mh_parser/vol_split/26 - Ezekiel/Chapter 31.xml

<div2 id="Ez.xxxii" n="xxxii" next="Ez.xxxiii" prev="Ez.xxxi" progress="61.69%" title="Chapter XXXI">
<h2 id="Ez.xxxii-p0.1">E Z E K I E L.</h2>
<h3 id="Ez.xxxii-p0.2">CHAP. XXXI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ez.xxxii-p1" shownumber="no">The prophecy of this chapter, as the two chapters
before, is against Egypt, and designed for the humbling and
mortifying of Pharaoh. In passing sentence upon great criminals it
is usual to consult precedents, and to see what has been done to
others in the like case, which serves both to direct and to justify
the proceedings. Pharaoh stands indicted at the bar of divine
justice for his pride and haughtiness, and the injuries he had done
to God's people; but he thinks himself so high, so great, as not to
be accountable to any authority, so strong, and so well guarded, as
not to be conquerable by any force. The prophet is therefore
directed to make a report to him of the case of the king of
Assyria, whose head city was Nineveh. I. He must show him how great
a monarch the king of Assyria had been, what a vast empire he had,
what a mighty sway he bore; the king of Egypt, great as he was
could not go beyond him, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.3-Ezek.31.9" parsed="|Ezek|31|3|31|9" passage="Eze 31:3-9">ver.
3-9</scripRef>. II. He must then show him how like he was to the
king of Assyria in pride and carnal security, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.10" parsed="|Ezek|31|10|0|0" passage="Eze 31:10">ver. 10</scripRef>. III. He must next read him the
history of the fall and ruin of the king of Assyria, what a noise
it made among the nations and what a warning it gave to all potent
princes to take heed of pride, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.11-Ezek.31.17" parsed="|Ezek|31|11|31|17" passage="Eze 31:11-17">ver. 11-17</scripRef>. IV. He must leave the king of
Egypt to apply all this to himself, to see his own face in the
looking-glass of the king of Assyria's sin, and to foresee his own
fall through the perspective glass of his ruin, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.18" parsed="|Ezek|31|18|0|0" passage="Eze 31:18">ver. 18</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Ez.xxxii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31" parsed="|Ezek|31|0|0|0" passage="Eze 31" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ez.xxxii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.1-Ezek.31.9" parsed="|Ezek|31|1|31|9" passage="Eze 31:1-9" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xxxii-p1.7">
<h4 id="Ez.xxxii-p1.8">The King of Assyria's
Greatness. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxii-p1.9">b. c.</span> 588.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xxxii-p2" shownumber="no">1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in
the third <i>month,</i> in the first <i>day</i> of the month,
<i>that</i> the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxii-p2.1">Lord</span>
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 <i>was</i> a cedar in
Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of a
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
<i>were</i> in the garden of God, envied him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxii-p3" shownumber="no">This prophecy bears date the month before
Jerusalem was taken, as that in the close of the foregoing chapter
about four months before. When God's people were in the depth of
their distress, it would be some comfort to them, as it would serve
likewise for a check to the pride and malice of their neighbours,
that insulted over them, to be told from heaven that the cup was
going round, even the cup of trembling, that it would shortly be
taken out of the hands of God's people and put into the hands of
those that hated them, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.22-Isa.51.23" parsed="|Isa|51|22|51|23" passage="Isa 51:22,23">Isa. li.
22, 23</scripRef>. In this prophecy,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxii-p4" shownumber="no">I. The prophet is directed to put Pharaoh
upon searching the records for a case parallel to his own
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.2" parsed="|Ezek|31|2|0|0" passage="Eze 31:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): <i>Speak to
Pharaoh and to his multitude,</i> to the multitude of his
attendants, that contributed so much to his magnificence, and the
multitude of his armies, that contributed so much to his strength.
