What happensPermalink
Ezekiel condemns Pharaoh, pictured as a great creature in the Nile claiming the river as his own creation. Egypt also proved an unreliable support when Judah trusted it. God will therefore make Egypt desolate and scatter its people for forty years. Yet He will later gather them back to Pathros as a lowly kingdom that will never regain its former dominance. In a much later oracle, God says Nebuchadnezzar’s army labored against Tyre without receiving spoil, so He gives Babylon Egypt as payment for work done on His behalf.
Why it mattersPermalink
Egypt’s pride appears in Pharaoh’s claim to own and create the Nile, while Judah’s reliance on Egypt exposes its misplaced trust. God nevertheless promises to restore a humbled nation. Isaiah 19 envisions Egypt healed and worshiping the Lord. The later oracle about payment for Babylon’s unrewarded labor at Tyre connects this chapter back to chapter 26.
Key versePermalink
And it shall never again be the reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.