Ezekiel 29:2-6
“Watch yourself, Pharaoh, king of Egypt. I’m dead set against you, You lumbering old dragon, lolling and flaccid in the Nile, Saying, ‘It’s my Nile. I made it. It’s mine.’ I’ll set hooks in your jaw; I’ll make the fish of the Nile stick to your scales. I’ll pull you out of the Nile, with all the fish stuck to your scales. Then I’ll drag you out into the desert, you and all the Nile fish sticking to your scales. You’ll lie there in the open, rotting in the sun, meat to the wild animals and carrion birds. Everybody living in Egypt will realize that I am GOD.”
“Son of man, turn and face Egypt and prophesy against Pharaoh the king and all the people of Egypt. Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: I am your enemy, O Pharoah, king of Egypt- you great monster, lurking in the streams of the Nile. For you have said, ‘The Nile River is mine; I made it for myself.’ I will put hooks in your jaws and drag you out on the land with fish sticking to your scales. I will leave you and all your fish stranded I the wilderness to die. You will lie unburied o the open ground, for I have given you as food to the wild animals and birds. All the people of Egypt will know that I am the Lord.”
The Lord teaches and heals in our struggle with sin. But he will not tolerate a brazen attempt on his throne like Pharoah’s. My reaction is, “I’m not guilty of that.” With deeper reflection I see there are things in my life that persistently sit above his call on my heart. I’ve lived them so long I think they are who I am, not what I do, and so fly underneath my radar. I need an adjustment and my gracious divine parent never fails to deliver.
Lord, a million thanks for your adjustments that keep me from erring into Pharoah’s fate. Your oversight is a welcome relief in the constant monitoring of Self. Keep at it Lord! Prune and mold me, making me your own. Set me free.