There has been much discussion on Facebook with the “Christ in Prophecy” group about the view that the un-fulfilled Prophecy of Ezekiel 29:12-13, Egypt’s 40 year desolation, will put the timing of the Rapture much later by some decades. Would you agree with this?
No, I don’t believe Ezekiel 29 has to happen, or even can happen, before the rapture. To me they’re apples and oranges, completely unrelated events.
This idea seems to have come in part from an attempt to “force fit” Egypt into the Psalm 83 Scenario. The justification for doing so is the claim that the Hagarenes of Psalm 83:6 represent Egypt because Hagar was a “matriarch of Egypt” and the Hagarenes are her descendants.
According to the dictionary a matriarch is a woman who is the founder or dominant member of a community or group. There’s no sense in which Hagar fits that description where Egypt is concerned. She was a mere slave woman who happened to be Egyptian. She could possibly be called the matriarch of the Ishmaelites, but the Bible never refers to her as such.
My research indicates that the Hagarenes, aka Hagarites, lived east of Israel and were absorbed into Aram, modern day Syria. In any case, I don’t think trying to place Egypt in the Psalm 83 scenario on that or any other basis is justified.
By comparing Ezekiel 29 with Zechariah 14:16-19 and Isaiah 19:22, I have concluded that Egypt’s 40 year desolation will take place in the early years of the Millennium.