Dave Burnette's Commentary

Ezekiel Chapter 32

Written By: God through Inspiration
Penned By: Ezekiel
Date Penned: BC 571
Overview: Messages Against Seven Nations (c 25-32)
Theme: The Reality of Punishment (c 12-32)
Message: All of Israel's Enemies will Perish (v 1-31) 
 
Ezekiel: Chapter 32 Commentary
 

(32:1) This prophecy was given in 585 BC, two months after the news of Jerusalem’s fall reached the exiles in Babylon. Ezekiel prophesied numerous judgments upon many wicked nations. These judgments served as a positive purpose. They show that all evil forces are continually being overcome and that one day God will overthrow all evil, making the world the perfect place he intended. They also serve as a warning that only God is sovereign. Even the mightiest rulers, like Pharaoh, will fall before God. All are accountable to him.


(32 :2) Although Pharaoh thought of himself as a strong lion, in God’s eyes he was nothing but a monster muddying the water. God’s judgment would reduce Pharaoh to his true size. Anyone who defiles God will face his judgment.

(32 :18) The Hebrews believed in the afterlife for all people, good and bad. Ezekiel’s message predicted that Egypt would share the same fate as that of the evil nations already sent there, to the “nether parts of the earth” or the pit. The words here are more poetic than a doctrinal note, see Job chapter 24, Psalms chapter 16, Isaiah chapter 38, and Matthew chapter 25. The Egyptians had a preoccupation with the afterlife. The pyramids were built solely to ensure the Pharaohs comfort in the next life. This message should remind us that any attempt To control our afterlife and ignore God is foolish. Got alone controls the future in life after death.

(32 :19,24) “Gone down uncircumcised” means they were a idolaters, people who did not believe in the one true God at thus were not circumcised as part of his covenant. There is no spiritual hope outside of God’s covenant. Although these people may have been physically circumcised, they were not spiritually circumcised. They did not have pure hearts set apart to worship God alone as described in Deuteronomy chapter 10 and 30.

(32:22-32) In these verses, Ezekiel conducts A guided tour of Sheol, The region of the afterlife. In Sheol, all of Gods enemies are condemned in the judgment. Many of them experience the fate they so quickly imposed on others. Though Babylon is not mentioned, Ezekiel’s readers would conclude that if all other nations would be judge for their rebellion against God, Babylon would be judged as well. These words would comfort the captives.

(32:26) Meshech and Tubal were territories located in the eastern region of Asia minor, now eastern and central Turkey. In chapter is 38 and 39 they are described as our eyes of Gog, the chief prince of a confederacy. They are included with the evil nations who will be just for fighting against God’s people.

(32:32) After reading Ezekiel’s prophecies against these foreign nations, we may wonder if he was blindly loyal to his own nation. But Ezekiel spoke only when God gave him a message, as we see in chapter number 3. Beside God’s prophets pronounced judgment on God’s sinful people just as much as on gods enemies. But if Babylon was God‘s enemy, why isn’t it mentioned in Ezekiel’s judgments? Perhaps because, 1) God wanted to foster a spirit of cooperation between the exiles of Babylon in order to preserve his people. 2) God was still using Babylon to refine his own people. 3) God wanted to use Daniel, a powerful official in Babylon, to draw the Babylonians to him

 


Dave Burnette's Life Application


Busy About the Lord's Business

 

Each day we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter making an application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. Many applications can be made from each day's text. Today we continue the Book of Ezekiel with Chapter 32. In our text today we see that all of Israel's enemies will perish. Today we see all the enemies of God still not able to remove Israel from its position and power due to the covenant with Abraham. In making application we see that God is sovereign and the enemies of God will perish and the rapture is coming ever so near which should cause us to be busy about the Lord's business by reaching the world with the Word of God. How about you? Do you see the writing on the wall and does this truth compel us to witness to everyone that the Lord brings across our path.

 

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Ezekiel 32

Ezekiel 32

 1And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

 2Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers.

 3Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in my net.

 4Then will I leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon the open field, and will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee.

 5And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with thy height.

 6I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.

 7And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.

 8All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.

 9I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known.

 10Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall.

 11For thus saith the Lord GOD; The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee.

 12By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall, the terrible of the nations, all of them: and they shall spoil the pomp of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed.

 13I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside the great waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them.

 14Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord GOD.

 15When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country shall be destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall smite all them that dwell therein, then shall they know that I am the LORD.

 16This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament her: the daughters of the nations shall lament her: they shall lament for her, even for Egypt, and for all her multitude, saith the Lord GOD.

 17It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

 18Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit.

 19Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised.

 20They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword: draw her and all her multitudes.

 21The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.

 22Asshur is there and all her company: his graves are about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword:

 23Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living.

 24There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.

 25They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword: though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of them that be slain.

 26There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living.

 27And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.

 28Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie with them that are slain with the sword.

 29There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.

 30There be the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians, which are gone down with the slain; with their terror they are ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit.

 31Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, saith the Lord GOD.

 32For I have caused my terror in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.