20221110

broken arms, strengthened arms

Ezekiel 30:20-26 (JDV)

Ezekiel 30:19 So I will execute judgments against Egypt, and they will know that I am Yahveh.'”
Ezekiel 30:20 In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of Yahveh happened to me. This is what it said:
Ezekiel 30:21 “Son of Adam, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Notice, it has not been bandaged – no medicine has been applied and no splint put on to bandage it so that it can grow strong enough to handle a sword.
Ezekiel 30:22 Therefore, this is what the Lord Yahveh says: Notice! I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt. I will break his arms, both the strong one and the one already broken, and will make the sword fall from his hand.
Ezekiel 30:23 I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them among the countries.
Ezekiel 30:24 I will strengthen the arms of Babylon’s king and place my sword in his hand. But I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him like a mortally wounded man.
Ezekiel 30:25 I will strengthen the arms of Babylon’s king, but Pharaoh’s arms will fall. They will know that I am Yahveh when I place my sword in the hand of Babylon’s king and he wields it against the land of Egypt.
Ezekiel 30:26 When I disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them among the countries, they will know that I am Yahveh.”

broken arms, strengthened arms

The LORD has broken the arm of Pharaoh, and he “will not even have time to apply healing medicines and to put a splint upon it before Jehovah, in the person of Nebuchadnezzar, shall be upon him to break the other arm also (verse 22). 1

Meanwhile, the LORD plans to strengthen the arm of Pharaoh’s rival, Babylon’s king Nebuchadnezzar. Our LORD’s judgment decides who rises, and who falls. He also decides who gets support in their plans, and who loses strength and support.

LORD, strengthen us for your mission. Give us the support we need, and the wisdom to seek your will, not our own.

1 Cobern, Camden M. Ezekiel and Daniel. New York: Methodist Book Concern, 1901. p. 179.