Ezekiel 32:17

"It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of Jehovah 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 away and all her multitudes. The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of Sheol with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie still, even the uncircumcised, slain by the sword. Asshur is there and all her company; her graves are round about her; all of the slain, fallen by the sword; whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is round about her grave, all of the slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living. There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with them that go down to the pit."

EGYPT WAS SENTENCED TO THE UNDERWORLD (Ezekiel 32:16-32)

"Twelfth year, fifteenth day of the month ..." (Ezekiel 32:17). "This date is April 27,586 B.C."[14] Bruce supplemented the data given here by accepting the "twelfth month" indication from the LXX. "This was only about two weeks later than the oracle in the first half of the chapter."[15]

The thought presented here is doleful indeed. Just as all the other mighty nations of human history have enjoyed their brief glory and then gone down in the oblivion of the grave, just so it was to be with Egypt. The picture that emerges here should not deceive us into thinking that Sheol is a place either of intelligence or activity of any kind. The intimations of such things are only designed to stimulate our estimation of the place as totally undesirable. The purpose is to contrast the arrogance and conceit of those powers which "in the land of the living" produced so much terror, sorrow, and human misery, with their peaceful harmlessness after they have gone down into Shed! God's perfect answer to all of that is Sheol, the Pit, the grave I This lament is to remind Egypt that she too shall also receive the treatment that came to other evil powers, several of whom are mentioned here as a kind of "reception committee" for Pharaoh!

"The strong among the mighty shall speak to him ..." (Ezekiel 32:21). Yes indeed, there shall really be some of the `Big Shots' of history on hand in Sheol to welcome Pharaoh who is scheduled to arrive soon!

"Asshur is there ..." (Ezekiel 32:22). Look! Even the wicked and ruthless Assyrians are there! How peaceful they are; no one is afraid of them now! Their reign of terror had ended in 612 B.C., on that very night when the king was having a big banquet to celebrate his victory! An unexpected flood destroyed a section of the city wall; and the whole Babylonian army came in and destroyed Nineveh. (See our Commentary on Nahum).

"Elam is there ..." (Ezekiel 32:24). They had been there ever since they were conquered by the Assyrians in 643 B.C.[16] The Elamites were a nation of terrorists living east of the Tigris River and north of the Persian Gulf. At one time, they had been the scourge of Mesopotamia. Behold, how quiet and harmless they are now! Note also that the text states that they took their shame with them. They never got rid of it merely by descending into Sheol. A further word on Elam is given in Ezekiel 32:25.