Ezekiel 29:3
Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says, 'The Nile is mine; I made it myself.'
Sermons
Boastful Self-ConfidenceJ.R. Thomson Ezekiel 29:3
Egypt: a Guilty VauntW. Clarkson Ezekiel 29:1-6
The World-Power DoomedJ.D. Davies Ezekiel 29:1-12
Mightier than the MightyJ.R. Thomson Ezekiel 29:3-5














The prophet, interdicted from prophesying concerning his own nation, directs his regard to one and another of the neighboring states, with all of which the Jews were in some way connected. With Egypt, Israel had from the earliest period of its history been related and associated. During the epoch of the Captivity, the attention of those Jews who were left in Jerusalem and in Judah was turned towards Egypt, from which source they thought they might obtain assistance against the power of Babylon. The prophets who lived and prophesied about this period had occasion again and again to warn their countrymen against alliance with Egypt, against looking to Egypt for help and deliverance. They regarded Babylon as fulfilling with respect to the Jewish people the decrees of Jehovah himself, and counseled submission and a willingness to learn the Divine lessons of calamity and of exile. It was this just view of the position of their countrymen which led Ezekiel and others to warn the Jews against seeking the aid of Egypt. But the offence of Egypt, on account of which the prophet in the passage denounces the indignation of the Divine Ruler, was the sin of pride and haughty self-confidence.

I. EGYPT'S GROUNDS FOR SELF-CONFIDENCE. There was very much in the position, the strength, and the history of Egypt which seemed to men to justify the nation's pride and assumption of superiority.

1. The river Nile is alluded to by Ezekiel in this passage - a river in some respects the most marvelous in the world. The mystery of its source, the remarkable rise and fall of the stream, occasioning the extraordinary fertility of the soil, the stately temples and the lordly cities upon its banks, the harbor and port at its entrance into the Mediterranean, - all invested the Nile with a peculiar interest. In fact, as has often been said, it is the Nile which made Egypt what it was - the birthplace of civilization and the granary of nations.

2. Hence the wonderful fruitfulness of the laud, and the wealth of every kind which in its ages of prosperity Egypt enjoyed by reason of its teeming products, by which not only were its own inhabitants supplied, but distant peoples were fed. The territory was narrow, hemmed in by the desert on either side, yet abounding in most of the necessaries and luxuries of life.

3. The antiquity and fame of Egypt were unparalleled. A great nation before the other famous monarchies and empires of the ancient world came into being, a nation renowned wherever civilization existed, Egypt was prone to count herself the mother of nations, and to look upon all others as parvenus. A genealogy lost in remote antiquity not unnaturally inspired much pride and self-confidence, much haughty contempt for those who had their position still to make among the nations.

4. Add to all this the consciousness of great military power. The armies, and especially the cavalry and the war-chariots of Egypt, were such as to render her both formidable as a foe and desirable as an ally. These several circumstances account for the conviction cherished by the Egyptians that they were of all nations the greatest, and the least exposed to calamity and disaster.

II. THE WICKEDNESS OF EGYPT'S SELF-CONFIDENCE.

1. This appears from the fact that Egypt assumed the prerogative of the Creator himself. "The river is mine!" was the proud boast of Pharaoh, who herein proved himself to have lost sight of the dependence and feebleness which are attributes of humanity. God's river, given for their use, was by the arrogant Egyptians claimed as their own.

2. Egypt failed to recognize its dependence for material and social advantages upon the superhuman Source and Giver of all good. God was not in all their ways.

3. On the contrary, the people of Egypt took credit to themselves for national greatness and prosperity. It is, indeed, a sin common among the mighty, the wealthy, the flattered; who are too much given to assume first that they deserve credit for the powers of body and of mind with which they are endowed; and then, secondly, that all the results of the exercise of those powers are due to themselves. But nothing is clearer than that our humanity is bound both to gratitude and to humility. The appeal may well be addressed to every individual and to every nation, "Who made thee to differ? What hast thou that thou didst not receive?"

