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Category: Va'era

God will be Sovereign

Shemot (Exodus) 6:2–9:35 | Yechezkiel (Ezekiel) 28:25–29:21

Knowledge of the historical background is essential to a correct understanding of this passage. Ezekiel is one of the few prophets to carefully date his prophecies. Egypt played an important role during this critical time in Judah’s history. As Babylon was rising in power, it was Egypt that allied with fledging Assyria in hopes to stop the rise of a new Mesopotamian superpower. The attempt to thwart the Egyptians failed, so Egypt dominated Judah from 695 to 605 BCE. This domination ceased when the Babylonians soundly defeated the Egyptians in 605 BCE. But the Holy One of Israel was ever so mindful of the trouble Egypt had made for Judah. Accordingly, He sent Ezekiel to prophesy against the Egyptians. The beginning of that prophecy is our present haftarah.

Israel’s Return

In order to encourage Israel and Judah, Ezekiel systematically drew a circle around the remnant of Israel, singled out their neighbor, and pronounced God’s judgment upon that foe of Israel. The downfall of Israel’s enemies was only part of what God would do to encourage the downcast of Israel. God would also restore the fortunes of His people Israel.

The first thing Ezekiel tells us is that God will regather. With this promise, they would realize that God had not forgotten them. The next promise has to do with their spiritual lives. The Lord, according to Ezekiel’s words, “will manifest My holiness in them in the sight of the nations.” This means that God will sanctify Israel. He will make them like Himself so that when the nations see Israel, they will see what God’s holiness is like. Third, God is promising that He will not only regather Israel as a people from their diaspora, but He will also restore them to their proper homeland, Eretz Yisrael.

There are many, including some who live in Israel today, who think that the present regathering of the Jewish people to the Land is the fulfillment of promises such as Ezekiel 28:25­26. However, if we carefully examine specifically what is written, we will discover that the promises of God do not yet completely match the present reality of the people in the Land. There is no freedom from external (or internal) dangers, as verse 26 emphasizes. We can say that the present situation may be a partial fulfillment of what Ezekiel is predicting. We have to wait until the Messiah returns in order to experience the full impact.

Judgment Against Egypt

For the next several chapters, Ezekiel pronounces judgment after judgment against Egypt. Ezekiel uses two images to describe what God would do to Egypt and her arrogant Pharaoh, Hophra. The first image is that of a crocodile. It is clear that Ezekiel is comparing Egypt’s Pharaoh Hophra to the mighty crocodile. He said that God would put hooks into this ‘crocodile’ and drag him out of the river where he would be abandoned in the wilderness and be food for the wild animals and birds. By use of this first image, the prophet is predicting the downfall of the arrogant Pharaoh. When he fell, he brought all of Egypt with him.

The proud, boastful king of Egypt was, to Israel, nothing but a weak reed. When Judah tried to lean on him, he was too weak to help. In fact, the reed broke under the pressure of the Babylonians.

Fulfilled Prophecy

In Ezekiel 29:17–21, we see the prediction of the specific events that will cause the previous prophecies to come to pass. It was predicted that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was to come against the people of Tyre. God was the one who called him to do this in order to humble the people of Tyre. It was the Lord God of Israel who had called Babylon to do what they did. It was God’s will for Babylon to succeed the Assyrians as the next ancient Near Eastern superpower. Through God’s severe hand of punishment, it was His will for the Babylonians to conquer Jerusalem and to burn the Temple. And, it was God’s will for the Babylonians to defeat Tyre.

The haftarah concludes by stating that Israel will learn a valuable lesson from all of this. “… and I [God] shall open your mouth in their midst. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” (Ezekiel 29:21) The last lesson we learn is that after all of these events they would know that God is the Lord of heaven and earth, the Sovereign who raises up nations and tears them down. They would finally understand that God keeps His covenants with those who are covenantally connected to Him.

© 2009 First Fruits of Zion. All rights reserved. We encourage you to share this material with your friends for further personal study. However, This material may not be republished, in print, electronically, or any other form without our prior permission.

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