Ezekiel 30:16

And I will set fire in Egypt: Sin shall have great pain, and No shall be rent asunder, and Noph shall have distresses daily.

Ezekiel 30:16 belongs to the prophecies against foreign nations, specifically the prophecy against Egypt in Ezekiel 29-32. It describes the certain fate coming upon Pharaoh and his host, portraying Egypt's cities facing destruction and distress under God's judgment. The verse foretells fire set in Egypt, with Sin in great pain, No torn asunder, and Noph facing distress daily.

Noph is ancient Memphis in Egypt, and No is the ancient city of Thebes. Judgment was pronounced upon Sin, Noph and No together as Egyptian cities under divine sentence.

The judgment came because of Egypt's idolatry and pride as a former oppressor of God's people. It came by fire, sword and desolation, turning Egypt's wealth and glory to ruin. God thereby brought down Egypt's pride, bringing it low and abasing it never to rise again among the nations.

The prophecy has been fulfilled literally. Egypt, at the time one of the greatest kingdoms and at one time the greatest empire on earth, lost its power and became the basest and humbled of kingdoms. This was accomplished through Nebuchadnezzar's invasion and Egypt's subsequent subjection to successive foreign powers, bringing the land under foreign rule. The wider predictions of the chapter were likewise literally fulfilled in the drying of Egypt's rivers and waterways and in the abolition and disappearance of its idols.

The ruins confirm the fulfillment, standing as a visible object-lesson of fulfilled prophecy. Memphis lies in ruins under the foretold distress upon Noph. The destruction of Thebes and the ruins of its temples show God's judgment against No was carried out and confirm the truth of the prophecy. As the symbol of black infidelity, Egypt's punishment stands with the judgments on the kingdoms all around Israel to illustrate how God deals with pride and calls His people to turn to Him. The prophecy about Egypt is applied to Egypt coming under complete English control and the end of Turkey's sovereignty there.

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