Ezek 31

31:1-18 Ezekiel called on the Egyptians to compare themselves to Assyria, which was like a great tree in Eden (31:9). If that tree was felled and sent down to the underworld, how did Egypt, whose glory could never compare to Assyria’s, think it could stand?

31:2-4 The cedar of Lebanon is a tree that was known for its visual splendor and commercial and military value. • Like a tree whose crown was among the clouds, Assyria’s military had once been strong beyond comparison to any other army.

31:6 Like a great tree, Assyria provided shelter for all of the birds and wild animals of the earth. This tree was more splendid than all the trees in the garden of God (that is, the garden of Eden), with a God-given beauty and stature reminiscent of the prince of Tyre in ch 28. Assyria’s power was once so great that all the great nations of the world lived in its shadow.

31:10-11 Egypt forgot that God had created her beauty, and she became proud and arrogant. As with Tyre, such pride would inevitably lead to a fall. The God who set Egypt in such an exalted position would send a divine lumberjack, in the form of a mighty nation that would destroy it as its wickedness deserved. • I have already discarded it: The human agent would simply be carrying out God’s decree.

31:12-14 Egypt’s fate would teach the other nations that however high they set themselves, eventually they were all doomed to die and go down to the pit.

31:15 The mourning over the great tree, Assyria, matched its great size. • The tallest cedar trees of the ancient world were found in Lebanon. • To be clothed . . . in black meant wearing garments of mourning.

31:16-17 The nations all shook with fear at the shock waves created by Assyria’s fall. The great nations that had preceded it on the road to destruction and death were gratified to find it joining them in their disgrace, while its allies followed in its dangerous course.

31:18 The point of this extended analogy finally emerges. Although Egypt’s strength and glory were great, it would be destroyed just as Assyria had been, and it would be disgraced along with the other nations that trusted in themselves and in their own greatness.