Ezekiel 32:31-32

When Pharaoh died, he would see that his was not the only nation to suffer the fate that the Lord announced, and this would be of some comfort to him. Even though the Lord terrified him with the Babylonians while he was alive, he and his people would find some rest in death because they would lie with other peoples who had experienced a similar end.

The Egyptians took pride in their preparations for death and their burial customs thinking that these assured them safe passage to the nether world and rest there. But Ezekiel said they would die just like other proud, oppressive peoples, and their rest would be the common rest that all the dead enjoy, circumcised and uncircumcised alike.

"Ezekiel refused to be mesmerized by the spectacle of Egypt’s military power or captivated by Judean dreams of the political renewal that might be served thereby. History’s theatrical wardrobe was cluttered with the national costumes of those who had strutted across its stage for a while, until the curtain fell on their particular scene. They lived on only in popular infamy-or, in terms of contemporary beliefs about the underworld, in the deeper regions of Sheol. Such would be Egypt’s fate, instead of a Valhalla of chivalrous warriors who rested in peace and honor." [Note: Allen, Ezekiel 20-48, p. 138.]

"In contemplating the relevance of Ezekiel’s vision of the netherworld for Christian doctrine, the reader must keep in mind that the primary aim of this oracle is not doctrinal but rhetorical-to inspire hope in the hearts of his fellow exiles by announcing the eventual demise of their prideful foreign enemies. The caricatured and contrary-to-fact features of this prophecy suggest that one should interpret the passage as a literary cartoon rather than a literary photograph." [Note: Block, The Book . . . 48, p. 234.]

"The oracles against the nations in Ezekiel 25-32 were originally delivered to the people of Judah. Although the words written seem to be solely for those particular nations, they are foremost for the people of Judah in Jerusalem and Babylon and serve at least three purposes. First, the oracles in Ezekiel 25-32 reveal God’s judgment against the nations that either mocked or aided in Jerusalem’s fall [cf. Genesis 12:3]. Second, as with both the king of Tyre and the Pharaoh of Egypt, God would throw them down from their self-elevated positions of power-there is no room for such arrogance and pride in God’s creation. Third, the oracles are essentially a dismantling of the gods of the nations, which is in turn a dismantling of the gods Judah had begun to rely wrongly upon, and the proclamation that Yahweh is the one and only true God for all nations. . . . the phrase ’know I am the LORD’ occurs nineteen times. The primary purpose of these oracles is that everyone should come to ’know the LORD.’" [Note: Cooper, p. 289.]