the Third Week after Easter
Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 4 of 5
Ezekiel 28:20-26; ; Ezekiel 29:1-7
After Tyre, it is its neighbour and ally, Sidon, that is the subject of a short prophecy. Sidon belonged to those who despised the house of Israel (vv. 24, 26) and would learn to know the LORD by the judgments that He would execute.
Four chapters (29-32) are now taken up almost entirely with Egypt. Rival of Assyria, and afterwards of Babylon, this nation played an important role in Israel’s history. It also aspired to universal domination. But God was giving that to Nebuchadnezzar, and Egypt was to become in its turn one of the provinces of the great Babylonian Empire. We may well wonder why the LORD should have chosen one of these pagan nations rather than another to dominate the world. One of the reasons, among others, why Egypt had to be brought low was the false trust Israel had placed in it (Ezekiel 29:6; Ezekiel 29:16). Judah and kings had to be shown to be wrong for having counted on Egypt.
This nation was a broken reed, wounding the hand of those who leant on it (vv. 6, 7; Isaiah 36:6). Many times, in His faithfulness, the Lord has been pleased to break our human supports to show us their futility and to teach us to rest only on Himself!
