Bible

We’re back in the Bible room today reading Session 4 of the summary of the book of Ezekiel, chapters 25 through 32.

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Ezekiel – Session 4 of 6

Chapter 25. Enemies

Ezekiel says the Lord has told him He will condemn the enemies of Israel:

• First, He calls out the Ammonites for their behavior;
• When Judah was overwhelmed Ammon applauded their misery;
• Therefore, Ammon will be overwhelmed by men of the East;
• Likewise, Moab celebrated when Judah was taken captive;
• So, Moab will be destroyed by men of the East;
• Edom has taken vengeance against the Lord’s people Israel;
• The Lord will take His vengeance against Edom;
• The Philistines have harbored old hatreds for a long time;
• And they have fought to destroy His people;
• The Lord will send them furious destruction as a rebuke;
• All these nations will know He is the Lord.

Chapter 26. Lost

The Lord says Tyre will become a lost city:

• Enemy nations will come to plunder Tyre;
• Battering rams and axes will tear down the walls and towers;
• Many horses will trample people, even run over buildings;
• Singing and musical instruments will become silent;
• Visitors on the sea will be astonished at the devastation of Tyre;
• Those seafaring men will speak about Tyre in a lamentation;
• ‘It’s a shame how the great city of Tyre has fallen’;
• The Lord says to Tyre, “you will never be found again.”

Chapter 27. Tragedy

The Lord tells Ezekiel to write a lamentation for Tyre:

• The prophet laments the tragedy of that great city;
• The once splendor of Tyre can hardly be put into words;
• Like a great ship Tyre controlled the seas; an almost perfect city;
• She was built of all the best materials from all over the world;
• Masts of cedar from Lebanon; oars inlaid with Cyprus ivory;
• Embroidered blue and purple linen coverings;
• She even had her own wise men who were the sea captains;
• They traveled the seas to market and receive mercantile;
• Her army was staffed by foreign soldiers of fortune;
• Judah and Israel traded with Tyre for crops and oils;
• Sheba was her source for choice spices, jewels, gold;
• But in the middle of the oceans, your oars were broken;
• All your great sea captains and ships will fall into the sea;
• Seamen from all the islands of the world will come to mourn;
• They will be astonished at the magnitude of the devastation;
• Tyre will become a frightening place, lost forever.

Chapter 28. Proud

The Lord tells Ezekiel to speak against the king of Tyre:

• Because of his great riches that king is way too proud;
• He has become too rich, too wise, too beautiful;
• He sincerely believes he is a god, but he’s just a man;
• The Lord is going to send strangers to trouble that king;
• He will be killed by an uncircumcised foreigner;
• They will kill him with a sword, throw him into a pit;
• Ezekiel is to write a lament for the king of Tyre;
• He was a perfect man, full of wisdom, beauty, and riches;
• And he was proud, very proud, and very sinful;
• He was also guilty of fraudulent trading practices;
• The Lord will turn him to ashes, and he will be forgotten;
• Afterwards, there will be no more enemies left around Israel;
• The Lord will gather His people from all over the earth;
• And they will all be reunited in their homeland.

Chapter 29. Desolate

The Lord continues to state His judgements against Israel’s enemies:

• Egypt has boasted that their river belongs to them;
• The Lord says their famous river is His river, and His alone;
• He says He will put hooks in the jaws of Egypt;
• They will be leaving the river and will be a scattered people;
• The land of Egypt will become uninhabited for forty years;
• Egypt will become a desolate place;
• The Lord will use Babylon as His sword against Egypt;
• Babylon was the enforcer for the Lord against Tyre;
• He will give Egypt, and everything in it, to the Babylonians;
• And one day His people, Israel, will come back to life;
• Then Ezekiel will be empowered to speak to them;
• And they will know the One who is the Lord.

Chapter 30. Messengers

The Lord says He will send out messengers to warn Egypt’s allies:

• He will tell them trouble is coming to Egypt and its allies;
• Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, Chub, shall all be desolate places;
• Nebuchadnezzar is bringing his Babylonian army to war;
• And all the land will be covered with the dead bodies;
• The Lord will also destroy all the idols of Egypt;
• The Lord says he does not approve of the Egyptian Pharaoh;
• Therefore, He intends to break the arms of that king;
• He will not be able to hold a sword in either hand;
• The Lord will give His power to the king of Babylon;
• Any surviving Egyptians will be scattered among many nations.

Chapter 31. Ruin

The Lord says Egypt will be so destroyed it will be nothing but a ruin:

• Egypt was like Assyria once was: a great cedar of Lebanon;
• But it will be taken down by the cruelest of all the nations;
• It will become a dwelling place for only wild beasts and birds;
• Egypt will be just another victim among the uncircumcised.

Chapter 32. Comfort

The Lord says Pharoah, in the end, may find comfort among the dead:

• The Lord will descend upon Egypt like a very large net;
• All the people of the nation will be caught up in the Lord’s net;
• Then those in the net will be cast out into the desert to die;
• Nations will be in fear when they see the violent fall of Egypt;
• The sword of Babylon will spread over the land of Egypt;
• Then, people will lament the fall of a great nation;
• Egypt joins many countries who have been brought down:
• Assyria, Elam, Meshech, Tubal, Edom and all the Sidonians;
• Pharaoh may find comfort among those the Lord has judged.

End of Session 4 of 6 of the book of Ezekiel