Christian Churches of God No. 36 The Fall of Egypt The Prophecy of Pharaoh's Broken Arms

Christian Churches of God

No. 36

The Fall of Egypt

The Prophecy of Pharaoh's Broken Arms
(Edition 4.5 19940618-20000820-20100629-20101017-20161231)
The prophecy of the Fall of Egypt is examined in five sections from Ezekiel chapters 29 to 32. This little understood prophecy has enormous implications for the last days and the wars of the end. The four part series consists of an overview with four sequential developments explaining in detail the time-frame presented in the overview. The nations mentioned are examined. Egypt is seen to have experienced a detailed prophetic sequence of activity, which shows that God is going to deal with that country as part of a sequence in the subjugation of the nations shortly to occur. Understanding of this prophecy is important to the general framework of the return of Messiah and the wars of the Host and the end of the times of the Gentiles.

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(Copyright © 1994, 1995, 2000, 2010, 2016 Wade Cox)
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The Fall of Egypt: The Prophecy of Pharaoh's Broken Arms

The prophet Ezekiel was given a vision of a pivotal prophecy in world history. It concerned the nation of Egypt. Egypt was used as a key nation in world history for a number of reasons. Firstly it was one of the most ancient of kingdoms and secondly because it represented the conflict of world systems, which were typified in Daniel under the headings the king of the North and the king of the South. The prophecy concerning Egypt is found in Ezekiel 29:1 to 32:32. This prophecy is followed immediately by the warning of the watchmen in Ezekiel 33:1ff. This is a warning to Israel following on from the prophecy concerning the fall of Egypt. This is done to reinforce the point that the fulfilment of the prophecy concerning Egypt is pivotal to the last days. The prophecy has been held up to be a failed prophecy for reasons that shall be explained.
The real reason behind such assertions is because the meaning has been hidden in a key, which is understood in the last days and revealed to the nations by explanatory warnings. This is of itself a prophecy given in Jeremiah 4:15f., as coming from the mountains of Ephraim.
This prophecy interrelates to a series of other prophecies. Any of the well-known prophecies, for example Daniel chapters 2 and 7, could have been chosen to illustrate the sequence and this work could have formed an explanatory rather than a framework text. This was not done in that manner precisely because this text is considered by modern scholarship to be the weakest of the prophecies. For that reason it is used to show the power of prophecy and the far reaching nature of the word of God.
The prophecy concerning Egypt follows on from the prophecy concerning Tyre in Ezekiel 28:1ff. This prophecy relates to the fall of the anointed Covering Cherub (Ezek. 28:14), the Morning Star Azazel or Satan (the RSV etc. attempts to make it appear that the entity was placed with a guardian cherub, but the KJV is correct; see also The Interlinear Bible). Thus the fall of Satan is preliminary to the problems of Egypt, but also becomes interrelated to the fall of Babylon as we will see from Isaiah 14:1ff. below.
Phase 1 – Part 1

The interrelated nature of the prophecies is perhaps exemplified by the placement of the text of Ezekiel 28:25 to 29:21 between Exodus 9:35 and 10:1 in the Soncino commentaries. There are a number of important observations to be linked with this text. Ezekiel 28:25-26 talks of the restoration of Israel and the restoration is seen as being linked to the fall of Egypt from these texts. The commentaries by Kimchi on verse 25 hold that it declares the retribution of the Lord on those who had harmed Israel. Rashi holds verse 26 to My servant Jacob to refer to:

Exiled Israel who will be restored to their land, a land spacious and ample with undefined borders, as promised by God to the patriarch Jacob (cf. Gen. 28:14).
The warning to Egypt commences in Ezekiel 29.

Ezekiel 29:1-3 In the tenth year [of the reign of Zedekiah (Kimshi)], in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ² "Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt; ³ speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams, that says, 'My Nile is my own; I made it.'

The great dragon was held to refer to the king of Egypt with the Nile representing Egypt itself (by Rashi and Kimshi, Soncino). We are thus dealing with the concept of rulership of Egypt. The real rulership of Egypt stemmed from the angelic Host as they were given dominion over the nations by God (see below). The rulership of Egypt rested in Prince Mastema according to the midrashim and traditions (see esp. Jubilees 48:13ff.). Thus Yahweh fought the battle between the forces of God and the forces of the fallen Host under Mastema. The Canaanite rulership was in Prince Yam and the battles in the wilderness and for Israel occurred between Yahweh and the Host on behalf of God.
The concept of the El Elyon as Yahovah (Jehovah) of Hosts being superior to Yahweh (or Yahovah) is a very old concept from the Pentateuch and which is painstakingly disguised. Hayman, Monotheism: A Misused Word in Jewish Studies, Journal of Jewish Studies 42, 1991, pages 6-7 and also Mark S. Smith, The Early History of God, Harper, San Francisco, 1990, page 7, both note the texts in question. Smith contends that the original God of Israel was El. This is because El is not a Yahwistic name. Hence El was the original chief God of the group named Israel. Smith finds support from Genesis 49:24-25, which presents El names separate from the mention of YHVH in verse 18. Also he notes that Deuteronomy 32:8-9 casts YHVH in the role of one of the sons of El here called El Elyon:

When the Most High (elyon) gave to the nations their inheritance, when [H]e separated humanity, [H]e fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of divine beings. For Yahweh's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage (Smith, p. 7).

The Soncino translates the Masoretic Text (MT) as according to the number of the children of Israel. Thus the nexus is confined to the twelve tribes and the Canaanite territories.
Rabbi Rashbam holds that The Most High assigned to the peoples their allotted territories separating them after the death of Noah. No mention is made of the size of the territory belonging to the other descendants of Noah. Thus, the extensive nature of the allocation is acknowledged even by the MT and commentaries. However, the text appears to have been altered. The MT reads bene yisrael where the LXX reads aggelon theou and the Qumran reads bny 'ilhym [or beny eliym] (cf. Smith n. 37 noting also Meyer, and Skehan BASOR 136 (1954): 12-15). Hayman also (p. 6) in claiming support for a transition from Yahweh to Elohim holds the original text to have probably read:

When the most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of men, he fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the gods ( / ). And Yahweh's portion was his people Jacob, Israel his allotted heritage.

Hayman notes that:

… the MT has removed the reference here to the gods or the angels and substituted 'the sons of Israel'...

