E
Z E K I E L
CHAP. XXXI.
The
prophecy of this chapter, as the two chapters before, is against
Egypt, and designed for the humbling and mortifying
of Pharaoh. In passing sentence upon great criminals it is usual to consult
precedents, and to see what has been done to others in the like case, which
serves both to direct and to justify the proceedings. Pharaoh stands indicted
at the bar of divine justice for his pride and haughtiness, and the injuries
he had done to God's people; but he thinks himself so high, so great, as not
to be accountable to any authority, so strong, and so well guarded, as not to
be conquerable by any force. The prophet is therefore directed to make a
report to him of the case of the king of Assyria, whose head city was
Nineveh. I. He must show him how great a monarch the
king of Assyria had been, what a vast empire he had, what a mighty sway he
bore; the king of Egypt, great as he was could not go beyond him, ver. 3-9.
II. He must then show him how like he was to the king of Assyria in pride and
carnal security, ver. 10. III. He must next read him the history of the fall
and ruin of the king of Assyria, what a noise it made among the nations and
what a warning it gave to all potent princes to take heed of pride, ver.
11-17. IV. He must leave the king of Egypt to apply all this to himself, to
see his own face in the looking-glass of the king of Assyria's sin, and to
foresee his own fall through the perspective glass of his ruin, ver. 18.
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The
King of Assyria's Greatness.
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B.
C. 588.
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1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in
the third month, in the first day of the month, that the
word of the LORD
came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of
Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness?
3 Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and
with a shadowing shroud, and of a high stature; and his top was among the
thick boughs. 4 The waters made him great, the deep set him up on
high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little
rivers unto all the trees of the field. 5 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. 6 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. 7 Thus was he
fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by
great waters. 8 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. 9 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.
This prophecy bears date the month before Jerusalem was taken, as that in the
close of the foregoing chapter about four months before. When God's people
were in the depth of their distress, it would be some comfort to them, as it
would serve likewise for a check to the pride and malice of their neighbours,
that insulted over them, to be told from heaven that the cup was going round,
even the cup of trembling, that it would shortly be taken out of the hands of
God's people and put into the hands of those that hated them, Isa. li. 22, 23.
In this prophecy,
I. The prophet is directed to put Pharaoh upon searching the records for a
case parallel to his own (v. 2): Speak to Pharaoh and to his
multitude, to the multitude of his attendants, that contributed so much to
his magnificence, and the multitude of his armies, that contributed so much to
his strength. These he was proud of, these he put a confidence in; and they
were as proud of him and trusted as much in him. Now ask him, Whom art thou
like in thy greatness? We are apt to judge of ourselves by comparison.
Those that think highly of themselves fancy themselves as great and as good as
such and such, that have been mightily celebrated. The flatterers of princes
tell them whom they equal in pomp and grandeur. "Well," says God,
"let him pitch upon the most famous potentate that ever was, and it shall
be allowed that he is like him in greatness and no way inferior to him;
but, let him pitch upon whom he will, he will find that his day came to
fall; he will see there was an end of all his perfection,
and must therefore expect the end of his own in like manner." Note, The
falls of others, both into sin and ruin, are intended as admonitions to us not
to be secure or high-minded, nor to think we stand out of danger.
II. He is directed to show him an instance of one whom he resembles in
greatness, and that was the Assyrian (v. 3), whose monarchy had
continued from Nimrod. Sennacherib was one of the mighty princes of that
monarchy; but it sunk down soon after him, and the monarchy of Nebuchadnezzar
was built upon its ruins, or rather grafted upon its stock. Let us now see
what a flourishing prince the king of Assyria was. He is here compared to a
stately cedar, v. 3. The glory of the house of David is illustrated by
the same similitude, ch. xvii. 3. The olive-tree, the fig-tree, and the
vine, which were all fruit-trees, had refused to be promoted over the trees
because they would not leave their fruitfulness (Judg. ix. 8, &c.), and
therefore the choice falls upon the cedar, that is stately and strong, and
casts a great shadow, but bears no fruit. 1. The Assyrian monarch was a tall
cedar, such as the cedars in Lebanon generally were, of a high stature,
and his top among the thick boughs; he was attended by other princes
that were tributaries to him, and was surrounded by a life-guard of brave men.
He surpassed all the princes in his neighbourhood; they were all shrubs to him
(v. 5): His height was exalted above all the trees of the field;
they were many of them very high, but he overtopped them all, v. 8. The
cedars, even those in the garden of Eden, which we may suppose were the best
of the kind, would not hide him, but his top branches outshot theirs.
