Egypt

Egypt is one of the most puzzling aspects of end-times prophecy. The problem is that the Bible has a lot to say about Egypt, but people don’t really know how to put all of the pieces together. All of the theories that I have heard seem to ignore one or more pieces of the puzzle, and that is never a good sign. In order for a theory to be valid it must encompass all of the evidence. If a theory requires you to throw out some evidence then the theory is almost certainly wrong.

What I would like to do is take a look at the various pieces to illustrate what we do know and what we do not know. Perhaps an investigation will shed some light on the subject.
 

Ezekiel 29

In the book of Ezekiel the Lord says that He is going to judge Egypt for its sins:

Ezekiel 29:2: “Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt:
3 Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.
4 But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.
5 And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.
6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.
7 When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.”

That part of the passage is pretty straightforward. In verse 3 we are told that God is against Egypt because of its pride – Pharaoh claims that the Nile belongs to him and he made it. Pride is a terrible offense to God; the Bible tells us that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). God is therefore going to humble the Egyptians by severely judging their land:

Ezekiel 29:8: “Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.
9 And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the Lord: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.
10 Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia.
11 No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.
12 And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.”

This is where it becomes obvious that this passage is part of end-times prophecy and was not fulfilled in the past. There has never been a time when Egypt has been abandoned for 40 years, but one day that will happen. Because Pharaoh said that the Nile was his and he made it, God will make the land of Egypt desolate and waste. No foot of man or beast will pass through it for 40 years. Egypt and the surrounding countries will be desolate, and the Egyptians will be scattered.

God is very clear about the exact area that will be destroyed: it is “from the tower of Syrene” to “the border of Ethiopia”. Syrene is in southern Egypt; today it is known as Aswan. There is an enormous dam there – the Aswan High Dam. The country of Ethiopia is located to the south of Egypt. Since all of Egypt will be devastated from Syrene (in southern Egypt) to Ethiopia (a country south of Egypt), it seems that only southern Egypt will be devastated. Since Cairo is in the north, it appears that it will not be included in the portion of Egypt that will be “utterly waste and desolate”. This desolation of Egypt will last for 40 years, and during that period the Egyptians will be scattered among the nations.

But this is not the end of Egypt. God has plans for them:

Ezekiel 29:13: “Yet thus saith the Lord God; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered:
14 And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom.
15 It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.
16 And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which bringeth their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them: but they shall know that I am the Lord God.”

After the 40 years are over God will return the Egyptians to their land, but they will be a base kingdom – “the basest of kingdoms”, in fact. They will no longer have any prominence and they will never again rule over the nations.

As we look over this chapter it becomes obvious that its fulfillment is still in the future. Egypt is not the basest of kingdoms; it is still a powerful nation (despite the massive turmoil that has been sweeping the country). The details of this passage have not yet been fulfilled.

The question is, when will this happen? At what point will Egypt be devastated and then abandoned for 40 years? Will this happen before, during, or after the Tribulation? That brings us to our next piece of end-times prophecy.
 

Psalm 83

In Psalms 83 we are told of a coalition of nations that is threatening Israel’s very existence. These nations have come together in order to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth. Interestingly, Israel has never been simultaneously threatened by all of these nations. This psalm is a prophecy that has not yet been fulfilled – but many people believe that it will be fulfilled in the near future.

Some people have suggested that Egypt is a part of this prophecy by claiming that the reference to the Hagarenes in Psalm 83:6 is a reference to Egypt. Others have disputed this and argued that Hagarenes are just Ishmaelites (Arabs). But take a look at the passage itself:

Psalm 83:6: “The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;”

As you can see, the Ishmaelites are already explicitly mentioned in the passage. The Hagarenes, then, must be something different. Genesis tells us that Hagar was an Egyptian:

Genesis 16:1: “Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.”

Since the Ishmaelites are already listed as their own people, the reference to “the Hagarenes” must be referring to the people of Hagar. Since Hagar was an Egyptian, “the Hagarenes” must mean “the Egyptians”. Since Psalm 83 appears to describe the nations that immediately surround Israel, and since Egypt is one of those nations, that interpretation makes a lot of sense. Psalms 83 describes an upcoming conflict where Israel’s immediate neighbors band together in an attempt to utterly destroy Israel. It does appear that Egypt is included in that group.

Since I have already analyzed Psalm 83 in other papers, I will not repeat that analysis here. It is enough to say that Psalm 83 records a time when Egypt will ally with other nations in order to threaten Israel.