Footnote 23 has the assertion that it identifies the number of the nations (Gen. 10) with the number of Jacob's (Israel's) sons (Gen. 46:27).
That is not the interpretation of the commentaries. The number of the sons of Israel was 12. The number was also that of Canaan and his eleven sons (Sh). From above, Rashbam clearly distinguishes the other territories. Hayman is thus in error. Hayman also holds verse 9 of the MT to identify Yahweh with Elyon by reading    whereas the LXX presupposes a Hebrew text which had   . Hayman notes Lemche as saying:

The Hebrew text identifies the "Most High" (Elyon) with Yahweh, while the Greek version apparently ranges Yahweh among the sons of the Most High, that is, treats him as a member of the pantheon of gods who are subordinate to the supreme God, El Elyon (Hayman, p. 6, quoting Lemche Ancient Israel, p. 226).

Hayman sates that:

In post-exilic and later Jewish sources, of course, there is no awareness that El Elyon [used only in Deut. 32:8; Gen. 14:18 and Num. 24:16] was ever anything other than Yahweh himself, but the pattern of belief revealed in this text persisted.

Hayman thinks the idea that God assigned the nations is of Canaanite origin having similar ideas in Greek religion. He supports this by reference to the seventy sons of Athirat in the Baal/Anat epic, (J.C.L. Gibson, Canaanite Myths and Legends, Edinburgh, 1977, p. 63). The association with Greek religion is drawn from Martin Hengel, Judaism and Hellenism, London, 1974, Vol. I, p. 187. This idea that God assigned each of the seventy nations of earth to one of the angelic Host is not Canaanitic in origin. From the references the Greeks also held the view. The Israelites also used the structure to establish their system of government at Sinai before they entered Canaan. The entire system was designed as a copy of the celestial structure as we see from Hebrews 8:5. The seventy elders were modelled on the concept of the outer council of the Host. This number itself forms the basis for the allocation of the nations. The idea is also exilic being found in Daniel. Michael was held to be one of the chief princes (Dan. 10:13). Messiah is prince of princes (Dan. 8:25). Hence if Messiah has a name in the OT it is Michael.

There was held to be a prince of the nation of Persia who withstood the Angel of God for twenty-one days (Dan. 10:20). These princes are part of the fallen Host as they fight against the Lord's messengers, establishing in sequence the empires prophesied to occur in Daniel 2 and 7. Daniel 10:20 states there was also a prince of Grecia that would come after the prince of Persia. The being that spoke to Daniel had only Michael in support.

Hayman says the knowledge of who these angels originally were is lost in the tradition, although Enoch seems explicit enough. He seems to incorrectly limit the concept. Moreover, the use of Yahweh is not confined to one entity as we have seen from the texts above. There is also a superior Yahweh of Hosts and a subordinate Yahweh of Israel. This subordinationist concept runs throughout the Bible. It is expressed in the terms Son of God or Sons of God. There is no doubt that the God Most High is held to have had sons from Genesis 6:4 and Job 2:1 where Satan is among the Sons of God. Job 38:7 shows the elohim were in ranks of Morning Stars and Sons of God generally. Certainly from Proverbs 30:4, God has a son in particular. From Proverbs 30:5, God is identified as Eloah. From Job 40:2, Eloah is the Almighty. From Job 37:22-23 Eloah, the Almighty is terrible majesty. Thus the word for God in the singular refers to God the Father. Job 37:14 appears to relate El and the works of El to the disposition of Eloah who caused the light of His cloud to shine. Thus the El here is the El of the cloud who is subordinate to Eloah. Hence El who is the cloud of Israel (and hence the Angel of YHVH) acts at the disposition of Eloah or Elyon.
Thus the later rabbinical commentaries appear to seek to elevate the Yahweh of Israel. Hayman translates the text on the Shema from Oxford MS. 147 as edited by Saul Lieberman (Midrash Debarim Rabbah, Jerusalem, 1940, p. 65):

Hear, O Israel (Deut. 6:4). This refers to Lam. 3:24 - 'the portion of the Lord, says my soul'. What is 'the portion of the Lord'? When the Holy One, Blessed be He, shared out his world to the nations of the world, as it says, When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance (Deut. 32:8), and they each chose their own god, one chose for itself Michael, one Gabriel, yet another chose the sun and the moon. But Israel chose for itself the Holy One, Blessed be He, as it is said, For the Lord's portion is his people, etc. (Deut. 32:8).
Two points follow from this text. The first is that from the text was understood the allocation of the nations to the Host as being beyond the twelve tribes where it is attempted to be confined by a superficial view of the MT. This seems to show that the MT has been altered post-Qumran. Also the commentary seems to reverse the allocation from the nations to the princes to that of the nations choosing whom they would worship and more particularly that Michael and Gabriel would allow such activity in areas of their concern. Hayman points out the danger of the identification of Michael and Gabriel with pagan gods. The text in Daniel clearly states that Michael stands for Israel; hence, the rabbinical commentary may perhaps be an observation of an aberrant practice elsewhere.
Also the Midrash (and also from Deut. R cf. Lieberman, p. 68; cf. P. Schäfer, Rivalität zwischen Engeln und Menschen, Berlin, 1975, pp. 47f.) as quoted by Hayman noted that Holy One as descending to Sinai. Thus the Holy One of Israel is confused with the subordinate Yahweh (Yahovah) of Israel that is being discussed.

When the Holy One, Blessed be He, descended to Mount Sinai, says R. Ammi from Jaffa, there descended with him 22,000 of the ministering angels, as it says      (Ps. 68:18). What is ? The most beautiful and praiseworthy amongst them, namely, Michael and his group and Gabriel and his group. And Israel looked at them and saw that they were praiseworthy and beautiful and they were struck dumb. And when the Holy One, Blessed be He, saw them, he said to them, Do not go astray after one of these angels who came down with me; they are all my servants. I am the Lord your God.

Hayman considers that there was a real and practicing Jewish system of angel worship mentioned in non-Jewish texts. Hayman notes (30) the Kerygma Petrou quoting:

Neither worship him in the manner of the Jews; for they also, who think they alone know God, do not understand, worshipping angels, the months and the moon (cf. E Hennecke (tr. R. McL. Wilson), New Testament Apocrypha London, 1965, Vol. II, p. 100) (Hayman also quotes Col. 2:18 in support of this contention).

The purpose of the midrashim was considered to downgrade the angels and stress Israel's superiority over them. The concept is like that of the fundamentalist sects of today that lay stress on the inferiority of the angelic Host and their subjection from the misuse of 1Corinthians 6:3 ignoring Christ's comment in Luke 20:36 regarding their equality. Moreover, there is a requirement to be confessed before the angels of God from Luke 12:8-9. Thus they could hardly be considered of inferior status from the NT. Hurtado (One God One Lord, SCM Press, 1988, p. 39) ably refutes the contentions of Jewish angel worship from the Kerygma Petrou (p. 33; aimed at refuting the feasts). He argues correctly that divine agency operates where God is a unique figure over beings who act at His behest as for example the grand vizier of the imperial court and that this concept operated within the traditional Jewish concern for the uniqueness of God. In other words the Angel of Yahweh acted as vice regent at the behest of God and all angels acted as rulers under divine agency. None of the chief agent figures were seen as sharing the unique veneration due to God alone, or that Jewish Monotheism was fundamentally modified by the interest shown in these figures (Hurtardo, p. 19).
Ezekiel 29 continues:

Ezekiel 29:4 I will put hooks in your jaws, and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales; and I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams, with all the fish of your streams which stick to your scales.

