.JPG)
The Bible Breakdown
Bible reading plan and SOAP guide: www.experiencerlc.com/the-bible
Subscribe to my weekly newsletter: www.brandoncannon.com
The Bible Breakdown
Ezekiel 29: Fishing for Pharaohs
Ask a Question
Send Encouragement
|||| Take a Next Step ||||
SOAP Bible Study Method.
Bible Reading Plan.
Free Weekly Newsletter.
|||| Social ||||
Facebook.
Instagram.
X.
YouTube.
The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Well, everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today, ezekiel, chapter 29,. And today's title is Fishing for Pharaohs Fishing for Pharaohs. And we're going to look at another wonderful illusion not illusion another wonderful metaphor and illustration that's what I was working on there of how God don't miss a thing, man. He knows how to take names and to do what he's going to do, and we get to sit back and just realize that he is faithful. So we're going to jump into all that in just a moment. If you have your Bibles, open up with me to Ezekiel, chapter 28, or, excuse me, 29. And while you're doing that, make sure you take a moment to like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast it really does help and make sure you are going to the Bible Breakdown discussion on Facebook. There's amazing people doing an amazing job and, as always, the more we dig, the more we find. Well, also, while you're getting your Bibles ready, don't forget the overall scope of Ezekiel, and that is that God's promise of renewal. It takes time, but we're seeing it begin to happen in Ezekiel. Over the past 30 chapters almost, there's been this subtle shift between mourning over the nation of Israel and guys, we've got to get our act together and then mourning over what could have been but wasn't. And now we're seeing that God's saying okay, I've dealt with them, I'm going to process of renewing them. And step one is, after they have repented, I start dealing with all this mess. And isn't that what happens in our life, that if we start repenting of God, god starts to heal us, one step at a time. And sometimes that has to do with radical amputation, getting rid of all the bad stuff. And so God's getting rid of all the bad stuff and this, and one of the ways he's doing that is he's going fishing. He's going fishing for a Pharaoh, and we're going to read about this today and just kind of enjoy this mental image of. I have this mental image of God, like because he's going to, he's going to talk about, you know, uh, the, the Nile river, and there's like this great monster in my mind. It's not what the Bible says, we'll see this, but in my mind I think of a crocodile, and God is like on a river, in a bayou down in Louisiana. I don't know crocodiles in Louisiana, they're alligators but he's got a cane pole and he's fishing, and he's fishing for a crocodile. That's the mental image I have, and I'd love to know, in the comments down below, what mental image comes to your mind when you think of the metaphor that Ezekiel is using. Okay, you ready, here we go.
Speaker 1:Ezekiel, chapter 29, verse 1, says this on January 7th, in the 10th year of King Jehoiakim's captivity, this message came to me from the Lord. Now pause again. I don't want us to lose this thought that these things are not happening one after another. Like Ezekiel didn't sit down in a weekend and write all these prophecies, these are happening over the course of Ezekiel's life and therefore time had passed from when God had started dealing with Tyre and now he's moving over to Egypt. Okay, so we want to always make sure we keep that in perspective.
Speaker 1:Son of man, verse 2,. Turn your face to Egypt and prophesy against Pharaoh, the king, and all the people of Egypt. Give them this message from the sovereign Lord I am your enemy. If there's anything you never want to hear God say to you, and that is I'm against you, fool. But that's what he's just saying. He's like all right, I am your enemy.
Speaker 1:O Pharaoh, king of Egypt, you great monster lurking in the streams of the Nile, for you have said, the Nile River is mine. I made it for myself. I will put hooks in your jaws and drag you out on the land with fish sticking to your scales. I will leave you and all your fish stranded in the wilderness to die. You will lie unburied on the open ground, for I have given you as food to the wild animals and birds. All the people of Egypt will know that I am the Lord For to you or for to Israel. You are just a staff made of reeds. When Israel leaned on you, you splintered and broke and stabbed her in the armpit. When she put her weight on you, you collapsed and her legs gave way.