III. THE PUNISHMENT OF EGYPT'S SELF-CONFIDENCE. Such a temper of mind, such language, and such confidence as the prophet here describes, could not be allowed to pass unchecked, unrebuked. The Egyptians were preparing humiliation for themselves; for if there is one scriptural principle more than another enforced by the lessons of history, it is this: "He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart; he hath put down princes from their thrones." The facts recorded agree with the predictions of the inspired prophet. Egypt was speedily

(1) subdued by her Babylonian the;

(2) humiliated by defeat; and

(3) enfeebled in her military power, crippled, and rendered impotent. - T.

Because they wrought for Me.
I. THE DISPOSAL OF STATES AND NATIONS IS THE WORK OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE.

1. Do we examine this dispensation in reference to the authority of God? It is unquestionably His prerogative: He has a right to do what He will with His own.

2. Do we consider it in connection with the Divine power? Nothing is too hard for the Lord; no difficulties lie in His way.

3. Do we survey the relation it has to the righteousness of God? He is the moral governor of the universe, "who renders to every man according to their works." Individuals can be rewarded or punished in another world; but communities are judged only in this.

4. Do we think of it in application to our own times? Unless we fix upon this principle we shall be in danger of debasing ourselves by joining in worldly parties and political rage; of feeling too much confidence in one class of men and too much fear of another; of prescribing the course of events, and suffering disappointment and mortification when our favourite measures are subverted.

II. MEN MAY SERVE GOD REALLY WHEN THEY DO NOT SERVE HIM BY DESIGN. Nebuchadrezzar is called the servant of God, as well as the Apostle Paul — but observe the difference between them; and, as God will derive glory from all His creatures, inquire which of these characters you are resembling. The former serves God, only from the influence of an overruling Providence — the latter, from the operation of Divine grace.

III. NONE CAN BE LOSERS BY ANYTHING THEY DO FOR GOD. Even services done for Him by worldly men obtain a temporal reward. The Egyptian females (Exodus 1:20, 21). Jehu was a vain, ostentatious, wicked prince, but "the Lord said unto Jehu," etc. (2 Kings 10:30). So here, "I have given Nebuchadrezzar the land of Egypt," etc. This is indeed a poor recompense. It may appear splendid and important in the eye of the vain and the sensual, but the righteous are fax from envying it. Egypt was all the remuneration of Nebuchadrezzar — and what could it do for him? What is it to him now? Ye servants of the most high God, who know Him and love Him; He has provided some better thing for you. He who noticed the hardships endured by the poor soldiers before Tyre, when every head was bald and every shoulder peeled, will not suffer you to labour in vain: He sees your difficulties; considers the burdens under which you bend; He hears your groans, and your sighs — when without are fightings, and within are fears. Is it a vain thing to serve the Lord? You will find your reward in the very nature of your work; you will find it in the glow of pleasure which attends virtuous exertion; you will find it in the approving testimony of your own conscience; you will find it in the esteem of the wise and good; you will find it in the blessing of them that were ready to perish; you will find it in the applause of your Lord and Saviour — "Well done," etc.

(W. Jay.)

1. This passage affords us a striking view of and insight into some of the mysterious acts of God's Providence. We behold how He can maintain His throne in the midst of the commotions of the universe; that no earthquake, throe, or agony in the terrestrial world can shake the foundations of its pillars or remove it from its steadfastness; and as the Governor of the world, we are struck with the harmony of all His actions, and the power whereby He extracts the good from every ill! If the sins of nations or individuals were always immediately followed with the punishment they merit, this world would not be a state of probation; obedience would not be voluntary, but forced; we should walk, not by faith, but by sight; we should not honour God by our confidence in His perfections and in the dispensations of His Providence. To destroy is easy, and discovers little perfection; it is the perfection of a tyrant. But the wisdom of God appears in making even the wrath of man to praise, and engaging that the remainder of that wrath He will restrain. This, then, is the plan upon which He acts in the government of the world, and hence He is called a wise Governor.