Rashi and Kimshi hold that the words the fish of thy rivers refers to the fact that the princes and the common people will perish with the king (or the ruler here represented as a dragon; see Soncino). Job 41:15 states quite categorically of Leviathan that his scales are his pride. Thus the removal of the dragon is also the downfall of his Host who adhere to him in pride, perhaps of his strength or self-reliance or elevation of will in rebellion (there is no softness in the scales of his underbelly (Isaiah da Trani)).
Ezekiel 29:5 And I will cast you forth into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your streams; you shall fall upon the open field, and not be gathered and buried. To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the air I have given you as food.
The text into the wilderness is held by Kimshi to refer to the fact that the people are to fall in land battles. Fish cannot live on dry land and thus the removal of their basis of support underlies this concept. The spiritual nature of the support in that the river is a spiritual system and the fish are representative of people is not fully developed, but is nevertheless understood by the great Jewish authorities.
Ezekiel 29:6 "Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord. Because you have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel;
Israel had, throughout its history, looked upon Egypt instead of God. Generally this was when they were to be dealt with for their sins using the nations, which God had chosen to raise up from the north (see also Soncino; and cf. Isa. 36:6).
Ezekiel 29 continues:

Ezekiel 29:7 when they grasped you with the hand, you broke, and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned upon you, you broke, and made all their loins to shake;

Once a man's support is gone he is forced to stand alone so says Rashi and Kimshi (Soncino).
Ezekiel 29:8-11 therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast; ⁹ and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. Then they will know that I am the Lord. "Because you said, 'The Nile is mine, and I made it,' [pride is an offence to God punished by humiliation cf. Soncino] ¹⁰ therefore, behold, I am against you, and against your streams, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Ethiopia [From Migdol or the fortress near Pelusium on the northern border (cf. Ex. 14:2; Jer. 44:1)] to Syene or Sewneh or Assouan on the border of Ethiopia. ¹¹ No foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years (emphasis added).
This period of forty years (cf. Ezek. 4:6 where the desolation of Judea is predicted for a similar period) is a key to understanding the prophecy. There is also an understanding that this period relates to the promised famine in Egypt. Egypt was prophesied (according to tradition; the Midrash) to have forty-two years of famine in the days of Joseph; but at the end of the second year (cf. Gen. 45:6) Jacob migrated to Egypt and the famine ceased. Rashi and Kimshi held that the remaining forty years would be suffered over this period; see Soncino. The significance is that this text was always understood to have a split meaning or dual application. The concept is that Israel is a deliverer in the form of Messiah in the last days, as the seed of Jacob. The recovery of Egypt was foretold through other prophets (cf. Isa. 19:24; Jer. 46:26).
Ezekiel 29:12 And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries; and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the countries.
The state of desolation in Egypt will be so extreme that it will appear patently so even in comparison with other lands which have been ravaged by an invading army (Soncino).
Ezekiel 29:13 "For thus says the Lord God: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered;
The Soncino makes the following comment on this text: After forty years Egypt will be restored, though only to rank as a weak kingdom with its former pride shattered. The restoration at the end of the period named probably coincides with the decline of the Babylonian empire. The end of both systems is thus coincidental – one being used to destroy the other.

Ezekiel 29:14 and I will restore the fortunes of Egypt, and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin; and there they shall be a lowly kingdom.

I will restore the fortunes is rendered in the Soncino: I will turn the captivity (the dual meaning is noted in Ezek. 16:53). Land of their origin is rendered by Rashi and Kimshi as the land of their sojourn. Pathros or the south land was the name of Upper Egypt. Herodotus considers it to be the place from where Egyptian rule developed (Soncino).
Ezekiel 29:15-16 It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, and never again exalt itself above the nations; and I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations. ¹⁶ And it shall never again be the reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. Then they will know that I am the Lord God."
Kimshi notes this as a lack of trust in God by putting their trust in Egypt (Soncino). Because Egypt was a source of pride and stumbling to Israel, they would be made so low that they would never again be equal to other nations. They would not only be low but also inferior to all (Soncino; see also Ezek. 21:28 and Num. 5:15). The phrase they will know is taken (by Metsudath David) to be the nations in general.
Ezekiel 29:17-18 In the twenty-seventh year [from the Seder Olam this is understood as the twenty seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar or 578 BCE, modern scholars note this as from verse 1 i.e. 586 BCE hence 570 BCE], in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸ Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labour hard against Tyre; every head was made bald [by carrying loads (R, K)] and every shoulder was rubbed bare [by heavy burdens; they were worn out by the length of the siege (R, K)]; yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labour that he had performed against it [The spoil of Tyre was carried away by inundation from the sea (R, K)].
The ancient system is to be removed and no trace is to be left. This will become obvious as global warming and the wars of the last days coupled with earthquakes and tsunamis wipe out the civilisations of this world.
Ezekiel 29:19-20 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off its wealth and despoil; it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army. ²⁰ I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for which he laboured, because they worked for me, say the Lord God.
The text they wrought for me or because they worked for me is curiously interpreted as because of the evil they wrought unto Me in becoming the unreliable support of Israel (R, K following the Targum). These commentators, following the Targum, thus transpose the concept of God using the nation, which is of itself a Gentile system, as a punishment on Egypt. A.J. (Soncino) thus does not understanding that all nations were God's instruments, including Babylon.
Ezekiel 29:21 "On that day I will cause a horn to spring forth to the house of Israel, and I will open your lips among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord."
Kimshi understood the text to refer to Cyrus who is termed God's anointed, i.e. the Messiah (cf. Isa. 14:1; see Soncino). Kimshi understood that the restoration of Egypt was to coincide with the dawn of Egypt's release from captivity. Thus the rabbinical commentators understood that this was a dual prophecy, which related to the restoration. The Soncino notes that:

Ezekiel predicts in general terms that in the future Israel will be restored to his former glory.

