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Welcome to the Cross References podcast, where you learn how every small piece of the Bible tells one big story- and most importantly, how they all connect to the cross and Christ.
Whether you’re a newbie Christian or a veteran Bible reader, our goal is that God’s Word will make more sense to you after every episode.
Host: Pastor Luke Taylor
Pharaoh Takes a Tour of Hell
Ezekiel 32:17-32
Ezekiel series, part 54
Introduction
Death is not the end.
A couple episodes ago, I took a little detour into Jude and analyzed this phrase “twice dead.” It was kind of a side-quest because I primarily use this podcast to dive into the book of Ezekiel. In that lesson, we focused on how the Second Death talked about in Revelation is not teaching the doctrine of annihilationism, or the idea that we cease to exist at the moment of death. The second death means eternity in hell, or the lake of fire, and you never stop existing.
I had no idea when I took that side-journey how well it would intertwine with what we’re discussing today in the book of Ezekiel, where the main idea of this chapter can be summed up as this: death is not the end.
I didn’t plan it this way. Maybe God did. Maybe God has something he wants us to get from this chapter. And if so, it’s no accident that you’re listening today.
The last episode was about the death of pharoah. Today’s episode will show you what happened to Pharaoh next. I’ll also share some thoughts on what chapters 25-32 as a whole in Ezekiel are communicating to us. And you will see more than ever that death is not the end.
This episode WILL end, though, and by the time you finish it, you’ll hear about when Pharaoh took a tour of hell and WHO he saw when he got there.
All of that today on the Cross References podcast.
[theme music]
(Continued)
Welcome to the Cross References podcast, a Bible study where we learn how every small piece of the Bible tells one big story- and how they all connect to the cross and Christ.
My name is Luke Taylor, and I’m not Egyptian, but I sure feel like it lately, as I’ve done 5 or 6 episodes now about Egypt. Today, we’re going to finish up a section of Ezekiel that has been four chapters straight of judgments against the nation of Egypt. And not only that, today will finish up a major section of the book of Ezekiel. Chapters 1 through 24 were judgments against Israel. Chapters 25 through 32 are a section of verses that are judgments against the gentile nations. And the rest of the book is going to take on a new tone after we wrap up this judgment, doom and gloom portion today.
So thanks for being here, and let’s get into it. And it’s coming in hot. In case you couldn’t tell from the episode title, today’s chapter would not make a great Children’s Church lesson. This is one of the most graphic and brutal chapters in Ezekiel, and probably the whole Bible. As I said, last time talked about Pharaoh as a sea creature being ripped out of the water and flung onto the rocks for various animals to scavenge away. But as I’ve mentioned- death is not the end. What came next for Pharaoh? We’ll pick it up at verse 17.
V17-32, The Fate of Pharaoh
Ezekiel 32:17-19
17 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 18 “Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt, and send them down, her and the daughters of majestic nations, to the world below, to those who have gone down to the pit:
So two weeks after the first half of the chapter, Ezekiel receives one more oracle about Egypt, and it’s about Egypt going down to the pit- or another way this can be translated in your Bible is “Sheol.”
Sheol is the underworld. It can be a synonym of hell, but not always, and I’ll explain why. In the Old Testament, the afterlife always led you to the underworld. Even if you were saved in the Old Testament, you did not go right up to heaven when you died. You actually went to Sheol. Sheol had two parts: a portion called Abraham’s Bosom, which is where followers of God went; and a portion called hell, which is where unrepentant non-followers went. Pharaoh followed false gods, and so he will not be going to Abraham’s bosom. This is a description of the bad part of Sheol. And what comes next is actually the longest description of hell in the entire Old Testament.
19 ‘Whom do you surpass in beauty?
Go down and be laid to rest with the uncircumcised.’
20 They shall fall amid those who are slain by the sword. Egypt is delivered to the sword; drag her away, and all her multitudes. 21 The mighty chiefs shall speak of them, with their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: ‘They have come down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.’
As I said last time we were in Ezekiel, the Egyptians were one of the few ancient civilizations to practice circumcision. There are a couple others mentioned in the list today. They thought circumcision made them more civilized. It wasn’t about a covenant with God as much as a perception that they were more sanitized and dignified. And so God makes the point a few times in this chapter that when you die, you and all those people you thought you were better than are all gonna be in hell together. You thought you were better than that person? You were racist? You’re both gonna be lying next to each other for all eternity.
Verses 22 and 23 speak of who else in hell
22 “Assyria is there, and all her company, its graves all around it, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, 23 whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit; and her company is all around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the living.
Assyria was a mighty people back during those days. Today, the ancient land of Assyria has been divided up into various nations, including parts of Syria and Iraq. But back then Assyria was a powerhouse on the world scene. But as Jesus said, you can gain the whole world and lose your soul. The ancient Assyrians are in hell today, and they were there to greet the Egyptians when they arrived.
