Egypt is somewhat easy to apply. According to the Bible, Egypt is a nation that does not depend upon God, but rather upon its own resources. Egypt had the Nile River as the source of all its riches. Thus, they did not depend upon the rains from heaven; they depended upon the water from their Nile. They exercised their wisdom to develop their natural resources so that they became rich and had a rich supply. Whenever the people of Israel were short of food, they went down to Egypt for a supply. Thus, Egypt represents a person who is exercising natural wisdom to develop his natural resources to be rich and to have a supply. At the time of Ezekiel, Israel turned to Egypt and leaned upon Egypt, trusting in Egypt as a staff. But the Lord said that Egypt was a staff made of a reed, easy to break (29:2-9).
In summary, there are seven kinds of people who can damage the church life. Some are against the church, hating Christ, hating God's salvation, and hating God's grace. Those are the Ammonites. Others creep into the church and gradually bring the church into association with the world, making the church the same as the world, making no difference between the church and the world. These are the Moabites. There is Edom representing the old man, and there is Philistia representing the natural man interfering with the things related to God. There is also Tyrus representing the people who are seeking the riches of the world. Following these are the people of Zidon who become the briers and thorns to the church due to the seeking of riches. Last, are the Egyptians who seek the worldly riches by developing their own resources to be rich in supply and so that they might become a source of supply for others and become independent of God. These are the different persons who can damage the church life. We all must be on the alert that none of us would become this kind of person.
How did God exercise His judgment over the nations? First, God destroyed them. Second, God made them desolate. Third, God made them very low. Fourth, all these enemies were delivered to the nether parts of the earth, that is, the lower parts of the earth (31:14). Where are all the soldiers of the Roman Empire who hated the church? They are in the nether parts of the earth. Do not be afraid of a strong persecutor of the church. After a few years he will die and go to the nether parts of the earth, to Hades.
If we do not deal with our old man, God will exercise His judgment upon us. He will cause us to become very low and very down in our spirit. If we judge our old man, not caring whether we are first, second or last, not caring whether we are an elder or have any position, we will be so happy in the church life and our spirit will be very high. Our spirit will not be down. To be down means to be under a kind of judgment. If we are down, low in our spirit, we are under God's judgment. Sometimes, God would even destroy us and make us desolate. When we are desolate, we have nothing fresh, nothing new, nothing living, nothing growing, nothing built up—we are like a desert. We become desolate when we go along with our natural man. The more we exercise our natural wisdom, the more we will be desolate. But if we will judge our natural man, we will see that our spirit will be fresh, living, green, flourishing, and growing.
The result of God's judgment upon the nations was that all the nations knew that He was the Lord. More than sixty times in the book of Ezekiel this sentence is repeated—"That they may know I am the Lord. I will destroy them that they may know I am the Lord, I will make them desolate that they may know I am the Lord. I will make them low that they may know I am the Lord. I will put them into the nether parts of the earth that they may know I am the Lord" (25:7, 11, 17; 26:6; 29:6). I do believe that all the sinners and all the opposers including the Emperor Nero, Mussolini, and Hitler are in the nether parts of the earth knowing that Jesus is the Lord. It may be that some persecutors are still living, but sooner or later God will put them into the nether parts of the earth. Then they will know that Jesus is the Lord. The eventual result of God's judgment upon the nations was that God's purpose was carried out and fulfilled.