Bully’s Blog

“While he languished in prison, Joseph had no idea what was going on in Pharaoh’s heart. He did not realise that God the Holy Spirit was at work making Pharaoh dissatisfied. He did not know that one night God would bring His Word to Pharaoh and Pharaoh would need someone to interpret it. He did not know that one day his suffering would be rewarded, and he would stand before the king of the earth.

This should encourage us. We pray for our rulers and those in authority over us, but we don’t see them change. We have no way of knowing, however, what God may be doing. Our God is still the “God of Nightmares”! In our secular humanist society, Christians are often “in prison” in various ways. Yet God’s Word is faithful, and the time will come when secular society will turn to God’s people for help.

May we be ready for the day we stand before kings.”

- James B. Jordan, Primeval Saints, p. 140.

Attack from the Abyss

As with most things in the Bible the pattern begins in Genesis.

Unlike the serpent’s warriors, who live by the sword, God’s warrior is a father-ruler who fights only to protect those in his care. Nimrod was a serpent-king—a dragon; Abram was a servant-king, God’s answer to Nimrod the ‘rebel’ (most likely Gilgamesh).

Satan’s attack on ‘the offspring of the woman’ through Pharaoh had failed, so he resorted to inciting a conspiracy of nations. The serpent became a dragon. But Abram (as a good Gilgamesh/Nimrod), along with the men of his household, defeated them, rescued Lot and his family, and very importantly, plundered the attackers. The darkest nights that God allows are always opportunities for more glory. And, this being HOLY war, Abram refused the ‘devoted’ plunder.

The next instance involves Amalek, who attacked Israel in the wilderness, and mercilessly picked off the stragglers. Once again, God’s man “came down” to fight - in Joshua, at Moses’ command - with Moses, Hur and Aaron as Ark and cherubim on the holy hill, the “garden gate”.

“The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” (Exodus 17:16)

This statement about Amalek is more loaded than it seems. Amalek was defeated, and the plunders from the victory were devoted to building God’s house in the wilderness. We will see this pattern again and again. Each time, deliverance for God’s people is on a greater scale, and the defeat more catastrophic for His enemies.

Nebuchadnezzar fought hard against historical Tyre, but was not able to plunder it. Was Ezekiel wrong? Or does Ezekiel’s prediction of Tyre’s total destruction support the identification of the subject of this prophesy as Judah? It was Judah whose (bronze) pillars were brought down and her foundations made a bare rock. The Lord would instead pay his faithful Babylonian “servant” with the riches of Egypt (29:19-20).

The imagery of Pharaoh’s descent to Sheol in chapter 32 has the Exodus in mind. Egypt’s armies would be swallowed by Babylon in the way Pharaoh’s armies drowned in the Red Sea. All the uncircumcised nations would welcome him to hell, and Egypt is the last army to be drowned and made unable to cross over into the new world the Lord was creating.

Of the imagery reprised in Revelation, the foremost is that of a dragon of the Nile, most likely a crocodile. Pharaoh thought he was secure in the fertility of the river, but the Lord would put hooks in his jaws and throw him into the wilderness. The crocodile would be food for birds and beasts, a Covenant curse. Ezekiel is once again making a veiled insult against the king of Israel, using Pharaoh’s behaviour as an object lesson. Israel’s mission was to bring the river of life to the nations but she had instead brought them harm. Like the real Egypt, the nations had leaned on Israel as a crutch, and she had only brought them injury. For this, Egypt/Israel would be made desolate, then restored from captivity. But because she had usurped the Lord’s throne, she would forever be a vassal kingdom.

As Tyre, Solomon’s gold was stolen by foreigners. As Sidon, his oppressive taxation was cut off. And as Egypt, his many wives were taken captive and the horses he had imported from Egypt were finally drowned in the sea. The word of the Lord is sure.