Sermon Tone Analysis

God humbles his people with a word against Egypt

Ezekiel begins with prophetic warnings and revelations about the kingdom of Judah and especially its capital, Jerusalem.

These warnings and revelations were delivered by the prophet, Ezekiel, to the people of God who were already in captivity in Babylon.

The Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, had already taken some of Judah’s citizens like Ezekiel into captivity, but Judah’s king Zedekiah tried to throw off Babylon’s oppression.

This only angered King Nebuchadnezzar who as a result came to lay waste to Jerusalem and take the remaining citizens into captivity.

tells foretells the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem and the death of that city.

Just as Ezekiel was not allowed to mourn for his dead wife, so God would not mourn for the death of this city - his city - that was once the dwelling place of his very presence.

But a strange things happens in the book of Ezekiel after chapter 24.

The tone of the prophecies are suddenly much more encouraging for the people of God because beginning in chapter 25, Judah is no longer the aim of God’s wrath.

Rather, all those enemy nations of God’s people are the focus.

And because they attacked and belittled Judah as it was falling to Babylon - even celebrating Judah’s downfall - God was going to bring judgment to those nations.

There were prophecies against Ammon, Moab and Seir, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, and Sidon.

Tonight, however, we are going to begin to consider God’s word against Egypt.

[CIT] In God humbles his people as he promises judgment against Egypt.

[PROP] This passage teaches us, as God’s people, to trust the God’s sovereignty, fully believing that he knows what’s best for us and others.

[TS] We want to build our thoughts around a few WORDS tonight...

WORDS to build our thoughts around in ...

Word #1: Pride (vv.

3-6a; 9b-12).

vv.

6b-9a).

Ezekiel 29:

[EXPOSITION]

Like so many political leaders (and leaders in general), Pharaoh was full of pride.

We are told by the prophet Jeremiah () that the Pharaoh discussed here in was Pharaoh Hophra.

He was full of pride.

He not only claimed absolute ownership of the Nile river, which was the lifeblood of Egypt, he also claimed to have created it for himself.

His political slogan seems to have been, “I own it.

I made it.

And I’m going to use it for me.”

This pride not only before other men, but before God as well, would lead to his downfall and the humbling of all of Egypt.

As v. 10 says, the whole land will become a desolation and the population will be scattered.

But in v. 3 God depicts Pharaoh as a great dragon secure in his streams, but the great dragon and all who feed on its pride will be suddenly plucked up by God and cast into the wilderness where they will die, rot, and become food for the beasts of the earth and the birds of the heavens.

This will happen to Pharaoh Hophra.

says...

When Pharaoh Hophra is handed over to his enemies.

He will no longer be prideful.

Although they may not come to trust God as they should, Pharaoh Hophra and all the other inhabitants of Egypt will know that Yahweh is the Lord.

talk specifically about the destruction that came upon Egypt.

[APPLICATION]

Pride is an insidious sin.

It a sin we can be riddled with while thinking we don’t have any of it.

We can identify pride by asking, “Who do I look to when things get tough?”

Do we look to God or to ourselves?

We can identify pride by asking, “Who gets the credit?”

When I’m apart of something done well, do I pat myself on the back or do I give God the credit?

[ILLUSTRATION] Barry Horowitz’s Hand Print

{tell about Barry Horowitz patting himself on the back before each match}

Is that us?

Do we (perhaps even just in our hearts) pat ourselves on the back instead of giving the credit to God?

The Bible says that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble ().

The Good News Translation of says, “(God) has no use for conceited people, but shows favor to those who are humble.”

God’s favor is his presence and guidance.

John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim’s Progress, wrote, “He that is down needs fear no fall; He that is low, no pride; He that is humble, ever shall Have God to be his guide.”

He that is low, no pride;

He that is humble, ever shall

Have God to be his guide.

Let’s be done with pride and put on humility.

Galaxie Software.

(2002).

10,000 Sermon Illustrations.

Biblical Studies Press.

Word #2: Obstruction (vv.

6b-9a).

[EXPOSITION]

Now, we want to be careful that we understand this passage the right way.

It would be one we could easily misinterpret.

God used Babylon to bring judgement against his people in Jerusalem because of their sin against him.

Judah’s king Zedekiah wanted to avoid that judgement at the hands of the Babylonians so he sought support from Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt.

God told King Zedekiah not to trust in Egypt, but Zedekiah thought he knew better.

Egypt failed to provide the promised support () and Babylon sacked the city.

Now, here’s what we might misunderstand.

We might think that God was angry with Egypt because they failed to provide Judah adequate support.

That’s not right.

The truth is, God was angry with Egypt because it provided Judah with any support.

In other words, Egypt tried to obstruct God’s judgment on Judah.

Judah used Egypt like a weak crutch.

Once Judah put any weight on Egypt, Egypt’s power splintered leaving Judah in worse shape than before.

The best thing for Judah was not to escape God’s discipline in the form of the Babylonians, but to receive it gladly and allow it to lead them to repentance and restoration.

By getting in the way of that discipline, Egypt found itself the target of God’s judgment.

[APPLICATION]

Who knows what’s best for your friends and family?

You or God?

Sometimes we have friends or family members who find themselves suffering the consequences for their actions.

Maybe they’ve been foolish with money and they find themselves in debt.

Maybe they’ve even committed some crime (perhaps another among many) and they find themselves locked up.

Often our tendency is to pull these people out of the fire, but in doing so we may be pouring on the gasoline.

[ILLUSTRATION] Grease Fire on the Stove Top

{talk about how we think we’re helping when we throw water on a grease fire, but we are actually making it worse}

That’s the way it is when someone is under God’s discipline, which might look like the normal consequences for bad decisions.

We may think we are helping them by helping them by helping them escape those consequences but we may be only making the problem worse.

We want to pray for people and help people as the Lord leads.

We want to give people second and third chances but we don’t want to obstruct God’s good discipline which is meant to lead people toward repentance and restoration.

If we do, we might find ourselves the target of God’s discipline.

Word #3: Mercy (vv.

13-16).

[EXPOSITION]

This is sort of a shocking development in the series of Ezekiel’s prophecies against other nations.

God said that he would utterly destroy other nations - they would no longer exist - and Egypt would go through a time of destruction, but it would not be ultimately destroyed.

After God’s judgment, it would be left lowly and small - no longer the player on the international scene that it once was - but it would not be destroyed.

The reason it would not be destroyed is because, although it was wrong to do so, Egypt actually tried to help Judah.

The other nations belittled and celebrated Judah’s downfall, but at least Egypt (even though misguided and with suspect motivations) tried to help.