September 6, 2019 Bible Study — When You Rely On People Instead of God, Those People Will Fail You

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ezekiel 29-31.

The first thing I want to note about this passage is that it tells us it is written AFTER the Babylonian siege of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar.  This leads me to think that the writer considered his prophecy against Tyre to have been fulfilled, despite the fact that the island portion of Tyre never fell to Nebuchadnezzar.  That would also lead me to believe that the prophet would have considered his prophecy against Egypt to be fulfilled even though Babylon never fully controlled Egypt.  I want to note that the prophecies against Tyre and Egypt were not directed to the people of those nations.  They were directed to the people of Israel.   The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem had allowed the leaders of Tyre and of Egypt to convince them to rebel against Babylon despite the prophets of God warning them not to do so.  The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem turned to the might of Tyre and of Egypt rather than turning to God.  In yesterday’s passage, Ezekiel reminded everyone that Tyre, for all of its wealth, could not defend its mainland city from Babylon, let alone come to the aid of Jerusalem.  In today’s passage he shows how Egypt was unable to stand against Babylon despite its natural defenses.  When we rely on humans rather than on God, they will fail us.