lament

Ezekiel 32 and Psalm 80

Ezekiel

Ezekiel 32 is a lament by Ezekiel for both Egypt and for Pharoah Hophra. Pharoah is described as both a lion and as a sea monster. The Lord catches him in a net and he is cast upon the shore to be devoured by the birds and other creatures. Later, the chapter describes several of the neighboring nation-states that have previously fallen in like manner. Assyria, Elam, Meshech-Tubal, Edom, and finally the ‘princes of the north”, likely the Phonecian city-states or Sidonians. Each of these nations were fierce and powerful at one time, but because of their sin, they faced the inevitable judgment of God and they have been destroyed.

It serves to me as a reminder that those people or groups who seem today to have such power, whether it is political, social, etc. and who turn their back on God and pursuade other to also so so, will one day face the inevitable judgment of God. When it comes to the people, I would pray for repentance and rebirth, but when it comes to the sin, as a Christian, I rejoice in the just hand of God.

The effect of God’s judgment is “fear-producing”. The Bible Knowledge Commentary says this,

In response to Egypt’s fall the surrounding nations would be appalled (cf. Ezek. 26:16; 27:35; 28:19) and their kings would shudder with horror. God’s revealing His holy character through Egypt’s judgment would have a profound effect on other nations. If mighty Egypt could be destroyed, so could they.1

Psalms

Psalm 80:3, Psalm 80:7, and Psalm 80:19 all repeat the refrain,

Restore us, O Lord God of hosts! Let your face shine, that we may be saved!

Matthew Henry’s commentary shares this thought,

Lastly, The psalm concludes with the same petition that had been put up twice before, and yet it is no vain repetition (Ps. 80:19): Turn us again. The title given to God rises, Ps.80:3, O God! Ps.80:7, O God of hosts! Ps.80:19, O Lord (Jehovah) God of hosts! When we come to God for his grace, his good-will towards us and his good work in us, we should pray earnestly, continue instant in prayer, and pray more earnestly.2

In this psalm, Asaph uses the metaphor of the vine. Israel is represented by the vine that is in rough shape. A big part of this condition is that God’s protection has been removed due to judgment. How can I expect God to surround me with his protection while at the same time willfully sin and dishonor His glory?

1 Charles H. Dyer, “Ezekiel,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 1290.

2 Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 861.

Ezekiel 30 and Psalm 78:40-72

Ezekiel

Ezekiel 30 is a lament for the fall of Egypt. The once great nation will need subdued under the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. Though Egypt still exists today as a country, it has never regained its prominence since the invasion by Babylon.

The Bible Reader’s Commentary provides some insight about the pharoah at that time,

Broken arms (30:20-26). The message is directed against Pharaoh Hophra, who in 588 b.c. had halfheartedly tried to draw Babylonian forces away from the siege of Jerusalem (cf. Jer. 34:1; 37:5). Egyptian monuments show a flexed arm was a symbol of Pharaoh’s strength, and one of Hophra’s formal titles was “strong-armed.” With both arms broken, Pharaoh would be totally unable to resist.1

Psalms

I really enjoyed the insight that D.A. Carson gives for this morning’s reading on the second half of Psalm 72,

But you and I are today reading these lines while at the same time reading Ezekiel, and we know that David’s line provided little enduring stability. Within two generations the Davidic dynasty lost the northern ten tribes, and its history from that point to the exile turned out to be as fickle and as repulsively wicked as anything described in this psalm, which scans the period from the Exodus to the beginning of the Davidic dynasty. In other words, this psalm looks back on the debris of failure and the well-deserved wrath of God, but sees the appointment of David and the choice of Zion as spectacular marks of God’s grace and goodness, an encouraging basis for stable faithfulness in the years ahead. But when we look back from the perspective of Ezekiel or Jeremiah, we find a still longer string of failures and still more well-deserved wrath. So is Psalm 78 simply naive?

At each stage of the Bible’s plot-line, in the midst of wrath God intervenes in mercy. The human race was sliding into a miasma of sin, so God chose Abraham. In the debauchery of the twelve sons, God chose Joseph. In the abyss of Israelite slavery, God chose Moses. In desperate cycles of rebellion, God raised up the judges. Each step marked glorious hope. And now God raises up David. But living as we do three millennia later than David, we look back and breathe our profound thanks for how God disclosed himself “in these last days” (Heb. 1:1-4)—in the finality of his Son.2

The truth is that every human solution prior to the coming of Jesus was only a temporary solution at best, fraught with mistakes and sin. Jesus was the second Adam who would perfectly fulfill the law and who would reign as the true and righteous king.

1 Lawrence O. Richards, The Bible Reader’s Companion, electronic ed. (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1991), 502.

2 D. A. Carson, For the Love of God: a Daily Companion for Discovering the Riches of God’s Word., vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1998).