EZEKIEL
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The Nations of the world now come under the judgement of God. Ezekiel chapters 25 to 28.

The destruction of Jerusalem was welcomed by the Gentile nations around them, the Jews were always claiming that they were special and were worshippers of the only true God. Idol worship, according to the Jews, was therefore a waste of time. The Gentile nations had met the Jews on the battle field and had been humiliated in their defeats. The Gentile nations were therefore very pleased to see the Jews taken off to Babylon, because it proved that their idols were more powerful than the Jewish God.

Unfortunately the Gentiles had not thought this point through, they had not realize that the punishment by God of the Jews was a warning to them. If the true God did this to His own people, then what would He do to those who did not worship and obey Him,
1 Peter 4:17.

The Gentile nations had all the evidence of God, but chose to reject Him,

This very much applies today.
Read Romans 1:16-32;
Romans 2:11-16.

The nations who are related to the Jews. Ezekiel 25:1-14.

A number of the nearby nations were related through earlier ancestors, The Ammonites and the Moabites were descendants of Lot,
see Genesis 19:29-38.
The Edomites were descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob.

The Ammonites. Ezekiel 25:1-7.

The Jews were told not to attack the Ammonites by God when the Jews were travelling to the Promised Land,
see Deuteronomy 2:19.
God had given them their land.
But they had joined with Moab to attack Judah and had been defeated,
2 Chronicles 20:1ff.
Now the Ammonites were enjoying Jerusalem’s destruction, so eventually God announced "Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession, " meaning Babylon,
see Ezekiel 21:18-24;
Ezekiel 25:1-5.
It is now God’s plans to totally remove the nation from the world.

The Moabites. Ezekiel 25:8-11.

See Numbers 22-24
Numbers 25:1-9.
The Moabites refused to see the Jews as a special people of God, to them the destruction of Jerusalem proved that the Jews were just a normal tribe. The Moabites lived in the mountains with the Dead Sea to the west and the desert to the east, As a result, they thought they were safe from any attack. The message from God was "Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities." The Assyrian’s invaded through the mountains and destroyed the nation of Moab from the world.

The Edomites. Ezekiel 25:12-14.

The Edomites were the descendants of Esau who sold his birthright to Jacob,
Genesis 25:29 to 34:27,
As a result they hated the Jews. The Edomites were very pleased when Jerusalem was being attacked and helped the Babylonian army capture any Jew who escaped. They were also involved in robbing the city with the Babylon soldiers. This meant that they were robbing there own relatives, a sin against the Law of God, so they felt the anger of God.
See Obadiah 1:1-14;
Matthew 5:44.

See also Ezekiel 25:15.

The other nations are judged. Ezekiel 25:15 to 26:21..

The cities of the Philistines and of the Phoenicians, Tyre, Sidon, due to their hatred of the Jews. The Philistines had been enemies since the Jews arrival in the Promised Land. They often attacked,
Judges 3:31;
Judges 13 to 16;
2 Samuel 5:17-25;
2 Samuel 21:15-22,
2 Samuel 23:9-17,
They eventually were also taken off to Babylon, Jeremiah 25:15-32 , 47.

Destruction of Tyre. Ezekiel 26:1-18.

We get an image of many nations attacking the coastal town of Tyre, like a storm. The town was a fortress, part on the mainland and part on an island, they survived an Assyrian attack but, following a fifteen year siege, the mainland city fell to Nebuchadnezzar’s army. Later, under Alexander the Great, the island city was destroyed when he built a bridge out to it.

Tyre was a main point of trade for the Mediterranean countries, any attack on the city had a considerable effect on trade. Compare the future in Revelations 18:1ff.

Tyre will be totally destroyed. Ezekiel 26:19-21.

The effect of their hatred of the Jews, is bring them into "the pit", this refers to the pit of death, "thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord GOD."

Sadness over the destruction of Tyre. Ezekiel 27:1-36.

No Jew would feel sadness for the destruction of Tyre but here we find Ezekiel expressing a spiritual song of the truth. Tyre was a busy merchant, maritime city, there are twenty-one references to trade. Ezekiel starts by describing the city like a beautiful ship, very proud and giving no praise to God for His blessings. Material and "crew" for the "ship" comes from many countries. The Tyre army was made up of many nations, yet they were not expecting to fight, "they hanged their shields upon thy walls," verse 11. They traded with many nations around the Mediterranean sea, goods and finance was involved.

Verses 26-36,: Describes the sinking of the "ship." The "east wind" indicates the Babylonian army is involved. Many people are saddened by the destruction, others think of making a take over bid for the situation, it is a profit which controls the world.

Judgement of the leaders of Tyre. Ezekiel 28:1-19.

A divine judgement is made for the prince of Tyre, he appears to be very wealthy and very proud, this pride has made him to behave as if he was a god. This man will suffer destruction by foreign invaders, for they will be under the control of God.

Judgement on the king of Tyre, verses 11-19. This passage appears to be referring to an angelic being, many think that the description fits Satan, an angel who rebelled against God. The text describes his great beauty, naming jewels connected with him. God cast him out of His presence. Could the prince of Tyre be under the control of the devil?

Zidon(Sidon) is punished. Ezekiel 28:20-24.

Zidon was near to Tyre, about twenty-five miles north of Tyre. Often the two cities are linked together but here Zidon is given a separate mention. Again the Jews were hated by the people of Zidon, but now we see the promise that God will be glorified by the destruction of the city.

How can pain give glory? This action would show the Holiness of God and His rejection of any who worship idols in His place. The sword and the plague were to be the method of destruction.

