And it came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, in the first [month], on the first of the month, [that] the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
This verse is nothing but a date, and it opens the last message we know Ezekiel received. It sits inside a block of prophecies against Egypt given years earlier, which raises two questions: why here, and what did that day mean?
The prophecies around it belong to an earlier date. This one jumps forward, and one writer marks the break plainly:
This prophecy concerning Egypt has particular importance. It is composed of three distinct prophecies. Notice that Ezekiel 29:17-21 is a prophecy of a very different date, introduced here because of its relation to what comes before it in the same chapter.
The great vision that closes the book was not Ezekiel's last word from God. This dated message came two years after it:
In order of time this is not the last prophecy of Ezekiel. The one given in Ezek. 29:17 comes two years later. But this great vision is the only one that could fittingly close the book. At the start God showed the prophet His glory. A little later he saw that glory leave the defiled temple, which would soon lie in ruins. Now he sees it return to that greater and more wonderful dwelling-place on earth, spread out before him so that he may describe it to the house of Israel.
Ezekiel's messages ran through twenty-two years, while his exile lasted twenty-seven — the number in this verse (Walter Scott).
God did not pick this day at random. Something had just happened that proved words Ezekiel had spoken years before:
We now have Nebuchadnezzar named outright as the instrument of this judgment, and at a notable moment. Unlike the other prophecies it stands with, this one carries a date: the twenty-seventh year, the first month, the first day of the month. At that time Tyre had just fallen, after a thirteen-year siege by Nebuchadnezzar. This fully proved the prophecy Ezekiel had made about it long before. It made God known as the One whose judgment it was — and so as the One who held the conqueror himself in His hand.
Tyre fell, but most of its wealth never reached Nebuchadnezzar. The word that follows this date balances the books:
It naturally follows the prophecy against Tyre. It shows the LORD balancing two things: the huge cost Nebuchadnezzar paid for that hard-won city, whose wealth mostly escaped his grasp, and the conquest of Egypt — rich plunder for the conqueror and for his greedy army, disappointed until now. No wonder the land of Egypt was to lie waste a long time, though not for ever.
Nebuchadnezzar never knew whose work he was doing. That did not stop God from paying him wages:
We have seen with the Assyrian that God punishes a nation He has used as His instrument, because of its pride. He also gives wages to a nation that has served His purpose without knowing it. God used Nebuchadnezzar and his army to punish Tyre, yet "neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against her" (Ezek. 29:18). So God gave "the land of Egypt" to Nebuchadnezzar, so that he and his army could take the spoil to "be the wages for his army" (verse 19). How little we know of the ways of God in the conflicts of the world. Behind the scenes God works His sovereign will to carry out His purposes.
The paragraph that opens with this date ends with a promise to Israel. No record of its fulfilment survives:
"On that day I will cause a horn to spring up for the house of Israel, and I will open your lips among them, and they will know that I am the LORD" (v. 21). We have no account that it happened so. But we need none. So the LORD spoke, and so we are sure it was. Israel revived. Ezekiel delivered His message among them, and they then knew who He is — the One who wanted them to know what was coming before it came.
- Dated. The verse is a time-stamp. It gives the twenty-seventh year of the exile, and it sits here by subject, not by date order.
- Proved. The date marks the fall of Tyre after a thirteen-year siege. It proved Ezekiel's earlier word and showed whose hand the conqueror was in.
- Paid. Tyre's wealth escaped Nebuchadnezzar's grasp, so God gave him Egypt as the wages his army had earned but never received.
- Hidden. Nebuchadnezzar never knew he was serving God — behind the wars of nations God works His own purpose.
- Promised. The same dated word ends with a horn springing up for Israel and the prophet's lips opened. Scripture records the promise, and no history book is needed to confirm it.
Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to do hard service against Tyre; every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled yet had he from Tyre no wages, nor his army, for the service that he had served against it.
