Ezekiel 29 What?

[slyguy]

An athiest pointed this out to me earlier, and I had no idea what to say back... perhaps I can get an answer here?

Ezekiel 29 deals with an apparent prophesy and judgement against Egypt... My question is has this already happened or is it to happen in the future?

The bold parts are what stood out in my mind the most:

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,
2: Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt:
3: Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.
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.
5: And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; 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.
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.
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 brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.
8: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.
9: And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the LORD: because he hath 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.

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.

13: Yet thus saith the Lord GOD; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered:
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.
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.
16: 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.
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,
18: Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar 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:

19: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar 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.

20: I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith 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.

[onelamb]

I'm not sure what you're looking for-but Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian king attacked Egypt in 572 and 568 bc. Considering how great a civilization Egypt was it was brought low and desolate-and has yet to recover.

[slyguy]

I'm intrigued by the news that King Neb did conquer Egypt, but what I'm looking for is did Egypt ever become desolate for 40 years, as verse 11 states?

[tomberean]

The prophecy includes three sections.
The first of seven prophecies against Egypt was given on January 5th 587BC, almost a year after the siege of Jerusalem began. Hopra was the Pharao at that time who reigned from 589-570 BC. He prompted Judah to break with Babylon and promised them assistance. Pharaoh was believed to have been a god who created the Nile and could conquer the great monster (crocodiles) which symbolized Egypt's ferocity and stength. Here, ironically, called Pharaoh himself the monster who He would drag from the protection of the Nile river into the barren desert where he would soon perish.

The second section deals with Egypt's basic sin, that of supporting Israel against its revolt against Babylon. God had already determined that Judah should be punished for her disobedience and anyone who dared to flout his decisions would pay dearly. Egypt is here likened to a thin reed (walking stick), depicting its fragile support of Israel. Their support could not withstand Nebuchadnezzr's siege of Jerusalem (Jer. 37:4-8) and paid dearly for it. The reed eventually splintered and broke.

Egypt's desolation extended from Migdol to Aswan as far as the border of Cush. God's total devastation of Egypt would last for 40 years. Judah had been destroyed because she relied on Egypt; Egypt would suffer the same fate. God would disperse Egypt among the nations; she would also be carried into captivity. After the 40 years God allowed some to return to Pathos, the alleged birthplace of the nation of Egypt. Egypt would not achieve the place of power she once had. Instead she would be the lowliest of kingdoms. After Persia's rise to power, Egypt never again in biblical times became a major international power.

[slyguy]

Wow, thanks tomberean, that helped a lot.