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.
Ezekiel 31 points Pharaoh to an empire that had already fallen — Assyria, a cedar so tall that every nation sheltered under it. Verse 11 is the hinge: God Himself hands the tree over, and the reason He gives is its own wickedness.
Greatness that was a gift
The cedar's height was never its own achievement. One writer traces the fall back to what God first gave, and to what man does with any gift:
Numerical Bible NotesBut, made great in this way by the fostering care of God, it was only to repeat the old story; for what gift of God is there that man will not abuse? And what hope is there for a person who turns God's mercies to evil instead of good?
The same writer shows how little ground Assyria had for pride:
Numerical Bible NotesAssyria, like Egypt, was an oasis in the desert. Its two rivers made it what it was, and it owed everything to them, as Egypt owed everything to the Nile. So it was completely dependent, as anyone could see. Yet what grew out of that was self-exaltation, not a sense of dependence. So in the end humiliation had to follow, for God's law is: Whoever exalts himself will be humbled.
The offence that brought the sentence
Verse 11 is God's answer to something earlier in the chapter. William Kelly names the ambition that provoked it:
William KellyBut the Assyrian coveted for himself the glory of a king of kings; and this lifting up of his heart in his height brought his doom upon him.
The hand God used
Assyria's fall was not an accident of power politics. J. N. Darby sets it beside Pharaoh's own case:
J. N. DarbyThe mighty empire of Assyria had already fallen. Pharaoh, whatever his claims and his ambition, was no better. We see this judgment of the Assyrian in Ezekiel 31:10-11. He was the chief of all the nations in power. There the "mighty one of the nations" stands out clearly, falling before this decree of God.
"He shall surely deal with it" carries a grim thoroughness. The work handed to Babylon would be finished:
Numerical Bible NotesGod had given him too into the hand of Babylon, one who would make thorough work with him — for when God has work to do, He will see that it is done.
When the rod grows proud
God's use of a nation is no guarantee of its safety. J. T. Mawson draws the rule out of the Old Testament's record:
J. T. MawsonIn God's governmental ways with nations He may use one as His rod with which to punish another; this we constantly see in Old Testament Scriptures. But woe to the nation so used if she becomes lifted up with pride because of it. As surely as God rules with justice, so surely will she be humbled in her turn, and justly.
Why Pharaoh must look at it
The whole chapter speaks to Egypt, not to Assyria. Kelly explains why God holds up a dead empire in front of a living one:
William KellyThe Assyrian was the greatest of earth's kings in that day. His downfall is a terrible warning, and that warning now falls on Pharaoh's kingdom. It shows the principle Scripture uses so often with people: the Lord brings the proud low as He lifts up the lowly.
Kelly measures Egypt's ambition against Assyria's example:
William KellyAssyria had gone beyond every power known until then in magnificence, but as a kingdom, not as an imperial system. Egypt might want to take an imperial place, but it must fall the same way. Political wisdom might be proud, but it could not secure that goal of ambition any more than force of numbers or size of territory. God controls and governs, not only in what pertains to His things but in those of man.
The tree as a symbol
The towering tree is not a one-off image. Scripture uses it in a fixed way:
J. A. TrenchThe tree is the constant symbol of the great ones and powers of the world — as, for instance, Ezekiel 31, the Assyrian, and Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4.
Summary
- Given. The cedar's height came from God's care. Assyria lived off its two rivers as Egypt lived off the Nile. It owned nothing God had not given it.
- Grasped. Dependence should have followed; self-exaltation did. The Assyrian wanted the glory of a king of kings, and that lifting up of heart brought his doom.
- Given up. God hands the tree to "a mighty one of the nations." That is a decree, not an accident of history, and the one given the work will do it thoroughly.
- Government. God may use one nation as a rod against another. But when the rod grows proud, He humbles it in its turn, and justly.
- Guidance. God holds the dead empire up in front of the living one. He brings the proud low and lifts up the lowly. No political skill, numbers or territory buys an exception.