Clouds
As we hear another prophetic message against Egypt, I found it
interesting that the word “cloud” would be attached to judgment. Of course I understand why. Ancient cultures knew that the sun was needed
for plants to grow. Thus, clear days were
always desired over cloudy days. This is
why people often worshiped the sun instead of the clouds.
Furthermore, clouds often bring rain. Where there is rain there is often thunder
and sometimes even lightning. Storms
just feel like judgment whereas sunny days just feel like grace. It completely makes sense why the clouds
would be paired with judgment.
However, look at this from the perspective of the Egyptians. They lived in a desert. Everywhere they were was in need of
water. They understood the need for rain
so much that they based their religion largely off of the swelling of the Nile River
that would bring the minerals necessary to make the soil fertile in the
vicinity of the Nile. For most
Egyptians, clouds were a good thing.
Clouds mean rain. Rain meant the
flooding of the Nile. The flooding of
the Nile meant fertile ground. Fertile
ground meant a harvest. The harvest
meant life.
What Ezekiel has done – intentionally or unintentionally – is to
give us a moment to understand the human perspective. God often sees things from a completely
different perspective than we do.
Whereas the Egyptians saw the clouds and the rain as a blessing, God saw
it as judgment. This may seem like a
small and insignificant example, but it points us to a great truth. So many things in life we regard as
problem-solvers. How many of us just
want more money? Or more friends? Or more popularity? How many of us just want more status? More notoriety? More center of attention?
Yet, how many of those things are really good for us in the long
run?
League
Verses 5-9 talk about those in league with Egypt. Cush, Put, Lybia, Arabia, Lud. And then there is this really neat mention of
“the land that is in league.” That is
what the Septuagint (Old Testament written in Greek) says. Our copies of the Old Testament written in
Hebrew typically say “the land of the covenant.”
I believe the Hebrew in this instance. God is speaking to those Hebrew people who
have fled to Egypt thinking that they would actually be able to escape God’s
judgment upon them through the Babylonian empire. They will not outrun God’s wrath. In fact, in other chapters of the Bible we
can’t help but wonder if God’s judgment doesn’t come to Egypt at least
partially because those Hebrew people fled to Egypt and Egypt received them.
Again, I think the message is clear. If God is handing out punishment and you get
between God and the target, watch out.
God doesn’t care to have His plans interfered. It’s one thing to not help God. It is another thing to get out of God’s
way. But it is bad news when you ally
yourself with those that God is trying to punish.
God’s Will Be Done
Verses 10-19 give us another clear set of verses about God’s
authority. Again and again in these
verses we hear Ezekiel declare that God will bring about this judgment on
Egypt. God will bring foreigners into
Egypt and produce judgment. It is at God’s
hand that all of this will happen. There
can be no doubt. The calamity brought
upon Egypt is the doing of their own rebellion, but it is at God’s hand.
This naturally leads into a section on Egypt’s idolatry. Of course they worshiped foreign gods. But they were active about promoting their
gods into the cultures of the people around them – even the Hebrew people. Since the influence of the Egyptians caused
the religious structure of the Hebrew people to become corrupt, God will do the
same to Egypt. He will bring low their
places of worship. He will destroy what
the Egyptians helped destroy among His own.
I actually think this thought is deeper than I’m prepared to
accept right now. As I process this
section of scripture I keep coming back to Mark 9:42. If you go after any of God’s people, you’ll
wish a millstone was hung around your neck and you were tossed into the sea
before God is done with you. Egypt will see
the recompense for the role they played in leading the Hebrew people away from
God.
They Shall Know…
Again we hear those famous words.
This will happen so that the people will know that the Lord is the
Lord. Again we see that it comes back to
authority. It comes back to God putting
people in a place where they have to understand that the world does not
actually revolve around themselves. We
all need a good humbling session once and a while. We all need to remember that God is God. I am not.
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