What is the meaning of Ezekiel 32:18? Son of man “Son of man…” (Ezekiel 32:18) once again reminds us that Ezekiel speaks as a divinely commissioned representative of humanity before a holy God (see Ezekiel 2:1; 3:17). Each time the title appears, it: • underscores Ezekiel’s frailty compared with the Almighty (Psalm 8:4). • places the focus on God’s message, not the messenger (Ezekiel 33:7). • signals the prophet’s responsibility to announce judgment faithfully, no matter how severe (Jeremiah 1:7). Wail for the multitudes of Egypt “Wail for the multitudes of Egypt…” The Lord orders a lament, not a cheer. Lamentation stresses: • the certainty of Egypt’s downfall, just as earlier visions foretold (Ezekiel 30:2-4; Isaiah 19:1). • the enormity of what is lost—population, power, prestige (Jeremiah 46:12). • the heart-sobering truth that sin brings sorrow even to the mightiest (Proverbs 14:34). Other nations received similar funeral songs (Ezekiel 26:17 about Tyre), reminding us that no earthly empire is exempt from divine accountability. And consign her and the daughters of the mighty nations “…and consign her and the daughters of the mighty nations…” God directs Ezekiel to hand Egypt and her powerful allies over to judgment. The phrase pictures: • a legal verdict—God, the righteous Judge, pronounces sentence (Psalm 96:13). • the collapse of alliances Egypt trusted (Ezekiel 30:5-6; Isaiah 20:5-6). • the warning that shared sin means shared ruin (Revelation 18:4). Like Assyria before her (Ezekiel 31:3-18), Egypt’s pride becomes a cautionary tale to every “mighty nation.” To the depths of the earth “…to the depths of the earth…” points to Sheol, the realm of the dead (Numbers 16:30, 33). God is not merely toppling thrones; He is sending the unrepentant to: • the lowest place, far from honor (Isaiah 14:15). • irreversible separation from the land of the living (Ezekiel 26:20). • a realm ruled by silence and powerlessness (Psalm 115:17). The depth underlines how completely the Lord can overturn earthly greatness. With those who descend to the Pit “…with those who descend to the Pit.” Egypt will join earlier rebels already there—giants of history reduced to shades (Isaiah 24:21-22). The Pit signifies: • the collective grave of ungodly nations (Ezekiel 31:14-17). • a preview of final judgment when death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14). • the inevitable end for every power that opposes God (Psalm 28:1). God’s justice is thorough; none slip through the cracks. summary Ezekiel 32:18 summons the prophet to lament Egypt’s certain collapse. God’s verdict moves from the calling of His spokesman (“Son of man”), through the command to mourn vast ruin, to an unflinching sentence of burial in Sheol alongside earlier judged nations. The verse teaches that worldly strength cannot shield a people from divine justice, that alliances crumble when they stand against the Lord, and that every unrepentant power ultimately sinks to “the depths of the earth…with those who descend to the Pit.” |
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