These he was proud of, these he put a confidence in; and they were
as proud of him and trusted as much in him. Now ask him, <i>Whom
art thou like in thy greatness?</i> We are apt to judge of
ourselves by comparison. Those that think highly of themselves
fancy themselves as great and as good as such and such, that have
been mightily celebrated. The flatterers of princes tell them whom
they equal in pomp and grandeur. "Well," says God, "let him pitch
upon the most famous potentate that ever was, and it shall be
allowed that he is <i>like him in greatness</i> and no way inferior
to him; but, let him pitch upon whom he will, he will find that
<i>his day came to fall;</i> he will see there was <i>an end</i> of
all <i>his perfection,</i> and must therefore expect the end of his
own in like manner." Note, The falls of others, both into sin and
ruin, are intended as admonitions to us not to be secure or
<i>high-minded,</i> nor to think we stand out of danger.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxii-p5" shownumber="no">II. He is directed to show him an instance
of one whom he resembles in greatness, and that was the Assyrian
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.3" parsed="|Ezek|31|3|0|0" passage="Eze 31:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), whose
monarchy had continued from Nimrod. Sennacherib was one of the
mighty princes of that monarchy; but it sunk down soon after him,
and the monarchy of Nebuchadnezzar was built upon its ruins, or
rather grafted upon its stock. Let us now see what a flourishing
prince the king of Assyria was. He is here compared to a stately
cedar, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.3" parsed="|Ezek|31|3|0|0" passage="Eze 31:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. The
glory of the house of David is illustrated by the same similitude,
<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.17.3" parsed="|Ezek|17|3|0|0" passage="Eze 17:3"><i>ch.</i> xvii. 3</scripRef>. The
olive-tree, the fig-tree, and the vine, which were all fruit-trees,
had refused to be <i>promoted over the trees</i> because they would
not leave their fruitfulness (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Judg.9.8" parsed="|Judg|9|8|0|0" passage="Jdg 9:8">Judg. ix.
8</scripRef>, &amp;c.), and therefore the choice falls upon the
cedar, that is stately and strong, and casts a great shadow, but
bears no fruit. 1. The Assyrian monarch was a tall cedar, such as
the cedars in Lebanon generally were, of a <i>high stature,</i> and
<i>his top among the thick boughs;</i> he was attended by other
princes that were tributaries to him, and was surrounded by a
life-guard of brave men. He surpassed all the princes in his
neighbourhood; they were all shrubs to him (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.5" parsed="|Ezek|31|5|0|0" passage="Eze 31:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): <i>His height was exalted above
all the trees of the field;</i> they were many of them very high,
but he overtopped them all, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.8" parsed="|Ezek|31|8|0|0" passage="Eze 31:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>. The cedars, even those in the garden of Eden, which
we may suppose were the best of the kind, <i>would not hide
him,</i> but his top branches outshot theirs. 2. He was a spreading
cedar; his branches did not only run up in height, but run out in
breadth, denoting that this mighty prince was not only exalted to
great dignity and honour, and had a name above the names of the
great men of the earth, but that he obtained great dominion and
power; his territories were large, and he extended his conquests
far and his influences much further. This cedar, like <i>a
vine,</i> sent forth <i>his branches to the sea, to the river,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.80.11" parsed="|Ps|80|11|0|0" passage="Ps 80:11">Ps. lxxx. 11</scripRef>. <i>His boughs
were multiplied; his branches became long</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.5" parsed="|Ezek|31|5|0|0" passage="Eze 31:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>); so that <i>he had a shadowing
shroud,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.3" parsed="|Ezek|31|3|0|0" passage="Eze 31:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>.
This contributed very much to his beauty, that he grew
proportionably large as well as high. He was <i>fair in his
greatness, in the length of his branches</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.10" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.7" parsed="|Ezek|31|7|0|0" passage="Eze 31:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>), very comely as well as very
