Freedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing.
~ Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, 1791 ~

Saturday, November 26, 2016

Another Failed Prophecy: The scattering of Egypt?

I recently came across this passage in Ezekiel 30:
"Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and I will break his arms, the strong arm and the broken one, and I will make the sword drop from his hand. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among foreign countries."
Ezekiel 30:22-23 NET (Emphasis mine)
So...when did that happen?



The prophecy is given a fairly precise date in verse 20:
"In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month"
This is 587BCE, the same year that Jerusalem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar. See also Ezekiel 26:1 and 2 Kings 25:2 for reference on the date.

The prophecy is repeated in verse 26, also with reference to the king of Babylon:
"I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall limp. Then they will know that I am the Lord when I place my sword in the hand of the king of Babylon and he extends it against the land of Egypt. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among foreign countries."
Ezekiel 30:26 NET

If such an event really did happen, history appears to be pretty silent on it.
But history tells us something else instead. Egypt continued to be inhabited, by Egyptians.

Verse 26 continues...
"Then they will know that I am the Lord"
Er... still future?