Ezekiel 32:17-32 It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the LORD came to me, saying,… In this highly figurative prophetic utterance we have - I. THE PROPHET'S VISION ITSELF. He sees Egypt taking her place, as a fallen power, amongst the departed in the nether world. Nothing could save her; there was no reason why she should not go down as other guilty powers had done, "Whom did she pass in beauty?" (Ver. 19). No distinction could be made in her case; she must "go down and be laid with the uncircumcised" (Ver. 19), "she and all her multitude" (Ver. 20). "The strong amongst the mighty" (in Shoal) give the latest comer welcome (Ver. 21). Assyria, with all tier company, is there to greet her; there, too, is Persia (Elam), and there is Scythia (Ver. 26), with "their swords under their heads, but their iniquities upon their bones (Ver. 27); Edom also is there, with her kings and princes, and "all the Zidonians, gone down with the slain." The old kingdoms that arose and that were sustained by violence have "perished with the sword" (Matthew 26:52), and the prophet of Jehovah is commissioned to" cast down Pharaoh" (Ver. 18) into "the nether parts of the earth" with them. 1. It is Egypt's sad fate to be discrowned of her power, as a mighty monarchy, to come down from her high place of honor and of command, to suffer an humiliating prostration from which she could have no hope of recovering. 2. It was Egypt's comfort that, in this descent, she would take her place amongst the greatest and strongest powers that once were upon the earth, but that had "gone down" to the shades. Pharaoh should see these, "and be comforted." She would not suffer alone. II. ITS HISTORICAL PARALLEL. Those who have lived as God's servants, and have cared for the cause of righteousness, for the kingdom of God, have watched that they might witness the working of his hand among the great kingdoms of the earth. And they have seen that issue which Ezekiel here foretells concerning Egypt. They have seen great empires, rich and flourishing cities, powerful republics, that once "stood strong and even claimed to be immortal, broken under the weight of their iniquities, burdened with their wealth and all the corruptions it engendered, struck by the holy hand of Divine retribution," go down," and disappear. We look for them now, but they are no more. The same skies and the same hills and plains are there; the rivers that ran through the land still flow on; but what is left of their buildings, if anything is left at all, is in ruin; and the power that once was has utterly departed. It lives in nothing but in story and in song. But what is - III. ITS PERSONAL APPLICATION. Not only the king or the prince, but also "the multitude," are seen in the nether parts (Vers. 18, 24, 26). The people are there. This directs us to: 1. A common impending fate. Some day the grave will hold all the living. Indeed, to the poet's eye, this earth is less the home of the living than the resting-place of the dead. "The hills, Rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun, the vales Stretching in pensive quietness between; The venerable woods, rivers that move In majesty, and the complaining brooks That make the meadows green; and, poured round all, Old ocean's grey and melancholy waste, Are but the solemn decorations all Of the great tomb of man." (Bryant.) As the multitude that once trod the earth now "slumber in its bosom," so we also shall soon find our place beneath the ground. 2. A poetical consolation. Small comfort would it be to Pharaoh (see Ver. 31) to find that he and his were in no worse plight than other kings and peoples who tenanted the shades. But such as it was, it was at his service. And it is quite true, as the same writer (supra) reminds us - "Yet not to thine eternal resting-place Shalt thou retire alone. Thou shalt lie down With patriarchs of the infant world, with kings, The powerful of the earth, the wise, the good, Fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past, All in one mighty sepulcher." But we want some better consolation than this very imaginary and unsatisfying one. Surely this is a very poor alleviation for losing life and all that a true and full human life holds. We must look elsewhere for our comfort. And we shall not fail to find it. 3. The real redeeming thought, viz. that the future to which we look forward, as the disciples and followers of Christ, is neither the dark grave in the cemetery nor the little less inviting Sheol of Hebrew thought, but the home of the blessed in the near presence of God, where life is free and full and pure, the mansions of the Father's house. - C. Parallel Verses KJV: It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, |
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