29:16 And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which bringeth [their] {h} iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them: but they shall know that I [am] the Lord GOD.
(h) Lest I should by this means punish their sins.
29:16 Which - Which sinful reliance on the arm of flesh provoked God to call to mind their other iniquities. When - When they forgot God, and respected Egypt. They - The house of Israel.
29:1-16 Worldly, carnal minds pride themselves in their property, forgetting that whatever we have, we received it from God, and should use it for God. Why, then, do we boast? Self is the great idol which all the world worships, in contempt of God and his sovereignty. God can force men out of that in which they are most secure and easy. Such a one, and all that cleave to him, shall perish together. Thus end men's pride, presumption, and carnal security. The Lord is against those who do harm to his people, and still more against those who lead them into sin. Egypt shall be a kingdom again, but it shall be the basest of the kingdoms; it shall have little wealth and power. History shows the complete fulfilment of this prophecy. God, not only in justice, but in wisdom and goodness to us, breaks the creature-stays on which we lean, that they may be no more our confidence.
