23 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries. 24 And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him like a man mortally wounded. 25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt. 26 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”
God Employees Wicked Nations
Chapters 25-30 of Ezekiel are one of the most amazing group of prophecies about other nations. God is giving a message to these nations, though the prophet Ezekiel. The message is really quite something and to all the nations addressed, it basically has three elements:
1. You lifted yourself up in pride against God’s people and/or against God Himself.
2. You are going to be destroyed either totally and never heard about again (Tyre) or for a brief time and then severely diminished (Egypt).
3. All of this for one reason: “Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
In the above passage we come to the end of the section and the end of the lament over Egypt. This might be a good summary of both what God is doing and HOW He is doing it. God is taking a wicked nation (Babylon) and using it to destroy these other nations. In this particular lament. God is given Egypt to Babylon as wages for doing His work. Later God will use Babylon to punish Israel/Judah and the prophet Habakkuk will object (Habakkuk 1). Although there is much truth in this text, a clear point is that God employs wicked people/nations to accomplish His task. When we look at the “power” brokers of the world we have to keep this truth in mine. God very well may want to use wicked people to accomplish His tasks. Like Habakkuk, it ought to grieve us and cause us to question. But, never-the-less the fact that God does this is truth. Read Isaiah 45:7 and that truth comes out:
Isaiah 45:7 (ESV Strong's)
7 I form light and create darkness;
I make well-being and create calamity;
I am the LORD, who does all these things.
God only has to hold back His grace and all calamity will unfold. This is what He is doing in these chapters. When God holds back His common grace to these nations, another nation, stronger and more mighty, comes and destroys them. God is totally in-charge of the world’s affairs and is accomplishing His perfect plan. However, a truth is that He does so using means that might cause us to ask questions (Habakkuk 1:1-3).
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