Hope for Israel. Ezekiel 28:25,26.

God now looks forward to the return of Israel after the exile, but when the Jews were released from Babylon by Cyrus only 50,000 made the journey back, the promise was not fully fulfilled, that is to occur during the end times.
Zechariah 12:9ff;

The fall of the Egyptian Nation.

This Egyptian nation gets more attention in the book of Ezekiel than any other nation. The Jews had been slaves of this nation and the Egyptians were still causing problems, unfortunately, however, the Jews also seem to always turn to Egypt when they need help politically, forgetting their previous problems. One of King Solomon’s many wives was an Egyptian princess so he did considerable business with them.
We have a number of chapters with God’s message, via Ezekiel, to them and the Jews. There are seven messages, six starts with "the word of the LORD came unto me," or similar. Each message contains information about the coming judgement on Egypt.

Pharaoh, king of Egypt is destroyed. Ezekiel 29:1-6.

The Pharaoh is compared to a river monster, the river Nile was treated as a god by the Egyptians because it was so important to Egypt, but the Pharaoh claimed he owned the river because he "created" the river and the nation, taking credit for the work of God, he was full of pride. God made a promise, "I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, .........I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven," verses 4,5 He would be buried like an animal, an event very serious for the Pharaoh. As a god he would have been expecting a special burial place, a pyramid perhaps?

Verses 6,7 tells us that he was also not to be trusted in any political arrangements, he never kept his promises in helping the Jews.

The Babylonian invasion. Ezekiel 29:8-16.

The people are to be killed or scattered into other nations and the land, from the top of the country to the bottom, verse 10, it will be turned into a wasteland for forty years, verse 12. Nebuchadnezzar attacked Egypt in 568-567 B.C. as fulfillment.

Note: "They shall know that I am the LORD." Then God restores the Egyptian nation after forty years but with little power and glory. Israel will have no further association or trust in this nation.

Nebuchadnezzar is rewarded by the Lord for carrying out His work. Ezekiel 29:17-21.

This message is dated April 26.571 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar had served God in destruction of Tyre and had not received much reward in wealth from the destruction of Tyre, now he was to get paid from the spoil of Egypt.

Verse 21. The message ended with a promise from God for the Jews, they were to have "a budding horn", new strength for the future. "The opening of the mouth," was that Ezekiel’s words will one day become true, the promises will be fulfilled.

The sword shall come. Ezekiel 30:1-19.

This message has no date of issue, it shows the coming judgement on Egypt as a storm. "The day of the LORD is near," this is divine judgement. Often used to indicate the final tribulation on the world. This is before the final return of Christ to the earth,
Compare Isaiah 65:17-19;
Zephaniah 1 to 2.
Revelations 6-19.

The judgement on Egypt is completely under the control of God, this judgement is aimed at only Egypt and their neighbour’s, Ethiopia (Upper Nile), Put, (a nation from Africa), Lud (Lydia), The Arabian Nations, Cub (Libya).

Egypt will be totally destroyed, God is about to "light a fire," using Nebuchadnezzar and his army, killing the people, even affecting the rivers. Ezekiel lists the acts of God upon the people, their idol worship, their leadership.
Verses 13-16 Indicates that God will restore Egypt but as a low power nation.

The broken arm of Pharaoh. Ezekiel 30:20-26.

The message was given on April 29, 587 B.C.. God was about to break the "arms of Pharaoh" and leave Egypt helpless. History records that in 605 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar defeated Pharaoh Necho at a place called Carchemish,
2 Kings 24:7.
The second break occurred when Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem and Pharaoh Hophra tried to help Judah. Egypt now knows that the God of the Jew’s was the true God.

Assyria and Egypt. Ezekiel 31:1-18.

The message is dated June 21, 587 B.C., it shows an image of a great tree that has been cut down. God asks Egypt "Whom art thou like in thy greatness?" verse 2, Egypt was proud and wanted to be a great and powerful nation, so God points out that the Assyria nation was greater and yet fell to Babylon army.

Assyria was an impressive nation, Ezekiel described them like the cedar trees, strong and beautiful. They controlled many nations, the "fowls and beasts."
God used Assyria to punish the northern Kingdom of Israel, 722 B.C.. King Hezekiah of Judah also received punishment, but God protected Jerusalem at this time,
2 Kings 19:1ff.
The powerful Assyrians would not accept that the God of Israel was controlling their power, but in verses 10-14, the pride of Assyria is cut down, and left to die. This had great effect on the other nations, Assyria was now in the world of the dead.

The king of Egypt falls. Ezekiel 32:1-16.

Dated 5 March 585 B.C.. Jerusalem fell 2 months earlier. The Pharaoh thought he was like a lion and a great whale, God sees only "a weak crocodile," which can be caught in a net, this crocodile is to be dragged out of the water to die. Much blood will be spilt, darkness will cover the land, just like the plagues of Moses,
Exodus 7:20-24;
Exodus 10:21-29.
Compare this with the end events given in Revelations 8:8-12.

Ezekiel repeats the prophecy, Egypt will be desolate, even the animal life will die, no animal and no person will disturb the peaceful flow of the river.

The body is buried. Ezekiel 32:17-32.

This message is thought to have been given in March 585 B.C.. We see a description of the people of Egypt on the way to "Sheol," the place of death, Ezekiel is told to cry, for many are to die. The picture is of the other nations giving a welcome to Egypt in the underworld, laughing at the situation of the once proud nation of Egypt. Ezekiel names some of the nations who are welcoming Egypt into "Sheol."