Bible Commentaries
Ezekiel 32

Verses 1-32

Chapter 32

Now in chapter 32, because this is his sad destiny, he takes up this lamentation. A lamentation is a wailing or a crying for the Pharaoh. You lament, or you wail.

And it came to pass in the twelfth year ( Ezekiel 32:1 ),

So this was a year later from the previous prophecy. Actually, a year and six months later, eighteen months later.

It came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a ( Ezekiel 32:1-2 )

A whale is a poor translation. You are really like a

[crocodile] in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and you troubled the waters with thy feet, and you fouled the rivers ( Ezekiel 32:2 ).

A crocodile or a dragon.

Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will therefore spread out my net ( Ezekiel 32:3 )

You're like a crocodile. You've muddied the waters; you've stirred things up, but I'm going to spread out a net.

over you with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in my net. Then will I leave thee upon the land, and I will cast thee forth on the open field, and will cause all the fowls of heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the earth with thee. And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with thy height. And I will also water with thy blood the land wherein you swim, even the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee. And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; and I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light ( Ezekiel 32:3-7 ).

Now as we get into this part of the prophecy where God speaks of the day when He puts her out, the heavens being covered, the stars dark, the sun will be covered with a cloud, and the moon will not give her light, brings into mind the prophecy of Joel concerning the time of the Great Tribulation, when the moon would be... the sun would be darkened, the moon would be turned to blood, and the stars would not shine. Jesus, of course, quoted this in Matthew 24 , as again, a part of the Great Tribulation of those days. And we find it recorded also in the book of Revelation, in the cataclysmic judgments that take place in the sixth seal. So, it is possible that this prophecy against the Pharaoh is one of those prophecies with a dual fulfillment. That he was talking about what would happen when Nebuchadnezzar conquered him, but also the going out and the judgment against Egypt in the day of the Great Tribulation. So there is that real possibility of a dual aspect to the fulfillment of this particular prophecy, and it not only spoke of the condition of the Pharaoh then, but as history repeats itself, when the Lord judges the earth these same conditions do take place in the time of the Great Tribulation.

All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD. I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries which you have not known. Yes, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall. For thus saith the Lord GOD; The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee. And by the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall, and the terrible of nations, all of them: and they shall spoil the pomp of Egypt, and the multitude thereof shall be destroyed. And I will destroy all the beasts thereof from beside the great waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them. Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord GOD. When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country shall be destitute of that whereof it was full, then I shall smite all of them that dwell therein, then shall they know that I am the LORD ( Ezekiel 32:8-15 ).

And again in all of these prophecies, the Lord declares when they are fulfilled then they shall know that I am the Lord. One of the purposes of prophecy, speaking of things in advance, is to give proof that God indeed has spoken. Jesus said, "I have told you these things before they come to pass so that when they come to pass you might believe." And so one of the strong apologetics of scripture is prophecy and the fulfillment of prophecy. And so over and over again as the prophecies are made, the Lord said, "And then shall ye know that I am the Lord." And, of course, when we get into Ezekiel our study next week, as it speaks of Russia's invasion with this massive army from all of her allies, including Libya and Ethiopia and all, Iraq, Iran and all, when they are all defeated in Israel, he said, "Then shall the nations of the world know that I am God. I will be sanctified before the nations of the world."

I was talking with a very wealthy Jewish friend about the Bible and about the Lord, and I was asking him what it was going to take to make him a believer. Because his whole thing was, "Where was God when my parents were gassed in Germany?" For his parents, both of them, killed by the Germans during the war. And I said, "But what will it take to make you a believer?" I said, "Here God said that He was going to make Israel a nation once again, and Israel is now a nation. Doesn't that say something to you?" He said, "No." He said, "It's very obvious we have had that in our heart from the beginning. You know, one day it was gonna be a nation again. We were going to take it again." He said, "We're tough people." I said, "Well, it says when Israel becomes a nation again that they will become a troublesome stone to all of those that are round about them, and if any nation tries to come against them, that they are really going to be hurt." And this was right after the '67 war. And I said, "Doesn't... look what's happened how Israel struck out against Jordan, Egypt and Syria, all at the same time and defeated all three. Took the Sinai, took the West Bank, and the Golan Heights, doesn't that cause you to believe?" He said, "No, I told you we were tough people." I said, "Well, the Bible says that Russia then will head an invasion against Israel, and will come with all of her allies to destroy this new nation. And that Russia is going to be totally defeated." He said, "When that happens, I'll become a believer." I said, "Paul, you might be just a little bit too late to escape the Great Tribulation that will follow." But we'll be getting into that more next week as we move on in this exciting prophecy of Ezekiel, as he gets into these... the re-gathering of the nation of Israel and the events of these last days.

Now as we get into verse Ezekiel 32:17 , we have a whole new prophecy. The lamentation against the Pharaoh is over with verse Ezekiel 32:16 . This is the lamentation. He is told to take up a lamentation for the Pharaoh.

And this is the lamentation wherewith they shall all lament her: they shall lament for her, even for Egypt, and all of her multitude. It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month ( Ezekiel 32:16-17 ),

This first prophecy came in the first day of the month, so fifteen days later he had another word from the Lord for Egypt.

saying, Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down to the pit. Whom dost thou pass in beauty? Go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised. They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword: draw her and all of her multitudes. The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword. Asshur is already there and all of her company: his graves are about him: all of the slain, fallen by the sword ( Ezekiel 32:17-22 ):

Egypt is going to fall and go into hell where Asshur has already been slain.

Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, her company is round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror for the land of the living. Elam is there and all of her multitude ( Ezekiel 32:23-24 )

And verse Ezekiel 32:25 :

They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all of her multitude: her graves are round about ( Ezekiel 32:25 ):

And so Egypt is to be cast down with these other nations. Meshech and Tubal, those nations from the north, along with Sidon, and then Edom is also there, verse Ezekiel 32:29 , and her kings and princes. And then verse Ezekiel 32:30 , the Zidonians.

And Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, saith the Lord GOD. For I have caused my terror in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all of the multitude, saith the Lord GOD ( Ezekiel 32:31-32 ). "