EZEKIEL 29-30 NO CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH2010 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Ezekiel 29-30 No Confidence In The Flesh

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2010.

We're in Ezekiel chapter 29. We'll be looking at chapters 29 and 30, Lord willing, and looking at the subject of Egypt. If you remember, we've been studying pretty much chapters 1 through 24 of the book of Ezekiel. We've been talking about the nation of Judah, the fall of Jerusalem. God has been warning the people to repent.

Ezekiel is there with the captives in Babylon while there's still a remnant of Jews that are left in the city of Jerusalem. But they are rebelling against King Nebuchadnezzar and King Nebuchadnezzar is on his way as Ezekiel is writing these things to lay siege to Jerusalem and conquer Jerusalem.

And so that's what the subject that we've been studying for the most part of Ezekiel. But for the past couple of weeks, chapter 25 through chapter 32 or so is going to be looking at other nations that God is going to be dealing with. And so he's not just addressing the nation of Judah, but we looked at the Philistines, we look at

We looked at the Ammonites. We spent a couple weeks looking at the nation of Tyre. And we start now looking at four chapters that God is dealing with the nation of Egypt. And God is speaking to Egypt and proclaiming the judgment that will come upon them. And so here in chapter 29, we pick it up in verse 1. It says, In the tenth year...

And so here, right away, we see God is giving Ezekiel the instruction. This is a prophecy against Egypt.

Now the nation of Egypt you're probably familiar with. It's a nation that still exists today and the nation that exists today is the same as the nation that existed then as far as geography is concerned. It was south of Israel, a little bit west of Israel, there on the coast of the Mediterranean, there on the tip of the African continent.

The nation of Egypt was a powerful nation. It was a world dominating power in that time and pretty much for most of history up to that point. It was a nation that had been very powerful for a long time. Here though what God is prophesying is that this world power is going to come to an end. That

that Egypt is going to be conquered by Babylon. And these prophecies that we are reading about this evening and next week as well, as we look at these judgments against Egypt, these are prophecies that have been fulfilled. These things were accomplished by King Nebuchadnezzar. He conquered Egypt.

He took them captive. He released them, or actually Cyrus, King Cyrus released them when Babylon was conquered. And so they were deported from their land and then they were returned after a short time. And ever since, they've not been the world power that they once were. And that's something that God declares is going to happen. We'll see that this evening as we study it together.

Now something else I want to point out about the nation of Egypt as we look at these chapters this evening is

is that the nation of Egypt in the scripture, we look at and we see them as a picture or a type of the flesh or of the world system. They picture for us the world or us relying upon the flesh. If you remember back when the nation of Israel was in bondage in Egypt,

And then God used Moses to deliver them from Egypt and then under Joshua taking them into the promised land. That is a overall picture for us of what happens to us when we get saved. In that we are in bondage to the flesh, we're in bondage to sin, but God delivers us, He brings us out of that bondage and then He takes us into the promised land.

The promised land is not a picture of heaven because there's battles there. The promised land instead is a picture of the victorious Christian life or the life that's filled with the Holy Spirit. And there's battles, but we're victorious by the power of God. And so...

That picture right there paints for us a good snapshot of what salvation is like and what that looks like. And from that and throughout the scriptures, we see then the nation of Egypt as a picture or a type of the flesh. It reminds us of those years of bondage that we were in bondage to our flesh and in bondage to sin.

Now the nation of Israel, as well as the nation of Judah, always wanted to rely upon Egypt. Even though God had delivered them from Egypt and done some miraculous things, when they turned away from God, they always would rely upon Egypt for help. They would always look to Egypt to save them when Assyria was coming or some other problems, when Babylon was coming. They were always looking to Egypt and trusting in Egypt.

in the same way that we have been saved and we've been delivered from our flesh, from the bondage that we were in, and yet there's always that tendency in our hearts to go back and rely upon the things of the flesh.

And so as we look at chapters 29 and 30 this evening, there's some real practical application for us as we understand this is a reminder of what our flesh is like and why God wants us to walk in the Spirit and not walk in the flesh.

