It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of
the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of
man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her,
and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of
the earth, with them that go down into the pit. Whom dost thou pass
in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised. They
shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: she is
delivered to the sword: draw her and all her multitudes. The strong
among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell (sheol)
with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised,
slain by the sword. Asshur is there and all her company: his graves
are about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword: Whose graves
are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her
grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror
in the land of the living. There is Elam and all her multitudes
round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which
are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth,
which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they
borne their shame with them that go down to the pit. They have set
her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude: her
graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by
the sword: though their terror was caused in the land of the
living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to
the pit: he is put in the midst of them that be slain. There is
Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are round about
him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they
caused their terror in the land of the living. And they shall not
lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are
gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid
their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon
their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land
of the living. Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the
uncircumcised, and shalt lie with them that are slain with the
sword. There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with
their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they
shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the
pit. There be the princes of the north, all of them, and all the
Zidonians, which are gone down with the slain; with their terror
they are ashamed of their might: and they lie uncircumcised with
them that be slain by her sword, and bear their shame with them that
go down to the pit. Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted
over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the
sword, saith the Lord God. For I have caused my terror in the land
of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the
uncircumcised with them that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh
and all his multitude, saith the Lord God (verses 17-32).
Two weeks after the lamentation over Pharaoh, the prophet uttered this
solemn and most impressive elegy over the multitude of Egypt and the
heathen nations who have gone into sheol. It has been called a weird
Dantesque funeral-march over the whole heathen world; but it is more
than that. We look here into sheol and see the nations gathered there,
stripped of their glory, in deepest abasement and shame. Their bodies
are in the pit, the grave, and their souls in sheol, the unseen regions.
God's patience was exhausted with them, the measure of their wickedness
became full, then judgments swept them off the earth and they passed
away and descended into sheol. And what irony there is connected with
it! "Whom dost thou surpass in beauty? Go down and be thou laid with the
uncircumcised." And as the King came there with his multitudes, whom did
they find there? Asshur, that is Assyria, is mentioned first: "Asshur is
there and all her company." She was a cruel, pitiless, destructive
power, and now she, who once caused "terror in the land of the living,"
is helpless, with all her power gone in the unseen world. Elam, Meshech,
Tubal, Edom, the princes of the North and the Zidonians are named as
being in existence there. Once great powers but now cut off; they lie
with the uncircumcised in weakness and disgrace. While in chapter
xxxi:16 the dead and gone nations were comforted over Pharaoh who
descended into sheol; in this passage Pharaoh, who sees these nations,
now is himself comforted as he discovers his former enemies there.
A similar statement about sheol as a place of departed nations, who are
nevertheless conscious, is found in the book of Isaiah. There the King
of Babylon is seen in his descent into sheol. "Sheol from beneath is
moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for
thee, all the chieftains of the earth; it hath raised up from their
thrones all the Kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto
thee, Art thou also become weak as we? Are thou become like unto us? Thy
pomps are brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols, the
worm is spread under thee, and the worms over thee?" (Is. xiv:9-11).
Solemn words these are behind which stands the undeniable truth of a
conscious and eternal existence of the human race. But only the New
Testament Scriptures give the full light upon the future state.