Ezekiel 30:4
And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down. And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down.
Ezekiel 30:4 belongs to the prophecies against Egypt in Ezekiel 29 through 32, standing among the visions in which Ammon, Moab, Tyre, and Egypt pass before the prophet to foretell the certain fate to come upon Pharaoh and his host. At the time Egypt was one of the greatest kingdoms on earth and had once been the greatest empire. Those prophecies against Egypt have been literally fulfilled, a fulfillment evident today.
The verse foretells invasion and defeat by the sword, with many in Egypt slain, its multitude carried away and its power diminished. The breaking of her foundations means the collapse of its national strength, so that it would no longer dominate other nations. Great pain in Ethiopia means great distress and anguish there as Egypt's slain fell, with judgment reaching by fire and sword from the Nile delta to Ethiopia. The verse is one place where the word Ethiopia occurs in the Bible, and it does not say that Ethiopia shall rise up and be a nation.
This judgment was fulfilled by Nebuchadnezzar's conquest of Egypt and Egypt's subsequent subjection to foreign powers. Egypt would become the very basest of the kingdoms, brought low and abased for its pride, never to dominate or to rise again among the nations. The verse shows how God deals with the kingdoms around Israel to bring down their pride and to plead with Israel to turn to Him, for Egypt was one of the former oppressors of God's people and is the symbol of black infidelity.
The prophecy about Egypt is applied to England taking complete control of Egypt, with Turkey's sovereignty there passing away. The breaking down of foundations is also applied to a soon-coming spasm more terrible, general, and disastrous than any earthquake before it, meaning the breaking up not of some local area but of the whole old and infirm earth. Then all the cities of the nations are shaken down and every other support fails, because the earth is shaken out of her place for lack of the revivifying power of the life of God to support her, while only those who have made the Most High their refuge are sheltered and the Lord is the only hope of His people.