EZEKIEL - CHAPTERS 29-32 THE Spirit of Pharaoh and The Spirit of Terror
“The Opening of the Mouth in The Midst of Them”
The Spirit of Pharaoh” and The Spirit of Terror
(Ezekiel 29- 32)
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
April 20, 2008; March 31, 2026
Ez. 29:21: In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give you the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
These chapters prefigure the Day of the Lord in an eschatological sense. Historically it was when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Israel in the fourth year of King Jehoiakim (587-585 B.C.). Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar would totally destroy Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar defeated Egypt at Carchemish, but never totally conquered Egypt. With the rise of the Persians, Egypt became a Persian province and, in turn, was dominated by the Greeks and Romans.
Prophetically it is the time of the judgment of the nations. At the same time this judgment is released, there will be the exaltation of the Horn (National Power) of Israel and Spiritual Israel, The Church.
This points to the victory of the Church over the world through Jesus Christ in the day that “the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.” It also points to national Israel’s victory over the world system of nations as well as the world system that leaves God out of its reckoning.
11 Thess. 2:8: And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.
In chapters 29-32, Egypt, under the figure of the Day of the Lord, reveals a time in which the “SWORD”(30:4) (Word of God) will come upon the world and the carnal mind. “The pride of her power shall come down.”
Ez. 30:4: The Sword shall come upon Egypt (world system), and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down.
These chapters deal with one theme, Judgment upon Egypt, the principle of the bondage of the sin of the world (kosmos). Satan is the god and prince of this world system, just as pharaoh was the god and king of Egypt.
Pharaoh, like Satan is called “the great dragon” (29:3) 9another translation is crocodile). As this is figurative of the natural or carnal mind (a worldly mind), this gives us some insight to the metaphorical dragon of scripture.
Ez. 29:2-5: Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt: Speak, and say, thus says the Lord God; “Behold I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his rivers, which has said, My river is my own, and I have it for myself. But I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will cause the fish of your rivers to stick unto your scales, and I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers; you shall fall upon the open fields; you shall not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given you for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heavens.
“My river is my own and I have it for myself” – They proudly looked upon themselves as creators of the Nile.
29:6-7: 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. Promised help to Judah and then reneged. They performed like a broken reed. “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. Thus say the LORD GOD, “surely, I will bring a sword upon you and cut off from you man and beast.
It is the Lord’s Sword that will bring the judgment by the Lord Himself.
Rev. 19: 11-21: And I saw heaven open and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he does judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; and his name is called, THE WORD OF GOD. AND OUT OF HIS MOUTH GOES A SHARP SWORD, THAT WITH IT HE SHOULD SMITE THE NATIONS; AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON; AND HE TREADS THE WINEPRESSE OF THE FIERCENESS AND WRATH OF ALMIGTHY GOD. And he has on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against him that say on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant was slain with the sword of Him that saw upon the horse which SWORD PROCEEDED OUT OF HIS MOUTH; AND ALL THE FOWLS WERE FILLED WITH THEIR FLESH.”
Rev. 16:13-15: And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the MOUTH OF THE DRAGON, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
The mouth of the dragon according to Ezekiel 29:3 is the spirit of Pharaoh, the serpent of Genesis 3:14, who is the fiery red serpent of Isaiah and the dragon of Rev. 16. Pharaoh, like Satan is called, “the Great Dragon.” Egypt reveals the principle of the bondage of the sin of the world. Satan is the god and prince of the world system.
The beast of Rev. 16 is the world system of Daniel 7:7-8: After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it: and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots; and behold in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man and a mouth that speaking great things. This is the world system controlled by the Great Dragon personified in the person of antichrist. We are presently dealing with this BEAST through the mouth of the liberal media. Our prayer is to close the mouth of the Beast.
Job. 41:1-19: Can you draw out Leviathan… Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out, Out of his nostrils goes smoke, and out of a seething pot or caldron. His breath kindles coals, and a flame goes out of his mouth. (Leviathan – the beast from the sea – the king over all the children of pride – Satan).
In chapters 27-28, we studied the lament over the ruin of Tyre. This passage dwells on the worldwide trade, commerce, and material wealth of Tyre which is likened to a ship that is well outfitted, wrongly piloted, and ultimately shipwrecked. Tyre speaks of the principle of trafficking and merchandising, the merchant ships of the sea, the pomp and pride of the satanic world system. God judged Tyre because of her delight in Jerusalem’s overthrow. She refused to help Jerusalem, being filled with pride. Those who bought and sold with Tyre exemplify the Mark of the Beast of (Rev. 13: 13-18).
