A Lamentation for Egypt
Ezekiel 31-32

Lesson 32

background notes

doctrinal / teaching points

1.  Egypt would be cut down like the fallen tree of Assyria.

 2.  Egypt would be captured like a netted monster. 

practical application

Remember, the higher the tree, the greater the fall!

 

questions

1. Ezekiel chapters 31 and 32 are the final 2 chapters of the subsection of Ezekiel concerning prophecies against foreign nations surrounding Israel. These 2 chapters also include the final ___ of the ___ prophetic oracles.

2. In the great tree of Assyria (31:3), what do the birds nesting in the branches and the beasts of the field living in their shade (31:6) illustrate?

3. What was the sin of  “the tree of Assyria” that caused the Lord to “cut it down” (31:10-12)?

4. Why was it foolish for Egypt think she was greater than Assyria (31:18)?

5. In Ezekiel’s 6^th prophetic oracle, when the date given in 32:1, is compared to the date given in 33:21, we find that Ezekiel gave this oracle ____________ after the news of Jerusalem’s _____ had reached the captives of Babylon.

6. Egypt’s fall would be accompanied by what God-given signs (32:7,8)?

7. List the nations that would precede Pharaoh into the realm of the dead (32:22-30)Why had God judged them with this fate (32:23-25, 27, 30)?

answers

1.  Chapters 31 and 32 contain the final 3 of the 7 prophetic oracles.

2. The birds nesting in the branches of the great “tree” , and the beasts living beneath them illustrate all of the nations that were under the power and control of the great empire of Assyria.

3. The sin of the empire of Assyria was the pride of greatness, and the Lord was using Assyria and its fall as a lesson for the other nations.

4. It was foolish for Egypt to think she was greater than Assyria because Egypt had been successfully invaded by Assyria, who had destroyed Egypt’s major city of Thebes in 633 BC.  Then, Assyria was conquered by the Babylonians.  Egypt would be cut down like the fallen tree of Assyria.

5. Ezekiel’s 6^th prophetic oracle was given 2 months after the news of Jerusalem’s fall had reached the captives in Babylon.

6. Egypt’s fall would be accompanied by the stars and moon being darkened and the sun being covered by a cloud. Darkness would come upon the land.

7. Ezekiel prophesied that Assyria, Elam, Meshech, Tubal, Edom and the Sidonians would precede Egypt to the realm of the unbelieving dead.  God had judged them with this fate because they “caused terror in the land of the living.”

 

discuss / consider

Discuss the issue of terrorism and its growth in the world today.  Consider the conditions and belief structures of the cultures and societies that are producing terrorists.

 

challenge

The sin of individual and national pride stands out in Scripture as a major cause of God’s judgment. Can you accurately identify and assess the pride that may be in your own heart today?  Do you have a trusted Christian friend or mentor who could help you “see” any hidden pride and encourage you to confess this sin?  “If we confess our sins, [He] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

memorize

• “‘Because of the terror of the mighty in the land of the living, you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised and lie with those slain by the sword . . . For I have caused My terror in the land of the living,’ says the Lord God.” From Ezekiel 32:27, 28 and 32