A king had worn out his army in a long siege and had nothing to show for it. God now names that unpaid work and intends to settle the account. Why would God owe a pagan conqueror anything? And how can the wrecking of a city count as work done for Him?
The verse shows an army worn down by the siege. Heads were rubbed bald and shoulders rubbed bare. At the end of it their hands were empty.
The great Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Tyre. Ezekiel 29:18 refers to it. The verse speaks of his having "no wages" for the long years he spent over it, because the Tyrians had time to remove all their treasure. Still judgment from God did come on the proud and rich and joyous city, and her glory departed.
Tyre was a seaport, so its wealth could sail away while its walls still stood. The conqueror won a ruin.
What follows in the chapter is God balancing the books.
This word comes right after the prophecy against Tyre, and it belongs there. It shows Jehovah balancing accounts. Nebuchadnezzar spent a vast amount on that hard-won city, and most of its wealth escaped his grasp. Against that God sets the conquest of Egypt — rich plunder for the conqueror and for his greedy army, disappointed until now.
Some of the treasure God hands over had itself been carried out of Jerusalem earlier — Necho took it to Egypt.
Jehovah considered that wages were due to Nebuchadnezzar for his service in destroying Tyre. The wealth of Egypt was Jehovah's repayment to the instrument of His righteous judgements. It included the silver and gold that Necho had carried there from Jerusalem.
Nebuchadnezzar did not think he was running God's errand. That made no difference to the wages God counted as owed.
God punishes a nation He has used as His instrument when that nation grows proud, as we have seen with the Assyrian. He also gives wages to a nation that has served His purpose without knowing it. God used Nebuchadnezzar and his army to punish Tyre, yet "neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against her." So God gave "the land of Egypt" to Nebuchadnezzar. He and his army could take the spoil, and it would "be the wages for his army." How little we know of the ways of God in the conflicts of the world. Behind the scenes God works His sovereign will to carry out His purposes.
God was acting here in government rather than grace.
We must distinguish accurately between grace and government. When we look at God in government, we see Him displaying His power in righteousness. He punishes evildoers and pours out vengeance on His enemies. He overthrows empires, upturns thrones, destroys cities, and sweeps away nations, tribes and peoples.
The title "servant" had belonged to Israel. Once the nation went into exile, it passed elsewhere.
As soon as the people had gone into captivity, God hands the "sword" of government over to the Gentile king, and the "times of the Gentiles" begin… Up to this point Israel had been God's servant, however unfaithful… The Gentile king now takes the place of the Lord's servant, though in another sense.
Tyre fell just before this word came. God meant the lesson for the king himself.
At that time Tyre had just fallen, after a thirteen-year siege by Nebuchadnezzar. So the prophecy Ezekiel had made about it long before was proved true. This showed that the judgment was God's, and that the conqueror himself was therefore in God's hand… Nebuchadnezzar was head of the new Gentile power God had raised up. As king of kings he owed everything to the Hand that raised him, and God would have him learn that lesson.
The same writer sets this verse against life in the Father's house.
Though God may hire a Nebuchadnezzar (Ezek. 29:18), the bread in our Father's house is not for hired workers — though in the far country one might think so… Anyone who thinks of wages must be valuing himself too highly. Anyone who reckons himself really "little" is ready to appreciate the gift of God.
- Service. Nebuchadnezzar's army wore itself out for thirteen years. Tyre's wealth sailed away, and the army was left with nothing.
- Wages. God treats that unpaid labour as a debt. He settles it with the spoil of Egypt, gold once taken from Jerusalem included.
- Unwitting. The army served God's purpose without knowing it. He pays instruments who never meant to serve Him, and His will moves behind the wars of the world.
- Government. Grace and government are not the same. In government God overturns thrones and sweeps away nations in righteousness.
- Gift. God may hire a Nebuchadnezzar. But the bread of the Father's house is not for hired workers. Those who count themselves little receive it as a gift.