Thus the sequence was understood to go beyond the Babylonians. Here we have the pivotal point of the prophecy being established. This attack on Egypt can be established with absolute historical accuracy and of itself forms the commencement of the dating system. The year in question is 605 BCE. Egypt had in fact been given into the hands of the Assyrians from 669-663 BCE. This Assyrian invasion was to be taken up in the prophecy but did not of itself form the pivotal date and thus was mentioned after the subsequent invasion by Nebuchadnezzar and not before that invasion as one would have expected. The explanation will become obvious later. Again and importantly from these conflicts it is highly unlikely that an Israelite resettlement from 667-665 BCE would have taken place with a major campaign under way in the south.
More importantly it is from these invasions that a horn springs forth in Israel (Cyrus to the rabbis; but as the Lord's anointed it was sequential over the nations) and speaks so that the nations know that God rules (v. 21). Ezekiel was dumb and his speech was held for prophecy. God was also silent until He dealt with Israel (from Ezek. 3:26-27 and 24:27). The prophecies concerning other nations were from Ezekiel 29 to 32. Ezekiel 33 then is the Watchmen chapter for the warning of Israel. The warning of Israel in the last days and the subsequent restoration is the major subject of Ezekiel's prophecies. It is absurd to suggest that the prophecies of the nations from Ezekiel 29 to 32 are confined to 669-525 BCE and are incomplete, and then suggest that Ezekiel deals with End-Time and Restoration or Millennial prophecies. Ezekiel is by this reasoning rendered meaningless. Ezekiel 30 continues:

Ezekiel 30:1-3 The word of the Lord came to me: ² "Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God: "Wail, 'Alas the day!' ³ For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.

No date is assigned for this prophecy. This text is similar wording to Joel 2:1-2 speaking of the last days. We are dealing here with the time of doom for the nations. This passage does not refer to a nation but to nations. God dealt with Egypt but this prophecy is expansive and refers to the time when God will deal with the world nations and their system of which Egypt was archetypal. Hence the prophecy refers to the time of the end. Thus the prophecy extends over a long period and not just over the immediate conquests from 605 BCE as might have been supposed. Egypt, a world power and centre of pagan worship, is to lose both attributes. Babylon is the instrument (see Soncino).
The day of the Lord in verse 3 is understood to be:

… the occasion when God's judgement will be passed upon the world (Soncino) a day of clouds. As the clouds herald a storm, so will the day of the Lord bring drastic punishment upon those who deserve it.the time of the nations. All heathen peoples will be involved Egypt among them (Soncino).

Ezekiel continues:

Ezekiel 30:4-9 A sword shall come upon Egypt, and anguish shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain fall in Egypt, and her wealth is carried away, and her foundations are torn down. ⁵ Ethiopia, and Put, and Lud [see also Ezek. 27:10], and all [the mingled people cf. Jer. 25:24] Arabia, and Libya [actually Cub a nation that has not been identified], and the people of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword. [Here we are dealing with an extended league of nations who stand with Egypt in those times, the identity of some being only guessed at]. ⁶ "Thus says the Lord: Those who support Egypt shall fall, and her proud might shall come down; from Migdol to Syene they shall fall within her by the sword, say the Lord God. ⁷ And she shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries and her cities shall be in the midst of cites that are laid waste. ⁸ Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have set fire to Egypt, and all her helpers are broken. ⁹ "On that day swift messengers shall go forth from me to terrify the unsuspecting Ethiopians; and anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt's doom; for, lo, it comes!

Lofthouse comments: God speaks as though He had come in person into Egypt, like another and more terrible Nebuchadnezzar. The Jewish commentators more correctly explain that it is at My will, on My orders (Soncino).
The consensus appears to be also that the tidings of the approaching doom will be of as much concern to the Ethiopian as it was at Egypt's collapse. The Ethiopians and the lands to the south will not escape this terror.
This prophecy then relates directly to the Babylonian invasion of 605 BCE – thus establishing the concept of an extended time-frame pivotal to that invasion. Ezekiel continues:

Ezekiel 30:10-12 Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. ¹¹ He and his people with him, the most terrible of the nations [cf. 28:7; 31:12; 32:12], shall be brought in to destroy the land; and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain. ¹² And I will dry up the Nile, and will sell the land into the hand of evil men; I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it, by the hand of foreigners; I, the Lord, have spoken [The Nile has not been known to be dry to date].

Egypt is thus sent into captivity because it has been a source of religious stumbling to Israel and the world.
Ezekiel 30:13:16 "Thus says the Lord God: I will destroy the idols, and put an end to the images, in Memphis [Ptah and Apis]; there shall no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt; so I will put fear in the land of Egypt. ¹⁴ I will make Pathos a desolation, and will set fire to Zoan [Tanis or San on the eastern bank of the second arm of the Nile (cf. Num. 13:22; Ps.78:12,43)], and will execute acts of judgment upon [No] Thebes [Termed No-amon in Nahum 3:8, cf. Amon of No, Jer. 46:25, being associated with the worship of Amon]. ¹⁵ And I will pour my wrath upon [Sin] [probably] Pelusium, the stronghold of Egypt, and cut off the multitude of Thebes. ¹⁶ And I will set fire to Egypt; [Sin] Pelusium shall be in great [convulsion] agony; [No] Thebes shall be [rent asunder] breached, and its walls broken down [literally Noph the adversaries of by day].
The actual wording of the text is found in the Soncino. The concepts are not understood by the commentators because the meaning of the Egyptian hieroglyphs was not available to them. The Book of the Dead is as we now know: The Chapters of the Coming Forth By Day. Thus the adversaries of by day had a religious significance not understood at that time.
Ezekiel 30:17-19 The young men of On [or Aven; Heliopolis the centre of sun worship, hence Beth-shemesh or the House of the sun; see Soncino] and of Pibeseth [or Bubastis, Tel Basta, the city of the cat shaped idol, near Cairo] shall fall by the sword; and the women shall go into captivity. ¹⁸ At Tehaphnehes [see also Jer. 2:16; 43:7 ff] the day shall be dark, when I break there the dominion of Egypt, and her proud might shall come to an end; she shall be covered by a cloud, and her daughters [Targum renders the inhabitants of her towns] shall go into captivity. ¹⁹ Thus I will execute acts of judgment upon Egypt. Then they will know that I am the Lord." [Thus vindicating the Sovereignty of God].
All the cities enumerated from verses 13-18 were centres of different forms of idolatry. The reference here in verse 18 is to the covering of Egypt by a cloud and her daughters shall go into captivity. Specifically it states there shall no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt. But there were princes after the fall of Egypt. This is either a false prophecy or it deals with an extended time-frame involving the last days. Bearing in mind that we are dealing with the sequence from the fall of the Covering Cherub symbolised by Tyre, and that Egypt, which is symbolic of the world systems, was destroyed as the wages of the labour involved in the destruction. The symbolism develops and should be interpreted to be the sequence leading up to the Messianic advent, where he would preach deliverance to the captive etc. and proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord (Lk. 4:18) as a primary activity within the period involved and finally take captivity captive (Eph. 4:8). Israel under the cloud, which was and is Messiah, would be set in its own land and joined with aliens who will cleave to the house of Jacob. The peoples will take captive those who were their captors and they will rule over those who oppressed them (Isa. 14:1-2). This action commenced from the invasion of the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar, but the end result will be also the final destruction of the Babylonians and their religious system (Rev. 17:5 and 18:2), and the whole world will be at peace (Isa. 14:3-7).
This prophecy in Isaiah 14 is the well-known prophecy that relates not only to Babylon but also to the destruction of Satan, the current Morning Star or Lightbringer, in the Messianic advent (Isa. 14:8-21). The city referred to in Josephus, Acts of the Jews XV, II, 2, was another city on the Tigris adjoining Baghdad, both of which were also later referred to as Babylon. When Revelation 18:2 was written Babylon had been long destroyed yet it was referred to in latter-day prophecy. Similarly Peter wrote from Babylon (1Pet. 5:13) where Satan's seat was. Thus the prophecies connect the entire structure of Daniel's statue of Daniel 2 as extensions of the Babylonian system. Revelation could hardly be referring as a future event to something that had happened some 600 years beforehand. That is hardly prophecy. Moreover, we are talking about world religious systems, which are conjoint with the civil empires. There is no doubt whatsoever that the empires referred to in Daniel 7:3-8 are explanatory to the structure in Daniel 2 and that they embrace the Roman system as the empire of iron and that the empire of iron and clay was its successor. That empire can only have been the Holy Roman Empire. Moreover, Daniel 7:9 shows that these systems proceed into the last days and the casting down of the thrones before the Ancient of Days and the subsequent judgment.
Daniel 7:11 also interprets who the horn of Israel was as referred to in Ezekiel 29:21. The little horn of Daniel 7:8,11 was the false prophet at the last days and the destruction of the beast. The other beasts or nation systems of Daniel 2 were allowed to live a little longer, but their dominion was taken away. This is the millennial restoration of Messiah.
Ezekiel 30 continues:

Ezekiel 30:20-22 In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ²¹ "Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and lo, it has not been bound up, to heal it by binding it with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword. ²² Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand.

The key to the prophecy is given here. The arms of the Egyptians are broken. Both arms are broken and one arm was broken beforehand to weaken Egypt. The symbolism is given this way to make it evident that the prior break under the Assyrians was not the pivotal invasion to which the prophecy referred. It is axiomatic that a nation’s arms are broken by the defeat of its forces, which are themselves referred to as arms of that nation's force. Thus we are looking at three invasions of Egypt; the first one being a preliminary action. Egypt was conquered by the king of Nubia in 750 BCE, who became the first pharaoh of the 25th dynasty. (See Colin McEvedy, World History Fact Finder, pp. 20ff. for easy references.) Thus the Nubians were involved.
The Soncino holds that the prior break was the advance of Pharaoh Hophra to relieve Jerusalem, while it was besieged by the Babylonians. The Egyptian army withdrew and the Babylonians renewed the attack (Jer. 27:5 ff.). Egypt's decisive defeat at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar is recorded in 2Kings 24:7. The scope of the prophecy is larger than this would allow. The prophecy involves the Assyrians who were defeated and absorbed by the Babylonians, hence the break, which was irreparable, probably preceded the minor defeat of Hophra mentioned in Soncino.
Egypt had become a powerful kingdom after Ahmose, prince of Thebes had defeated the Hyksos (c. 1600-1500 BCE) and expelled them from Egypt and thus founding the so-called 18th dynasty, which marks the beginning of Egypt's New Kingdom. Pharaohs Tutmoses I and III of Egypt (1500-1400 BCE) took Egyptian power to its greatest extent by conquering Palestine and Syria up to the Euphrates and Nubia up to the fourth cataract in the Nile (McEvedy, p. 16). The 18th dynasty lost Syria and petered out with the religious reformations of Akhnaton and his son Tutankhamen. The 19th dynasty was commenced by Rameses (Ramesses) I. Ramesses II attempted to reconquer Syria in the 13th century BCE but was rebuffed by the Hittites. In the 12th century BCE the Egyptians under Ramesses III, first pharaoh of the 20th dynasty, rebuffed an invasion of the Pereset or Peoples of the Sea who then settled in Israel. Israel had to recognise their supremacy as the Philistines. Their success seems to have been due to iron weapons. Thus the iron-age began.
In the 11th century BCE Egypt became divided between the pharaohs of the 21st dynasty ruling from Tanis in the Delta and the High Priests of Thebes ruling Upper Egypt. Nubia was independent. This period saw and perhaps enabled the emergence of the monarchy under Saul in Israel. Saul's task was formidable as he had to unite Israel and free it from the overlordship of the Philistines. The task was thus set by God as being one of systematic consolidation of the Levant, firstly by Saul and then by David, so that the Temple could be built by Solomon.
The period under David and Solomon saw Israel at its greatest. However, the unity could not exist without sound leadership. In 924 BCE Shishonk, first pharaoh of the 22nd dynasty, extracted tribute from Judah and Israel. Egypt's weakening of Judah and Israel in fact sowed the seeds of its own destruction.
The 9th century BCE saw Assyria make a new bid for supremacy under Shalmaneser III who fought a coalition under Hadad of Hadad of Damascus, Irhuleni of Hamath and Ahab of Israel.
In 879 BCE Assurnasirpal II built the second Assyrian capital at Kalah (modern Nimrud) replacing Nineveh.
In 841 BCE Shalmaneser III takes tribute from the Levant including Israel. In 806 BCE Adadnirari III took Damascus but Assyrian supremacy in the Levant collapsed because of the war with the kingdom of Urartu or Ararat, north of Assyria, which had formed as a power in the 9th century BCE (see McEvedy, p. 19).
Thus we return to the conditions that set the scene for the emergence of the major power struggles between North and South in the 8th century BCE. As we said, in 750 BCE, the king of Nubia conquered Egypt establishing the 25th dynasty. In 732 BCE the Assyrian Tiglath Pileser III annexed Damascus making Israel and Judah tributary states. In 729 BCE Tiglath Pileser III annexed Babylon and Shalmaneser V (from 724-721 BCE) annexed Israel in 722 BCE. His successor Sargon II deported the ten tribes.
In 710 BCE the Cimmerians invaded trans-Caucasia from the Russian steppes. They devastated Urartu and the kingdom of Phrygia in Anatolia. In 705 BCE Sargon II was killed fighting the Cimmerians. In 701 BCE Sennacharib's army unexpectedly withdrew from a punitive campaign in Judah. In 720 BCE Sargon II had established the Assyrian capital at Dur Sharrukin or Fort Sargon. In 701 BCE Sennacherib abandoned Fort Sargon and made Nineveh the capital again. There is thus a seeming reconcentration on the prophecies concerning Nineveh.
In 669-663 BCE the Assyrian empire reached its furthest extent with the conquest of Egypt by Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal. A satellite 26th dynasty was established at Sais in the Egyptian Delta.
During the 7th century BCE with the rising power of Assyria the Phoenicians recognised the suzerainty of Carthage among the western colonists. The Scyths also invaded trans-Caucasia during this period. The Assyrians were also under threat from the Elamites, one of the tribes to the east in Persia.
In 646 BCE Assurbanipal crushed Elam which was occupied by the Persians on their retreat.
In 626 BCE the downfall of the Assyrian empire began with the revolt of Babylon on the death of Assurbanipal.
In 614 BCE Assur was sacked by the Medes. In 612 BCE Nineveh was sacked by the Babylonians and Medes. In 610 BCE the Babylonians overthrew the last Assyrian army at Harran and ended the Assyrian state.
This phase marked the pivotal point in the empires of history. The prophecy of Daniel 2 deals with the emergence of the new world kingdoms commencing with the Babylonian head of gold under Nebuchadnezzar. The background to the later empires was emerging from behind the scenes. During the period 750-701 BCE there had been waves of Greek immigrants to southern Italy and Sicily founding Syracuse, Catania, Reggio, Tarentum and Sybaris. In the 7th century BCE they emigrated to the shores of Propontis or the Sea of Marmara: this period saw the foundation of Chalcedon, Byzantium, Abydos and Lampascus.