stately, <i>fair by the multitude of his branches,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.11" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.9" parsed="|Ezek|31|9|0|0" passage="Eze 31:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. His large dominions were
well managed, like a spreading tree that is kept in shape and good
order by the skill of the gardener, so as to be very beautiful to
the eye. His government was as amiable in the eyes of wise men as
it was admirable in the eyes of all men. The <i>fir-trees</i> were
not <i>like his boughs,</i> so straight, so green, so regular; nor
were the branches of <i>the chestnut-trees like his branches,</i>
so thick, so spreading. In short, <i>no tree in the garden of
God,</i> in Eden, in Babylon (for that stood where paradise was
planted), where there was every tree that was <i>pleasant to the
sight</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.12" osisRef="Bible:Gen.2.9" parsed="|Gen|2|9|0|0" passage="Ge 2:9">Gen. ii. 9</scripRef>), was
like <i>to this cedar in beauty;</i> that is, in all the
surrounding nations there was no prince so much admired, so much
courted, and whom every body was so much in love with, as the king
of Assyria. Many of them <i>did virtuously,</i> but he <i>excelled
them all,</i> outshone them all. <i>All the trees of Eden envied
him,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.13" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.9" parsed="|Ezek|31|9|0|0" passage="Eze 31:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. When
they found they could not compare with him they were angry and
grieved that he so far outdid them, and secretly grudged him the
praise due to him. Note, It is the unhappiness of those who in any
thing excel others that thereby they make themselves the objects of
envy; and <i>who can stand before envy?</i> 3. He was serviceable,
as far as a standing growing cedar could be, and that was only by
his shadow (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.14" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.6" parsed="|Ezek|31|6|0|0" passage="Eze 31:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>):
<i>All the fowls of heaven,</i> some of all sorts, <i>made their
nests in his boughs,</i> where they were sheltered from the
injuries of the weather. The <i>beasts of the field</i> put
themselves under the protection of <i>his branches.</i> There they
were <i>levant—rising up,</i> and <i>couchant—lying down;</i>
there they <i>brought forth their young;</i> for they had there a
natural covert from the heat and from the storm. The meaning of all
is, <i>Under his shadow dwelt all great nations;</i> they all fled
to him for safety, and were willing to swear allegiance to him if
he would undertake to protect them, as travellers in a shower come
under thick trees for shelter. Note, Those who have power ought to
use it for the protection and comfort of those whom they have power
over; for to that end they are entrusted with power. Even the
bramble, if he be anointed king, invites the trees to come and
<i>trust in his shadow,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.15" osisRef="Bible:Judg.9.15" parsed="|Judg|9|15|0|0" passage="Jdg 9:15">Judg. ix.
15</scripRef>. But the utmost security that any creature, even the
king of Assyria himself, can give, is but like the shadow of a
tree, which is but a scanty and slender protection, and leaves a
man many ways exposed. Let us therefore flee to God for protection,
and he will take us <i>under the shadow of his wings,</i> where we
shall be warmer and safer than under the shadow of the strongest
and stateliest cedar, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.16" osisRef="Bible:Ps.17.8 Bible:Ps.91.4" parsed="|Ps|17|8|0|0;|Ps|91|4|0|0" passage="Ps 17:8,91:4">Ps. xvii. 8;
xci. 4</scripRef>. 4. He seemed to be settled and established in
his greatness and power. For, (1.) It was God that <i>made him
fair,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.17" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.9" parsed="|Ezek|31|9|0|0" passage="Eze 31:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. For
by him kings reign. He was comely with the comeliness that God put
upon him. Note, God's hand must be eyed and owned in the
advancement of the great men of the earth, and therefore we must
not envy them; yet that will not secure the continuance of their
prosperity, for he that gave them their beauty, if they be deprived
of it, knows how to turn it into deformity. (2.) He seemed to have
a good bottom. This cedar was not like the <i>heath in the desert,
made to inhabit the parched places</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.18" osisRef="Bible:Jer.17.6" parsed="|Jer|17|6|0|0" passage="Jer 17:6">Jer. xvii. 6</scripRef>); it was not a <i>root in a dry
ground,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.19" osisRef="Bible:Isa.53.2" parsed="|Isa|53|2|0|0" passage="Isa 53:2">Isa. liii. 2</scripRef>.