And this section is kind of repetitive, because it speaks of nation after nation who are down in hell when Pharaoh arrives. When I say “nation after nation,” I mean the peoples of those nations, of course. I’ll go through this kind of quickly because it is a bit repetitive, and then I’ll give some summary thoughts at the very end. The next one is Elam, which would correspond to modern-day Iran.
Ezekiel 32:24-25
24 “Elam is there, and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into the world below, who spread their terror in the land of the living; and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. 25 They have made her a bed among the slain with all her multitude, her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for terror of them was spread in the land of the living, and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are placed among the slain.
Elam is also known as Persia back in those days; Daniel spent some time there and I think wrote a couple chapters from Elam. I think Elam was the capitol of Persia. After Babylon fell, Persia would be the most major player on the world scene.
I am wrapping up this chapter study on Saturday, April 13, 2024. It has taken me a couple of weeks to study through this chapter because it had so much going on. And then today, as I’m putting the finishing touches on this lesson for Monday, Iran has launched multiple drones at Israel to attack them. I am saying this as we’re in the in-between phase of Iran launching the attack and the attack has not yet reached Israel. I’d say Israel can probably shoot them down pretty easily, but this is wild stuff. You’ll know more than me about what’s going on by the time this airs, but we’re living in fascinating days, ladies and gentlemen. So I can’t help but comment on that as we read here in Ezekiel 32 about what happened to the ancient Iranians. It says they spread terror in the land of the living back when they walked the earth, and now they will feel terror for all eternity in the realm of the dead. The modern Iranians should learn a lesson from what happened to the ancient Iranians.
Verses 26-28
26 “Meshech-Tubal is there, and all her multitude, her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they spread their terror in the land of the living. 27 And they do not lie with the mighty, the fallen from among the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their heads, and whose iniquities are upon their bones; for the terror of the mighty men was in the land of the living. 28 But as for you, you shall be broken and lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.
So, I’m not entirely sure who Meschech-Tubal is. I’m going to dig into this on an upcoming episode as we cover Ezekiel 38 and 39. There’s a little bit of debate. My opinion is that it’s Turkey, but I haven’t studied this out enough to have a solid reason to explain why. Some say it’s Russia because Meschech is supposedly the ancient name of Moscow. I’m not going to go figure it out and prove who Meschech-Tubal is today, because this lesson is long enough. But as we enter into Ezekiel 38-39 in a few months, probably the first thing we’ll do is establish who each of these nations are, and I’ll do my deep dive to figure that out.
Verse 29
29 “Edom is there, her kings and all her princes, who for all their might are laid with those who are killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.
The Edomites are a people that are no longer a factor. The Edomites receive some of the harshest condemnation in the Old Testament and they are no longer around by the time of the New Testament. I believe we’ll be talking about the Edomites again in a couple of chapters.
Verse 30
30 “The princes of the north are there, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, for all the terror that they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.
Now the Sidonians are mentioned, and this is once again that we spent a lesson talking about because they received one of Ezekiel’s letters back in chapter 28.
So all of these peoples are in hell, and as Pharaoh is marched down there, too, he sees all of them, and you’d think this would fill him with dread as he’s taken down there, but it says something a little different.
Ezekiel 32:31-32
31 “When Pharaoh sees them, he will be comforted for all his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, declares the Lord God. 32 For I spread terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid to rest among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord God.”
It said he was comforted, and I found that a little interesting. In the previous chapter, it said that when everyone saw Pharaoh fall into hell, they were comforted; and this time, he’s comforted. Why? I think it’s this idea of “misery loves company.”
You might question why anybody suffering in hell would care who else was there with them. But you have to remember that for the unsaved, they have wicked hearts. And when someone is cast into hell, they aren’t becoming a better person over time. Their heart is not being purified. There is no such thing as purgatory. They are not being purged of sinfulness. The wickedness of someone’s heart only grows the more time they spend away from God and in hell.
So when they see that someone else is going to be down there with them, they are happy about it. They’re happy to have someone else tormented like them. They don’t have to be jealous that Pharaoh gets to sit on his throne in Egypt anymore while they suffer in hell. They’re happy that he’s going to be as miserable as them. And he’s even comforted to know that they didn’t get a better deal in the afterlife, either.
Death is not the end
So this chapter puts to bed the idea that of annihilationism: the idea that going to hell means you cease to exist. We talked about this last time. Hell is eternal. Your soul is eternal. The second death does not mean you cease to exist, because the first death certainly didn’t mean that. So why would the second death? Hell is the eternal abode of the damned.
This chapter reminds me of something from the end of Revelation, when the Antichrist and false prophet are tossed into hell. It says that when Jesus comes back in Revelation 19, this is what happens. It’s a verse that sounds a lot like Ezekiel 32, actually.