Rome had been established, traditionally, from 753 BCE being associated with the emergence of the Etruscan city-states to the north. Thus the stage is set for the emergence of the empires of Daniel 2, the four great beasts of Daniel 7 and 8. The sequence is first set by the detailing of the Babylonian empire under Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4. This kingdom was to be bound as a stump and left until seven times had passed over it (Dan. 4:25) so that it could be demonstrated that the Most High rules the kingdom of men (Dan. 4:26).
This prophecy was kept in the first instance for seven years, but the time sequence of seven times refers to the period of seven times 360 days (a prophetic year) or 2,520 years. This prophecy is important and will become evident as we progress.
The major or key battle for the prophecy then begins from Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BCE. Thus, the first arm of Egypt was broken by the Babylonians, having been broken previously by the Assyrians. Pharaoh Necho had marched to support the Assyrians at the battle of Harran in 610 BCE being subjugated by them in 669-663 BCE. He was opposed by Israel and killed King Josiah at Megiddo (609 BCE). Thus the significance of Megiddo is established in the last conflict.
In 605 BCE Necho of Egypt was defeated by the Babylonian king at the battle of Carchemish. Thus, Egypt was conquered but was not entered by the army. This key battle marked the invasion by the Babylonians, which then involved a structured period of some forty years. Egypt then began to build its independence again. In 567 BCE, some 38 years after the first defeat, Nebuchadnezzar again defeated Egypt. Thus the first forty-year period of the broken arms was completed.
In 598 BCE Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem and deported Jews to Babylonia but left the Jewish state intact. In 587 BCE he again took Jerusalem and destroyed the first Temple. Thus the significance of the prophecy can be seen to have direct relation to the Temple and cover the key nations involved. The full significance will emerge as we develop the prophecy.
Babylon was itself conquered by the Medes and Persians under Cyrus whom God raised up for the purpose not only of destroying the Babylonians, but also of restoring Israel and establishing the basis for the reconstruction of the Temple.
This activity involving Cyrus was also pivotal in the understanding of the sequence of the last days. From this restoration and reconstruction, the period for the ministry of Messiah was to be determined and interlinked to the Sign of Jonah and the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.
The restoration and the destruction of Jerusalem followed on from the prophecy of the seventy weeks of years (Dan. 9:25). The seventy weeks of years ceased with the destruction in 70 CE. It did not end in 27 CE as is wrongly taught by modern Christianity.
The forty years, from Messiah's death to the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in 70 CE, thus completed the second element of the first phase of the sign of Jonah (see the paper The Sign of Jonah and the History of the Reconstruction of the Temple (No. 13)). The phases of the Sign of Jonah span the last forty jubilees of the 6,000 year period, a cycle of some 2,000 years. The symbolism of the three periods of forty jubilees totalling 6,000 years was identified in the life of Moses as outlined in the paper Moses and the Gods of Egypt (No. 105).
Ezekiel 30 continues:

Ezekiel 30:23-26 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them throughout the lands. 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; and they shall know that I am the Lord. When I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, she shall stretch 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."

Thus the power of Egypt was to be broken. From Ezekiel 30:26, their power was broken so that they might know that God is the Most High God. Assyria, itself proud and the example of self-exaltation and arrogance, was held up to Egypt as the example or prototype of Egypt's doom. Ezekiel 31 continues.

Ezekiel 31:1-4 In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ² "Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude; "Whom are you like in your greatness? ³ Behold, I will liken you to [the Assyrian was (MT)] a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches and forest shade, and of great height, [the term ashshuris emended into te'ashshur, the tree mentioned in Isa.41:19 translated larch; see also 27:6]. ⁴ The waters nourished it, and the deep made it grow tall, making its rivers flow round the place of its planting, sending forth its streams to all the trees of the forest

This text refers to the subterranean reservoir of waters from which the trees drew their nourishment. The Soncino continues this thought process that the great rivers not only filled the great rivers for the cedar but also filled the smaller canals which nourished the other trees. Thus Assyria received an exceptionally large supply so that its might was increased above theirs. Thus the allocation of the strength of the nations is being discussed. The concept of the nation systems is not the thing being discussed; it is the rulers of those systems which derived their power, originally, from the Spirit of God.
Ezekiel 31:5-14 So it towered high above all the trees of the forest; its boughs grew large and its branches long, from abundant water in its shoots. ⁶ All the birds of the air made their nests in its boughs; under its branches all the beasts of the field brought forth their young; and under its shadow dwelt all great nations. ⁷ It was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for its roots went down to abundant waters. ⁸ The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it, not the fir trees equal its boughs; the plane trees were as nothing compared with its branches; no tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty. ⁹ I made it beautiful in the mass of its branches, and all the trees in Eden envied it, that were in the garden of God. ¹⁰ "Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because it towered high and set its top among the clouds and its heart was proud of its height. ¹¹ I will give it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations; he shall surely deal with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out. ¹² Foreigners, the most terrible of the nations, will cut it down and leave it. On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches will fall, and its boughs will lie broken in all the water courses of the land; and all the peoples of the earth will go forth from its shadow and leave it. ¹³ Upon its ruin will dwell all the birds of the air, and upon its branches will be all the beasts of the field. ¹⁴ All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to lofty height or set their tops among the clouds, and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height; for they are all given over to death, to the nether world among mortal men, with those who go down to the Pit.

