{"id":11002,"date":"2020-08-17T20:00:31","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T03:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/ezekiel-28_1-26-copy\/"},"modified":"2020-08-16T17:06:43","modified_gmt":"2020-08-17T00:06:43","slug":"ezekiel-29_1-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/ezekiel-29_1-21\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dangers of Pride and the Power of Humility"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ezekiel 29:1-21 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Ezekiel 29:1-21.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 29:1 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In the tenth year, in the tenth month on the twelfth day, the word of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came to me:
\n<\/em>
\nOn verse 1:\u00a0 Scholars have calculated this date to be January 5, 587 B.C., about 11 months after Nebuchadnezzar began besieging Jerusalem (see Ezekiel 24:1-2).<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 29:2 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 2:\u00a0 Here the Lord begins His message to Pharaoh king of Egypt.\u00a0 According to scholars, that would have been Pharaoh Hophra, who reigned in Egypt from approximately 588 B.C. to 569 B.C.<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 29:3-6a (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Speak to him and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: “‘I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, you great monster lying among your streams. You say, “The Nile is mine; I made it for myself.”
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But I will put hooks in your jaws and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales. I will pull you out from among your streams, with all the fish sticking to your scales.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish of your streams. You will fall on the open field and not be gathered or picked up. I will give you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then all who live in Egypt will know that I am the\u00a0LORD\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 3-6a:\u00a0 What sea monster is the Lord comparing Pharaoh king of Egypt to in verse 3?\u00a0 Scholars say that most likely it is a crocodile, since back then crocodiles were captured by placing hooks in their jaws and pulling them out of the water (v4).\u00a0 The Lord compares Pharaoh to a captured crocodile that will be left for dead in the desert and given to wild animals for food (v5).<\/p>\n