No; he had abundance of wealth to support his power and grandeur
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.20" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.4" parsed="|Ezek|31|4|0|0" passage="Eze 31:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): <i>The
waters made him great;</i> he had vast treasures, large stores and
magazines, which were as <i>the deep that set him up on high,</i>
constant revenues coming in by taxes, customs, and crown-rents,
which were <i>as rivers running round about his plants;</i> these
enabled him to strengthen and secure his interests every where, for
he <i>sent out his little rivers,</i> or conduits, <i>to all the
trees of the field,</i> to water them; and when they had
<i>maintenance from the king's palace</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.21" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.4.14" parsed="|Ezra|4|14|0|0" passage="Ezr 4:14">Ezra iv. 14</scripRef>), and <i>their country was
nourished by the king's country</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.22" osisRef="Bible:Acts.12.20" parsed="|Acts|12|20|0|0" passage="Ac 12:20">Acts xii. 20</scripRef>), they would be serviceable and
faithful to him. Those that have wealth flowing upon them in great
rivers find themselves obliged to send it out again in little
rivers; for, <i>as goods are increased, those are increased that
eat them,</i> and the more men have the more occasion they have for
it; yea, and still the more they have occasion for. The
<i>branches</i> of this cedar <i>became long,</i> because of <i>the
multitude of waters</i> which fed them (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.23" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.5 Bible:Ezek.31.7" parsed="|Ezek|31|5|0|0;|Ezek|31|7|0|0" passage="Eze 31:5,7"><i>v.</i> 5 and 7</scripRef>); <i>his root was by
great waters,</i> which seemed to secure it that <i>its leaf should
never wither</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.24" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1.3" parsed="|Ps|1|3|0|0" passage="Ps 1:3">Ps. i. 3</scripRef>),
that it should not <i>see when heat came,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.25" osisRef="Bible:Jer.17.8" parsed="|Jer|17|8|0|0" passage="Jer 17:8">Jer. xvii. 8</scripRef>. Note, Worldly people may seem
to have an established prosperity, yet it only seems so, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p5.26" osisRef="Bible:Job.5.3 Bible:Ps.37.35" parsed="|Job|5|3|0|0;|Ps|37|35|0|0" passage="Job 5:3,Ps 37:35">Job v. 3; Ps. xxxvii. 35</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xxxii-p5.27" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.10-Ezek.31.18" parsed="|Ezek|31|10|31|18" passage="Eze 31:10-18" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xxxii-p5.28">
<h4 id="Ez.xxxii-p5.29">The King of Assyria's Downfall; The Fall of
Assyria. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxii-p5.30">b. c.</span> 588.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xxxii-p6" shownumber="no">10 Therefore thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxii-p6.1">God</span>; 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxii-p6.2">God</span>; 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
<i>them that be</i> slain with the sword; and <i>they that were</i>
his arm, <i>that</i> 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 <i>them that
be</i> slain by the sword. This <i>is</i> Pharaoh and all his
multitude, saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxxii-p6.3">God</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxii-p7" shownumber="no">We have seen the king of Egypt resembling
the king of Assyria in pomp, and power, and prosperity, how like he
was to him in his greatness; now here we see,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxii-p8" shownumber="no">I. How he does likewise resemble him in his
pride, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.10" parsed="|Ezek|31|10|0|0" passage="Eze 31:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. For,
as face answers to face in a glass, so does one corrupt carnal
heart to another; and the same temptations of a prosperous state by
which some are overcome are fatal to many others too. "<i>Thou,</i>
O king of Egypt! <i>hast lifted up thyself in height,</i> hast been
proud of thy wealth and power, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.29.3" parsed="|Ezek|29|3|0|0" passage="Eze 29:3"><i>ch.</i> xxix. 3</scripRef>. And just so <i>he</i>
(that is, the king of Assyria); when he had <i>shot up his top
among the thick boughs his heart</i> was immediately <i>lifted up
in his height,</i> and he grew insolent and imperious, set God
himself at defiance, and trampled upon his people;" witness the
messages and letter which <i>the great king, the king of
Assyria,</i> sent to Hezekiah, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.36.4" parsed="|Isa|36|4|0|0" passage="Isa 36:4">Isa.
xxxvi. 4</scripRef>. How haughtily does he speak of himself and his
own achievements! how scornfully of that great and good man! There
were other sins in which the Egyptians and the Assyrians did
concur, particularly that of oppressing God's people, which is
charged upon them both together (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.52.4" parsed="|Isa|52|4|0|0" passage="Isa 52:4">Isa.
lii. 4</scripRef>); but here that sin is traced up to its cause,
and that was pride; for it is the <i>contempt of the proud</i> that
they are <i>filled with.</i> Note, When men's outward condition
rises their minds commonly rise with it; and it is very rare to
find a humble spirit in the midst of great advancements.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxii-p9" shownumber="no">II. How he shall therefore resemble him in
his fall; and for the opening of this part of the comparison,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxii-p10" shownumber="no">1. Here is a history of the fall of the
king of Assyria. For his part, says God (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.11" parsed="|Ezek|31|11|0|0" passage="Eze 31:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), <i>I have therefore,</i>
because he was thus lifted up, <i>delivered him into the hand of
the mighty one of the heathen.</i> Cyaxares, king of the Medes, in
the twenty-sixth year of his reign, in conjunction with
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the first year of his reign,
destroyed Nineveh, and with it the Assyrian empire. Nebuchadnezzar,
though he was not then, yet afterwards became, very emphatically,
the <i>mighty one of the heathen,</i> most mighty among them and
most mighty over them, to prevail against them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxii-p11" shownumber="no">(1.) Respecting the fall of the Assyrian
three things are affirmed:—[1.] It is God himself that orders his
ruin: <i>I have delivered him into the hand</i> of the executioner;
<i>I have driven him out.</i> Note, God is the Judge, who puts down
one and sets up another (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.75.7" parsed="|Ps|75|7|0|0" passage="Ps 75:7">Ps. lxxv.