Speaker 1:Therefore, this is what the sovereignvereign Lord says. And your river? I will make the land of Egypt a total desolate wasteland, from Migdal to Ashwan, as far south as the border of Ethiopia, for 40 years. Not a soul will pass that way, neither people nor animals. It will be completely uninhabited. I will make Egypt desolate and it will be surrounded by other desolate nations and its cities will be empty and desolate for 40 years, surrounded by other ruined cities. It will scatter. I will scatter the Egyptians to distant lands. But this is what the sovereign Lord also says At the end of 40 years I will bring Egyptians back home again from the nations to which I have scattered. I will restore the prosperity of Egypt and bring its people back to the land of Pathros in southern Egypt from which they came. But Egypt will remain an unimportant minor kingdom. It will be the lowliest of all nations, never again great enough to rise above its neighbors. Then Israel will no longer be tempted to trust Egypt for help. Egypt will shatter, condition or remind Israel of how sinful she was to trust Egypt in earlier days. I will. Then Israel will know that I am the sovereign Lord.
Speaker 1:Verse 17,. On April 26, the first day of the new year. So once again, remember this is like time has passed now, this isn't like the same time, but much, much time has passed. And then, finally, this next thing happens, and that is on April 26, on the first day of the new year, during the 27th year of King Jehoiakim's captivity.
Speaker 1:This message came to me from the Lord, son of man. The army of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon fought so hard against Tyre, and the warriors' heads were rubbed bare and their shoulders were raw and blistered, yet Nebuchadnezzar and his army won no plunder to compensate them for their work. Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He will carry off its wealth, plundering everything it has, so that he can pay his army. Yes, I have given him the land of Egypt as a reward for his work, says the sovereign Lord, because he was working for me and when he destroyed Tyre. And the day will come when I will cause the ancient glory of Israel to revive, and then, ezekiel, your words will be respected. Then they will know that I am the Lord, wow. Well, as you can see, he uses wonderful imagery to remind them that God is working, even when you don't think so.
Speaker 1:And have you ever been in one of those situations where you hear people who are prospering, who are making big boasts and brags, and it just wears you out? It's like man. How are you getting away with that? How are you saying that against God? And God is not striking you down? Or how is it that sometimes evil triumphs? You ever been there? You ever watch bad people get rewarded and you go, man, god, what are you doing? Well, if nothing else.
Speaker 1:This chapter is a reminder to us that God can multitask pretty good. He can be dealing with us, he can be dealing with Tyre, and he forgot about Egypt. Over in that corner he's like hey, hey, you think all this is about you, you think that you did all this. Let me show you what I can do. And so the encouragement out of this is to realize, on one end, god is doing more than we can see. God is dealing with things, he's working on things, and so our job is to trust him. God doesn't miss anything, he doesn't overlook anything. God is working. On the other side. A warning to us so that is God doesn't miss anything. God is working.
Speaker 1:Be so very careful not to take credit for something that's not yours. They were saying that the Nile River, which was a massive, it was everything for them. I mean that's how they got so much from the Nile River, that's how commerce happened. I mean it was just everything. And they were saying that it was theirs. They made it. Let me think about that. They made it. No, they didn't, you know, but they were taking God's credit and and that that is one of the things that that anger God. He's like how in the world. Are you saying that you made this? No, how many times did we do that?
Speaker 1:We take credit for things that only God could do, and we take credit for God giving us the breath in our lungs, god giving us a mind to think, god giving us a body to move, god opening up doors, and we're just so glad that we were so awesome and we were able to make all that work out. Now, that's fine that we celebrate the open doors, but we should never take the glory away from God, or God will remind us where all the glory goes. So on one end, there's an encouragement, and that is don't worry, god sees, god knows, god is on the move. On the other side is a warning Never take God's glory, because he has no problem reminding us who it really belongs to.
Speaker 1:Let's pray together right now, god, thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, that you see us and you know us, and you're moving in our lives more than we can imagine. I pray today, god, that you will both encourage us and challenge us. Encourage us, lord, that you're always doing more and seeing more than we realize, but also challenge us that you're always doing more. You can always see more than we realize. It will cause us to be encouraged, but also cause us to be humbled and in all ways be in awe of you. We celebrate you today In Jesus' name. We pray Amen and I'm going to read God's word with me, because it says in Ezekiel 34, verse 14, say it, I will put my spirit in you and you will live again. I hope that you experience the newness of life in God every single day. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Ezekiel, chapter 30.
