Ezekiel 31
-On the first day of the third month in the eleventh year of
Babylonian captivity for Ezekiel (586 B.C.), he received another prophetic word
from the LORD pertaining to Pharaoh of Egypt and his multitude of supporting
hordes to devalue their lofty position of arrogance and defiance. The LORD uses
Assyria in His analogy for what was to come in Egypt. Assyria too was high and
lifted up in her beauty with the trees of Lebanon and the plentiful supply of
water producing abundance and prosperity to the point that the poetry even
states “all the trees of Eden, which were in the garden of God, were jealous of
it (Ezekiel 31:1-9).” But then, God states, “Because it is high in stature and
has set its top among the clouds, and its heart is haughty in its loftiness, therefore
I will give it into the hand of a despot of the nations (see Daniel 2:37-38,
this is Nebuchadnezar); he will thoroughly deal with it. According to its wickedness
I have driven it away. Alien tyrants of the nations have cut it down and left
it; on the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen and its
boughs have been broken in all the ravines of the land. And all the peoples of
the earth have gone down from its shade and left it. On its ruin all the birds
of the heavens will dwell, and all the beasts of the field will be on its
fallen branches so that all the trees by the waters may not be exalted in their
stature, nor set their top among the clouds, nor their well-watered mighty ones
stand erect in their height. For they have all been given over to death, to the
earth beneath, among the sons of men, with those who go down to the pit
(Ezekiel 31:10-14)." The LORD further declares that He was the One who
caused lamentations closing the deep over this once prestigious land. It is He
that held back her rivers and water sources making Lebanon mourn over it and
causing the wilting away. The earth quaked at the sound of its fall, which
would landed them in Sheol, or the pit (Ezekiel 31:15-17). The last verse of
the passage brings the reader back to the nation being addressed, which is
Egypt and their allies. God tells them not to get conceited in their own glory
and greatness. He has all power and will bring them down to Sheol, just like He
did with Assyria and the trees of Eden that were cursed from sin along with the
uncircumcised and those slain by the sword (Ezekiel 31:18).
-*Application* We see sports teams and nations fall under this type of delusion
all the time through the course of history don’t we? When conceit and swagger
become your M/O you’d better watch out. Compare this to humble-confident
reliance and faith in the Almighty, which raises people, nations, and even
sports teams up to do the impossible. All credit, glory, and honor goes to God.
The battle is His under His dominion (1 Samuel 17:47).
Verse to Memorize:
Ezekiel 31:10-11
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