Ezekiel: For His Gloryഉദാഹരണം

This new oracle against Egypt is dated two months after the previous one. In it, Egypt is compared to Assyria in its greatness but the same fate befalls both these empires. 

Assyria is pictured as a magnificent cedar (vv. 3–9). This tree symbolizes majesty, with its wood often used to build temples and palaces. Drawing on the ancient near-Eastern myth of the ‘cosmic tree’, connecting the world with the netherworld and the heavens, Assyria is depicted as dominating all the neighboring empires (v. 6). The splendor of the cedar is such that even the trees in the Garden of Eden envy it (vv. 8–9). 

It is such greatness that sets up Assyria for a catastrophic fall (vv. 10–14). Indeed, Assyria, and also Egypt, become proud because of its lofty standing and strength. But as the saying goes, ‘Pride comes before a fall’ (cf. Prov. 16:18). Assyria fell to Babylon about twenty-five years before the time of Ezekiel, so the defeat would still be fresh in the minds of Ezekiel’s hearers. The cedar of Assyria was cut down; the same fate would befall Egypt at the hands of the Babylonians. Those who flourished under its shadow would be dispersed (v. 12). 

God’s judgment on Egypt also includes sending it down to Sheol (vv. 15– 18). God’s control is underlined by the fivefold repetition of ‘I’ in verses 15–16. Similar to the oracle against Tyre, the downfall of an influential empire will have widespread reverberations – the nations will shake when they hear the resounding thud of the fall. 

Reflection

Assyria and Egypt became arrogant because of their lofty positions. They thought that their achievements were won simply through the sweat of their brow and the strength of their hands. But God corrects this thinking in verse 9: ‘I made [the cedar] beautiful.’ God is behind the magnificence of nations. We would do well to remember that He is also behind all we have, do, and achieve. As Paul says, ‘In [God] we live and move and have our being’ (Acts 17:28).