And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in
the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me,
saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt,
and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and
thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy
rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouldedst their
rivers. Thus saith the Lord God; I will therefore spread out my net
over thee with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee
up in my net. Then will I leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee
forth upon the open field, and will cause all the fowls of the
heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole
earth with thee. And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and
fill the valleys with thy height. I will also water with thy blood
the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the
rivers shall be full of thee. And when I shall put thee out, I will
cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the
sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the
bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness
upon thy land, saith the Lord God. I will also vex the hearts of
many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations,
into the countries which thou hast not known. Yea, I will make many
people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for
thee, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall
tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of
thy fall (verses 1-10).
Pharaoh is addressed as a young lion among the nations. Some have
rendered it "a lion of the nations is upon thee," applying it to
Nebuchadnezzar; but this is only a paraphrase and not warranted by the
Hebrew text. He is also compared again to the dragon or crocodile.[26]
(See xxix:3). What the crocodile does in the rivers and waters,
troubling them and stirring up the dirt, fouling the rivers, Pharaoh had
done among the nations. And now his wicked doings would be arrested; a
net would be spread over him with a company of many peoples, who would
bring him out of his dominion like a crocodile taken out of the water.
He would be cast upon the open field, "and I will cause all the fowls of
the heavens to settle upon thee and I will fill the beasts of the whole
earth with thee." Then the political destruction of the great land of
Egypt is to be fully accomplished, here mentioned in symbolical terms,
such as the darkening of the stars, the covering of the sun with a cloud
and the withholding of the light from the moon. But while all this has a
primary meaning as to Pharaoh and Egypt, these words of judgment also
related to that which is yet, and soon to come upon this earth. Egypt is
the type of the world as it lieth in the wicked one.
[26] "A whale in the seas" is an incorrect translation.
Nations to-day are doing what Egypt did. These nations, the final actors
of the times of the Gentiles, in their inhuman, God and man defying
actions, will not be permitted to go on forever. A day comes in which
God will deal with them as He dealt with Egypt of old. When that day
comes, the day of Jehovah, their complete overthrow will take place as
described so frequently in the prophetic Word. Then the great judgment
supper of God will take place, when the fowls under heaven are called
upon to gather together and feed upon the slain. There is an interesting
suggestion between verse 4 of this chapter and Revelation xix:17-18. The
same is true when we compare verses 7-8 with Revelation viii:12. Then
read Isaiah xiii:10 and Amos viii:9; Joel iii:15 and Matthew xxiv:29.
That day announced in these Scriptures and others is rapidly approaching
and will bring the complete overthrow of the domineering, autocratic
world-powers and the god of this age, who controls them.