2. Behold an instance of the goodness and severity of God! Long did He spare that rebellious nation, the Jews; often did He warn them, sending His prophets to call them to a sense of their duty towards Him. But they steeled their hearts against conviction, and would none of His advice. At last He complains of them, they were like bullocks unaccustomed to the yoke; He fed them at His own stall; He gave them His easy yoke of duties, which ought to have been delightful, coming from so kind a hand; but, alas! they would not draw it in by gentle treatment; He goaded them by corrections; they kicked against the pricks, and ran back upon His chastisements; they were like a backsliding heifer! But behold the severity of God! The cup of their iniquity was full; Manasseh had greatly contributed to it; he had expressed a great quantity of the roots of bitterness into their portion, and his successors after him, with the exception of Josiah, added to it; till Zedekiah completed the measure and drew down on them wrath to the very uttermost.

3. Service of any kind done for God never goes unrewarded. None can be losers by anything they do for Him: in one way or other He will surely recompense them. He is independent of the creature; the cause can never be dependent on its effect; He could act both in the natural and moral world without human agency; and doubtless He would have done so had it been as agreeable to His wisdom as it was easy to His power. But where would be the reward of the faithful steward? In the moral world the power which He manifested on the day of Pentecost might be again exerted. But what room, then, for the work of faith, the labour of love, and the patience of hope?

(J. Summerfield, M. A.).

The Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon.
A London Minister.
I. THE SOUL THAT WILL NOT GROW DOWN MUST BE CUT DOWN. Trees that are to stand the storm must send their roots deep into the earth. A man that is to face successfully the storms of life must have a downward growth of humility and faith. "He that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

II. THE TRUE TEACHER OF MAN IS GREATER THAN A MONARCH WHOSE POSITION ONLY GIVES HIM POWER. Pharaoh must go to school to Ezekiel. A man is more than a king.

(A London Minister.)

People
Egyptians, Ezekiel, Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadrezzar, Pharaoh
Places
Babylon, Cush, Egypt, Migdol, Nile River, Pathros, Sidon, Syene, Tyre
Topics
Behold, Crouching, Dragon, Egypt, Flood, Floods, Hast, Lies, Lieth, Lying, Midst, Monster, Myself, Nile, Pharaoh, River, River-beast, Rivers, Says, Sovereign, Speak, Streams, Stretched, Thus
Outline
1. The judgment of Pharaoh for his treachery to Israel
8. The desolation of Egypt
13. The restoration thereof after forty years
17. Egypt the reward of Nebuchadnezzar
21. Israel shall be restored

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Ezekiel 29:3-5

     4260   rivers and streams

Library
But Perhaps Some one is Alarmed at Hearing us Discourse of the Death of Him
16. But perhaps some one is alarmed at hearing us discourse of the death of Him of Whom, a short while since, we said that He is everlasting with God the Father, and that He was begotten of the Father's substance, and is one with God the Father, in dominion, majesty, and eternity. But be not alarmed, O faithful hearer. Presently thou wilt see Him of Whose death thou hearest once more immortal; for the death to which He submits is about to spoil death. For the object of that mystery of the Incarnation
Various—Life and Works of Rufinus with Jerome's Apology Against Rufinus.

The Plan for the Coming of Jesus.
God's Darling, Psalms 8:5-8.--the plan for the new man--the Hebrew picture by itself--difference between God's plan and actual events--one purpose through breaking plans--the original plan--a starting point--getting inside. Fastening a Tether inside: the longest way around--the pedigree--the start. First Touches on the Canvas: the first touch, Genesis 3:15.--three groups of prediction--first group: to Abraham, Genesis 12:1-3; to Isaac, Genesis 26:1-5; to Jacob, Genesis 28:10-15; through Jacob,
S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks about Jesus

Ezekiel
To a modern taste, Ezekiel does not appeal anything like so powerfully as Isaiah or Jeremiah. He has neither the majesty of the one nor the tenderness and passion of the other. There is much in him that is fantastic, and much that is ritualistic. His imaginations border sometimes on the grotesque and sometimes on the mechanical. Yet he is a historical figure of the first importance; it was very largely from him that Judaism received the ecclesiastical impulse by which for centuries it was powerfully
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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