2. He was a spreading cedar; his branches did not only run up in height, but
run out in breadth, denoting that this mighty prince was not only exalted to
great dignity and honour, and had a name above the names of the great men of
the earth, but that he obtained great dominion and power; his territories were
large, and he extended his conquests far and his influences much further. This
cedar, like a vine, sent forth his branches to the sea, to the
river, Ps. lxxx. 11. His boughs were multiplied; his branches became
long (v. 5); so that he had a shadowing shroud, v. 3.
This contributed very much to his beauty, that he grew proportionably large as
well as high. He was fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches
(v. 7), very comely as well as very stately, fair by the multitude
of his branches, v. 9. His large dominions were well managed, like
a spreading tree that is kept in shape and good order by the skill of the
gardener, so as to be very beautiful to the eye. His government was as amiable
in the eyes of wise men as it was admirable in the eyes of all men. The fir-trees
were not like his boughs, so straight, so green, so regular; nor were
the branches of the chestnut-trees like his branches, so thick, so
spreading. In short, no tree in the garden of God, in Eden, in Babylon
(for that stood where paradise was planted), where there was every tree that
was pleasant to the sight (Gen. ii. 9), was like to this cedar in
beauty; that is, in all the surrounding nations there was no prince so
much admired, so much courted, and whom every body was so much in love with,
as the king of Assyria. Many of them did virtuously, but he excelled
them all, outshone them all. All the trees of Eden envied him, v.
9. When they found they could not compare with him they were angry and grieved
that he so far outdid them, and secretly grudged him the praise due to him.
Note, It is the unhappiness of those who in any thing excel others that
thereby they make themselves the objects of envy; and who can stand before
envy? 3. He was serviceable, as far as a standing growing cedar could be,
and that was only by his shadow (v. 6): All the fowls of heaven,
some of all sorts, made their nests in his boughs, where they were
sheltered from the injuries of the weather. The beasts of the field put
themselves under the protection of his branches. There they were levant--rising
up, and couchant--lying down; there they brought forth their
young; for they had there a natural covert from the heat and from the
storm. The meaning of all is, Under his shadow dwelt all great nations;
they all fled to him for safety, and were willing to swear allegiance to him
if he would undertake to protect them, as travellers in a shower come under
thick trees for shelter. Note, Those who have power ought to use it for the
protection and comfort of those whom they have power over; for to that end
they are entrusted with power. Even the bramble, if he be anointed king,
invites the trees to come and trust in his shadow, Judg. ix. 15. But
the utmost security that any creature, even the king of Assyria himself, can
give, is but like the shadow of a tree, which is but a scanty and slender
protection, and leaves a man many ways exposed. Let us therefore flee to God
for protection, and he will take us under the shadow of his wings,
where we shall be warmer and safer than under the shadow of the strongest and
stateliest cedar, Ps. xvii. 8; xci. 4. 4. He seemed to be settled and
established in his greatness and power. For, (1.) It was God that made him
fair, v. 9. For by him kings reign. He was comely with the
comeliness that God put upon him. Note, God's hand must be eyed and owned in
the advancement of the great men of the earth, and therefore we must not envy
them; yet that will not secure the continuance of their prosperity, for he
that gave them their beauty, if they be deprived of it, knows how to turn it
into deformity. (2.) He seemed to have a good bottom. This cedar was not like
the heath in the desert, made to inhabit the parched places (Jer. xvii.
6); it was not a root in a dry ground, Isa. liii. 2. No; he had
abundance of wealth to support his power and grandeur (v. 4): The
waters made him great; he had vast treasures, large stores and magazines,
which were as the deep that set him up on high, constant revenues
coming in by taxes, customs, and crown-rents, which were as rivers running
round about his plants; these enabled him to strengthen and secure his
interests every where, for he sent out his little rivers, or conduits, to
all the trees of the field, to water them; and when they had maintenance
from the king's palace (Ezra iv. 14), and their country was nourished
by the king's country (Acts xii. 20), they would be serviceable and
faithful to him. Those that have wealth flowing upon them in great rivers find
themselves obliged to send it out again in little rivers; for, as goods are
increased, those are increased that eat them, and the more men have the
more occasion they have for it; yea, and still the more they have occasion
for. The branches of this cedar became long, because of the
multitude of waters which fed them (v. 5 and 7); his root was by
great waters, which seemed to secure it that its leaf should never
wither (Ps. i. 3), that it should not see when heat came, Jer. xvii.