And so Egypt, this world power at one time, now God is declaring they are going to be conquered. They're going to experience the judgment of God. And so going on in verse 3, it says,

But I will put hooks in your jaws and cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales. I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers, and all the fish in your rivers will stick to your scales. I will leave you in the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers. You shall fall on the open field. You shall not be picked up or gathered. I have given you as food to the beasts of the field and to the birds of the heavens. Verse 6

Then 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. When they took hold of you with the hand, you broke and tore all their shoulders. When they leaned on you, you broke and made all their backs quiver.

Here is God pronounces this judgment upon Egypt. He likens the nation of Egypt to a great sea monster. He likens the Pharaoh to a sea monster. And he says he's going to drag this sea monster out of the rivers that he declares are his own. He's going to drag him out into the wilderness and there he's going to be food for the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air and those beasts.

are going to feed on the flesh of the bodies of the nation of Egypt. And so God is pronouncing judgment upon them. He's using this picture as if Egypt was a sea monster within the river. Now he also declares here why he is bringing the judgment. And this is interesting because he says in verse 6 that

that the judgment is coming because they've been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. Now, the idea that they've been a staff is, again, that Israel would lean on or rely upon the nation of Egypt.

But this staff was not made out of strong wood that could support somebody. It was made out of reed. Now, a reed was just a flimsy plant that would grow around the rivers. And so it wouldn't be able to be a good staff. It wouldn't hold your weight. And so he says, you've been a staff, but you've been a staff of reed. In other words, Israel was relying upon you and they were trusting in you, but you were not able to help them.

And so even though God had told the nation of Israel not to rely upon Egypt and not to go down to Egypt, not to trust in Egypt, but to trust in God instead, Egypt offered their help and promised to be a support to the nation of Israel.

But they did not fulfill their promise and they did not help Israel. They were not able to support Israel. And so God is holding them accountable to that. And so even though God didn't want his people to rely upon Egypt, because Egypt presented themselves to Israel to rely upon, and because his people relied upon them, that is why God is bringing the judgment to Egypt.

Because they presented themselves to Israel and said, we will help you, but they were unable to help. And so Egypt here is experiencing the judgment of God because although they were a staff, they were not able to help or to support the nation of Israel. And he describes it a little bit further in verse 7 where he says, they took hold of you, but...

You broke. You weren't able to sustain the weight and it tore their shoulders out of place. And you can imagine if you were relying upon a staff and there's some type of need and necessity for you to have something to hold on to but then it breaks...

that it would really mess you up. It's like, you know, you've experienced that where, you know, there's a step right in front of you, but you're not expecting it. And it's just a little step, but man, it really messes up your body and you can really hurt yourself. In the same way, you're relying upon this reed, you're relying upon this staff, but then it breaks.

And so the effects are pretty devastating and the shoulders are torn and the backs are quivering. The body is affected by the breaking of this staff.

And so God says, because of this, because you are like this to the nation of Israel, you are going to experience judgment. Because you promised to help, but you were unable to fulfill on your promise, you are going to be dealt with in this way. Now again, looking at the nation of Egypt as a picture, as an understanding of the flesh, the parallel is exact. It's exactly the way the flesh is for us.

Because the flesh makes all those same kinds of promises, doesn't it? Our body declares to us, just rely upon me. Listen, you can trust me in this. I'll take care of you and I have what you need.

Our bodies, our flesh, our sinful nature cry out to us in the situations that we face and in the things that we go through as we are facing trouble and need something to lean upon. Our flesh cries out and says, hey, I can handle this for you.

Just let me stir up some indignation here. We'll take care of this situation. Just let me pull out my bag of tricks, the words that you need to be able to handle this situation. Just let me handle this, the flesh will tell us. Rely upon me.

Our sinful nature declares to us. But our sinful nature is like the nation of Egypt in that it proclaims itself to be a staff, but if we rely upon it...

In a situation where we need strength, where we need help, if we rely upon our flesh, our own strength, our sinful nature, if we rely upon our intelligence or our own strength, what's going to happen is it's going to fail. Our flesh is not able to live up to the promises that it makes to us. You know, you're struggling with something, you have a craving, you have a desire.

Your flesh says, look, if you just will go this way or do this thing, it will satisfy you, it will meet your need. And then if you go and do that thing that the flesh is calling you to do, you'll find that the reed or the staff will be like a reed, it will break, it will not sustain you, it will not help you, it will not satisfy you. Instead, what it will do is it will damage you. It will bring injury, it will bring pain and more difficulty.

