Ezekiel 29:15, commentary and pictures

Ezekiel foretold that Egypt would be brought down to become the lowest of kingdoms, diminished so that it would never again lift itself above the nations or rule over them. The word was spoken about six hundred years before Christ, in 589 B.C., while Egypt was still great and proud and powerful and flourishing, contending with Babylon for mastery of the world. It was brought low because of its wickedness and cruelty and opposition to God, its overweening pride and misuse of blessings, its oppression of God's people and its fearful idolatry. The prediction was literally fulfilled in Egypt's lasting subjection to successive foreign powers from Babylon onward, ruled by strangers with no native prince, humbled to the dust in poverty and weakness to the present day. It stands as a clear and definite witness to the truthfulness of God's word and His divine foreknowledge, for no human mind could have foretold such a fall when Egypt stood in glory. Egypt remains a living example of the end of rebellion against God and of all worship that puts the creature in place of the Creator.

Words and Historical Setting

The declaration is that Egypt would be made the basest or lowest of kingdoms, diminished so that it would never again exalt itself above the nations or rule over the nations. It was spoken about six hundred years before Christ, in 589 B.C. At that time Egypt was still great, proud, powerful and flourishing, struggling against Babylon for supremacy in world empire, long before the prosperous reign of the Ptolemies.

Before its fall Egypt had been one of the greatest kingdoms and even the greatest empire on earth. It was a great, wise and enlightened empire and for centuries the center of world civilization, famed for its ancient civilization, achievements, monuments, wealth and art and fed by the abundance of the Nile. It was a very ancient empire that rivaled Babylon in antiquity and was still great in Ezekiel's day. In Ezekiel's day backslidden Israel looked to Egypt for hope and salvation against the oncoming, all-conquering Babylonians and fugitives fled there.

Pharaoh in overweening pride as the great monster lying in the midst of his rivers said, My river is mine own and I have made it for myself. God declared Himself against Pharaoh and against his rivers. He would make Egypt an utter waste and desolation from the tower of Seveneh even unto the border of Ethiopia, with its images and idols destroyed and no more a prince from the land, so that it would be no more the confidence of the house of Israel.

After Egypt's people were scattered by Nebuchadnezzar they later returned to Pathros. Nebuchadnezzar was appointed to break its power, and after his army served long against Tyre God gave him the spoil of Egypt as his prey, and his invasion struck the first blow at Egypt's authority. The verse belongs to the prophecies of Egypt in Ezekiel 29-32 foretelling the certain fate to come upon Pharaoh and his host, standing with the prophecies of other nations in Ezekiel 25-31 concerning Ammon, Moab, Tyre and Egypt. The predicted lowness meant Egypt would sink into a dwindling, enfeebled monarchy that continues in existence yet humbled to the dust, remaining lowest among kingdoms.

Cause and Purpose of Judgment

Egypt was brought low because of its wickedness and iniquity and cruelty and opposition to God. It had refused to acknowledge Jehovah and had opposed His will, and after it failed to return to the Lord its former glory and greatness and power were taken away and it was made the basest of kingdoms to rule no more over the nations. Once a great and enlightened empire, it was diminished to a lowly kingdom that would no longer exalt itself above the nations.

Its overweening pride called for permanent humbling, for Pharaoh as the great monster lying in the midst of his rivers had said his river was his own and he had made it for himself. For turning its blessings into curses by misuse, its glory vanished and its pride was humbled in the dust, from being one of the mightiest nations to become the least and basest of kingdoms. God reduced its power through Babylon so that it would never again lift itself above the nations nor rule over them.

Judgment came for its oppression of the people of God, for the nation that had once been their oppressor was abased and brought low to rise no more to its former place among the nations. It came for fearful idolatry and devotion to idols, and after that devotion its fall from former glory and wealth to dishonor and poverty left it reduced to the lowest rank among kingdoms. As a symbol of black infidelity it would no longer rule over other nations.

The reduction through Babylon was intended to make Egypt know the true God and learn to fear Him. Its diminished power to the least of the kingdoms illustrates that God judges nations for their wrongdoing. That fulfillment was seen alongside internal conflict and rule by a cruel king after the nation failed to return to the Lord.

Fulfillment in Egyptian History

The prediction was literally fulfilled in Egypt's subjection to successive foreign powers from Babylon onward. After its people were scattered by Nebuchadnezzar and later returned to Pathros, Egypt was plundered and fell from its standing as a wise nation into lasting weakness and foreign rule. Its long subjection began after the native ruler Nectanebo fled in 350 B.C., and from that time it passed under successive foreign rulers marked by oppression and tyranny. Its people's poverty stands as further evidence of its low status.

Its ruin and diminished condition were brought about through internal dissensions and internal conflict. That diminished condition stands alongside rule by a cruel king after the nation failed to return to the Lord. For centuries Egypt became a downtrodden land to which no nation paid homage. That lasting humiliation, poverty, dishonor and weakness stands in contrast to its former glory, greatness, wealth and power.

The empire of Rameses became a ruin, fulfilling the declaration that Egypt would be brought low and would no longer exalt itself or rule over the nations. Its ancient tombs and mummies show the contrast with its former power. Its fall from former glory and wealth to dishonor and poverty followed its devotion to idols. It does not rule over the nations and does not even rule its own land, but is ruled by strangers and by another nation.

For many years there has been no native Egyptian among its rulers, yet it remains marvelously rich in historic lore while without power among nations. Its later weakness and dependence on European powers is the continuation of that fulfillment. England has taken complete control, collecting its revenues, paying its debts and building its works, while Turkey's claimed sovereignty has passed away and the Egyptian still waters by foot or crude wheel.

