Consigned to the Pit

Ezekiel 32:17-32

17 It came to pass also in the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the LORD came to me, saying:

18 "Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt,
And cast them down to the depths of the earth,
Her and the daughters of the famous nations,
With those who go down to the Pit:
19 'Whom do you surpass in beauty?
Go down, be placed with the uncircumcised.'

20 "They shall fall in the midst of those slain by the sword;
She is delivered to the sword,
Drawing her and all her multitudes.

21 The strong among the mighty
Shall speak to him out of the midst of hell
With those who help him:
'They have gone down,
They lie with the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.'

22 "Assyria is there, and all her company,
With their graves all around her,
All of them slain, fallen by the sword.
23 Her graves are set in the recesses of the Pit,
And her company is all around her grave,
All of them slain, fallen by the sword,
Who caused terror in the land of the living.

24 "There is Elam and all her multitude,
All around her grave,
All of them slain, fallen by the sword,
Who have gone down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth,
Who caused their terror in the land of the living;
Now they bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit.

25 They have set her bed in the midst of the slain,
With all her multitude,
With her graves all around it,
All of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword;
Though their terror was caused
In the land of the living,
Yet they bear their shame
With those who go down to the Pit;
It was put in the midst of the slain.

26 "There are Meshech and Tubal and all their multitudes,
With all their graves around it,
All of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword,
Though they caused their terror in the land of the living.

27 They do not lie with the mighty
Who are fallen of the uncircumcised,
Who have gone down to hell with their weapons of war;
They have laid their swords under their heads,
But their iniquities will be on their bones,
Because of the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.

28 Yes, you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised,
And lie with those slain by the sword.

29 "There is Edom,
Her kings and all her princes,
Who despite their might
Are laid beside those slain by the sword;
They shall lie with the uncircumcised,
And with those who go down to the Pit.

30 There are the princes of the north,
All of them, and all the Sidonians,
Who have gone down with the slain
In shame at the terror which they caused by their might;
They lie uncircumcised with those slain by the sword,
And bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit.

31 "Pharaoh will see them
And be comforted over all his multitude,
Pharaoh and all his army,
Slain by the sword,"
Says the Lord GOD.

32 "For I have caused My terror in the land of the living;
And he shall be placed in the midst of the uncircumcised
With those slain by the sword,
Pharaoh and all his multitude,"
Says the Lord GOD.

Egypt and those supporting her were sent down to the Pit, a word describing a well or cistern used here of death and the world where the dead go to.  In verse 21, the more often heard word Sheol is used of this netherworld, a place often described as where the wicked were sent for punishment and not just where they went when they died.  The picture given by the word Pit is also one of universal slaughter and universal burial as it is used for describing the grave after death.  One thing is certain here, that the enemies of God and His people would be killed and buried as punishment.  Egypt was sent there for her pride of perceived beauty but whose fame meant nothing because they were uncircumcised, not in covenant with the LORD.  It was as if the “strong among the mighty” of the dead in Sheol were warning Egypt and her followers of their fate to follow them there in the punishment of death and destruction.  Assyria along with Elam who caused such fearful terror among the living now suffered death there (Ezekiel 31:16-17).  Their prideful boasting turned to shame at such a defeat in death at God’s hand which slayed them and cast them down into the pit of death and despair because they had no promises of a covenant with the Almighty LORD God as His people did whom they had opposed in life.  Meshech, Tubal, the Sidonians, and all their multitudes along with Edom and her kings and princes all were there with these as punishment as well.  Many were sentenced to death for their crimes against God and His people in their idolatry and immortality contrary to God’s word.  They all down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth in shame with their weapons of war and their unforgiven sin and terror they spread while still alive.  Their reign of terror exercised with worldly might did not help them escape judgement, shame, and a cruel death by the sword.  Pharaoh would gloat seeing others sent to the Pit, but he himself would join them all in death by the sword and know God’s terror in the land of the living and the dead.  This lesson is one of comfort to all the chosen people of God in Christ, for we are not going with despair to the Pit but with assurance of a certain hope of the resurrection because we are in an unbreakable covenant with God in Christ Jesus as those circumcised in the heart (Romans 2:29, Colossians 2:11) and not defeated by death.  Our punishment of judgment has been atoned for and we have only life without terror (1 John 4:18) and shame to look forward to after death!  We are not consigned to the Pit of despair and torment but to a risen and living hope (1 Peter 1:3-4) to be transformed from death to life (John 5:24).