And so the nation of Egypt was like this to Israel, and this is how our flesh is to us. It's the reason why the Apostle Paul said very clearly in Philippians 3, verse 3, he says that we worship God in the Spirit. We rejoice in Jesus Christ, and we have no confidence in the flesh.

This is something that you and I need to learn. The nation of Israel needed to learn not to have confidence in Egypt and you and I need to learn not to have confidence in the flesh. That when our sinful nature, when our bodily cravings, when our selves tell us this is what we need, this is what we must do, we need to learn to have no confidence in it.

That we walk instead in the Spirit, relying upon God and His strength and His ways and His ideas and His plans and His purposes rather than our own desires and our own plans and our own ideas and our own strength. We need to have no confidence in the flesh. This is a lesson that we must learn.

Going on to verse 8, it says, Therefore, thus says the Lord God, Surely I will bring a sword upon you and cut off from you man and beast, and the land of Egypt shall become desolate and waste. Then they will know that I am the Lord, because He said, The river is mine, and I have made it.

Indeed, therefore, I am against you and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from Migdal to Sain, as far as the border of Ethiopia. Neither foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast pass through it, and it shall be uninhabited forty years.

I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate. And among the cities that are laid waste, her cities shall be desolate forty years. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. And so here God again is pronouncing this judgment upon the nation of Egypt. And again He gives us some insight on why this judgment is coming.

So on the one hand, or the first reason that he lists or that he shares is that they promised to help Israel, but they were unable to fulfill that promise. Here in verse 9, he says, "...because this is the heart or the attitude of Egypt, the river is mine, and I have made it."

The Pharaoh at that time was extremely arrogant and declared himself to be a god. And so this was the attitude in the heart of the nation of Egypt. Hey, we are our own creation. We've established ourselves. This is our work. The issue, much like we saw with the nation of Tyre, was their pride. Egypt was full of pride. They were self-sufficient, relying upon themselves to

And as a result, they're going to experience the judgment of God. It's because of their pride. And so God promises that the land will be desolate for 40 years. Now this is similar to what God promised to the nation of Judah. If you remember, God said that the land would be empty and uninhabited for 70 years. And that they would be in captivity for 70 years in Babylon and then brought back afterwards.

Well, in a similar fashion, the nation of Egypt, they are going to be conquered a little bit later than the nation of Judah. And so they will be uninhabited. That land will be uninhabited for 40 years. And everybody is going to be emptied out of it as the nation is conquered.

Now again, these things have already been fulfilled. They took place under the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar who conquered them back in 580 or 570 BC right around there. Verse 13.

Verse 1,

For I will diminish them so that they will not rule over the nations anymore. No longer shall it be the confidence of the house of Israel, but will remind them of their iniquity when they turn to follow them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord God. Here we see God accomplishing his purposes in the nation of Egypt and that they will no longer be the confidence of the nation of Israel.

He says that they're going to be conquered. They're going to be deported. They're going to come back, but they will not come back to the same status that they once were. They won't be that world power that they once were ever again. They won't be dominant in the world like they once were. There in verse 15, he says, It shall be the lowliest of kingdoms, and it will never exalt itself above the nations.

where it once was exalting itself, where it once was the nation to be reckoned with, even to this day it is a lowly nation. It is not a world power any longer. And so these things, like I said, have been accomplished. And then in verse 16 he declares, it shall no longer be the confidence of the house of Israel.

And so when he brings back the captives back to the land of Egypt, the nation will be established again, but Israel will not rely upon Egypt like they once did. It was, for many years, what they trusted in. It was their protection. Instead of turning to God, they turned to Egypt, and Egypt would save them. But God says, after this takes place, it will not be that way anymore.

And so God is going to deal with Egypt in such a way that His people will not rely upon it any longer. And this again has an important parallel with our own flesh.

You see, the thing is, when we rely upon our flesh and our sinful nature and ourselves, when we're reliant upon what we can provide and the resources that we have, well, it's in opposition to God who has called us to rely upon Him and to trust in Him with all of our heart and to give ourselves completely to Him. And so when we look to our own resources and trust in our own selves, we're

when we listen to what our flesh says, when we follow our own ideas and the dictates of our own hearts, it's an opposition to God. And similar to the nation of Israel, that is an invitation for God

to bring judgment into our lives. Or maybe you like the term better, to bring discipline into our lives. And so He brings discipline as we rely upon the flesh and learn that it can't be trusted and that it will bring injury and difficulty.