Now, Ezekiel 29 records a time when southern Egypt will be devastated and abandoned for 40 years. It is entirely possible (and perhaps even likely) that Egypt is devastated as a result of trying to destroy Israel in the Psalm 83 conflict, but that is just a guess. Psalm 83 does not say that Egypt is destroyed as a result of joining this coalition, and Ezekiel 29 does not mention the coalition either. At this point it is just speculation.

But the Bible has more to say about Egypt – a lot more, actually. That brings us to our next passage:
 

Isaiah 19

This entire chapter is focused on Egypt and has some pretty amazing things to say. However, working these pieces into the overall picture is not simple.

The first part of this chapter has been quoted quite a lot recently:

Isaiah 19:1: “The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.”

Verse 2 certainly describes Egypt as of 2013! There has been a tremendous amount of civil unrest – and that unrest is still ongoing. However, this is not the first time that Egypt has experienced internal turmoil. It is very dangerous to say “Well, the Bible is speaking of civil unrest, and Egypt is experiencing civil unrest, so that must be the fulfillment of that prophecy.” In order to be a genuine fulfillment the prophecy must be fulfilled in its entirety. It is not enough to just fulfill one verse of a longer passage. It will take time to determine if the current trends in Egypt will line up with everything else the passage has to say – and it has a lot to say.

The passage continues:

Isaiah 19:3: “And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts.”

Here we see that after the civil war, the Egyptians will turn to idols and witchcraft. God will given them over to a “cruel lord”, and a “fierce king” will rule over them. But things will only get worse for Egypt:

Isaiah 19:5: “And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.
6 And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.
7 The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.
8 The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.
9 Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded.
10 And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish.”

The land of Egypt depends upon the Nile, but the waters will fail and the river will be dried up. This, of course, will devastate the farmers (who sow things “by the brooks”) and the fishers. It will be an ecological disaster. The country will be turned over to fools and will be devastated:

Isaiah 19:11: “Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
12 Where are they? where are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the Lord of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof.
14 The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.
15 Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do.”

The country will be full of fear – and they will be terrified of Israel:

Isaiah 19:16: “In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which he shaketh over it.
17 And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which he hath determined against it.”

So far all of this fits in more-or-less with our theories about the future of Egypt. This passage could be saying that Egypt’s civil war will eventually lead to a dictatorship. The Nile will dry up and things will get bad. It’s possible that if Egypt attacks Israel, Israel may do something that will devastate southern Egypt and cause that part of the country to be abandoned for 40 years. Perhaps that is why Israel became a terror unto Egypt. Their attack could have caused the Nile to dry up.

But let’s continue on with the rest of the passage:

Isaiah 19:18: “In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction.
19 In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord.
20 And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.
21 And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it.
22 And the Lord shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them.”

Now things aren’t quite so simple, are they? How on earth does all this fit into our picture?

First of all, I know that some people have claimed that the Great Pyramid is the “altar to the Lord”. That is utter nonsense. The Great Pyramid is not an altar. This passage is not talking about that.

But that aside, notice the overall message here. Egypt will cry out to the Lord, and God will send “a great one” to deliver them. The Egyptians will know the Lord and will return to Him, and He will heal them. There will be five cities in Egypt who will speak “the language of Canaan” and who will swear to the Lord.

Those are some remarkable events! But when are they going to happen? How do these pieces fit together?

But the passage isn’t over yet. There are three more verses in this chapter:

Isaiah 19:23: “In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.
24 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land:
25 Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.”

So how do we fit that in? Is this something that happens during the Millennium? How much of this chapter will be fulfilled before the millennium, and how much of it will be fulfilled afterward? It’s a complex problem. The more pieces we find, the more complicated the situation becomes.

But there are even more pieces to consider. We’re not done yet!
 

Daniel 11

In this chapter Daniel has some things to say about the coming Antichrist. He paints a very chilling picture of a very evil man:

Daniel 11:36: “And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.”

The passage goes on to talk about the countries that the Antichrist is going to conquer – and Egypt is included in that list:

Daniel 11:40: “And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.”

Notice that when the Antichrist rises to power and begins his world conquest, one of the countries that he conquers is Egypt. In fact, we are told that he will have power over “all the precious things of Egypt”. That means that at the time that all of this happens, Egypt is still a country, Egypt is still inhabited, and Egypt still has precious things.

But there is one more piece that we need to consider.
 

Joel 3

In the book of Joel we are told something very interesting about Egypt:

Joel 3:16: “The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
17 So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth out of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
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.
20 But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.”

When the Millennial Kingdom begins, God will dwell in Zion – and Egypt will be a desolation. That is a very important point, but how does it fit in with the rest of the pieces? How do we fit all of this information together?
 

