Ezekiel 32:22 “Assyria is there with her whole mob; her graves are all around her. All of them are murdered ones, fallen by the sword. Ezekiel 32:23 Her graves are set in the deepest regions of the Pit, and her mob is all around her burial place. All of them are murdered ones, fallen by the sword – those who once spread terror in the land of the living.
who once spread terror
We have a picture in our minds of a terrorist — someone whose goal is to disrupt civilization with crimes and acts of cruelty. In Ezekiel’s time, the Assyrians were the terrorists. But no more. They had been wiped out, and now Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian empire was in control. Ezekiel depicts the change by describing a huge graveyard, and all the dead were there. Those who once spread terror are now silenced by death.
Someday, all who terrorize will share the same destiny.
Ezekiel 32:17 In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of Yahveh happened to me. This is what it said: Ezekiel 32:18 “Son of Adam, wail over the processions of Egypt and bring Egypt and the daughters of mighty nations down to below the ground, to be with those who descend to the Pit: Ezekiel 32:19 Who do you surpass in loveliness? Go down and be laid to rest with the uncircumcised! Ezekiel 32:20 They will fall among those murdered ones by the sword. A sword is appointed! They drag her and all her processions away. Ezekiel 32:21 Warrior leaders will speak from the middle of Sheol about him and his allies: ‘They have come down; the uncircumcised lie murdered by the sword.’
who is the fairest?
Egypt and other mighty nations are having a beauty contest, and all the while the LORD says they are being dragged down to the grave (Sheol) to join the warrior leaders who died before them. Such is the fate of all. What matters is our relationship with God on judgment day. How beautiful or strong you were in this life will not matter then.
Ezekiel 32:11 ” ‘Because this is what the Lord Yahveh says: The sword of Babylon’s king will come against you! Ezekiel 32:12 I will make your processions fall by the swords of warriors, all of them ruthless men from the nations. They will ravage Egypt’s pride, and all its processions will be exterminated. Ezekiel 32:13 I will slaughter all its cattle that are beside much water. No human foot will muddy them again, and no cattle hooves will disturb them. Ezekiel 32:14 Then I will let their waters settle and will make their rivers flow like oil. This is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh. Ezekiel 32:15 When I make the land of Egypt a sinister desolation so that it is emptied of everything in it when I slap down all who live there, then they will know that I am Yahveh. Ezekiel 32:16 ” ‘The daughters of the nations will chant that dirge. They will chant it over Egypt and all its processions. This is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh.'”
undisturbed water
About verse 15, Cowles writes, “The cattle for which Egypt was celebrated, and of which she thought so much that the cow was the highest object of her worship, came under this sweeping curse. We shall see the force of the language if we consider how their want of water would bring them to the rivers and canals to drink, and how they would poach the banks and foul the waters with their feet. But God would so completely destroy them that no foot of beast or of man should foul those waters anymore. — “ Then will I ” ( v. 14 ) make their waters, not “deep,” but quiet, causing them to subside and lie undisturbed so that they would run freely and clear as oil.” 1
The LORD took the two things the Egyptians prided themselves in most (their river and their cattle) and quieted them both down. He emptied the land of its commerce by making it desolate.
May we never get so caught up in our lives that God has to quiet us that way.
1 Cowles, Henry. Ezekiel and Daniel: With Notes, Critical, Explanatory, and Practical. New York: D. Appleton, 1870. p. 178.
Ezekiel 32:9 ” ‘I will trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring about your destruction among the nations, in countries you have not known. Ezekiel 32:10 I will cause many peoples to be appalled at you, and their kings will shudder with fear because of you when I brandish my sword in front of them. On the day of your downfall, each of them will tremble every moment for his own throat.
every king will fear
When Egypt falls to Nebuchadnezzar, all of the other kings all around will recognize that if mighty Pharaoh could not resist, neither can they. They will regret the fact that they did not submit to Nebuchadnezzar’s rule. Ezekiel is predicting this fall, and his God is the one giving the command.
One day, everyone — great and small — will stand before the judgment throne. Mighty kings will fall then as well, and all of the lesser kings will realize that they cannot withstand the King of kings. But we cannot afford to wait for that day. We need to reconcile with the Lord now.