God will deal with our flesh. He will deal with our sinful nature. And He brings judgment and discipline into our lives to deal with our flesh so that we might learn to never trust in it again. To never have confidence in it again. He allows us

those things to take place. Sometimes we wonder, God, why would you allow me to stumble in this way or to fall in that way? Lord, why would you allow this struggle to continue to go on? How come you haven't got rid of my temper yet? And so on and so forth. We wrestle with those things. But God does bring in discipline to deal with that sinful nature. And as He does, it's a process of us learning to not trust Him.

God has been mentioning several times

Throughout these prophecies here to the nation of Egypt and all throughout Ezekiel, he says over and over again, then they will know that I am the Lord. And that's the objective. That's what God is wanting to accomplish. Egypt refuses to acknowledge God as Lord. Egypt refuses to submit to God in the same way that the nation of Judah does.

Although they had the word and they had the temple, they refused to submit to God and to worship Him as Lord, to recognize that He is the Lord. But God is bringing all of these things to pass in these nations.

So that they would recognize, that they would finally admit, even if they refused to serve Him, but they would know that He is the Lord. And so His goal, even with the nation of Egypt, is to bring them to the point that they recognize Him as Lord. That they would be able to testify and say, He is Lord. He reigns on high. It's His way or the highway. The same is true in our lives. That God works in us,

To bring us to the point that we know that He is Lord. When will you know that He is Lord? When will I know that He is Lord? What is it going to take? It can take judgment. It can take discipline. It can take these type of steps that God is taking here with the nation of Egypt and the other nations that we've studied.

But also, we can do it the easy way. Rather than forcing God to bring this type of judgment, we have the opportunity to, right now, submit and surrender to Him. And deny the flesh, cut off the flesh, crucify the flesh, and walk in the Spirit.

And as we look at these things in chapter 29 and 30, these issues of judgment upon the land of Egypt, which is a picture of our flesh, it's a call for us, it's a reminder for us to put to death the things of our old life, to put to death the things of the flesh and to walk in the power of God and to really turn to God and surrender to Him.

And to be submitted to, Lord, what does your word say? That's what I'm going to do. That's how I'm going to live. I'm not going to live by what I think or what I want or what I think is best or my plans or my desires. But to instead turn and willfully choose to submit to God fully and wholeheartedly.

And that is what God is doing in the nation of Egypt. They would not respond to His word. They would not respond to His message. And so, they've put God in a position where He is going to humble them and bring them to the point that they know that He is Lord. It's by force. It's by judgment. Because they continue and insist in rebelling against God. Verse 17.

And it came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, caused his army to labor strenuously against Tyre.

Verse 20, Verse 20,

I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor because they worked for me, says the Lord God. And that day I will cause the horn of the house of Israel to spring forth and I will open your mouth to speak in their midst. Then they shall know that I am the Lord. Here God explains that Babylon is going to conquer Egypt because God is giving Egypt to Babylon, to King Nebuchadnezzar as payment.

Now we studied in chapters 26 through 28 the nation of Tyre and the judgment that was going to come upon them. And if you remember the nation of Tyre or the city of Tyre had two parts to it. It was one part, the city, the main city that was on the coast of the Mediterranean. And then there was the other part of the city that was on an island about a half mile off the shore.

And so what King Nebuchadnezzar conquered when he conquered the nation of Tyre was the mainland portion of the nation of Tyre, the mainland city of Tyre. And while he laid siege to it and while he conquered it, I think it took him about 13 years to be able to conquer the nation of Tyre.

While he was laying siege and attacking from the outside, they loaded up all their boats and basically moved all their valuables and all the people to the island. And so when he finally conquered the city, there wasn't any valuables, there wasn't any wealth, there was not much reward for those many years of hard labor in conquering the city. Now they were working for God because God was using them to bring judgment upon the nation of Tyre.

And so God says, well, that's not fair that they work so hard and not get payment for that work that they did in conquering the nation of Tyre. And so he says, well, I'm going to give them Egypt then. And Egypt is going to be their payment. It won't be as hard for them to conquer the nation of Egypt. And there's a great amount of wealth there. And so it will compensate them for doing my work and bringing my judgment upon the nation of Tyre.

