And I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium, the stronghold of Egypt, and cut off the multitude of Thebes.
Ezekiel names cities the way a general names targets: Sin, the frontier fortress, and No, the proud southern capital. Why does God's wrath settle on these two places? And what is left of a "stronghold" when God Himself pours it out?
The cities named
Sin is a real place on the map. The title Ezekiel gives it — stronghold, or strength in older translations — is a military one.
Morrish Bible DictionaryA city in Egypt: the Septuagint has Sais, and the Vulgate (as in the margin) has Pelusium. Ezekiel calls it "the strength of Egypt." Ezekiel 30:15-16. It is thought to be the modern Tineh, where a few ruins are found. It is close to the Pelusiac mouth of the Nile.
The second city's name carries a god inside it. That changes how we read the cutting off of its multitude.
Morrish Bible DictionaryThis is the Scripture name of Thebes, a famous city in Egypt, built on both sides of the river Nile, having a hundred gates. Instead of "populous No," it should read "No of Amon," referring to the Egyptian god Amon; and in Jeremiah 46:25, instead of "the multitude of No," it should read "Amon of No."
Two things singled out for judgment
God names the man whose hand will do it. He also picks His targets, and they fall into two kinds.
F. W. GrantEgypt's end completes the account, and Nebuchadnezzar is again clearly named as the one whose hand will carry it out. The places marked out here fall into two kinds. Some set before us the idolatry of Egypt, so monstrous that God could never forget it. Others are the symbols of her power and might, and her capitals, upper and lower (No or Thebes, and Noph or Memphis). Zoan has its place among these too — the city God had struck with plagues long ago in Moses' time. The strongholds are gone, and the land is open to all attackers.
God's quarrel with Egypt's gods
The fury poured on Sin is not a sudden burst of temper. One commentator finds behind it one long quarrel, the same at the end as at the start.
William KellyIt is with the gods of Egypt, as at the first so now at the last, that God's main controversy lies. This was before Him on the night of the passover, when the destroyer went through the land and struck the firstborn. It is before Him here too, when He adds that there will be no more a prince of the land of Egypt. Fury would fall on Sin (Pelusium), and No-Amon would be cut off.
What the ruins show
These were not vague threats. You can still visit the ruins today.
Arno C. GaebeleinVerses 13-19 announce the destruction of Egypt's chief cities. All of it has been literally fulfilled. Noph is Memphis, the seat of the worship of Ptah and Apis. No is Thebes, the ancient capital of Egypt, and her ruins bear witness to a past splendour beyond description. The great temple of Karnak stood there. Sin is Pelusium, now completely buried in sand. Aven is Heliopolis, once the centre of sun-worship; Pi-beseth is Bubastis, likewise a desolation now.
Why the strength had to break
Egypt was more than an idolater. She was also the prop Israel leaned on instead of God — a second reason for the blow.
F. W. GrantWe come now to the second cause of the judgment. Here we see God take up the cause of His people, foolish and perverse as they may have been. Had God not warned them enough that they must not trust in Egypt? Pharaoh invited a confidence in himself that he could not justify. When Israel leaned on him, he gave way under them, tore all their shoulder and lamed all their loins. So he must be put in the place where he belongs, and God Himself must break the staff that has injured His people.
A sample of a larger day
The chapter opens by announcing a day. The blow on Sin and No is a small picture of it.
Arno C. GaebeleinGod's prophets announced judgment on nation after nation, nations which sinned against Israel, the chosen people. All those judgments foreshadow the one great day when the times of the Gentiles end in an open way. What came upon Egypt in the past through divine judgment will happen to the Gentile nations at the close of our age. It will come "when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus."
Summary
- Strength named. Sin is Pelusium, the fortress at the mouth of the Nile. Ezekiel calls it Egypt's stronghold, and God pours His wrath on it.
- Strength worshipped. No is Thebes, and the fuller reading is "Amon of No" — the crowd cut off is bound up with the god the city was named after.
- Strength contested. God's long-running dispute with Egypt is with her gods, the same dispute that began on the night of the passover.
- Strength broken. Egypt was the staff Israel leaned on, so God broke the staff that had wounded His own people; Pelusium now lies buried in sand.
- Strength warned. What fell on these cities previews the day the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven, when every nation's strength meets His.