Introduction
In this chapter, Assyria is used as an example to Egypt of the fate that will befall them.
1 - 18 Assyria as a Warning Example
1 In the eleventh year, in the third [month], on the first of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying,
2 “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes,
‘Whom are you like in your greatness?
3 ‘Behold, Assyria [was] a cedar in Lebanon
With beautiful branches and forest shade,
And very high,
And its top was among the clouds.
4 ‘The waters made it grow, the deep made it high.
With its rivers it continually extended all around its planting place,
And sent out its channels to all the trees of the field.
5 ‘Therefore its height was loftier than all the trees of the field
And its boughs became many and its branches long
Because of many waters as it spread them out.
6 ‘All the birds of the heavens nested in its boughs,
And under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth,
And all great nations lived under its shade.
7 ‘So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches;
For its roots extended to many waters.
8 ‘The cedars in God’s garden could not match it;
The cypresses could not compare with its boughs,
And the plane trees could not match its branches.
No tree in God’s garden could compare with it in its beauty.
9 ‘I made it beautiful with the multitude of its branches,
And all the trees of Eden, which were in the garden of God, were jealous of it.
10 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Because it is high in stature and has set its top among the clouds, and its heart is haughty in its loftiness,
11 therefore I will give it into the hand of a despot of the nations; he will thoroughly deal with it. According to its wickedness I have driven it away.
12 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.
13 On its ruin all the birds of the heavens will dwell, and all the beasts of the field will be on its [fallen] branches
14 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.”
15 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “On the day when it went down to Sheol I caused lamentations; I closed the deep over it and held back its rivers. And [its] many waters were stopped up, and I made Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted away on account of it.
16 I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall when I made it go down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit; and all the well-watered trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, were comforted in the earth beneath.
17 They also went down with it to Sheol to those who were slain by the sword; and those who were its strength lived under its shade among the nations.
18 “To which among the trees of Eden are you thus equal in glory and greatness? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth beneath; you will lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who were slain by the sword. So is Pharaoh and all his hordes!”‘ declares the Lord GOD.”
In the eleventh year, the word of the LORD comes to Ezekiel again (verse 1). He must again go with a message to Pharaoh and his people, the Egyptians (verse 2). This time he is to present them with a parable. He begins by asking who Pharaoh and his hordes of subjects are comparable to. The answer follows immediately: it is with Assyria (verse 3). Assyria has always competed with Egypt for world domination, a battle sometimes won by one, sometimes by the other. But Assyria, as a world power, still makes the most impression.
There follows a description of the greatness and fall of Assyria. This is done by picturing Assyria as an impressive cedar in Lebanon. This tree is a symbol of majesty and power and at the same time a picture of pride (Dan 4:20-28). This is already reflected in its tall trunk and “its top” which is “among the clouds”. This tree is so tall that it looks like an entire forest.
Because he can absorb abundant water, he grows prosperously (verse 4). Because of his greatness, he gains connection with all the trees in the field. Other peoples want to serve him or are subdued by him. Thus he becomes taller than all the trees of the field, which means he becomes greater than all other peoples (verse 5). Just as the branches of the tree provide protection for birds and animals, so he becomes the protector of all kinds of peoples (verse 6; cf. Dan 4:12; Mt 13:32).
In his loftiness he is beautiful and in his vastness he is mighty (verse 7). His appearance is reminiscent of the trees in paradise (verse 8). The most beautiful trees in the garden of God cannot measure up to him. With his appearance, he commands the respect of everything around him in creation.
The way he is presented here also expresses his immoderate complacency. As the LORD made the trees in the garden, He also made the cedar (verse 9). In the same way, He also made Assyria great. In verse 10, the LORD briefly addresses Egypt in between, which we see by the words “you are” [“it is” is literally “you are”] (cf. verse 2), as a reminder that the description of Assyria is in fact about Egypt.
But there is no awareness in Assyria, as in Egypt, that he owes his greatness to the LORD. On the contrary, his heart has lifted up itself on his height and his power. What God has given him and made of him, he has in pride attributed to himself. Therefore the Lord GOD pronounces His judgment on him and will give him into the hand of “a despot of the nations”, that is, the king of Babylon, the rising world power (verse 11). He has repaid him his wickedness and expelled him from his supreme position. But it is the LORD Himself Who has done that.
The picture of the tree is further used to describe the fall of Assyria (verse 12). Assyria is cut down. There he lies, felled. His branches, by which is meant all the nations associated with him, fall with him and perish. Others move away from him, without further concern for him. There are some, however, who continue to dwell with him and sit on his branches (verse 13; verse 6). These are nations who first shared in Assyria’s prosperity and now see some profit in his fall.
The fall causes such a startling effect that all the trees are careful not to exalt themselves (verse 14). None of the ‘water drinkers’, that is, no tree as a picture of a people, should dare to exalt themselves. Just as a tree cannot grow by itself, but only thanks to water, so a people cannot grow by themselves, but only in dependence on God. Those who want to become great in their own strength are blind to the end that awaits earthly rulers: surrendered to death and going to the lowest places of the earth. There they are nothing more than all the other people who are already there.
That, says the Lord GOD to Egypt, is what happened to Assyria (verse 15). It went down to Sheol. The fall did not bring joy to the LORD, but lamentations. In the picture, the waters mourn over the fall of the cedar, He shrouds Lebanon in blackness [“mourn” is literally “be darkened”] and made all the trees of the field wilt away.
There is dismay among the nations because of the deep fall of Assyria to Sheol because they fear the same fate (verse 16). If Assyria with its awesome military might cannot withstand the Babylonians, who will be able to withstand them? In his fall, he drags others with him into the pit. But in the end it is not the Babylonians who have caused the nations to quake, but the quaking has come from the LORD.
On the other hand, among those who are in the realm of the dead – the dethroned princes and defeated nations – there is a certain satisfaction when the king of Assyria joins them. His power on earth has not protected him from the judgment of God. They had to bow down to him on earth, but now he is equal to them. They are all in Sheol and have ended up there in the same way (verse 17). All have fallen by the sword that has been his powerful weapon, with which he has subdued other nations.
Then the LORD again addresses Pharaoh and his people directly (verse 18; verse 2). He asks him again the question He asked at the beginning. Again, the answer immediately follows. The LORD assures Pharaoh that he and his people will not fare any differently than Assyria and the nations allied with him did. They will lie down in disgrace after being slain by the sword. That is how it will end with Pharaoh and all his hordes. The Lord GOD declares so and therefore it will go that way.