And so God is able to orchestrate nations, to move nations around, to accomplish His purposes, and to do the things that He desires to do. And again, He points out, then they will know that I am the Lord. That's the point, that's the objective. He's bringing people to the understanding that He indeed is God, and that He reigns on high.

Well, as we move into chapter 30, verse 1 says,

The sword shall come upon Egypt and great anguish shall be in Ethiopia when the slain fall in Egypt and they take away her wealth and her foundations are broken down. Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, all the mingled people, Chubb and the men of the lands who are allied shall fall with them by the sword.

And so as we go into chapter 30, God's continuing to speak out against the nation of Egypt. And he speaks out and says that there's a sword that's coming upon the nation of Egypt.

Egypt, as I shared at the beginning, was a powerful nation. And not only was it a powerful nation, but they had powerful allies. And there was a coalition there that grouped up with the nation of Egypt. And they were going to resist and their intent was to defeat Babylon. But God is saying here that their resistance will not be successful.

That although they group together and although they're powerful and they get all their powerful buddies together to ward off and to fight against Babylon, God's saying it's not going to work. You won't be successful. The sword is coming and you will fall. And they're going to take away your wealth. Your foundations are going to be broken and all of your allies as well are going to be affected.

Again, we see this parallel between the nation of Egypt and our own flesh, our own sinful nature. The nation of Egypt was trusting in not only their own strength, but also all their friends, all their allies. And our sinful nature does the same thing. First of all, we trust in our own strength, our own strength.

Our flesh is very confident in its strength and makes great promises and great boasts about what it can do and how it can handle these things. But then we grab onto it, we rely upon it and it breaks like a reed and we are injured as a result. Our flesh is not able to make good on the promises that it makes.

And so the flesh trusts in its own strength, but also the flesh trusts in its alliances and other worldly things and other things on the outside. And it's got, you know, it all figured out. And that's how we can be sometimes when we trust in our own selves, our own flesh, and

that we have it all figured out we have all these plans we have all these plots about how we're going to be successful about how we're going to handle this situation and pay that bill and make this happen and make that happen we've got it all figured out and we're relying upon you know our credit cards are relying upon other people were relying upon the world system we're relying upon all types of things

in order to accomplish our own purposes. And that's how Egypt was. It was relying upon all of these alliances that they had made. But God is saying it's not going to work. And the same for us. It will not work. It's very dangerous for us to look to our own selves and to our flesh to resolve our problems and to handle life's difficulties. It's just not able to make good on its promises.

If you remember Abraham, when there was a wilderness, or he was in the wilderness and there was a drought, there was a famine. And so he decided, it doesn't tell us that the Lord told him, he goes to Egypt and

And he's got his plans. He's got it figured out. He says, okay, what I'm going to do is I'm going to go to Egypt and there I'm going to have provision. But now I'm fearful because they're going to, you know, be attracted to my wife. And so I'm going to say that she's my sister. Sarah, you make sure to tell them when they ask that you're my sister, okay? And you see, this is...

This is what the flesh does. It makes these alliances. It comes up with these schemes, these plots. It moves without the direction of the Lord. It goes, you know, even if the Lord hasn't said, it's got it all figured out. This is how it's going to work. And

Abraham, you know, regretted that later on because it brought him trouble. He trusted upon it, but it broke and it brought injury instead of the provision that he thought it would bring. And so we need to learn to not trust in the flesh, to have no confidence in the flesh, to wait upon the Lord, to look to the Lord, to move when God says to move, to do what God says to do, to not do things in our strength.

but to really look to God to fight our battles and to take care of the things that are happening in our lives. And when He tells us to go, then we need to go. But until He tells us to go, we need to wait upon Him and trust in Him to take care of those things for us, not to figure it out on our own and trust in our flesh, which cannot fulfill the promises that it makes. Verse 6,

Thus says the Lord, those who uphold Egypt shall fall, and the pride of her power shall come down. From Migdal to Syene, those within her shall fall by the sword, says the Lord God. They shall be desolate in the midst of the desolate countries, and their cities shall

And so here God is saying, He's declaring that it's going to happen in Egypt and then...

