SCRIPTURE: Ezekiel 29
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
Then all who live in Egypt will know that I am the Lord. ” ‘You have been a staff of reed for the people of Israel. When 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. [Ezekiel 29:6-7]
Israel had always had a love-hate relationship with Egypt.
Egypt was a prosperous, powerful nation, situated along the fertile Nile and protected by the surrounding desert.
Abraham went there in time of need, Joseph and his family (the future nation of Israel) went there in their time of need, and in the days of Ezekiel the kings of Israel looked to Egypt of protection against the king of Babylon.
But through these times, again and again, they prove unreliable, a staff of reed that broke and wounded them when they leaned on it.
And yet, God still has a future for Egypt [Ezekiel 29:13-14].
So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” [Matthew 2:14-15]
Here we see how God allows Egypt to fulfill a part in His purpose, a place of protection for the baby messiah.
And we know that after Jesus’ resurrection, Egypt became a center for the growing church… for a season.
The remnants of that early church are still present in Egypt today.
God does not destroy Egypt, but allows them to serve a good purpose, a place where the Messiah is preserved and advanced.
Egypt still fulfills it’s purpose today; the church of Jesus Christ is still maintaining a witness in this Muslim nation.
But recent events in Egypt also show that the other part of God’s message also applies: It 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. [Ezekiel 29:15]
There is a struggle today for democracy in Egypt, and we need to pray for the people there, and for the presence of Jesus still evident there.
Christians are still in Egypt today, many of them also struggling under an oppressive government.
God is stirring there, and in other Middle Eastern countries.
God has not given up on them… neither should we!
PRAYER:
Lord, sometimes we forget that the ‘other nations’ that we hear about in the news also have a place in Your kingdom, and that You are present and active there too. Help me to pray for Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Iran, as well as for my own country.
Egypt played a large role in the history of God’s people. Time and time again, God used the land to save His people. Yet Egypt did not acknowledge or know that the Lord was God. They leaned upon their own understanding and prided themselves in their own power. Little did they realize that God is in control. Their god, their confidence in themselves, their pride cam crashing down. The greatest became the least.
Yet God used Egypt for His purposes. And He still uses the nations His wonders to perform so that His kingdom may come. I need to see what the Lord God is doing today among the peoples of the world. Nations also need to know that God is the I am. God continues to use people, nations His wonders to perform. Open my eyes Lord that I may see what is happening in the world today – seeing Your kingdom come.
Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
In earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive them who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory
For ever and ever. Amen, Amen.