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Pharaoh to Be Slain
31 In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude:
“Whom are you like in your greatness?
Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon,
with beautiful branches and forest shade,
and of towering height,
its top among the clouds.
The waters nourished it;
the deep made it grow tall,
making its rivers flow
around the place of its planting,
sending forth its streams
to all the trees of the field.
So it towered high
above all the trees of the field;
its boughs grew large
and its branches long
from abundant water in its shoots.
All the birds of the heavens
made their nests in its boughs;
under its branches all the beasts of the field
gave birth to their young,
and under its shadow
lived all great nations.
It was beautiful in its greatness,
in the length of its branches;
for its roots went down
to abundant waters.
The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it,
nor the fir trees equal its boughs;
neither were the plane trees
like its branches;
no tree in the garden of God
was its equal in beauty.
I made it beautiful
in the mass of its branches,
and all the trees of Eden envied it,
that were in the garden of God.
“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because it towered high and set its top among the clouds, and its heart was proud of its height, I will give it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations. He shall surely deal with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out. Foreigners, the most ruthless of 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 away from its shadow and left it. On its fallen trunk dwell all the birds of the heavens, and on its branches are all the beasts of the field. All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to towering height or set their tops among the clouds, and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height. For they are all given over to death, to the world below, among the children of man, with those who go down to the pit.
“Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day the cedar went down to Sheol I caused mourning; I closed the deep over it, and restrained its rivers, and many waters were stopped. I clothed Lebanon in gloom for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it. I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit. And all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the world below. They also went down to Sheol with it, to those who are slain by the sword; yes, those who were its arm, who lived under its shadow among the nations.
“Whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? You shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the world below. You shall lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.
“This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD.”
(ESV)
Ezekiel 31 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
The cedars of Lebanon were highly esteemed as symbols of excellence and domination. They towered up to 80 feet in height and were thick with spreading branches. God says not even the trees of Eden were so tall and impressive. Assyria is thought to be in the vicinity of where the Garden of Eden was located. If the rivers described in Genesis are the same as today, that would place the garden close by. Whatever the case, these cedars towered well above even Eden’s own trees.
But God turns the tables. It reminds me of an old saying. “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.” And Egypt, just like Assyria, was about to take a terrible fall. God ends the chapter with these harsh words…
“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.”
Ezekiel 31:18 NASB
The word translated “glory” in this verse is an interesting word. The original Hebrew verb is used to describe the worth or weightiness of something. It’s the same verb used in Genesis 18 to describe the potent evil which existed in Sodom making it worthy to be destroyed. Though it can be used to portray something evil, it is mostly used to exemplify something great and mighty.
This particular word, which describes God in this context, has a polarizing effect on whoever comes in contact with it. Those who scoff and reject Him will be weighed and found wanting. Those who fear Him with reverence will bow down and worship as Ezekiel did. No one will ever meet God and walk away the same.