Warning is going to go out to all of the alliances, all of those who have been allied with Egypt, Ethiopia and all of those places. And as a fire is set in Egypt, as they see the smoke, as they see that Babylon has conquered Egypt, then all of those allies will now begin to fear and they are going to be conquered as well. The judgment of God is going to be brought against them as well.

In verse 8, he says, then they will know that I am the Lord. Those other nations, those other alliances, they're going to know that he is the Lord when they see that Egypt is conquered. These other allies are trusting in the flesh as well. They're trusting in Egypt. And they won't know. They refuse to know. They refuse to recognize that he is Lord. But they will know.

God says, when they see the fire set in Egypt, when they see the flames, when they see the smoke, then they will know that He really is the Lord. Again, it prompts me to ask the question, when will you know that He is the Lord? What's it going to take?

For you and I to finally submit to God and finally come to the decision that we will not act, we will not move, we will not trust in ourselves. We will rely upon God and trust in Him and follow His Word and do what He says and rely upon the Holy Spirit and not go outside and beyond what God has declared to us. When will we finally learn to recognize Him as Lord and to fully submit to Him

in all aspects of our lives? When will we know? Will it be when we finally see the fires of all those things that we trusted in as they burn to the ground? Is that what it will take for us to finally recognize Him as God? For us to finally submit to Him? You know, for many people,

That is when they finally turn to God and trust in God. When all the house of cards they've built in their own strength comes crashing down, then they finally trust in God.

They finally looked to Him. And I'm not just talking about unbelievers. As believers, we can fall into the same thing. Remember, the nation of Israel, they were God's people. And they had the Word of God and they had the temple and they went to the temple and they worshipped God and they offered sacrifices, but they trusted in Egypt.

And it's very easy for you and I to go through the motions and to read the Bible and go to church and be a part of the religious Christianity, but still trust in Egypt, still trust in our flesh. And our hopes and dreams, our plans are all built upon our flesh, our own desires and our own will, and we're not really submitted to God. What will it finally take?

What is it going to take? What is it going to require for us to finally deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Jesus? Is it going to be the crushing, the burning of all of our hopes and dreams? Listen, if that's what it's going to take, God is willing for that to happen. He's willing. He'll let all your hopes and dreams fall. If you want to wait, if you're going to insist in doing it your way and

making it happen the way you think it needs to happen, God will let you do that. He'll let you watch it burn to the ground. He'll let you trust in that staff and receive the injury as a result. Because if that's what it takes for you to know that He is the Lord, well, then it's worth it. But it doesn't have to be that way. You and I, we have the option. We have the opportunity. We can choose right now to not trust in our flesh, to have no confidence in the flesh,

To take everything to God in prayer. And to submit everything to God in His Word. To surrender our lives to the leading of the Holy Spirit. To recognize that He is Lord, that He reigns on high. And to be fully submitted to Him. Verse 10. Thus says the Lord God.

I will also make a multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, he and his people with him. The most terrible of the nations shall be brought to destroy the land. They shall draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain. I will make the rivers dry and sell the land into the hand of the wicked. I will make the land waste and all that is in it by the hand of aliens. I, the Lord, have spoken. Hear God speaking.

Just continues to elaborate and continues to explain. He's going to bring judgment. He's going to bring Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar is his instrument of judgment, his instrument of righteousness. Although Nebuchadnezzar was not walking with God, God was using this nation to accomplish his own purposes.

And he makes it very clear there in verse 12. He says, I, the Lord, have spoken. God is personally guaranteeing this judgment will come. This is going to happen. This is inescapable. It's unavoidable. God will always judge pride. He will always bring down the haughty. He will always deal with those who are arrogant. He will always deal with us when we trust in our own flesh. You can count on that. It's a guarantee.

God does not put up with it. He deals with it. And He uses whatever means necessary to bring that correction. Whatever it's going to take, He'll use it. Even if it's a wicked boss. Even if it's a drunk driver. Even if it's whoever or whatever situation. God will use that to work in us, to teach us that He is Lord.

And we must not trust in our flesh. We must not trust in our own plans. Instead, we must fully submit to Him and be led by His Spirit. Verse 13, Thus says the Lord God, I will also destroy the idols and cause the images to cease from Noth

Verse 2.

Verse 2.

And so here God declares He's going to bring judgment upon Egypt.