7</scripRef>); and when he pleases he can extirpate and expel those
who think themselves, and seem to others, to have taken deepest
root. And the mightiest ones of the heathens could not gain their
point against those they contended with if the Almighty did not
himself deliver them into their hands. [2.] It is his own sin that
procures his ruin: <i>I have driven him out for his wickedness.</i>
None are driven out from their honour, power, and possessions, but
it is <i>for their wickedness.</i> None of our comforts are ever
lost but what have been a thousand times forfeited. If the wicked
are <i>driven away,</i> it is <i>in their wickedness.</i> [3.] It
is a <i>mighty one of the heathen</i> that shall be the instrument
of his ruin; for God often employs one wicked man in punishing
another. <i>He shall surely deal with him,</i> shall know how to
manage him, great as he is. Note, Proud imperious men will, sooner
or later, meet with their match.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxii-p12" shownumber="no">(2.) In this history of the fall of the
Assyrian observe, [1.] A continuation of the similitude of the
cedar. He grew very high, and extended his boughs very far; but his
day comes to fall. <i>First,</i> This stately cedar was cropped:
<i>The terrible of the nations cut him off.</i> Soldiers, who being
both armed and commissioned to kill, and slay, and destroy, may
well be reckoned among <i>the terrible of the nations.</i> They
have lopped off his branches first, have seized upon some parts of
his dominion and forced them out of his hands; so that in all
<i>mountains</i> and <i>valleys</i> of the nations about, in the
high-lands and low-lands, and <i>by all the rivers,</i> there were
cities or countries that were broken off from the Assyrian
monarchy, that had been subject to it, but had either revolted or
were recovered from it. Its feathers were borrowed; and, when every
bird had fetched back its own, it was naked like the stump of a
tree. <i>Secondly,</i> It was deserted: <i>All the people of the
earth,</i> that had fled to him for shelter, have <i>gone down from
his shadow and have left him.</i> When he was disabled to give them
protection they thought they no longer owed him allegiance. Let not
great men be proud of the number of those that attend them and have
a dependence upon them; it is only for what they can get. When
Providence frowns upon them their retinue is soon dispersed and
scattered from them. <i>Thirdly,</i> It was insulted over, and its
fall triumphed in (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.13" parsed="|Ezek|31|13|0|0" passage="Eze 31:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>): <i>Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven
remain,</i> to tread upon the broken branches of this cedar. Its
fall is triumphed in by the other trees, who were angry to see
themselves overtopped so much: <i>All the trees of Eden,</i> that
were cut down and had fallen before him, <i>all that drank
water</i> of the rain of heaven, as the stump of the tree that is
left in the <i>south</i> is said to be <i>wet with the dew of
heaven</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.4.23" parsed="|Dan|4|23|0|0" passage="Da 4:23">Dan. iv. 23</scripRef>) and
to bud <i>through the scent of water</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.14.9" parsed="|Job|14|9|0|0" passage="Job 14:9">Job xiv. 9</scripRef>), <i>shall be comforted in the
nether parts of the earth</i> when they see this proud cedar
brought as low as themselves. <i>Solamen miseris socios habuisse
doloris</i>—<i>To have companions in woe is a solace to those who
suffer.</i> But, on the contrary, the trees of Lebanon, that are
yet standing in their height and strength, <i>mourned for him,</i>
and <i>the trees of the field fainted for him,</i> because they
could not but read their own destiny in his fall. <i>Howl,
fir-trees, if the cedar be shaken,</i> for they cannot expect to
stand long, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.2" parsed="|Zech|11|2|0|0" passage="Zec 11:2">Zech. xi. 2</scripRef>.