8. Note, Worldly people may seem to have an established prosperity, yet it
only seems so, Job v. 3; Ps. xxxvii. 35.
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The
King of Assyria's Downfall; The Fall of Assyria.
B. C. 588.
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10 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;
11 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. 12 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. 13 Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain,
and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches: 14 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. 15 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. 16 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. 17
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. 18 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.
We have seen the king of Egypt resembling the king of Assyria in pomp, and
power, and prosperity, how like he was to him in his greatness; now here we
see,
I. How he does likewise resemble him in his pride, v. 10. For, as face
answers to face in a glass, so does one corrupt carnal heart to another; and
the same temptations of a prosperous state by which some are overcome are
fatal to many others too. "Thou, O king of Egypt! hast lifted
up thyself in height, hast been proud of thy wealth and power, ch.
xxix. 3. And just so he (that is, the king of Assyria); when he had shot
up his top among the thick boughs his heart was immediately lifted up
in his height, and he grew insolent and imperious, set God himself at
defiance, and trampled upon his people;" witness the messages and letter
which the great king, the king of Assyria, sent to Hezekiah, Isa. xxxvi.
4. How haughtily does he speak of himself and his own achievements! how
scornfully of that great and good man! There were other sins in which the
Egyptians and the Assyrians did concur, particularly that of oppressing God's
people, which is charged upon them both together (Isa. lii. 4); but here that
sin is traced up to its cause, and that was pride; for it is the contempt
of the proud that they are filled with. Note, When men's outward
condition rises their minds commonly rise with it; and it is very rare to find
a humble spirit in the midst of great advancements.
II. How he shall therefore resemble him in his fall; and for the opening of
this part of the comparison,
1. Here is a history of the fall of the king of Assyria. For his part, says
God (v. 11), I have therefore, because he was thus lifted up, delivered
him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen. Cyaxares, king of the
Medes, in the twenty-sixth year of his reign, in conjunction with
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the first year of his reign, destroyed
Nineveh, and with it the Assyrian empire. Nebuchadnezzar, though he was not
then, yet afterwards became, very emphatically, the mighty one of the
heathen, most mighty among them and most mighty over them, to prevail
against them.
(1.) Respecting the fall of the Assyrian three things are affirmed:-- [1.] It
is God himself that orders his ruin: I have delivered him into the hand
of the executioner; I have driven him out. Note, God is the Judge, who
puts down one and sets up another (Ps. lxxv. 7); and when he pleases he can
extirpate and expel those who think themselves, and seem to others, to have
taken deepest root. And the mightiest ones of the heathens could not gain
their point against those they contended with if the Almighty did not himself
deliver them into their hands. [2.] It is his own sin that procures his ruin: I
have driven him out for his wickedness. None are driven out from their
honour, power, and possessions, but it is for their wickedness. None of
our comforts are ever lost but what have been a thousand times forfeited. If
the wicked are driven away, it is in their wickedness. [3.] It
is a mighty one of the heathen that shall be the instrument of his
ruin; for God often employs one wicked man in punishing another. He shall
surely deal with him, shall know how to manage him, great as he is. Note,
Proud imperious men will, sooner or later, meet with their match.
(2.) In this history of the fall of the Assyrian observe, [1.] A continuation
of the similitude of the cedar. He grew very high, and extended his boughs
very far; but his day comes to fall. First, This stately cedar was
cropped: The terrible of the nations cut him off. Soldiers, who being
both armed and commissioned to kill, and slay, and destroy, may well be
reckoned among the terrible of the nations. They have lopped off his
branches first, have seized upon some parts of his dominion and forced them
out of his hands; so that in all mountains and valleys of the
nations about, in the high-lands and low-lands, and by all the rivers,
there were cities or countries that were broken off from the Assyrian
monarchy, that had been subject to it, but had either revolted or were
recovered from it. Its feathers were borrowed; and, when every bird had
fetched back its own, it was naked like the stump of a tree. Secondly,
It was deserted: All the people of the earth, that had fled to him for
shelter, have gone down from his shadow and have left him. When he was
disabled to give them protection they thought they no longer owed him
allegiance. Let not great men be proud of the number of those that attend them
and have a dependence upon them; it is only for what they can get. When
Providence frowns upon them their retinue is soon dispersed and scattered from
them. Thirdly, It was insulted over, and its fall triumphed in (v.
13): Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, to tread
upon the broken branches of this cedar. Its fall is triumphed in by the other
trees, who were angry to see themselves overtopped so much: All the trees
of Eden, that were cut down and had fallen before him, all that drank
water of the rain of heaven, as the stump of the tree that is left in the south
is said to be wet with the dew of heaven (Dan. iv. 23) and to bud through
the scent of water (Job xiv. 9), shall be comforted in the nether parts
of the earth when they see this proud cedar brought as low as themselves. Solamen
miseris socios habuisse doloris--To have companions in woe is a solace
to those who suffer. But, on the contrary, the trees of Lebanon, that are
yet standing in their height and strength, mourned for him, and the
trees of the field fainted for him, because they could not but read their
own destiny in his fall. Howl, fir-trees, if the cedar be shaken, for
they cannot expect to stand long, Zech. xi. 2. [2.] An explanation of the
similitude of the cedar. By the cutting down of this cedar is signified the
slaughter of this mighty monarch and all his adherents and supporters; they
are all delivered to death, to fall by the sword, as the cedar by the
axe. He and his princes, who, he said, were altogether kings, go down
to the grace, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the
children of men, as common persons of no quality or distinction. They
died like men (Ps. lxxxii. 7); they were carried away with those that
go down to the pit, and their pomp did neither protect them nor descend
after them. Again (v. 16), He was cast down to hell with those
that descend into the pit; he went into the state of the dead, and was
buried as others are, in obscurity and oblivion. Again (v. 17), They
all that were his arm, on whom he stayed, by whom he acted and exerted his
power, all that dwelt under his shadow, his subjects and allies, and
all that had any dependence on him, they all went down into ruin, down
into the grace with him, unto those that were slain with the sword, to
those that were cut off by untimely deaths before them, under the load of
guilt and shame. When great men fall a great many fall with them, as a great
many in like manner have fallen before them. [3.] What God designed, and aimed
at, in bringing down this mighty monarch and his monarchy. He designed
thereby, First, To give an alarm to the nations about, to put them all
to a stand, to put them all to a gaze (v. 16): I made the nations to
shake at the sound of his fall. They were all struck with astonishment to
see so mighty a prince brought down thus. It give a shock to all their
confidences, every one thinking his turn would be next. When he went down
to the grace (v. 15) I caused a mourning, a general
lamentation, as the whole kingdom goes into mourning at the death of the king.
In token of this general grief, I covered the deep for him, put that
into black, gave a stop to business, in complaisance to this universal
mourning. I restrained the floods, and the great waters were stayed,
that they might run into another channel, that of lamentation. Lebanon
particularly, the kingdom of Syria, that was sometimes in confederacy with the
Assyrian, mourned for him; as the allies of Babylon, Rev. xviii. 9. Secondly,
To give an admonition to the nations about, and to their kings (v. 14):
To the end that none of all the trees by the waters, though ever so
advantageously situated, may exalt themselves for their height, may be
proud and conceited of themselves and shoot up their top among the thick
boughs, looking disdainfully upon others, nor stand upon themselves for
their height, confiding in their own politics and powers, as if they could
never be brought down. Let them all take warning by the Assyrian, for he once
held up his head as high, and thought he kept his footing as firm, as any of
them; but his pride went before his destruction, and his confidence failed
him. Note, The fall of proud presumptuous men is intended for warning to
others to keep humble. It would have been well for Nebuchadnezzar, who was
himself active in bringing down the Assyrian, if he had taken the admonition.
2. Here is a prophecy of the fall of the king of Egypt in like manner, v.
18. He thought himself like the Assyrian in glory and greatness,
over-topping all the trees of Eden, as the cypress does the shrubs.
"But thou also shalt be brought down, with the other trees
that are pleasant to the sight, as those in Eden. Thou shalt be brought to
the grave, to the nether or lower parts of the earth; thou shalt lie
in the midst of the uncircumcised, that die in their uncleanness, die
ingloriously, die under a curse and at a distance from God; then shall those
whom thou hast trampled upon triumph over thee, saying, This is Pharaoh and
all his multitude. See how mean he looks, how low he lies; see what all
his pomp and pride have come to; here is all that is left of him." Note,
Great men and great multitudes, with the great figure and great noise they
make in the world, when God comes to contend with them, will soon become
little, less than nothing, such as Pharaoh and all his multitude.
Contents
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