, that it may not
|
|
<I>exalt itself above the nations,</I> nor <I>rule over the
|
|
nations,</I> as it has done, but that it may know what it is to be low
|
|
and despised. Note, Those who abuse their power will justly be
|
|
stripped of it; and God, as King of nations, will find out a way to
|
|
maintain the injured rights and liberties, not only of his own, but of
|
|
other nations.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That it may not deceive the people of God
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>It shall no more be the confidence of the house of Israel;</I> they
|
|
shall no more be in temptation to trust in it as they have done, which
|
|
is a sin that <I>brings their iniquity to remembrance,</I> that is,
|
|
provokes God to punish them not for that only, but for all their other
|
|
sins. Or it <I>puts them in mind</I> of their idolatries to return to
|
|
them, <I>when they look</I> to the idolaters, to repose a confidence in
|
|
them. Note, The creatures we confide in are often <I>therefore</I>
|
|
ruined, because there is no other way effectually to cure us of our
|
|
confidence in them. Rather than Israel shall be ensnared again, the
|
|
whole land of Egypt shall be laid waste. He that once <I>gave Egypt for
|
|
their ransom</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:3">Isa. xliii. 3</A>)
|
|
|
|
will now give Egypt for their cure; and it shall be destroyed rather
|
|
than Israel shall not in this particular be reformed. God, not only in
|
|
justice, but in wisdom and goodness to us, breaks those creature-stays
|
|
which we lean too much upon, and makes them to be no more, that they
|
|
may be no more our confidence.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Eze29_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze29_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze29_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze29_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Eze29_21"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>A Promise to Nebuchadnezzar.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 589.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>17 And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the
|
|
first <I>month,</I> in the first <I>day</I> of the month, the word of the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came unto me, saying,
|
|
18 Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army
|
|
to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head <I>was</I> made
|
|
bald, and every shoulder <I>was</I> peeled: yet had he no wages, nor
|
|
his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against
|
|
it:
|
|
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; Behold, I will give the
|
|
land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall
|
|
take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it
|
|
shall be the wages for his army.
|
|
20 I have given him the land of Egypt <I>for</I> his labour
|
|
wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me,
|
|
saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>.
|
|
21 In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to
|
|
bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the
|
|
midst of them; and they shall know that I <I>am</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The date of this prophecy is observable; it was in the twenty-seventh
|
|
year of Ezekiel's captivity, sixteen years after the prophecy in the
|
|
former part of the chapter, and almost as long after those which follow
|
|
in the next chapters; but it comes in here for the explication of all
|
|
that was said against Egypt. After the destruction of Jerusalem
|
|
Nebuchadnezzar spent two or three campaigns in the conquest of the
|
|
Ammonites and Moabites and making himself master of their countries.
|
|
Then he spent thirteen years in the siege of Tyre. During all that time
|
|
the Egyptians were embroiled in war with the Cyrenians and one with
|
|
another, by which they were very much weakened and impoverished; and
|
|
just at the end of the siege of Tyre God delivers this prophecy to
|
|
Ezekiel, to signify to him that that utter destruction of Egypt which
|
|
he had foretold fifteen or sixteen years before, which had been but in
|
|
part accomplished hitherto, should now be completed by Nebuchadnezzar.
|
|
The prophecy which begins here, it should seem, is continued to the
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+30:20">twentieth verse</A>
|
|
|
|
of the next chapter. And Dr. Lightfoot observes that it is the last
|
|
prophecy we have of this prophet, and should have been last in the
|
|
book, but is laid here, that all the prophecies against Egypt might
|
|
come together. The particular destruction of Pharaoh-Hophrah, foretold
|
|
in the former part of this chapter, was likewise foretold
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:30">Jer. xliv. 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
This general devastation of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar was foretold
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+43:10">Jer. xliii. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. What success God would give to Nebuchadnezzar and his forces against
|
|
Egypt. God gave him <I>that land,</I> that he might <I>take the
|
|
spoil</I> and <I>prey</I> of it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:19,20"><I>v.</I> 19, 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
It was a cheap and easy prey. He subdued it with very little
|
|
difficulty; the blood and treasure expended upon the conquest of it
|
|
were inconsiderable. But it was a rich prey, and he carried off a great
|
|
deal from it that was of value. Their having been divided among
|
|
themselves, no doubt, gave a common enemy great advantage against them,
|
|
who, when they had been so long preying upon one another, soon made a
|
|
prey of them all. <I>En! quo discordia cives perduxit miseros--What
|
|
wretchedness does civil discord bring!</I> Jeremiah foretold that
|
|
Nebuchadnezzar should <I>array himself with the land of Egypt as a
|
|
shepherd puts on his coat,</I> which intimates what a rich and cheap
|
|
