Mightier than the mighty.
It is ever the vocation of the prophet, and indeed of every religious teacher, to counteract the superficial views and to expose the worldly standards which too often obtain among men. In the time of Ezekiel there were certain States of great wealth, power, and renown, which men were wont to regard with feelings of reverence amounting to superstition. One office which he was called upon to discharge was to shake the confidence of men in the great secular world-powers which seemed capable of enduring for ever, and of defying the assaults of human arms and even the decaying power of time itself. In this passage the prophet concedes the greatness of Egypt, and yet affirms the superiority and supremacy of Jehovah, the God of nations.
I. THE POWER OF A MIGHTY STATE REPRESENTED UNDER AS IMPRESSIVE SIMILITUDE. By the dragon we are to understand the crocodile, the powerful and monstrous creature which haunts the river Nile, and which is the terror of the population. An appropriate emblem of Egypt in its ancient, settled, and formidable strength.
II. THE REPUTATION OF THAT STATE AS INVULNERABLE AND IRRESISTIBLE. As the giant crocodile seems to make the river its own, lording it over all beside, devouring the fish, terrifying the dwellers upon the river's banks, so Pharaoh King of Egypt, in his haughty self-confidence and defiant fearlessness, regarded himself as the great potentate of the world, secure from all molestation, able to carry out all his schemes of aggrandizement, ready to meet in battle, and certain to overcome, the forces of any nation that might be foolhardy enough to challenge his supremacy. As "the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers," so the power of Egypt dwelt secure and proud, claiming dominion, and dreading no disturbance from any foreign rival or foe.
III. THE ALMIGHTY GOD CONTROLS AND VANQUISHES THE POWER OF THE MIGHTIEST or NATIONS AND OF KINGS. The language attributed to Jehovah, who is represented as addressing Pharaoh, is very graphic: "I will put hooks in thy jaws and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers." God uses his own agents, but he always accomplishes his own purposes. He saw the need of humbling Egypt's pride, and he employed Babylon to do this work. It was done, and done effectively. The arms of Nebuchadnezzar were turned against Egypt, and God gave the land of Egypt to the King of Babylon, as a spoil and prey, and as his hire and wages for the service he had rendered in the siege and destruction of Tyre.
IV. THE MIGHTY OF THIS WORLD, WHEN DEALT WITH BY THE MIGHTIEST, IS LEFT DEFENSELESS, HUMILIATED, AND ASHAMED. The picture here, in the fourth and fifth verses, painted by the prophet, is painful, but it is effective. The mighty, monster of the Nile is dragged by hook and line from the depths of the river it has been wont to call its own, is flung into the wilderness, and is "given for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven." Egypt, and all her dependents who trusted in her and boasted of her patronage, are brought low, their helplessness is made apparent; and those who but lately were an object of envy and of fear are now regarded with pity or with derision.—T.
The staff of reed.
The figure is a very striking and effective one, however it may have been distasteful to the house of Israel, and even more so to the vaunted prowess of Egypt.
I. THE SINFUL AND FOOLISH TRUST OF ISRAEL IN EGYPT. The circumstances in which Judah was placed at the time were such as to make it madness on the part of the remnant at Jerusalem to seek help from Egypt. Not only so; they were strictly forbidden upon Divine authority to act in this manner. In quietness and confidence lay their safety, in returning and rest, as Isaiah most powerfully and urgently represented to the people;—not in the horsemen and the chariots of Egypt.
II. THE HELPLESSNESS OF EGYPT AS A FRIEND AND DELIVERER. Why Egypt was at this time so powerless to help those who sought her alliance may not be perfectly clear to us; but the fact is so, and of this the events are sufficient evidence. It was a vain confidence which the Jews placed in the great and ancient world-power on the banks of the Nile. They thought they grasped a staff strong and trustworthy, and they found it "a staff of reed."
III. THE INJURY INFLICTED UPON ISRAEL BY THE FAILURE OF EGYPT'S AID. Not only did the helper prove helpless; not only did the staff, when leant upon, bend and break. Those who applied for help received hurt instead of aid; the reed broke and pierced the hand that grasped it and trusted in its support. Jerusalem was all the worse for turning to Egypt for assistance against Babylon, the victorious and, just then, irresistible power.
IV. THE COMMON CONFUSION OF THOSE WHO FOOLISHLY TRUSTED AND OF THOSE WHO PLACED CONFIDENCE IN THEM. Babylon rose; but Egypt and Judah fell. "All their loins shook;" i.e. the consequences of their policy were trouble, fear, and misery to both. Both incurred the hostility of the power which they in vain leagued with each other to resist.
V. THE MORAL AND RELIGIOUS LESSON OF THE INCIDENT AND EXPERIENCE HERE DESCRIBED. There is a proneness among all nations to be guided in their alliances, aims, and efforts by considerations of worldly policy and expediency. Too seldom do they ask themselves—What is right? What is in accordance with the eternal Reason and Righteousness which rule the world? What, in a word, is the course which God approves and enjoins? The proceedings undertaken at the instigation of worldly expediency, and in violation of Divine law, may meet with apparent and temporary success. But the Lord reigneth; and sooner or later action which he disapproves shall issue in disappointment and disaster.—T.