Here he is called "the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers." He boasts, "My river is mine own and I have made it for myself." The river Nile, with its different branches is meant. Pharaoh is compared to a sea monster, which probably means the crocodile, worshipped by the Egyptians; it was symbolical of power and pride.[20] But the word "dragon" also reminds us of Satan who is called twelve times in the Book of Revelation the dragon. As we learned from the previous chapter, behind the King of Tyrus stood Satan as master of the great city, and the same being, the dragon, controlled also Pharaoh-Hophra and the land of Egypt. The dragon was worshipped by many ancient nations and is still today the emblem of the Chinese Empire. And the same ungodly self-exaltation which characterized Tyrus and its king, which led to its overthrow and judgment, was shared by the King of Egypt. Proud and blasphemous were his words that he had made the river for himself; he defied God and refused to own his power. Therefore, his judgment is announced which would not alone strike him but all the other inhabitants of the land and all who looked to Egypt for help. "I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers (the people of the land); thou shalt fall upon the open field; thou shalt not be brought together nor gathered. I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven." It is a striking allegory. In verses 6 and 7 Israel's sin is mentioned when the people of God turned to this wicked land for help, the land where their forefathers had groaned and suffered such cruelty. Isaiah had solemnly warned against such an alliance (Isaiah xxx:6-7; xxxi:3) and so had Jeremiah (Jer. ii:36; xxxvii:7). Interesting it is to find that the same illustration of disaster for Israel by trusting in Egypt had been used by the Assyrian officer in addressing Hezekiah: "Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, upon Egypt, on which, if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it; so is Pharaoh, King of Egypt, unto all that trust on him" (2 Kings xviii:21). And so it was. Egypt gave no help to Israel and only wounded them grievously as a staff which breaks under the weight of him who leaneth upon it—breaks and pierces the hand. Whenever God's people turn to Egypt (the type of the world) for help and form ungodly alliances they do so to their own hurt and shame.
Then follows the explanation of the allegory and, once more, the reason of the coming desolation of Egypt is stated, because the proud King had said, "The river is mine, and I have made it." The entire land of Egypt was to be wasted from one end to the other. It was to become desolate and for the period of forty years it was not to be inhabited. "And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years, and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries" (verse 12).
But have these predictions been fulfilled? Did Egypt pass through a period of forty years' desolation and did a restoration take place after the forty years? Critics claim that these predictions were never literally fulfilled and that Nebuchadnezzar did not invade Egypt during the reign of Hophra. They point to the historical evidence that Amasis followed Hophra as King of Egypt, and under his reign Egypt was in a very flourishing condition. The historian, Herodotus, gives this information and it is fully confirmed by Egyptian records on monuments. But did the prophet Ezekiel predict that Egypt should be invaded by Nebuchadnezzar during the reign of Pharaoh-Hophra? He predicts that Nebuchadnezzar should conquer Egypt, but the critics have made a serious blunder by overlooking the date of the prophecy in which Nebuchadnezzar's invasion is announced. The chapter under our consideration begins with a definite date. It was in the tenth year when he received the message concerning Hophra; but it was seventeen years later when Nebuchadnezzar's invasion was predicted, in the twenty-seventh year (verse 17). Hophra's doom and the desolation of Egypt was first announced, but the fulfillment came years later. Ezekiel does not state that Hophra should be slain by Nebuchadnezzar, nor does Jeremiah predict this (Jeremiah xliv:30). Hophra was dethroned by Amasis and later slain.
II. Egypt's Restoration and Future as a Kingdom.
Yet thus saith the Lord God; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered: and I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom. It shall be the basest of the kingdoms, neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations. And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which bringeth their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them: but they shall know that I am the Lord God (verses 13-16).
The future of Egypt after its desolation of forty years is revealed in this paragraph. Nebuchadnezzar's conquest of Egypt follows in the next paragraph. The forty years of desolation, during which the Egyptians were dispersed in different countries are difficult to locate historically. Some apply them altogether to the future. B. W. Newton, in his "Babylon and Egypt," claims that all this will be accomplished in the future. We quote his words: "It will be fearfully smitten; and for forty years after the Millennium has commenced, it will be utterly desolate. No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years (Ezekiel xxix:11). But, finally, it shall be revived, and together with Israel and Assyria shall receive that wondrous blessing which the concluding verses of the nineteenth of Isaiah describe."[21] That Egypt will have a future of blessing no careful student of the prophetic Word will deny. Isaiah xix shows its future history, both in judgment and in blessing. Yet the prediction of Ezekiel that Egypt after the forty years of desolation should be the basest of all kingdoms and shall have no more rule, but be in a diminished condition, excludes the application of this prophecy to the coming Millennium. Egypt had such a period of forty years' devastation, though the exact history of it may not be known to us. Prophecy is not learned by historical events, but history is revealed in prophecy. We believe prophecies, not because history has measured up to them, but we believe them because they are the inerrant Word of God. After Egypt's sorrowful forty years' experience and dispersion, this proud country went into a steady decline, and the Word of God was literally fulfilled when it became the basest of kingdoms, so that Israel put confidence no longer in Egypt. After Nebuchadnezzar's raid, Egypt declined and sank lower still under the Persians and the Ptolemies, until she became the granary of Rome. And this degradation has continued throughout the centuries of this age so that Egypt is literally the basest of the kingdoms.[22] That she will play her part in the future at the close of our age we learn from Daniel's prophecy (Dan. xi:36-45). Egypt will rise into prominence ere long in connection with the present day world conflict.
III. The Conquest of Nebuchadnezzar.
And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald and every shoulder was peeled: yet he had no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord God. In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the Lord (verses 17-21).
As already stated, this prophecy is dated seventeen years after the general prediction of Egypt's judgment. That Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt after he came against Tyrus is mentioned by Josephus the Jewish historian and also by an Assyrian inscription which gives the record of this campaign as having taken place in the thirty-seventh year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.[23] Nothing is said of desolation and captivity in this later prophecy concerning Egypt's conquest. Critics claim that Ezekiel had made a mistake in his former prediction. We quote from the New Century Bible: "Ezekiel evidently saw that his former prophecy was mistaken, and he now expected the defeat, though not necessarily the utter destruction, of Egypt. The difference in detail is noticeable between these verses and the prophecy on Egypt seventeen years earlier." But Ezekiel was not mistaken. There was no need of repeating the predicted desolation of Egypt; Nebuchadnezzar executed the work of judgment. He suffered, evidently, disappointment in the siege of Tyrus, the immense wealth of that city he could not touch. And, as he did not get wages from Tyrus, nor for his great army, the Lord, whose instrument in judgment the King of Babylon was, gave him Egypt. Here Nebuchadnezzar found great spoil and vast treasures, which, according to divine appointment, were the wages for his army. When this took place, there came an unrecorded revival in Israel and the prophet gave his message in the midst of them.