prey it should be.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Upon what considerations God would give Nebuchadnezzar this success
|
|
against Egypt; it was to be a recompence to him for the hard service
|
|
with which he had caused his army to serve against Tyre,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:18,20"><I>v.</I> 18, 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. The taking of Tyre was a tedious piece of work; it cost
|
|
Nebuchadnezzar abundance of blood and treasure. It held out thirteen
|
|
years; all that time the Chaldean army was hard at it, to make
|
|
themselves masters of it. A large current of the sea, between Tyre and
|
|
the continent, was filled up with earth, and many other difficulties
|
|
which were thought insuperable they had to struggle with; but so great
|
|
a prince, having begun such an undertaking, thought himself bound in
|
|
honour to push it on, whatever it cost him. How many thousand lives
|
|
have been sacrificed to such points of honour as this as! In
|
|
prosecuting this siege <I>every head was made bald, and every shoulder
|
|
peeled,</I> with carrying burdens and labouring in the water when they
|
|
had a strong tide and a strong town to contend with. Egypt, a large
|
|
kingdom, being divided within itself, is easily conquered; Tyre, a
|
|
single city, being unanimous, is with difficulty subdued. Those that
|
|
have much to do in the world find some affairs go on a great deal more
|
|
readily and easily than others. But,
|
|
|
|
2. In this service God own that they <I>wrought for him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
He set them at work, for the humbling of a proud city and its king,
|
|
though <I>they meant not so, neither did their heart think so,</I> who
|
|
were employed in it. Note, Even great men and bad men are tools that
|
|
God makes use of, and are <I>working for him</I> even when they are
|
|
pursuing their own covetous and ambitious designs; so wonderfully does
|
|
God overrule all to his own glory. Yet,
|
|
|
|
3. For this service he had <I>no wages</I> nor <I>his army.</I> He was
|
|
at a vast expense to take Tyre; and when he had it, though it was a
|
|
very rich city, and he promised himself good plunder for his army from
|
|
it, he was disappointed; the Tyrians sent away by ship their best
|
|
effects, and threw the rest into the sea, so that they had nothing but
|
|
bare walls. Thus are the children of this world ordinarily frustrated
|
|
in their highest expectations from it. Therefore,
|
|
|
|
4. He shall have the spoil of Egypt to recompense him for his service
|
|
against Tyre. Note, God will be behind-hand with none for any service
|
|
they do for him, but, one way or other, will recompense them for it;
|
|
none shall kindle a fire on his altar for nought. The service done for
|
|
him by worldly men, with worldly designs, shall be recompensed with a
|
|
mere worldly reward, which his faithful servants, that have a sincere
|
|
regard to his will and glory, would not be put off with. This accounts
|
|
for the prosperity of wicked men in this world; God is in it paying
|
|
them for some service or other, in which he has made use of them.
|
|
<I>Verily they have their reward.</I> Let none envy it them. The
|
|
conquest of Egypt is spoken of as Nebuchadnezzar's <I>full reward,</I>
|
|
for that completed his dominion over the then known world in a manner;
|
|
that was the last of the kingdoms he subdued; when he was master of
|
|
that he became the <I>head of gold.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The mercy God had in store for the house of Israel soon after.
|
|
When the tide is at the highest it will turn, and so it will when it is
|
|
at the lowest. Nebuchadnezzar was in the zenith of his glory when he
|
|
had conquered Egypt, but within a year after he ran mad
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+4:28-37">Dan. iv.</A>),
|
|
|
|
was so seven years, and within a year or two after he had recovered his
|
|
senses he resigned his life. When he was at the highest Israel was at
|
|
the lowest; then were they in the depth of their captivity, their bones
|
|
dead and dry; but <I>in that day the horn of the house of Israel shall
|
|
bud forth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
The day of their deliverance shall begin to dawn, and they shall have
|
|
some little reviving in their bondage, in the honour that shall be
|
|
done,
|
|
|
|
1. To their princes; they are the <I>horns of the house of Israel,</I>
|
|
the seat of their glory and power. These began to bud forth when Daniel
|
|
and his fellows were highly preferred in Babylon; Daniel <I>sat in the
|
|
gate of the city; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were set over the
|
|
affairs of the province</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+2:49">Dan. ii. 49</A>);
|
|
|
|
these were all <I>of the king's seed, and of the princes,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+1:3">Dan. i. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
And it was within a year after the conquest of Egypt that they were
|
|
thus preferred; and, soon after, three of them were made famous by the
|
|
honour God put upon them in bringing them alive out of the burning
|
|
fiery furnace. This might very well be called the <I>budding forth of
|
|
the horn of the house of Israel.</I> And, some years after, this
|
|
promise had a further accomplishment in the enlargement and elevation
|
|
of Jehoiachin king of Judah,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+52:31,32">Jer. lii. 31, 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
They were both tokens of God's favour to Israel, and happy omens.
|
|
|
|
2. To their prophets. And <I>I will give thee the opening of the
|
|
mouth.</I> Though none of Ezekiel's prophecies, after this, are
|
|
recorded, yet we have reason to think he went on prophesying, and with
|
|
more liberty and boldness, when Daniel and his fellows were in power,
|
|
and would be ready to protect him not only from the Babylonians, but
|
|
from the wicked ones of his own people. Note, It bodes well to a
|
|
people when God enlarges the liberties of his ministers and they are
|
|
countenanced and encouraged in their work.</P>
|
|
|
|
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