I recently demonstrated that Jeremiah 25:15 onwards is a prophecy that concerns an invasion of Jerusalem and the subsequent slaughter of the nations during the Day of the Lord. The entire punishment is depicted by the nations and kings drinking from the wine cup of the Lord’s fury.
I noted that several nations and kings are listed in Jeremiah 25:18-26. One of the nations that will drink from the wine cup of the Lord’s wrath is Egypt:
- Jer 25:15 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
- Jer 25:16 And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.
- Jer 25:17 Then took I the cup at the LORD'S hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:
- Jer 25:18 To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day;
- Jer 25:19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;
Egypt’s listing in Jeremiah 25:19 alone suggests that Egypt is going to be punished during the Day of the Lord. This prompts the question: “Are there other Bible verses which suggest that Egypt will be attacked during the Day of the Lord?”
- Today I address this question with some preliminary research findings.
Ezekiel 32:1-16 concerns the defeat of Pharaoh and Egypt. The first six verses of the chapter are about the defeat of the king of Egypt:
- Eze 32:1 And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
- Eze 32:2 Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers.
- Eze 32:3 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in my net.
- Eze 32:4 Then will I leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon the open field, and will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee.
- Eze 32:5 And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with thy height.
- Eze 32:6 I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.
Some of the prophecies given in the time of Ezekiel concern the defeat of Egypt by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. However, the prophecy in Ezekiel 32:1-16 appears to be relevant to the End Times when you consider the next few verses.
Verse 32:7 states that the stars will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, and the sun will be covered with a cloud when the king of Egypt is defeated. These phenomena are often described in Bible prophecy passages concerning the Day of the Lord. For instance, Isaiah 13:10 is a verse concerning the Day of the Lord (Isaiah 13:9) which describes the same phenomena as Ezekiel 32:7.
| Eze 32:7 And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. Eze 32:8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD. | Isa 13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. Isa 13:10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. |
Ezekiel 32:9-10 tells us that many people and leaders will be horrified when they hear about the destruction of Egypt.
- Eze 32:9 I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known.
- Eze 32:10 Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall.
Ezekiel 32:11-12 suggests that the king of Babylon will defeat Egypt during the Day of the Lord. This is also implied in Jeremiah 46:8-10, which includes a reference to the Day of the Lord in verse 10.
| Eze 32:11 For thus saith the Lord GOD; The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee. Eze 32:12 By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall, the terrible of the nations, all of them: and they shall spoil the pomp of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed. | Jer 46:8 Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof. Jer 46:9 Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow. Jer 46:10 For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. |
Jeremiah 46:10 is extremely similar to Isaiah 34:6, which concerns the future desolation of Edom (Isaiah 34:8). Both verses describe a sword drenched in blood and a great slaughter.
| Jer 46:10 For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. | Isa 34:6 The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. … Isa 34:8 For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. |
The great similarity between Jeremiah 46:10 and Isaiah 34:6 suggests that the Day of the Lord reference in Jeremiah 46:10 is not a fluke. Interestingly, Joel 3:19, which is part of a passage that describes the future, suggests that Edom and Egypt will be desolated:
- Joe 3:19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
Ezekiel 32:13-32:16 continues to describe the defeat of Egypt. There is a reminder that the nations will be alarmed when Egypt is defeated in Ezekiel 32:16:
- Eze 32:13 I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside the great waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them.
- Eze 32:14 Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord GOD.
- Eze 32:15 When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country shall be destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall smite all them that dwell therein, then shall they know that I am the LORD.
- Eze 32:16 This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament her: the daughters of the nations shall lament her: they shall lament for her, even for Egypt, and for all her multitude, saith the Lord GOD.
I believe Egypt is likely going to be attacked by Babylon during the Day of the Lord given what is suggested in Jeremiah 25:19, Ezekiel 32:7, Ezekiel 32:11-12, and Jeremiah 46:10. However, there are some issues that I am uncertain about concerning Egypt. Here are some of them:
- Why is Babylon attacking Egypt during the Day of the Lord? Jeremiah 46:10 suggests that Babylon’s victory over Egypt is part of the Lord’s wrath against Egypt, so does that mean Babylon has a specific role where it is used by the Lord to deliver wrath against the nations?
- Egypt is the first nation listed in the overview of countries that will drink from the wine cup of the Lord’s wrath (Jeremiah 25:19). Ezekiel 32:9-10, 16 suggest that nations and kings will be horribly afraid when they see Egypt defeated. Does this mean that Egypt is the first country that is punished during the Day of the Lord?
- Daniel 11:40-45 and Ezekiel 30:1-9 also depict Egypt being attacked in the End Times. I am not completely sure yet whether these passages depict the same attack upon Egypt as the verses mentioned in this article. Since I am unsure at the moment I am weighing the possibility of two attacks against Egypt during the End Times.
There is a lot of stuff going on in Libya and elsewhere in the Middle East at the moment. I think it is important to find answers to these questions I’m posing as soon as possible in order to understand not only what is going to happen in the future but also to understand what is going on now.
- If we can get some idea of what will happen in the future we may be able to get some idea of the things that likely need to happen soon for certain prophesized events to take place.
