1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
These prophecies are now not in order. The last dated one we have was in the eleventh year. Either Ezekiel or a later editor decided to put all the prophecies concerning Tyrus together. They are put before the ones to Egypt because they were fulfilled before the ones to Egypt.
2 "Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt:"
Now we turn our attention to Egypt.
The name of this king was Pharaoh Hophra, (Jeremiah 44:30). The Greek historian Herodotus called him Apries (the Greeks often got the names of other kings wrong because of the language difference).
3 "Speak, and say, 'Thus says the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his rivers, which has said, "My river is Mine own, and I have made it for myself."'"
God is calling Egypt a dragon, which was a symbol of Satan. The Egyptians believed they controlled their own destinies because they did not rely on any other nation. The Nile provided all their needs. Herodotus says Pharaoh Hophra claimed no God could deprive him of his kingdom.
4 "'But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.'"
The fish are Pharaoh’s princes and generals.
Egypt will be conquered, too.
5 "'And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shall fall upon the open fields; thou shall 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.'"
Egypt went to battle with Babylon in Lybia and Cyrene, desert countries. They lost big time. All their generals were killed, their soldiers left unburied, only Hophra escaped.
6 "'And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.'"
Israel, against God’s commands, hired Egypt to help them against the Assyrians. Judah did the same thing to get out from under the rule of Babylon. Egypt took their money but refused to help in the time of war. They were like a walking stick made of reed; it looks solid, but breaks when you lean on it. So God is punishing them for their deceitfulness.
7 "'When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brake, and made all their loins to be at a stand.
8 "'Therefore thus says the Lord God; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.'"
After their army was defeated, the people of Egypt rebelled, there was a civil war, and Hophra was killed.
This weakened the country enough that Nebuchadnezzar had no problems taking the land.
9 "'And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the Lord: because he has said, “The river is mine, and I have made it.”
10 "'Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia.
11 "'No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.'"
Though Egypt was not completely depopulated, they were so reduced in comparison that they appeared uninhabited. This state lasted forty years, just as the Jew’s service to Babylon lasted seventy years.
12 "'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.'"
Egypt will suffer the same fate as all the countries around her; captivity, scattering of her people, desolation, destruction.
13 "'Yet thus says the Lord God; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered:'"
When Cyrus gave the command that allowed the Jews to return to Judah, he actually included all people. Thus, the Egyptians returned to their homeland at the same time.
14 "'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.'"
Egypt will never again be a world power.
15 "'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.'"
Even today, though a major country in Arabia, Egypt is a two-bit nation compared to the rest of the world. They are still insignificant.
16 "'And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which brings their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them: but they shall know that I am the Lord God.'"
The descendants of Jacob would never again trust in Egypt. In fact, for most of the rest of history, Egypt has been the Jew’s enemy.
17 "'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,'"
Now we skip ahead seventeen years.
18 "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 had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it:"
"Know what Ezekiel? Nebuchadnezzar did what I told him to do to Tyrus, though it took thirteen years, and he hasn’t been rewarded for it."
19 "Therefore thus says 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 know! I’ll give him Egypt in payment for his obedience.”
20 "'I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for Me, says the Lord God.
21 "'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.'"
“But I will restore Israel.”