The lowering is visibly fulfilled in Egypt and in ruins. Egypt was once one of the greatest empires on earth when its sun-temple monuments were raised, but it was cut down to the lowest and least honored of kingdoms, never again rising above other nations or ruling over them. At On, or Beth-shemesh, only one idol-covered obelisk remains of its magnificence. Joined to the drying of its delta rivers, the abolishing of its idols, the wasting of its land and the ending of native princes reigning over it, this lasting humiliation has continued for centuries to the present day. The fruitful land fed by the abundance of the Nile, for centuries the center of world civilization, whose monuments speak of its power, greatness, fame, wealth and art as well as its fearful idolatry, cruelty and wickedness, thus remains base among the kingdoms.

Proof of Divine Foreknowledge

The doom pronounced upon Egypt is a clear and definite twofold witness of prediction and fulfillment to the truthfulness of God's word. Egypt was a very ancient empire that rivaled Babylon in antiquity and was still great when backslidden Israel looked to it for hope and salvation against the oncoming Babylonians and fugitives fled there from Babylon, yet because of overweening pride in which Pharaoh as the great monster lying amid his rivers claimed his river as his own making, God declared Himself against him and his rivers to make the land an utter waste from the tower of Seveneh to the border of Ethiopia, with images and idols destroyed and no more a prince from the land and no more a confidence for the house of Israel, by making it the lowest of kingdoms, diminished so it would never again lift itself above the nations nor rule over them. The fruitful land fed by the abundance of the Nile that for centuries was the center of world civilization, whose monuments speak of power, greatness, fame, wealth, art, fearful idolatry, cruelty and wickedness, was brought into a lasting humiliation joined to the drying of its delta rivers, the abolishing of its idols and the ending of native princes reigning over it, and in that humiliation Egypt affirms the truth of prophecy. Its continuing lowly condition, reduced to the lowest rank among kingdoms and diminished so as no longer to rule over other nations, shows that prophecy accurately foretold history and that the sure word of prophecy is trustworthy light for the present and the future.

The warning was spoken to Egypt while it stood in power and glory, declaring what would come upon the earth by bringing it down to the lowest place among kingdoms and making it small so it could never again lift itself above the other nations or rule over them. It belongs to the prophecies of Egypt in Ezekiel 29-32 foretelling the certain fate to come upon Pharaoh and his host, standing with the prophecies of other nations in Ezekiel 25-31 concerning Ammon, Moab, Tyre and Egypt whose fulfillment is evident today. Peoples, nations and governments therefore need not remain ignorant of what is coming upon the earth, for the power that was once the greatest in the world has for years been counted the very lowest among all kingdoms in remarkable fulfillment. The prediction was spoken when Egypt was still a flourishing nation, long before the prosperous reign of the Ptolemies, that it would become a base kingdom, the lowest of kingdoms, never again lifting itself above the nations, and its fulfillment has been written before the world for centuries in the abject condition of Egypt.

That particularity carries conviction and exhibits divine omniscience and all-knowledge. The foretelling that Egypt would become the lowest of kingdoms and would no longer rule over or dominate other nations is presented as a fulfilled prediction and evidence of divine foreknowledge. The fact that Egypt continues in that base condition, remaining low among kingdoms and never again exalting itself over the nations, exhibits divine omniscience.

Human beings cannot foretell the future and spirits cannot foretell it, but this fulfilled prediction about Egypt, standing alongside other fulfilled predictions, proves that one omniscient Mind dictated the predictions of the Bible and that prophecy came not by the will of man. Its ongoing low condition as the lowest of kingdoms is a present fact that exhibits divine omniscience and proves that one omniscient Mind dictated the predictions of the Bible and that prophecy did not come by human will.

Spiritual Lessons and Application

Egypt was once a great and enlightened empire, but it was brought low because it refused to acknowledge Jehovah and opposed His will, so that it would no longer exalt itself above other nations or rule over them but become the basest of kingdoms. In that fallen state Egypt represents darkness, unbelief and sensuousness, and coming out of Egypt pictures leaving sin and unbelief. It sank to the lowest place among kingdoms and would never again lift itself above the nations. Its great river and river-god and all its multitude of other gods could not save it from that fall, for its fountain, the Nile, could give neither spiritual life nor national life.

Once one of the greatest empires on earth when its sun-temple monuments were raised, it would be cut down to the lowest and least honored of kingdoms, never again rising above other nations or ruling over them. That lowering is now visibly fulfilled in Egypt and in the ruins of On, or Beth-shemesh, where only one idol-covered obelisk remains of its magnificence. Its fall proves the utter destruction of every worship that puts the bright creature in place of the Creator. The same end will come to every nation and every soul that turns the truth of God into a lie.

God's judgment came upon Egypt for her iniquity and her oppression of the people of God and for turning her blessings into curses by misuse. From being one of the mightiest nations she would become the least and basest of kingdoms, her glory vanished and her pride humbled in the dust, diminished so she would never again lift herself above the nations nor rule over the nations. This has long since come to pass, so that she does not rule over the nations and does not even rule her own land, but is ruled by another nation, with England now collecting her revenues, paying her debts and building her works while the Egyptian still waters by foot or crude wheel, and her ancient tombs and mummies show the contrast with her former power. Egypt thus stands today as a living example of the result of rebellion against God, an example not for nations alone but for every individual in every nation. The verse teaches that it pays to remain faithful to God.

The declaration that Egypt is reduced to the lowest rank among kingdoms and no longer ruling over other nations is applied to Egypt in the present as the basest of nations. Yet hope remains that the gospel can transform its people. The nation is waking up and being prepared for the rapid spread of the message.