Daniel 7: 11-14: I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spoke: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. I saw in the night visions and behold one like the son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there were given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”
Ez. 32:12: The proud Egyptian ruler considered himself to be a Lion, (a proud beast), but he was only a sea monster to be caught in a net. His pride caused him to be lowered into the futility of the realm of death and corruption. His pride was the pomp of Egypt. His land, (32:15) his mind and body, became desolate with the law of sin and death.”
“In That Day”
Tuesday, April 28, 2008; March 31, 2026
Ezekiel 30-33
Ezekiel 30 and 31 continue with the prophecy of judgment against Egypt (World System) and Pharaoh (Satan).
Egypt in chapter 30 prefigures the Day of the Lord, the time of the judgment of the nations.
In Ezekiel 30:14-16, “No” is also called No-Ammon because it was the abode of the god of Ammon. “No” is now known as the city of Thebes. It was a city of indescribable magnificence, wealth, and power. Even today, its ruins compel speechless admiration and utter amazement. It was destroyed by the Persians under Cambyses.
30:9: In that Day (The Day of the Lord), messengers shall go forth from me (The Lord) in ships to make the careless Ethiopians (horn of Africa) afraid, and great pain shall come upon them as in the day of Egypt; for lo it comes. These messengers could be a military force, but more likely the Angels of Matthew 13:41. The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire…
Verses 20-26 are a commentary on the victory of Jesus Christ over Satan, the god and prince of this world. The prophecy is yet to be fulfilled.
Chapter 31 is an allegory of Pharaoh’s fall. There is a mingling of the symbolical and the real, and parallels to Isa. 14: 3-20. The Babylonians had brought the Assyrian empire to an end, and they would be instruments to do the same in Egypt. This prophecy is a warning to Pharaoh from the fate of the Assyrians. The Assyrian empire, after having been supreme in Asia for four centuries had been overthrown by the united forces of the Babylonians and the Medes in the year of the Battle of Carchemish, which had broken the power of Egypt.
This is an allegory of the Cedar Tree and its fall. The first section is a poem of the magnificent tree to which Pharaoh is likened (31:1-9). The two prose oracles describe its downfall at the hand of foreigners (31:10-14) and its descent into Sheol. The dates given are just prior to the fall of Jerusalem.
To study the chapter, we can liken Pharaoh (31:2) to Satan. Another approach is to liken Pharaoh to the Carnal Mind. Still another approach would be to warn the New Testament church using the example of the O.T. nations, Israel, the church in the wilderness.
“Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them, God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, and some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples and they are written for admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”
“THE SPIRIT OF TERROR”
Asshur, Elam, Meshech, Tubal, Edom, Princes of the North, and Zidonians
This is the final lamentation over Pharaoh.
The passage contains two lamentations , one over the fall of Egypt, and the other over the burial of the king and his subjects.
32:2: You are like a young lion among the nations, and you are like a monster in the seas…
32:14: then I will make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, says the Lord God.
Ez. 32:18: Son of man wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations unto the nether parts of the earth with them that go down in the pit.
32:21: The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell…they have gone down. They lie with the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
Job 4:9: “by the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.”
32:22: “Assyria is there” (Northern Iran) This is an Assyrian god who gave power to all the priestly gods. He was a warrior and very evil. The spirit of terror is from his sword. 32:23: whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword which caused terror in the land of the living.
32:24-25: There is Elam (Southwest Iran) …which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet they bore their shame with them that go down to the pit. They have set her bed in he midst of the slain, with all her multitude, with her graves all around it. All of the 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…
32:26: There is Mesheck, and Tubal (Russia) … slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living. (27b) They were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
32:30: There be the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians,” (probably Lebanon/Hezbollah) “with their terror they are ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword.
32:32: For I have caused my terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord God.
Next week, we will study chapters 33-39 which are a unity and progressively unfold some of the most vital truths in Ezekiel’s prophecy, chapter 33 reveals the prophet as a WATCHMAN and he receives a re-commission for his prophetic task.
I suppose as we study the prophets, I would consider myself a “watchman,” because I ‘watch God” and I “watch the Word of God unfold.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries, 10115 West Hidden Lakes, Lane, Richmond, TX.