Ezekiel 32:1 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of Yahveh happened to me. This is what it said: Ezekiel 32:2 “Son of Adam, sing a dirge for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him, ‘You compare yourself to a lion of the nations, but you are like a monster in the seas. You thrash about in your rivers, churning up the waters with your feet, and muddy the rivers. Ezekiel 32:3 ” ‘This is what the Lord Yahveh says: I will spread my net over you with a mob of many peoples, and they will haul you up in my net. Ezekiel 32:4 I will abandon you on the land and throw you onto the open field. I will cause all the birds of the sky to settle on you and let the wild creatures of the entire land eat their fill of you. Ezekiel 32:5 I will put your flesh on the mountains and fill the valleys with your carcass. Ezekiel 32:6 I will drench the land with the flow of your blood, even to the mountains; the ravines will be filled with your gore. Ezekiel 32:7 ” ‘When I snuff you out, I will cover the skies and darken their stars. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. Ezekiel 32:8 I will darken all the shining lights in the sky over you and will bring darkness on your land. This is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh.
death of a monster
Greenhill remarks, “Whales are not more troublesome to the seas, crocodiles to the rivers of Egypt, lions and wild beasts to the land than tyrants are to their own kingdoms, and those that are near unto them.” 1
The picture of God’s judgment upon Pharaoh that Ezekiel paints looks like the slaughter of a gigantic whale. Pharaoh had been a monster in the seas, but his day of judgment had come. Now his carcass fills the land.
Such is the case for modern-day tyrants as well. They may spread hate and terror while alive, but death comes to them all in God’s time.
1 Greenhill, William, and James Sherman. An exposition of the prophet Ezekiel, with useful observations thereupon. London: S. Holdsworth, 1839. p. 656.
Ezekiel 31:18 ” ‘Who then are you like in impressive appearance and greatness among Eden’s trees? You also will be brought down to below the ground to be with the trees of Eden. You will lie among the uncircumcised with those murdered ones by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his processions. This is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh.'”
Pharaoh destined for dirt
Ezekiel had just reminded Pharaoh that all the great rulers who had led humanity before him (he called then Eden’s trees) had died and been brought down to below the ground. Now he reminds Pharaoh that the same fate awaits him as well. No matter how big you are, you are destined for dirt. So, after all the hype is over, the only thing that will matter is your relationship with God. Death is a great equalizer. What happens after death is up to the LORD.
Davidson goes beyond this when he asserts “The history of nations is the judgment of nations. But the nations like individuals continue to subsist, they bear their shame in Sheòl for ever.” 1 No, Ezekiel’s point was not that Egypt would continue to subsist (or exist) in Sheol. His point was that they would come to an end. God’s judgment of individuals will not take place in Sheol. There must be a resurrection for that. Until then, Pharaoh — like all the other trees of Eden — will lie silent in the ground.
1 Davidson, A. B. Ezekiel. Cambridge: University Press, 1892. p. 232.
Ezekiel 31:15 ” ‘This is what the Lord Yahveh says: I caused grieving on the day the cedar went down to Sheol. I shut off the underground deep because of it: I held back the rivers of the deep, and its abundant water was restrained. I made Lebanon mourn on account of it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it. Ezekiel 31:16 I made the nations quake at the sound of its downfall when I threw it down to Sheol to be with those who descend to the Pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, all the well-watered trees, found consolation below the ground. Ezekiel 31:17 They too descended with it to Sheol, to those murdered ones by the sword. As its allies, they had lived in its shade among the nations.
Eden’s trees in hell
Why would the trees of Eden go to hell? That is what the KJV says, but Shrewsbury points out that the Hebrew here is Sheol “the ‘grave,’ as the word chiefly signifies in the Old Testament.”1 He’s saying that the prideful pagan king (described as a great cedar) will join all the other fallen trees in death. Everyone goes to Sheol and awaits resurrection and judgment to determine their permanent fate: either permanent life through Christ or permanent destruction in the real hell: Gehenna.
1 Shrewsbury, W. J., and J. V. B. Shrewsbury. Notes on Ezekiel, Critical and Explanatory: [With the English Text]. 1863. p. 127.
Ezekiel 31:10 ” ‘Therefore, this is what the Lord Yahveh says: Since it towered high in stature and set its top among the clouds, and it grew proud on account of its height, Ezekiel 31:11 I determined to hand it over to a ruler of nations; he would surely deal with it. I banished it because of its guilt. Ezekiel 31:12 Foreigners, ruthless men from the nations, cut it down and left it lying. Its limbs fell on the mountains and in every valley; its boughs lay broken in all the land’s ravines. All the peoples of the land left its shade and abandoned it. Ezekiel 31:13 All the birds of the sky nested on its fallen trunk, and all the animals of the field were among its boughs. Ezekiel 31:14 This happened so that no trees planted beside water would become great in height and set their tops among the clouds, and so that no other well-watered trees would reach them in height. You see, they have all been consigned to death, to below the ground, among the people who descend to the Pit.
