Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches and forest shade, and of towering height, its top among the clouds.
The chapter is about the ruin of Egypt, and God answers Pharaoh with a picture. He points him to Assyria — a cedar in Lebanon, tall, beautiful, and spreading a wide shade.
Assyria Set Before Pharaoh
The prophet works by comparison. He sets the coming ruin of Egypt beside a greater ruin already past:
William KellyThe prophet next shows us, in striking pictures, the ruin of Egypt. The Assyrian was the greatest ruler on earth in that day. The solemn warning of his downfall is applied to Pharaoh's kingdom. It shows the principle Scripture uses so often with people: the Lord brings down the proud, and He lifts up the lowly.
The comparison bites because of something in every one of us, not just in Pharaoh:
Numerical Bible NotesHow gladly would we make ourselves the one exception, so that what applies to others should not apply to us! God therefore points them to Assyria, a power as strong as Egypt itself.
Why a Cedar
The tree was not picked at random. In Scripture the cedar already carried a settled meaning.
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe cedar is a symbol of strength and stability: the righteous "grow like a cedar in Lebanon" (Psalm 92:12). The Assyrian king in his strength was also compared to a cedar… and for his pride he was to be brought down.
The verse also names the shade this cedar threw. Some older translations call it a "shadowing shroud":
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe "shadowing shroud" means the shelter given by the spreading boughs of a great tree — like the one to which Assyria is compared.
Greatness as a Gift
Every detail in the verse — the beautiful branches, the shade, the height — belonged to Assyria only because God gave it.
William KellyThe cedar of Lebanon stood out among the trees for its height, its size, the reach of its shade and its beauty. The Assyrian had stood out in the same way among the nations. God had held back nothing that could adorn or enlarge Nineveh, or the people whose capital it was. He even gave it huge, far-reaching power and influence over the countries around, so that all of them envied it.
The gift is what makes the fall worth studying. Another writer traces what Assyria did with it:
Numerical Bible NotesMade 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?
Trees as Powers
The picture is not limited to this chapter. In Scripture a tall tree stands for men lifted high in the world.
William KellyThe trees represent those who are high and exalted among men. It is a very common symbol in the word of God for those who are deeply rooted, standing high and reaching far in their influence here below. (See, for instance, Ezekiel 31:3 and Daniel 4.)
So the cedar here is more than a note about one empire. It is the standing way Scripture pictures any power that grows tall over others.
From Height to Pride
The verse ends with the tree's top in the clouds. That height is where the trouble starts — not in the branches, but in the king's heart.
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 fall was not bad luck. God was governing, and He turned that fall into a warning.
Numerical Bible NotesThis was not some disaster no one could explain. It was a warning that God's sure government preaches everywhere against pride.
Summary
- Given. Assyria did not make itself great. Every branch, every stretch of shade, every foot of height was God's gift.
- Grown. The cedar is Scripture's picture of strength and stability. Its spreading boughs gave real shelter.
- Envied. God gave Assyria power over the countries around it, until every one of them envied it. A tall tree is Scripture's standing symbol for a power like that, in Daniel 4 as well as here.
- Lifted. The ruin came when the height reached the heart: he "coveted for himself the glory of a king of kings."
- Levelled. God points Pharaoh to Assyria because we all want to be the one exception. His sure government "preaches everywhere against pride."