[2.] An explanation of the similitude of the cedar. By the cutting
down of this cedar is signified the slaughter of this mighty
monarch and all his adherents and supporters; they are all
<i>delivered to death,</i> to fall by the sword, as the cedar by
the axe. He and his princes, who, he said, were <i>altogether
kings,</i> go down to the grave, <i>to the nether parts of the
earth, in the midst of the children of men,</i> as common persons
of no quality or distinction. <i>They died like men</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.82.7" parsed="|Ps|82|7|0|0" passage="Ps 82:7">Ps. lxxxii. 7</scripRef>); they were carried away
with <i>those that go down to the pit,</i> and their pomp did
neither protect them nor <i>descend after them.</i> Again
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.16" parsed="|Ezek|31|16|0|0" passage="Eze 31:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>), He was
<i>cast down to hell with those that descend into the pit;</i> he
went into the state of the dead, and was buried as others are, in
obscurity and oblivion. Again (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p12.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.17" parsed="|Ezek|31|17|0|0" passage="Eze 31:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>), <i>They all that were his
arm,</i> on whom he stayed, by whom he acted and exerted his power,
all <i>that dwelt under his shadow,</i> his subjects and allies,
and all that had any dependence on him, they all <i>went down</i>
into ruin, down into the grace <i>with him, unto those that were
slain with the sword,</i> to those that were cut off by untimely
deaths before them, under the load of guilt and shame. When great
men fall a great many fall with them, as a great many in like
manner have fallen before them. [3.] What God designed, and aimed
at, in bringing down this mighty monarch and his monarchy. He
designed thereby, <i>First, To give an alarm</i> to the nations
about, to put them all to a stand, to put them all to a gaze
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p12.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.16" parsed="|Ezek|31|16|0|0" passage="Eze 31:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>): <i>I made
the nations to shake at the sound of his fall.</i> They were all
struck with astonishment to see so mighty a prince brought down
thus. It give a shock to all their confidences, every one thinking
his turn would be next. <i>When he went down to the grave</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p12.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.15" parsed="|Ezek|31|15|0|0" passage="Eze 31:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>) <i>I caused
a mourning,</i> a general lamentation, as the whole kingdom goes
into mourning at the death of the king. In token of this general
grief, <i>I covered the deep for him,</i> put that into black, gave
a stop to business, in complaisance to this universal mourning.
<i>I restrained the floods, and the great waters were stayed,</i>
that they might run into another channel, that of lamentation.
Lebanon particularly, the kingdom of Syria, that was sometimes in
confederacy with the Assyrian, mourned for him; as the allies of
Babylon, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p12.10" osisRef="Bible:Rev.18.9" parsed="|Rev|18|9|0|0" passage="Re 18:9">Rev. xviii. 9</scripRef>.
<i>Secondly,</i> To give an admonition to the nations about, and to
their kings (<scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p12.11" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.14" parsed="|Ezek|31|14|0|0" passage="Eze 31:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>): <i>To the end that none of all the trees by the
waters,</i> though ever so advantageously situated, <i>may exalt
themselves for their height,</i> may be proud and conceited of
themselves and <i>shoot up their top among the thick boughs,</i>
looking disdainfully upon others, nor <i>stand upon themselves for
their height,</i> confiding in their own politics and powers, as if
they could never be brought down. Let them all take warning by the
Assyrian, for he once held up his head as high, and thought he kept
his footing as firm, as any of them; but his pride went before his
destruction, and his confidence failed him. Note, The fall of proud
presumptuous men is intended for warning to others to keep humble.
It would have been well for Nebuchadnezzar, who was himself active
in bringing down the Assyrian, if he had taken the admonition.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxxii-p13" shownumber="no">2. Here is a prophecy of the fall of the
king of Egypt in like manner, <scripRef id="Ez.xxxii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.31.18" parsed="|Ezek|31|18|0|0" passage="Eze 31:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. He thought himself like the
Assyrian <i>in glory and greatness,</i> over-topping <i>all the
trees of Eden,</i> as the cypress does the shrubs. "But <i>thou</i>
also <i>shalt be brought down,</i> with the other trees that are
pleasant to the sight, as those in Eden. Thou shalt be <i>brought
to the grave,</i> to the nether or lower <i>parts of the earth;</i>
thou shalt <i>lie in the midst of the uncircumcised,</i> that die
in their uncleanness, die ingloriously, die under a curse and at a
distance from God; then shall those whom thou hast trampled upon
triumph over thee, saying, <i>This is Pharaoh and all his
multitude.</i> See how mean he looks, how low he lies; see what all
his pomp and pride have come to; here is all that is left of him."
Note, Great men and great multitudes, with the great figure and
great noise they make in the world, when God comes to contend with
them, will soon become little, less than nothing, such as Pharaoh
and all his multitude.</p>
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