The Puzzle Pieces

Let’s put together a list of everything that we know.

Psalm 83:6 tells us that Egypt will join a coalition of other nations that are allied against Israel. These nations – all of whom appear to be Israel’s immediate neighbors – will join forces in order to utterly annihilate Israel. However, the passage does not tell us how things turn out. We don’t know what happens to Egypt as a result of joining this coalition.

Ezekiel 29 tells us that because Egypt claimed that the Nile belonged to them and they made it, God will destroy southern Egypt (from what is currently Aswan, in southern Egypt, to the border of Ethiopia) to such an extent that no man or beast will even set foot in it for 40 years. The Egyptians will be scattered among the nations. At the end of that time God will bring them back and make them the least of all kingdoms. They will never again rule over the nations.

Isaiah 19 tells us that there will be a civil war in Egypt, and a fierce king will arise and rule over them. The Nile will be dried up and the Egyptians will be terrified of Israel. Five cities will speak the language of Canaan, and there will be an altar to the Lord. The Egyptians will cry out because they are being oppressed, and when the Lord sends a great one to deliver them they will worship God and serve Him. There will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and God will call Egypt “his people”.

Daniel 11 tells us that the Antichrist will conquer Egypt and take away its precious things.

Joel 3 tells us that when the Millennial Kingdom begins, Egypt will be a desolation because of their violence against the Jews and because they shed innocent blood.

So how do we fit these pieces together? Typically people connect Psalm 83 with Ezekiel 29 and then call it a day. However, there is more to it than that. We need a theory that can cover all of the available facts – and that is where things get tricky.

First of all, the evidence is pretty strong that the Psalm 83 war will take place before the Ezekiel 38 Gog-Magog war, and that both of these will occur before the Tribulation begins. (Since I have already discussed this in detail elsewhere I will not repeat it here.) Egypt seems to be a part of the Psalm 83 conflict. Since Egypt is a part of Psalm 83 but is not a part of Ezekiel 38, it seems safe to assume that as a result of Psalm 83, Egypt becomes neutralized in some way and ceases to be Israel’s enemy. When Israel is attacked by Gog-Magog, Egypt does not participate. Her status has changed.

So perhaps as a result of Psalm 83, Egypt does become devastated and Ezekiel 29 is fulfilled. However, the devastation of Egypt only applies to the southern part of Egypt. Only the south of Egypt is abandoned for 40 years – not the entire country. Cairo is in northern Egypt, and the bulk of Egypt’s population lives in the north, not the south. Even after this prophecy is fulfilled, Egypt will still exist as a country.

We need to remember that Egypt is an oil-producing country. Egypt has oil fields that are not located in the south, and these oil fields will most likely survive. These oil fields could certainly be treasures that the Antichrist would want to seize. Those could be the precious things that the Antichrist wants to take.

In fact, the Antichrist could be the one who fiercely oppresses the Egyptians and who causes them to cry out to God! The “great one” that God sends to deliver them could be Jesus Christ Himself at His Second Coming. The conversion of the cities, the construction of the altar, the conversion of the Egyptians, and the building of the highway could all happen during the Millennium.

We are told in Joel 3 that Egypt will be a desolation, but that could be a reference to Ezekiel 29. It is possible that southern Egypt continues to be desolate into the Millennium itself and is only healed later. The regathering of Egyptians into that territory could happen in the Millennium.

This does have an important consequence, however. If southern Egypt is abandoned for 40 years as a result of the Psalm 83 conflict, and if it is still desolate when the Millennium begins (which is what Joel 3 seems to suggest), then that means that the Millennium must begin no more than 40 years after Psalm 83 takes place. After the Psalm 83 conflict occurs and southern Egypt is devastated, a countdown begins.

I realize it is possible that southern Egypt will be devastated, then healed, and then devastated again, but that doesn’t seem to match what Ezekiel 29 says. That passage says that God will bring one terrible event to devastate Egypt, and after that He will heal them and that will be the end of it. It speaks of one massive devastation, not two.

One of the fascinating things about end-times prophecy is that as its fulfillment draws closer it becomes much easier to understand how everything fits together. We can see events start to take shape. At this point in history we are still in the early stages of end-times events. Psalm 83 is still quite some time away; as of 2013 we are missing a number of key players, and the other nations are in too much turmoil to be ready to join any kind of united coalition. But we can see that things are starting to line up.

Egypt is hard to understand because there are so many passages that talk about that nation’s future, but as time goes on the passages will become clearer. God has great plans for that nation – plans to break them, and plans to heal them. One day God will look at Egypt and call the Egyptians “his people”. That day may be far away, but it is coming.