Destruction of Egypt

In total, Ezekiel gave seven oracles against Egypt, the last of which comprised part of today's reading. In Ezekiel chapter 29, the Lord tells him that He will hand Egypt over to Nebuchadnezzar in return for his siege of Tyre. The war on Tyre had raged 13 years and though Nebuchadnezzar had taken the mainland, the peopple of Tyre had relocated themselves and their considerable wealth to an adjacent island. Scant historical evidence suggests that Egypt and Tyre were in alignment at this time and it may have been the maritime aid of Egypt that allow the Tyrians to make their escape. As a long-time adversary of Israel and current opposition to the Lord's plan, they were targeted for destruction. Many Bible critics claim that this is an unfulfilled prophecy because there is no historical record of Egypt, as a nation, being conquered by Babylon. But what is known of the relationship between the two nations at that time, is not contrary to Scripture.

Tyre was destroyed in a means which strikingly matches the prediction of Ezekiel. About Babylon, it is true that Nebuchadnezzar imposed a stunning and devastating defeat on Egypt at the battle of Carchemish.  Although he did not occupy the entire nation of Egypt, his defeat of Egypt at Carchemish made him the major power in the Middle East, and Egypt was subject to him through tribute.  Then, much later in 568 BC Nebuchadnezzar did in fact actually invade Egypt proper.  A fragmentary historical document indicates that Nebuchadnezzar actually campaigned in Egypt, subjugating parts of the country during the rule of Amasis, about 568 BC.  Naturally, during this campaign, Nebuchadnezzar took massive booty, as predicted by Ezekiel.  Ezekiel never prephesied that Nebuchadnezzar would conquer all of Egypt.  It says that he will campaign there, taking land and plunder as his reward.  Ezekiel 29:19 was in fact fulfilled at that time to the letter.
As for Ezekiel 30:12, "They [the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar] will draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain.  I will make the streams dry and sell the land into the hands of evil men.  I will bring destruction on the land and everything in it by the hands of foreigners.  I, the Lord, have spoken."   Note that nowhere here does it say that the Nile River will run completely dry.  To be honest, this prophecy is really somewhat vague (unlike many other extremely precise and specific biblical prophecies).  It seems to describe a campaign in Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar--almost certainly the one which we know happened in 568 BC.  At the time it is prophesied that the streams will dry up.  Presumably this means that it will be a time of drought. There is no reason to doubt that this prophecy was fulfilled, though the actual rainfall pattern in Egypt that particular year is not known.

On a separate note, there is an obvious discrepancy between the dates listed in Jeremiah and 2 Kings for the ascension of Evilmodach to the throne of Babylon. Recall that these two authors use different calendar systems, accounting for the 3 day discrepancy. Refer back to  the blog on August 26th (the Fall of Jerusalem) for a slightly more detailed discussion of these two calendars.

Tomorrow's reading; Dan. 7-8:27; 5:1-31