November 26th Ezekiel 31 A mighty Cedar
1: And it came to pass in the eleventh
year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the
LORD came unto me, saying, 2:
Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom
art thou like in thy greatness? 3:
Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and
with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the
thick boughs. 4: The waters
made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about
his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field. 5: Therefore his height was exalted
above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his
branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth. 6: All the fowls of heaven made their
nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field
bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations. 7: Thus was he fair in his greatness,
in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters. 8: The cedars in the garden of God
could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut
trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God
was like unto him in his beauty. 9:
I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of
Eden, that were in the garden of God,
envied him. 10: Therefore thus
saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath
shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his
height; 11: I have therefore
delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely
deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness. 12: And strangers, the terrible of
the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all
the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the
rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his
shadow, and have left him. 13:
Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of
the field shall be upon his branches: 14:
To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their
height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees
stand up in their height, all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto
death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men,
with them that go down to the pit. 15:
Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a
mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and
the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all
the trees of the field fainted for him. 16:
I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to
hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden,
the choice and best of Lebanon,
all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth. 17: They also went down into hell
with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm,
that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen. 18: To whom art thou thus like in
glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden?
yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou
shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the
sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel
32 Like a crocodile
1: And it came to pass in the twelfth
year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the
LORD came unto me, saying, 2:
Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him,
Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas:
and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet,
and fouledst their rivers. 3:
Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a
company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in my net. 4: Then will I leave thee upon the
land, I will cast thee forth upon the open field, and will cause all the fowls
of the heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole
earth with thee. 5: And I will
lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with thy height. 6: I will also water with thy blood
the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be
full of thee. 7: And when I
shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I
will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. 8: All the bright lights of heaven
will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.
9: I will also vex the hearts
of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the
countries which thou hast not known. 10:
Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly
afraid for thee, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall
tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall. 11: For thus saith the Lord GOD; The
sword of the king of Babylon
shall come upon thee. 12: By
the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall, the terrible of
the nations, all of them: and they shall spoil the pomp of Egypt, and all the multitude
thereof shall be destroyed. 13:
I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside the great waters;
neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of beasts
trouble them. 14: Then will I
make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord
GOD. 15: When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country shall be
destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall smite all them that dwell
therein, then shall they know that I am the LORD. 16: This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament her: the
daughters of the nations shall lament her: they shall lament for her, even for Egypt,
and for all her multitude, saith the Lord GOD.
The
pit
17: It came to pass also in the twelfth
year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto
me, saying, 18: Son of man,
wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the
daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them
that go down into the pit. 19:
Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the
uncircumcised. 20: They shall
fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the
sword: draw her and all her multitudes. 21:
The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with
them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the
sword. 22: Asshur is there and
all her company: his graves are about him: all of them slain, fallen by the
sword: 23: Whose graves are set
in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave: all of them
slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living. 24: There is Elam and all her
multitude round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which
are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused
their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with
them that go down to the pit. 25:
They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude: her
graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword:
though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet have they borne
their shame with them that go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of them
that be slain. 26: There is
Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of
them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the
land of the living. 27: And
they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which
are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their
swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones,
though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. 28: Yea, thou shalt be broken in the
midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie with them that are slain with the
sword. 29: There is Edom,
her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by them that
were slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them
that go down to the pit. 30:
There be the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians, which
are gone down with the slain; with their terror they are ashamed of their
might; and they lie uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword, and
bear their shame with them that go down to the pit. 31: Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his
multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, saith the Lord
GOD. 32: For I have caused my
terror in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the
uncircumcised with them that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his
multitude, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel
33 D. The Glory of the Lord in the
Coming Kingdom The watchman’s duty
1: Again the word of the LORD came
unto me, saying, 2: Son of man,
speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword
upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him
for their watchman: 3: If when
he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
4: Then whosoever heareth the
sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him
away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 5: He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his
blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. 6: But if the watchman see the sword
come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword
come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity;
but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. 7: So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the
house of Israel;
therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. 8: When I say unto the wicked, O
wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked
from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I
require at thine hand. 9:
Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not
turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy
soul. 10: Therefore, O thou son
of man, speak unto the house of Israel;
Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we
pine away in them, how should we then live?
Personal
accountability
11: Say unto them, As I live, saith the
Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked
turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will
ye die, O house of Israel?
12: Therefore, thou son of man,
say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall
not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the
wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his
wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness
in the day that he sinneth. 13:
When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to
his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not
be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for
it. 14: Again, when I say unto
the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which
is lawful and right; 15: If the
wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes
of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. 16: None of his sins that he hath
committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and
right; he shall surely live. 17:
Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as
for them, their way is not equal. 18:
When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he
shall even die thereby. 19: But
if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right,
he shall live thereby. 20: Yet
ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one
after his ways.
The
news of Jerusalem’s
fall
21: And it came to pass in the twelfth
year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that
one that had escaped out of Jerusalem
came unto me, saying, The city is smitten. 22: Now the hand of the LORD was upon me in the evening, afore
he that was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the
morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb. 23: Then the word of the LORD came
unto me, saying, 24: Son of
man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel
speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the
land is given us for inheritance. 25:
Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Ye eat with the blood, and
lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the
land? 26: Ye stand upon your
sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbour's wife: and
shall ye possess the land? 27:
Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely they that
are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field
will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that be in the forts and in
the caves shall die of the pestilence. 28:
For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall
cease; and the mountains of Israel
shall be desolate, that none shall pass through. 29: Then shall they know that I am the LORD, when I have laid
the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have
committed. 30: Also, thou son
of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls
and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his
brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth
from the LORD. 31: And they
come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and
they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew
much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. 32: And, lo, thou art unto them as a
very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an
instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not. 33: And when this cometh to pass,
(lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.
In Chapter 31 Ezekiel records another vision and he gives
the date as usual. This time the prophesy is to Egypt but God is talking about the
Assyrian empire. The Lord describes him as a great tree who is so great that
all the other trees of the world shelter in his shadow. They all envy him and
he is exalted in pride. Because of his pride the Lord will bring him down and everyone
will be amazed at his fall. The trees of the field all shook when the Lord cast
him into hell. This was to be an object lesson to Egypt. In the Next Chapter Ezekiel
is to take up a mourning song for Egypt. He is to say that Egypt was like
a lion of the nations and a whale in the seas. Yet the Lord will catch the
whale in a great net and throw them into the beach where all the birds will
feed off her. Even the sun, moon and stars will not shine. The nations will
tremble at Egypt’s fall and
it will be by war from Babylon.
It seems that Russia and the
northern kingdoms will bury their dead in Israel
and Egypt.
In the last chapter Ezekiel speaks to his own people to set watchmen to warn
the people of coming danger. And the Lord gives to Ezekiel the solemn responsibility
to be a watchman to Israel.
The secret of the relation of Israel
to their God is that the Lord says l have no pleasure in the death of the
wicked so therefore turn from your evil ways – why would you die in judgment?
Men will say that Gods ways are not the same He will save those who turn from
their evil ways but he will destroy the wicked who refuse to hear him. Next
Ezekiel hears from a man who escaped from the destruction of Jerusalem. Ezekiel reiterates the judgment of
God on Jerusalem.
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