Ezekiel 32:1

Ezekiel 32:1 says, And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,  Once more, Ezekiel gives a specific day when God’s word came to Him with a new prophecy.   We will not be given a new prophesy, but we should always hear when God speaks to us. 

Verse two adds, Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers.  God told Ezekiel to tell the pharaoh that he was like a young lion, roaring all around and thinking of himself as more powerful than any other ruler.  He was also compared to a whale in the ocean that roiled the waters and made them muddy.  Matthew Henry says that fouling the rivers referred to when the pharaoh started an unnecessary war with the Cyrenians that caused trouble not only for Egypt but for the neighboring countries as well.  If we engage in unnecessary wars today, we may cause problems not only ourselves but other people as well.  Ezekiel was also told that he was to take up a lamentation for the people of Egypt because of their sinful actions, and we as followers of Christ today should lament the fate of those who will not put their faith in Him.   

Verse three continues, Thus saith the Lord God; I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in my net.  Ezekiel was to tell the pharaoh that He was going to cast a net over Egypt through a company of many people that would bring them into His net.  This happened when the Chaldeans defeated Egypt.  Though Egypt was defeated by another country, it was God that either caused or allowed this to happen.   We may be defeated by another country today if we do not put our faith in God, but it is God Who will bring the ultimate defeat when Jesus Christ returns in judgment.   

Verse four concludes, Then will I leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon the open field, and will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee.  Using the comparison of the pharaoh being like a whale disturbing the waters, God said He was going to cast him out of the water and onto the land where he would be helpless and eaten by the foul of the air and the beasts of the ground.  The pharaoh's own self-pride led him to this position, and he was going to find himself unable to defend himself even against birds.  We are just as powerless when we serve false gods and are full of self-pride when we do.