The confusion caused by this text is significant. Assyria is used as a prototype of the fall of Egypt and yet the inheritors of the Assyrians, namely the Babylonians, whom the Greeks termed also Assyrians, were to be the instrument. Furthermore the Babylonians were to be the head of gold of Daniel 2 which was the start of a series of empires, which themselves would be destroyed and replaced by the Messianic kingdom. The significance is thus difficult to follow in the simple terms of nation against nation. It must be understood that God appoints the Host and allocates power and punishment.

This text shows a much deeper meaning to the prophecy than at first might be supposed.
The significance of the rebellion of the Host is clearly alluded to by the bracketing of the key texts with direct references to the anointed Lucifer or Lightbearer – the current Morning Star. The drinking of water is a direct reference to the allocation of the Holy Spirit from Jesus Christ to mankind. The Host had that Spirit and rebelled, attempting to overthrow God. The Spirit, channelled through the elohim of the Host, caused the trees or stars of the Host to grow great. Mankind will be given that Spirit and will be guided by the horror of the results of the rebellion. The fact that the Spirit was given to the Host and caused them to grow great should not be misconstrued as contributing to the pride of Satan and hence a cause of evil. The greatness of the Host attributed to the Holy Spirit is not a cause of evil. The fact that the elect can sin in spite of their possession of the Spirit is the same concept. The Spirit is not a cause of evil. Free moral agency does not cause sin; it merely permits the misuse of power even in those who have the Holy Spirit. Thus Satan and Christ could sin and Satan did sin.
The elect are to partake of the waters of the Spirit, which is referred to as waters.

Isaiah 12:3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation (KJV).

God's promise to Jacob was given at Isaiah 44:3 where God said:

Isaiah 44:3 I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit out upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring (KJV).

The Spirit is poured out being likened to water. These springs of water are noted in Isaiah 49:10 which is quoted in Revelation 7:16 where the Lamb shall lead the elect to living fountains of water. This is a direct reference to the Holy Spirit and the fact that it is channelled through the intermediary elohim of the Host. The Lord is the fountain of living water (Jer. 17:13). This is the river of the water of life (Rev. 22:1). From God it is then channelled to each of the Host through His intermediary elohim, in our case Jesus Christ. Christ said that from him living waters flowed (Jn. 4:10-14; 7:38; cf. Isa. 12:3; 55:1; 58:11; Ezek. 47:1) speaking of the Spirit (Jn. 7:39). Christ developed the concept of the perennial waters of the restoration from Jeremiah 2:13 and 17:13 where God was the fountain of living water, and also Zechariah 14:8. Christ's voice is as the sound of many waters (Rev. 1:15). In the restoration those fountains of living waters shall flow from Jerusalem (Zech. 14:18) issuing from the sanctuary (Ezek. 47:12). There is an angel of the waters from Revelation 16:5.
The comments in Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Revelation have a literal and a spiritual connotation. Israel is spiritually cleaned by water from Ezekiel 36:25. The elect partake of the water of life without price (Rev. 22:17). This is the foundational understanding of baptism and rebirth in the Holy Spirit as referred to in Matthew 28:19-20.
The struggle of the spiritual powers is also noted in Zechariah 9:9-17 in direct reference to Messiah. Messiah will liberate Israel and establish it forever. The significant references in this text are in verse 11:

Zechariah 9:11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit where there is no water (KJV).

The reference to the pit where there is no water is again a reference to the waters of the Spirit, which is withheld from the pit and the fallen Host; thus giving emphasis to the concept in Ezekiel. The conflict that is specifically mentioned in Zechariah is that of Israel and Greece in verse 13. We are referring to the spiritual battle that was to ensue for the minds of the elect using Greek systems to undermine the spiritual understanding of the elect through theological structures, which impugned the nature of God and the biblical position. Trinitarianism is directly the result of Greek philosophical structures, which have no biblical basis.
The end result of this struggle is seen from Zechariah 9:15.

Zechariah 9:15-16 The Lord of Hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as though with wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar. ¹⁶ And the Lord their God shall save them in that day as the flock of His People: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as the ensign upon His land.

They will be full of the Holy Spirit and they will be points of safety as were the horns of the altar. They will be the priesthood of Israel.
This time at the end sees the absence of shepherds (Zech. 10:2). The anger of the Lord is kindled against the shepherds and against the goats (Zech. 10:3). The war of the last days is detailed also in Zechariah 10:3-12. The houses of Judah and Ephraim are made as mighty men and the Lord will call Ephraim. The Lord says in Zechariah 10:8-12:

Zechariah 10:8-12 I will hiss [signal; RSV] for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased. ⁹ And I will sow them among the people and they will remember Me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again. ¹⁰ And I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them. ¹¹ And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away. ¹² And I will strengthen them in the Lord; and they shall walk up and down in His name, saith the Lord.

The concepts in this passage refer to the wars of the end and the restoration of the millennial or Messianic Kingdom. The new exodus and gathering of Israel takes place with the destruction of the world systems, which are typified by Egypt and then Assyria. The “deeps of the river drying up” is a direct reference to the Nile being dried up as it is stated in Ezekiel 30:12. The desolation of Egypt from Migdol to Syene refers to the stretch of the Nile to Assouan or Assawan at the dam site. This has yet to occur.
The struggle of the spiritual powers of the Host is further detailed in the analogy that is used between Israel, Egypt and Babylon. The prophecy of the destruction of the world powers, and their angelic overlords, is shown to be replaced with the Messianic Kingdom. This can be seen also from Ezekiel 17:1-2.
Ezekiel 17:1-2 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying: ² "Son on man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;

This riddle (or perplexing problem put forward for solution) is combined with a parable (which is the comparison of one thing with another). Thus this text is a divine mystery which demands solution and which compares type against anti-type. This text refers firstly to Great Eagles. This is traditionally inferred as the king of Babylon. The king of Babylon is not just a physical king. It refers also to the prime type of the supernatural rulers. The Great Eagles are the Cherubim (Ex. 25:20; 37:9) or Archangels of the Elohim. The Great Eagle of Israel was Jesus Christ the Angel of Yahweh upon whose wings Israel was brought out of Egypt (Ex. 19:4) and which helped Israel as the church in the wilderness (Rev. 12:14). Similarly, when the Son of Man comes in glory, there will the (angelic) eagles be gathered (Mat. 24:28; Lk. 17:37). The punishment for idolatry and disobedience in Deuteronomy 28:49 was to have a nation brought against Israel as swift as the eagle flies. These nations under the angelic Host are used to punish nations. The meanings of the text are examined below.

