Today’s Scripture Reading (May 23,
2014): Ezekiel 30
Over the
course of 1500 years, 118 pyramids were built in Egypt using the assistance of
20,000 to 30,000 workers. The Pyramids are ancient marvels, but our imagination
seems to sometimes have become stuck on the three that were built on the plains
of Giza, not realizing that the Egyptians dreamed of at least 115 other pyramids
to the point where the building of them had actually started. And the earliest
of these dreamers was a priest in the service of the sun god Ra who also served
as the chancellor to the Pharaoh Djoser in the 27th Century B.C. The
product of his imagination is known today as the Step Pyramid of Djoser – the first
of the pyramids. After the reign of Djoser, he was followed by another Pharaoh,
Sekhemkhet. Sekhemkhet wanted to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor,
who was quite possibly his father. In following of Djoser’s footsteps,
Sekhemkhet also started to build his own pyramid, but the pyramid was never
completed, possibly because of the short reign of the Pharaoh (about six years.)
Today we know his pyramid as the “Buried Pyramid.” But the incompletion of
Sekhemkhet’s pyramid notwithstanding, these two Pharaohs started the 1500 year
obsession with the constrction of these strange looking buildings.
By the time
that Ezekiel was writing his prophcies, the time of the building of pyramids
was long over. Apries was the Pharaoh in charge of Egypt, and he was a builder,
but not of pyramids. However, there might be an indication that he wanted to be
a pyramid buider, and it is found in this prophecy from Ezekiel. God says that
he has “broken the arm of the Pharaoh.” The allusion would seem to be to the assertion
of Apries that he was the strong arm of Egypt. While Apries may have wanted to
be viewed as a stong Pharaoh, only two kings in the history of Egypt had ever
made the assertion that they were the strong arm of the nation, and they were
Djoser and Sekhemkhet.
Apries may
have wanted to bring back the golden age of Egypt, but God was about to let
Nebuchadnezzar break Apries arm. A broken arm, left unset, can never be strong
again - and it will never be able to hold a sword again.
Apries would
try to come to the aid of Judah in their battle with Babylon. In actuality, it
would be an attempt to bring Judah under the control of Egypt. Judah, as an
Egyptian province instead of the Babylonian province that it would become,
would have helped Apries in becoming more like Djoser, the strong arm of Egypt.
But the broken arm that Nebuchadnezzar would inflict on the Pharaoh would end
that dream. He would no longer be the strong arm of Egypt, and a few years
later he would find himself deposed, and his general raised to the position of
Pharaoh in his place.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ezekiel
31
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