Why does the Lord compare Pharaoh to a captured crocodile?\u00a0 As it was with the ruler of Tyre (Ezekiel 27:1-2), the Lord\u2019s issue with Pharaoh king of Egypt here is pride.\u00a0 Pharaoh said, \u201cThe Nile is mine; I made it for myself\u201d (v3).\u00a0 Pharaoh is wrong on at least two counts.\u00a0 First, the Nile River is not Pharaoh\u2019s; the Nile belongs to God.\u00a0 Second, Pharaoh did not make the Nile; God did.\u00a0 Though Pharaoh was worshiped as a god by his people, the Lord would soon make clear who the real God is.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Pride makes us think we did more than we actually did.\u00a0 Pride makes us think that we are more entitled to things than we actually are. Pride makes us think it\u2019s all about us when it\u2019s actually not.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also, when we are prideful, God opposes us (1 Peter 5:5).<\/strong>\u00a0 Whether it was the Lord\u2019s message for the king of Tyre in Ezekiel 28:1-2, or the Lord\u2019s message to Pharaoh here, an ongoing theme in the book of Ezekiel is that God works against leaders who are prideful.<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 29:6b-7 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0\u2026”‘You have been a staff of reed for the house of Israel.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When they grasped you with their hands, you splintered and you tore open their shoulders; when they leaned on you, you broke and their backs were wrenched.
\n<\/em>
\nOn verses 6b-7:\u00a0 The Lord calls Egypt a \u201cstaff of reed\u201d (v6) that splinters, breaks and injures the one who leans on it (v7).\u00a0 This is because Israel looked to Egypt for help against the Babylonians, but Egypt proved to be an unreliable help to Israel (see 2 Kings 18:21).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Do everything you can do avoid gaining the reputation of being someone who is unreliable.<\/strong>\u00a0 Whether in business, in ministry, with friends, or in your relationships at home, almost nothing is worse than being seen as someone others cannot count on.\u00a0 So do your absolute best to keep every promise you make.\u00a0 Be fast and humble about fixing mistakes when they happen.\u00a0 Be the most responsible person you know.\u00a0 Then you\u2019ll be known as someone others can count on.\u00a0 See also Proverbs 25:13.<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 29:8-16 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: I will bring a sword against you and kill your men and their animals.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Egypt will become a desolate wasteland. Then they will know that I am the\u00a0LORD. “‘Because you said, “The Nile is mine; I made it,”
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0therefore I am against you and against your streams, and I will make the land of Egypt a ruin and a desolate waste from Migdol to Aswan, as far as the border of Cush.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0No foot of man or animal will pass through it; no one will live there for forty years.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I will make the land of Egypt desolate among devastated lands, and her cities will lie desolate forty years among ruined cities. And I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘Yet this is what the Sovereign\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations where they were scattered.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I will bring them back from captivity and return them to Upper Egypt, the land of their ancestry. There they will be a lowly kingdom.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0It will be the lowliest of kingdoms and will never again exalt itself above the other nations. I will make it so weak that it will never again rule over the nations.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Egypt will no longer be a source of confidence for the people of Israel but will be a reminder of their sin in turning to her for help. Then they will know that I am the Sovereign\u00a0LORD.'”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 8-16:\u00a0 In verses 8-12 the Lord describes the extent of the devastation that the Lord would allow to come on Egypt, turning the land into \u201ca ruin and a desolate waste \u201c (v10) and scattering the Egyptians among the nations (v12).\u00a0 In verses 13-16 the Lord says that eventually Egypt would be restored, though Egypt would not return to its former glory and power but would be a \u201clowly kingdom\u201d (v14).<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 29:17 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month on the first day, the word of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came to me:<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 17:\u00a0 Scholars identify this date as April 26, 571 B.C.<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 29:18-20 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon drove his army in a hard campaign against Tyre; every head was rubbed bare and every shoulder made raw. Yet he and his army got no reward from the campaign he led against Tyre.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore this is what the Sovereign\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: I am going to give Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will carry off its wealth. He will loot and plunder the land as pay for his army.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I have given him Egypt as a reward for his efforts because he and his army did it for me, declares the SovereignLORD.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 18-20: When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged Tyre, Tyre gave Nebuchadnezzar a good fight that lasted 13 years.\u00a0 The result was that Nebuchadnezzar did not conquer Tyre to the extent that he hoped \u2013 \u201c[y]et he and his army got no reward from the campaign he led against Tyre\u201d (v18).\u00a0 Saying that Nebuchadnezzar and his army \u201cdid it\u201d (that is, the siege of Tyre) \u201cfor me [i.e. the Lord]\u201d, God announces that He will give Egypt over to Nebuchadnezzar as \u201ca reward\u201d for being used by God to attack Tyre (v20).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 When God closes one door, don\u2019t be surprised if He opens another one.<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 29:21 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“On that day I will make a horn grow for the house of\u00a0<\/em>Israel, and I will open your mouth among them. Then they will know that I am the\u00a0LORD.”<\/p>\n

On verse 21:\u00a0 Here Ezekiel makes a short prophetic statement about how one day a horn, that is a king and likely a reference to the Messiah, will grow for the house of Israel and that through this king the Israelites would know who the Lord is.\u00a0 The rising up of this horn would ultimately be fulfilled when Jesus Christ came.<\/p>\n

Jesus, I praise You for being so incredibly humble.\u00a0 Whereas prideful men like Pharaoh King of Egypt and the ruler of Tyre wrongly assumed that they were gods and were brought down by the one true God, You are the Son of God and yet You humbled Yourself as a human being and were lifted up by our Heavenly Father.\u00a0 Praise You for being the One who opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.\u00a0 May I always stay humble before You.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Ezekiel 29:1-21.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!
\n\u00a0
\nEzekiel 29:1 (NIV)\u00a0
\n1\u00a0\u00a0In the tenth year, in the tenth month on the twelfth day, the word of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came to me:
\n\u00a0
\nOn verse 1:\u00a0 Scholars have calculated this date to be January 5, 587 B.C., about 11 months after Nebuchadnezzar began besieging Jerusalem (see Ezekiel 24:1-2).<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 29:2 (NIV)\u00a0\u00a0
\n\u00a02\u00a0\u00a0“Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verse 2:\u00a0 Here the Lord begins His message to Pharaoh king of Egypt.\u00a0 According to scholars, that would have been Pharaoh Hophra, who reigned in Egypt from approximately 588 B.C. to 569 B.C.\u00a0
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11002"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11003,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11002\/revisions\/11003"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}