For the day is near, the day of the LORD is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.
Ezekiel is warning Egypt, but the words he uses are far bigger than Egypt. He calls the coming blow "the day of the LORD" — near, dark, and reaching the nations — which raises the question of how one defeat by Babylon can carry such a name.
The near judgment on Egypt
This day is first of all a real invasion, and the man who will carry it out is named:
Frederick W GrantThe day of Jehovah is near, a day of sorrow and distress: "It shall be a day of clouds, the time of the nations." That is, the full time has come for Nebuchadnezzar's hand to carry out the judgment — the judgment which, as we have already seen, prepares the way for the full setting up of the worldwide empire of the nations. Egypt seems to have been the last of these nations to feel it.
God uses the conqueror, but He has no sympathy with him:
William KellyHere God names plainly the instrument of His vengeance. That does not mean He had the smallest sympathy with the most frightening of the nations and their drawn swords, nor with the wicked men He sold the land to, nor with the foreigners who laid it waste. But the hour had come to judge Egypt's proud wickedness, and the worst nation was the fitting executioner for that dreadful task.
Why this fall is called "the day of the LORD"
The blow on Egypt and the day that ends this age are the same in principle:
William KellyGod's stepping in to bring Egypt down is, in principle, one with the day of Jehovah — the day that closes this age and reaches over into the age to come.
Other prophets use the same phrase, and it points to something still ahead:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinWhat day is this? Other prophets speak of the day of Jehovah as a day of judgment and wrath, when the Lord will deal in His righteousness with the nations of the earth (Isa. 13:6, 9; Joel 1:15; Amos 5:18; Zeph. 1:14; Zech. 14:1, etc.). In its full meaning this is the day when the Lord Jesus Christ will be seen, revealed from heaven… That day will close "man's day" and bring in a new age, when righteousness will reign as grace reigns now… Every earlier judgment on nations announced by God's prophets — nations that sinned against Israel, the chosen people — points forward to the one great day.
A time for the nations, not for Egypt alone
The last phrase widens it. This day belongs to more than Egypt:
J. N. DarbyBut it was the day of all nations… These events did take place in history, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. Yet in them God has shown His ways with a view to setting Israel up again, at least as far as the judgments He was going to carry out. Through that judgment all the nations, and Israel too, who stood at their centre, disappear from the scene as nations.
What the day removes
That day is aimed at human pride:
W. W. Fereday"Man's Day" (1 Cor. 4:3, margin) is that long stretch of human pride and self-will. It started when sin came into the world, and God's judgment will end it when Jesus Christ is revealed. During Man's Day God counts for nothing and man counts for everything. The Day of the Lord will turn that around… All human plans and achievements will fall to pieces, and no one will patch them up again.
Clouds now, blessing after
The darkness is not the end of the story. The same judgment clears the ground:
Frederick W GrantIt is the day when God will sweep away every refuge of lies and lay bare the emptiness of man's thinking. He will completely abolish the idols. Yes, the people who were once their slaves will fling them to the moles and the bats. "And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day." Then the way lies open for blessing, and that blessing is as wide as the judgment that brought it in.
And those who belong to the light are not the ones the day falls on:
F. B. HoleThe day will overtake the world like people asleep in the dark. It will not be that way for believers. Today the world is asleep in the dark; today the believer is a child of light, and in the light.
Summary
- Near — the day fell on Egypt through Nebuchadnezzar, just as God said. He used the worst of nations without approving of it.
- Named — the same title covers the future day. Egypt's fall and the end of this age share one character: God stepping in against proud power.
- Wide — "the time of the nations" is not Egypt only; it is the day of all nations, when they disappear from the scene as nations.
- Levelling — that day ends man's day, sweeps away every refuge of lies, and leaves the Lord alone exalted.
- Bright — after the clouds comes blessing as wide as the judgment that made room for it. Children of light are not caught out by the dark.