Ezekiel 17:3-4 And say, 'Thus saith the Lord God; "A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar: ⁴ He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.
Traditionally this refers to the captivity of Jehoiachin whom he took to Babylon (Jeconiah or Coniah) (see also v. 12 and Jer. 22:23-24).
Ezekiel 17:5-6 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree. ⁶ And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him; so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.
This text traditionally refers to the establishment of Zedekiah as the vassal king of Israel.

Ezekiel 17:7-8 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers; and behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation. ⁸ It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.

This refers to Egypt and Pharaoh Hophra. Zedekiah had given his oath of allegiance to the Babylonians but turned to Egypt. Ezekiel 17 continues:

Ezekiel 17:9-21 Say thou, 'Thus saith the Lord God; 'Shall it prosper? shall He not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof. ¹⁰ Yea, behold being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? It shall wither in the furrows where it grew.'" ¹¹. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, ¹² "Say now to the rebellious house,'Know ye not what these things mean?' tell them, 'Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon; ¹³ And hath taken the kings seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the mighty of the land: ¹⁴ That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand. ¹⁵ But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant and be delivered? ¹⁶ As I live, saith the Lord God, 'surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. ¹⁷ Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons: ¹⁸ Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape. ¹⁹ Therefore thus saith the Lord God; As I live, surely Mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head. ²⁰ And I will spread My net upon him, and he shall be taken in My snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against Me. ²¹ And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall know that I the Lord have spoken it.

The destruction of Zedekiah is recorded in Jeremiah. Israel did not want to obey the directives and punishment of God. They had sinned and God had punished them; yet He would have spared the Temple and the position of Judah if they had kept His statutes and obeyed those whom He had raised up.
They did not obey and turned to the Egyptian system for aid in overcoming the empirical system which God had allowed to be established and which He had shown through Daniel that He would allow to continue until the restoration under Messiah, which is the event depicted in Daniel 2. The great figure has differing parts of the body in different metals representing different qualities of the empirical systems. But they are all part of the same body, which continues over the entire period of the Gentiles until that empirical system is destroyed by Messiah. Thus the stump of the Babylonians was bound for seven times. However, the stump was a composite of the Assyrians, the Medes and the Persians who succeeded Nebuchadnezzar. That Aryan system which had taken over from the semitic Babylonians entered Europe as the Roman and then the Holy Roman Empires, in the north, in Central Europe.
The body of Daniel 2 is not composed of separate bodies; it is one body comprised of different parts. Its greatest power is achieved in the last days when the greatness of the Assyro-Babylonian system is again restored to deal with Israel who became again an apostate people. The restoration of Israel occurs through the Branch (which is also referred to in Zech. 3:8 and 6:12).
This Branch is himself the cedar or spiritual ruler of Israel. Ezekiel 17:22-24 continues:

Ezekiel 17:22-24 Thus saith the Lord God; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent: ²³ In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing: in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. ²⁴ And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: "I the Lord have spoken and have done it."

This end result is the taking of the highest branch of the cedar that is Israel. This royal lineage is to become Messiah who is the goodly cedar. Under Messiah shall dwell all living things. The systems of the world are to be destroyed. The cedar that was the original Morning Star (the covering Cherub Azazel or Satan) is replaced by the line of David, the new Morning Star who is Messiah (Rev. 22:16). Those who dwell under his branches are given to share in the Morning Star (Rev. 2:28).
The sequence of this transition is given in the parables of the fall of Egypt and the ultimate use and destruction of the Babylonian systems. Satan's rebel systems are used against Satan's systems.
It is then easier to see the symbolism of the cedars and the use of the analogy of the Pit and of Sheol or the Grave and the ultimate sequence of the resurrections. The watercourses deal with the control of the nations through the channelling of the Spirit, as it is available to the Host. Ezekiel 31:15-18 thus has greater significance.

Ezekiel 31:15-18 Thus says the Lord God: When it goes down to Sheol I will make the deep mourn for it, and restrain its rivers, and many waters shall be stopped; I will clothe Lebanon in gloom for it, and all the trees of the field shall faint because of it. ¹⁶ I will make the nations quake at the sound of its fall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who go down to the Pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water will be comforted in the nether world. ¹⁷ They also shall go down to Sheol with it, to those who are slain by the sword; yea, those who dwelt under its shadow among the nations shall perish. ¹⁸ Whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? You shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the nether world; you shall lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword. "This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord God."

There are a number of concepts here. The trees of Eden referred to are those who once were partakers of the divine nature but rebelled. They went down to the Pit. All of the nations likewise go down to the Pit, to Sheol, in death. Eden is not used here in reference to Assyria on the basis that Assyria encompassed the areas of Eden. Eden was the Levant. It fed both the Tigris-Euphrates systems and also the areas of the South into Egypt and North Africa. Eden is not and has not been used to refer to Assyria. The drinkers of water will be comforted in the nether world.
Thus we are dealing with the concepts of the various stages of the resurrection determined by the Holy Spirit. The allocation of waters is also allocated to, and is stopped from being accessed by many. Thus the uncircumcised and the trees of Eden lie with the world's system and their rulers both physical and spiritual. It should be obvious that physical trees are not comforted in the nether world.
Our battle is against spiritual wickedness.

Ephesians 6:12 For we do not contend against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenly places.

It should thus be obvious that we are dealing with a major spiritual struggle for the restoration of the Kingdom of God. That struggle involves supernatural powers, which are the powers that actually rule this world. The prophecies thus deal with those entities as actual realities. Modern Christianity seeks to deny the reality of the fallen Host as rulers of this world. They have the words of the faith but deny its power. There is going to be a titanic struggle for the restoration of this planet, which will almost destroy it. That work is not for the faint hearted. We have seen already some who seek to deny the reality of the prophecies and who hope to avoid the struggle by pretending that it will not happen. We saw this attitude pandered to in previous Churches, where the various strategies employed involved places of safety or raptures or earthly kingdoms of the Church.
God is our strength and the rock of our salvation. For the elect's sake He will intervene to save this planet and for no other reason. He has declared His will and He will accomplish it. The reason that people will not repent over this process is that they deny the reality of what is happening to them. It was for this reason that they sought to kill the prophets. They shot the messenger in the mistaken belief that if they pretended that it was not going to happen then it would not happen. They shut their ears so that they would not hear and so God will shut His over that period.