Redpath describes the fate of the once-proud trees like this: “Haughtiness comes before a fall, and in this fall they must learn humility; for they go down into the kingdom of the dead, where they are nothing else than ordinary sons of men: comp. Job iii . 19, “Small and great are there.” Except that there is no kingdom. It is just a hole in the ground. Sheol — where everyone goes at death. There is no pride there. There is no conscious life there. There we all wait for resurrection and judgment.”1
LORD give us the wisdom to live for you on this side. There is no living and no pride in the grave.
1 Redpath, Henry A. The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel: With Introd. and Notes. London: Methuen, 1907. p. 177.
Ezekiel 31:1 In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of Yahveh happened to me. This is what it said: Ezekiel 31:2 “Son of Adam, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his processions, ‘Who are you like in your greatness? Ezekiel 31:3 Notice Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches and shady foliage and of lofty height. Its top was among the clouds. Ezekiel 31:4 The waters caused it to grow; the underground springs made it tall, directing their rivers all around the place where the tree was planted and sending their channels to all the trees of the field. Ezekiel 31:5 Therefore the cedar became greater in height than all the trees of the field. Its branches multiplied, and its boughs grew long as it spread them out because of the abundant water. Ezekiel 31:6 All the birds of the sky nested in its branches, and all the animals of the field gave birth beneath its boughs; all the great nations lived in its shade. Ezekiel 31:7 It was beautiful with its size, with the length of its limbs, because its roots extended to abundant water. Ezekiel 31:8 The cedars in God’s garden could not eclipse it; the pine trees couldn’t compare with its branches, nor could the plane trees match its boughs. No tree in the garden of God could compare with it in beauty. Ezekiel 31:9 I made it beautiful with its many limbs, and all the trees of Eden, which were in God’s garden, envied it.
Kelly observes, “Assyria had been beyond the powers hitherto known for magnificence, but as a kingdom, not as an imperial system. Egypt, disposed of as it might be to take an imperial place, must fall after the same example. Political wisdom might be proud, but it could no more secure that object of ambition than the force of numbers or extent of territory. God controls and governs, not only in what pertains to His things but in those of man. As the cedar of Lebanon among the trees, for tallness, size, and extent of shade as well as beauty, so had the Assyrian been among the nations. God had grudged nothing that could adorn or aggrandize Nineveh or the people of whom it was the capital, yea, gave it to exercise enormous outreaching power and influence over countries roundabout, so as to be envied by all.” 1
So, there are many today who have been endowed with enviable gifts but are on their way to destruction. Other people’s envy cannot keep us from our fate. What matters is God’s assessment.
1 Kelly, William. Notes on Ezekiel. London: G. Morrish, 1876. p. 149.
Ezekiel 30:19 So I will execute judgments against Egypt, and they will know that I am Yahveh.'” Ezekiel 30:20 In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of Yahveh happened to me. This is what it said: Ezekiel 30:21 “Son of Adam, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Notice, it has not been bandaged – no medicine has been applied and no splint put on to bandage it so that it can grow strong enough to handle a sword. Ezekiel 30:22 Therefore, this is what the Lord Yahveh says: Notice! I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt. I will break his arms, both the strong one and the one already broken, and will make the sword fall from his hand. Ezekiel 30:23 I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them among the countries. Ezekiel 30:24 I will strengthen the arms of Babylon’s king and place my sword in his hand. But I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him like a mortally wounded man. Ezekiel 30:25 I will strengthen the arms of Babylon’s king, but Pharaoh’s arms will fall. They will know that I am Yahveh when I place my sword in the hand of Babylon’s king and he wields it against the land of Egypt. Ezekiel 30:26 When I disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them among the countries, they will know that I am Yahveh.”
broken arms, strengthened arms
The LORD has broken the arm of Pharaoh, and he “will not even have time to apply healing medicines and to put a splint upon it before Jehovah, in the person of Nebuchadnezzar, shall be upon him to break the other arm also (verse 22). 1
Meanwhile, the LORD plans to strengthen the arm of Pharaoh’s rival, Babylon’s king Nebuchadnezzar. Our LORD’s judgment decides who rises, and who falls. He also decides who gets support in their plans, and who loses strength and support.
LORD, strengthen us for your mission. Give us the support we need, and the wisdom to seek your will, not our own.
1 Cobern, Camden M. Ezekiel and Daniel. New York: Methodist Book Concern, 1901. p. 179.
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