Revelation 19:20
20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
And then as you keep reading, in Revelation 20 it discusses the Millennial Reign of Christ. In case you didn’t realize it, a millennium means 1,000 years. I know that it’s going to be 1,000 years because Revelation 20 tells us six times that it lasts 1,000 years. And then at the end of that thousand years, Satan comes to attack Jerusalem one last time. He fails, and
Revelation 20:10 says
and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
So this verse is one thousand years after the verse I read about the antichrist and false prophet just a moment ago. It’s one chapter later in your Bible, but a thousand years have passed in real time. And so the antichrist is tossed into the lake of fire, God closes the lid, He lifts it 1,000 years later to toss the devil in, and the antichrist and false prophet are still in there being tormented. They haven’t been annihilated. They didn’t disintegrate away. They continue to exist.
Because death is not the end. Hell is forever.
And that’s the same scene we have playing out in Ezekiel 32. Pharaoh descends into hell, and all these people who have went down before him are still there.
Bill Weise- he wrote a book called 23 Minutes in Hell. I’ve met Bill a few times, spoken with him a few times in person and over the phone, and I believe his story. He had a vision of hell that lasted 23 minutes and he essentially backs up everything the Bible says about hell. Even if you didn’t believe he had this vision, it wouldn’t really matter that much because everything he says is just what the Bible tells us. But you should read 23 Minutes in Hell because it is a powerful apologetic for why hell exists and why we can believe it’s real.
And he says you can’t stop existing when you’ve been in hell for a long time because God is eternal, and we are made in God’s image, and so we are eternal as well. And God can’t let someone from hell into heaven because heaven is a place of purity, and nothing has happened to anyone in hell to make them purified. He says, “Time cannot give us a new heart and a new spirit, which is the requirement for entering heaven. Only trusting in Jesus’ shed blood for our forgiveness of sins can do that.”
Hell is forever. There is no way out. I had this discussion with someone on Twitter a while back. They were trying to explain to me how God is so merciful that He’ll let people out of hell, and he used this verse:
Matthew 25:46
these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
And he tried to explain to me how the word “eternal” can mean “eons,” or a really long time. Actually, now I remember, he pulled out some obscure Bible translation that says “eons” instead of eternal, and he told me that “eons” can mean a really really long time, but not necessarily forever.
So I said, “That verse also says that the righteous have eternal life.” Or eons and eons of life. So doesn’t that mean our time in heaven is not forever, either? Doesn’t that mean heaven has an end point? And then this person didn’t talk to me anymore after that. Because the Bible doesn’t leave the door open for that.
So, I’ve heard every objection people can try to come up with, but I just think God is going out of His way to be as abundantly clear as possible in His Word: Hell is forever. There is no way out. Death is not the end.
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Closing Thoughts
Next time on this podcast, I may be done with what Ezekiel has to say about Egypt, but I’m not done with Egypt. I’d like to spend one more episode talking about Egypt. So next week, my episode will be about what prophecy says about Egypt in the end times. What’s going to be going on with Egypt during the 7-year tribulation? Did you know they actually have a role in the end times? Make sure you’re subscribed so you can learn all about it!
This has been one of the most dour chapters on the book of Ezekiel. If you’re still with me, I greatly appreciate it. I have no idea why you’re still here, but I’m glad you are.
And it’s fitting that we covered this today because we’re entering a major focal shift in this book. So far, I wouldn’t blame you if you thought Ezekiel was a pretty depressing, negative book of the Bible. Chapter after chapter of some pretty dark and at times disturbing pronouncements of doom.
But all that is getting ready to change. As we enter into the last third of the book of Ezekiel, the tone is going to shift. The messages become a lot more hope-filled. The focus turns from past sins to future prophecy. We’re going to hear about things going forward that are about Israel’s bright future, God’s delivering hand, and Jesus’ future Kingdom. Some of these prophecies have already been fulfilled, others are still yet future, and we may be living through some of them right now, especially depending on how things go with Iran and Israel this year.
So we are going to launch into Ezekiel 33 and beyond…in June. We’ve done judgments against Israel and judgments against the Gentiles, and now we have the future prophecy section to look forward to. And as we transition from one major section of Ezekiel to the other, I want to share an interview with you that I did with a friend of mine, Nate Vainio, on his podcast. I gave kind of a retrospective on what I’ve studied so far in Ezekiel with him, and I’d like to share that with you here in the month of May. It’s in three parts. And after that, I’ll come back after Memorial Day starting into the home stretch of Ezekiel.
But next week, I do want to go ahead and do one further study in Egypt, and I want to look at what Bible prophecy says about God’s plan for Egypt in earth’s last days, the days of the antichrist and the tribulation. I hope you’ll come back for what’s ahead.
Thanks for listening to the Cross References Podcast. This has been Luke Taylor, reminding you that death is not the end.