Ezekiel 32:1

Ezekiel 32:1 says, And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,  Once more, Ezekiel gives a specific day when God’s word came to Him with a new prophecy.   We will not be given a new prophesy, but we should always hear when God speaks to us. 

Verse two adds, Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers.  God told Ezekiel to tell the pharaoh that he was like a young lion, roaring all around and thinking of himself as more powerful than any other ruler.  He was also compared to a whale in the ocean that roiled the waters and made them muddy.  Matthew Henry says that fouling the rivers referred to when the pharaoh started an unnecessary war with the Cyrenians that caused trouble not only for Egypt but for the neighboring countries as well.  If we engage in unnecessary wars today, we may cause problems not only ourselves but other people as well.  Ezekiel was also told that he was to take up a lamentation for the people of Egypt because of their sinful actions, and we as followers of Christ today should lament the fate of those who will not put their faith in Him.   

Verse three continues, Thus saith the Lord God; I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in my net.  Ezekiel was to tell the pharaoh that He was going to cast a net over Egypt through a company of many people that would bring them into His net.  This happened when the Chaldeans defeated Egypt.  Though Egypt was defeated by another country, it was God that either caused or allowed this to happen.   We may be defeated by another country today if we do not put our faith in God, but it is God Who will bring the ultimate defeat when Jesus Christ returns in judgment.   

Verse four concludes, Then will I leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon the open field, and will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee.  Using the comparison of the pharaoh being like a whale disturbing the waters, God said He was going to cast him out of the water and onto the land where he would be helpless and eaten by the foul of the air and the beasts of the ground.  The pharaoh's own self-pride led him to this position, and he was going to find himself unable to defend himself even against birds.  We are just as powerless when we serve false gods and are full of self-pride when we do.      

Ezekiel 31:15

Ezekiel 31:15 says, Thus saith the Lord God; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.  Still using the analogy of a great cedar to refer to Assyria, God said when it fell, He caused a great mourning for it.  Those nations that had been in alliance with or under the power of Assyria would mourn her passing, since it meant they could likewise fall.    

Verse sixteen adds,  I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.  God said that He caused the nations to shake at the fall of Assyria as they would later at the fall of Egypt.  When we see powerful people who deny God fall, it should cause us to quake in fear if we have not accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.   

Verse seventeen continues, They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.  God said that all those who had relied on Assyria went down into the pit with him.  All who put their faith in the powers of the world instead of putting their faith in God will one day go down into the pits of hell together.   

Verse eighteen concludes, To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord God. God asked who the Pharaoh and the people of Egypt thought they were that made them incapable of falling.  God said like the people of Assyria before them that they would go down into the pit.  No matter how powerful we may believe ourselves to be, if we have not repented of our sins and put our faith in Jesus Christ, we will one day go down into the pits of hell, just like all before us who have refused to accept God’s gift of salvation have.

Ezekiel 31:10

Ezekiel 31:10 says, Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;  God now said that Egypt had become like Assyria was at the height of her power. Egypt believed herself to be more powerful than any other nation and therefore incapable of falling.  We should always beware of thinking that we by our own abilities are better than anyone else but should always give God the credit and praise for anything that we are blessed with.   

Verse eleven adds, I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness.  God said that because of the arrogance and self-pride of the people of Egypt, that He had delivered them into them into the hand of a great heathen nation. Egypt was going to fall just as Assyria had.  God can work through even those who are not His people to bring about His will.   

Verse twelve continues, And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.  God said that the people of Assyria had been deserted by all other nations, some of which may have been viewed as friends.  This was also going to happen to Egypt.  What happened to Assyria and what was going to happen to Egypt was caused by God and was due to the sins of each nation for which they did not repent.  If we go away to everlasting destruction, it will be God Who sends us there because of our own sins that we have refused to accept His forgiveness for by accepting His gift of salvation.   

Verse thirteen states, Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches: God said that when the people of Assyria fell that the birds and animals remained.  The referring to Assyria in the past and to Egypt as a great cedar that fell didn’t affect the rest of God’s creation.  We may fall as people of a great nation, but the rest of creation in our land may just continue as though nothing has happened.   

Verse fourteen continues, To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.  God said that none of the other trees exalted themselves as the mighty cedar had, because they had seen it go down into the pit.   This was still an analogy to Assyria and Egypt.  When other nations saw them fall, they would mourn their passing but would not immediately try to elevate themselves to the same heights that these two nations had attained.  As followers of Christ, even if we see powerful nations that defied God fall, we should never aspire to be like them and take their place in power outside of God’s will. 

Ezekiel 31:5

Ezekiel 31:5 says, Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth.  These next few verses compare the cedars of Lebanon to other fruit bearing trees.  The cedars were viewed as being of greater value than fruit bearing trees, even though they could bear no fruit. Ezekiel said that because Assyria was blessed with many natural resources and could produce many things because of it that she was exalted above all other nations.  We often exalt those who are very rich and even envy them even instead of exalting God and wanting to be more like Hiim.   

Verse six adds, All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.  God said that the fowl of the air were plentiful because of the trees that they could nest in and that the animals were plentiful because they could bring forth their young under the shade of the trees.  These were still all natural things that God was responsible for and had nothing to do with the cedars of Lebanon themselves.  Likewise, because of her great natural resources, Assyria had become a great nation that others felt was more important than any other nation.  No matter how great a nation may become today, we should never put it ahead of God.   

Verse seven continues. Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters.  God said that like the cedars of Lebanon among trees, Assyria had been a great nation that no other nation could compare to.  Assyria towered over them like a great cedar that none of the other trees could compare to.  This had led to self-pride on the part of Assyria, leading them to believe they were indestructible.  Some nations today, many who not only do not follow God’s laws but also even deny His existence, believe themselves to be indestructible, but like Assyria, when God’s judgment comes, they will fall completely. 

Verse eight states, The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.  Still comparing Assyria to the trees of Lebanon, God said that Assyria was viewed as more beautiful than any other country, just as the cedars of Lebanon were viewed as more beautiful than even the trees in the Garden of Eden, which was a place of perfection.  We should never start to think that as a nation or as an individual that we are powerful of our own merit but should always acknowledge that we owe everything to God, and even if the world holds us in great esteem, we will never be of everlasting power outside of God’s will. 

Verse nine adds, I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.  Like the cedars of Lebanon, God said that He was the One Who had made Assyria great and that He was also the One Who had caused their fall.  Once more, we should always give God credit for everything that we are blessed with today, and if we don’t, we should be ready for a fall.