Upon their idols, upon their strong cities, upon their strong men, upon their arrogant strength, everything that Egypt trusted in is going to be affected by the judgment of God. Everything that Egypt trusted in is going to experience God's discipline so that they would know that He is the Lord. Again, God is making it clear. This is going to happen. He is executing judgment today.

so that they would finally recognize Him as Lord. And in the same way, following the same parallel, God deals with our flesh and everything that we trust in that's not of Him and those things that we are hoping in that are not of Him and those idols that we lift up that take the place that He deserves, that He belongs in, in our lives, that take the devotion and the passion that is rightfully His from us.

He will bring judgment upon those things. You begin to worship your job, don't be afraid, or don't be afraid, don't be shocked, don't be surprised when God crushes that, burns it to the ground.

You begin to worship your family and put your family before God, don't be surprised when that family falls apart. You begin to worship that vehicle, don't be surprised if it gets repossessed. He is able to deal with those things that capture our hearts, that take His place in our lives.

The things that we trust in, the things that we hope in, the things that are our passion, the things that we devote ourselves to that are not of God are these idols and strong cities and strong men. It's our arrogant strength where we think we can handle it. We've got it covered. This is what's important. This is what we're going to do. It's arrogance. It's an opposition to God. And God won't stand for that. And so He declares...

I'm going to judge all of these things. I'm going to execute judgments against the flesh so that you finally know that I am the Lord. That you finally recognize. It doesn't have to be that way. Just remind you of that once again.

It doesn't have to be that, you know, after you've lost everything and you have nothing left and you're like Job sitting in the middle of the field, you know, the family's gone, the job is gone, the cars are gone, the houses are gone, everything's gone, that finally, at that point, then you say, okay, Lord, I finally submit to you. We have the choice now. We have the opportunity now to turn away from the flesh, to die to ourselves and to follow Jesus Christ and to fully surrender to Him.

it's a radical transformation that needs to take place. You understand? It's not that, it's like, hey, I just need to read my Bible today. No, it's I need to live my life

to the utmost, to the glory of God. I need to live my life today and make sure today that I'm in the center of God's will. Not just in the morning when I read my Bible, but when I'm driving, that I'm driving in the center of God's will. And that when I'm working, that I'm doing all for the glory of God. And that when I'm spending time with the family, that it's glorifying to the Lord, that my life is devoted to God. That's devotion.

That's what God is desiring. That's when we finally know that He is the Lord. But what's it going to take for you to devote your life to God and to live your life in the center of His will? Concerned primarily, first and foremost, about pleasing Him.

What's it going to take for you to finally come to the point in your life where you say, I don't care what it costs me and how much it hurts me, I want to please God. And I don't care what other people say, and I don't care how it affects other people, I'm going to glorify God, and I'm going to do what God wants me to do. What's it going to take? What's it going to require? When will you know that He is the Lord?

These nations refused to submit to God, refused to go in God's way and to respond to His word. And so God is forced to deal with their pride and their arrogance and their rebellion and execute judgments. But you and I, we have the option. We can be like these nations and refuse and put God in a position where He is forced to deal with our sin, to deal with our pride, to deal with our flesh.

Or we can surrender right now and say, Lord, I want to live my whole life to please you. And not just say it, but Lord, I'm going to live it. And I'm going to make this day count. And I'm going to be obedient to you, no matter what it takes. When will you know that he is Lord? Verse 20 says,

And it came to pass in the eleventh year in the first month on the seventh day of the month that the word of the Lord came to me saying, Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt and see it has not been bandaged for healing nor a

verse 1

And he will groan before him with the groanings of a mortally wounded man. Verse 25. Thus I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down. They shall know that I am the Lord. When I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt, I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.

Again, this is the emphasis. They are going to know that he is Lord, but it's going to be through severe judgment where God says, I'm going to break Pharaoh's arms.

