Ezekiel 31-33

[wolfpurplemoon]

God is going to lay waste to Egypt, noone will be able to live there ever again. Really? Looks pretty well populated from here.

Ezekiel has a sucky deal with God, he has to warn people that God says are going to be punished, if he doesn't warn them and God kills them, then Ezekiel is responsible for the death, but if he warns them and they ignore him and are killed, then Ezekiel is scot-free.

Comments

[zteccc.livejournal.com]

The prophecies against Egypt continue. I'm assuming that whatever translation of The Bible you're reading (it might be useful to know which version you use) has Ezekiel 32:15 saying something about nothing living ever surviving there. Translations, between a 2500 year old document and modern English can sometimes be lacking. Many modern translations of this verse, including the American Standard Version, The English Standard Version, the New International Version, The King James version and new King James Version, the Holman Christian Standard Bible, etc. read that Egypt will be made desolate, the land will be stripped and those who live in it will be struck down, but no prophecy of nothing ever living there again. When reading such passages, it can be difficult to then know which translation is accurate. The New International Version (NIV) is one of the newer translations and is considered to be quite accurate by Biblical Scholars who have read and compared the ancient texts that we have of the scriptures. I acknowledge that this is one of those scriptures that can cause difficulty for both Christians and atheists alike. Translationally we know there is a difficulty here, but we don't have a basis for knowing the complete truth. Is this proof that a prophecy hasn't been fulfilled (yet) or is it a translational problem? I'd have to relegate it to a translational problem in light of the accuracy of the remainder of the prophetic record.

Ezekiel is reminded that as a prophet, he must deliver the messages that God gives him. My best interpretation is that Ezekiel was balking at delivering some messages. We know from prior chapters that he wasn't pleased at what he had to do already and probably feared that some harm could come to him (or perhaps he was just tired). Ezekiel was clearly a person, with human feelings and frailties and at some point he probably told God that he just wasn't going to do it any longer. God reminds him that without Ezekiel fulfilling his role, people would die who could otherwise have lived. Jeremiah had a similar warning (and I believe your interpretation was similar). These are human beings who occasionally sin. Just as God gives warnings to the people of Israel when they sin, God gives warnings to his prophets as well and that is represented in this passage.
God says that he would rather people turn from their sins than have them die. This is consistent with God spending centuries sending prophets to tell people that they must turn from their sins and giving them chance after chance.
God once again reiterates that forgiveness is available for anyone who turns away from sin and turns towards God.

[wolfpurplemoon]

Actually what made me think it said that noone would live in Egypt again was 32:13 which says that the waters will never again be disturbed by human feet or cattle hooves.

The online reader seems to have settled on the New English Translation, which has lots of footnotes about how they translated various words and phrases.

[zteccc.livejournal.com]

The commentaries that I've seen on verse 13 suggest that, just as there were survivors of the fall of Jerusalem, but relatively only a few, there will be so few survivors after the fall of Egypt that the rivers will not be troubled or muddied by them (different translations). Note the difference in language between this prophecy and the one against Tyre. The language against Tyre made it very clear that Tyre wouldn't be rebuilt. There was no ambiguity in the prophecy. This was much less strong, only talking about troubled/muddied/stirred waters.

-- Jeff