Ezekiel 29:13

Ezekiel 29:13 says, Yet thus saith the Lord God; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered:  God said that after forty yea rs, He was going to gather the people of Egypt from wherever they were scattered.  They were going to be scattered in other countries for forty years, the same amount of time the people of Israel had wandered in the wilderness after God delivered them from captivity in Egypt years before.  This would correspond with the time that Cyrus became the ruler and seventy years after the people of Judah were taken away captive. Even if a nation, or a person, turns away from God and suffers for it in this lifetime, if they repent and come to Him by faith, it is never too late to be restored.  Of course, the people of Egypt did not turn to God, so their restoration, no matter how long it lasted, would only be temporary.

 Verse fourteen adds, 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.  God said for those forty years, the people of Egypt, who had once been rich and powerful, would be the lowest of people.  They would be humbled before God and before the rest of the world, but then He would restore them as a nation.  Powerful nations often fall, especially if they are standing against God, and often their fall is great.  

Verse fifteen continues, 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.  God said that once He sent His judgment on Egypt it would then be seen as the basest of kingdoms and would never again rule over other nations.  When God’s final judgment comes on Satan and those who serve them, they will become the basest of beings and will never again rule or even have any power over those who are redeemed by accepting God’s gift of salvation.   

Verse sixteen concludes, 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.  God said that when Egypt fell never to be a great power again that the people of Israel would quit looking to them for their strength which caused them to fall into iniquity.  Then, the people would know that God is God.  As followers of Christ, we cannot look to anyone or anything in the world to bring us peace and happiness outside of God’s will, and if we do, it is going to fail.  Then when we realize this, we should once again acknowledge that God alone is God.