He says, I've already broke Pharaoh's arm. And that's referring to a battle that took place in 605 BC, the Battle of Carchemish, where Babylon defeated Egypt. It wasn't the final destruction of Egypt. It was actually in the northern part, just north of Israel, that that battle took place. But Egypt was defeated there. And so his arm was broken. He went back to the land of Egypt and regathered his troops there.

tried to reinforce himself, and God says, look, his arm has already been broken, but now I'm going to break both arms, and he's not going to be able to fight at all. Not only that, but I'm going to strengthen Babylon, and so Babylon is going to have my strength in fighting against Egypt. Not only that, but I'm going to put my sword into Babylon's hand. And so what God is saying is, I'm going to break Pharaoh's arms, I'm going to break Egypt, they're going to be defenseless,

And Babylon is going to be strengthened so that they will be successful in doing what I've set them forth to do, and that is to bring judgment upon Egypt, to conquer Egypt completely. And so they're going to be defeated. And of course, as I shared, these things have already taken place. It's already been fulfilled. Nebuchadnezzar did conquer the land of Egypt. Now again, we have this parallel though.

Egypt was conquered twice, just like our flesh. The first time our flesh was conquered happened at the cross. The arm was broken. The strength is gone. We've been set free. Remember Jesus said, He who the Son sets free is free indeed. The flesh has no power over us any longer. We've been set free.

The problem with the flesh is not that it's so, you know, that we're bound to it. The problem is that we submit to it, that we believe it. It screams at us. It screams in our ear. It cries out to us and says, this is what you have to do and you have to do it this way. You have to act and behave like this.

And we believe it. Instead of checking our hearts and our attitude and what's going through our minds with what the Word of God says, instead of believing God over what our flesh tells us, we just accept what our flesh says. We just believe it. And so it was defeated, but we submit to it anyways. That's why we need to make the choice. I'm going to please God. I don't have to submit to that sinful desire.

I don't have to submit to that bad attitude. I don't have to submit to those sinful thoughts. I don't have to submit to those things. I don't have to give in to the desires of my flesh. It doesn't have the power that it once had. Its arm has been broken. Now we do still struggle with the flesh. We do still have a sinful nature. That's where the second victory over the flesh comes in. And that will be, of course, either at our death or at the rapture, at the resurrection.

the new bodies that we will be given, well then we'll really know that He is the Lord. Then we'll be in full submission to Him without the flesh roaring up its ugly head. But we don't have to wait till then to submit to God. And that's the point. We don't have to wait till then. We will still struggle. We will always struggle. But we can choose right now to surrender. Does your flesh know that He is Lord? Does your flesh know that He is Lord?

Does your flesh kind of give up? Ah, I'm not going to bother him anymore. I already know the answer. He's Lord. Okay, fine. Does your flesh, is it surrendered? Is it broken? Is it? Okay, fine. Your flesh has all the strength that you give to it. My flesh has all the strength that I give to it. That's all that it has. We're stuck in these habits. We continue in these conditions because we continue to submit to it.

When will we know? Does your flesh know that He is the Lord? I heard a study on Tuesday where a pastor was saying, you have to know yourself. But he said, not K-N-O-W, N-O. You have to know yourself. That's say no to yourself. You have to know yourself and say no to the flesh and deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Jesus.

Paul told us in Galatians chapter 5, verse 24 and 25, those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. He says, if we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit. Consider that. As the worship team comes up to lead us in worship, consider that. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. That is, those who belong to Christ have recognized that He is Lord.

And they've surrendered themselves to God. And they're denying the flesh. They're denying the sinful desires. They're not waiting for God to finally deal in judgment and to bring the discipline upon its sinful desires and passions. They're not waiting for God to crucify the flesh. They are choosing right now. Those who belong to Christ choose right now to crucify the flesh, to put it to death, and to walk in the Spirit.

as we worship the lord together in this song i would encourage you to really consider that are you devoting your whole life to pleasing god have you crucified the flesh are you putting it to death so that you can walk in the spirit if not understand that god will crucify the flesh and it will be painful and it will hurt it's going to hurt and be painful either way whether you do it right now willingly or whether god brings judgment but it will be worse

If you insist, if you refuse to submit now, if you insist in rebelling right now, if you want to continue in the way, trusting in the flesh, relying upon the flesh, that choice is yours. But it will be more painful later. Or if you choose right now to surrender to God, it's going to hurt. It's going to be hard. It's going to be painful. But the benefits are far greater than the costs.

So as we worship the Lord together, let's take this time to crucify the flesh, to walk in the Spirit, to surrender to God, and to get rid of all the trust that we have, of all the confidence that we have in our flesh. Let's worship the Lord together. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.