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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Ezekiel XXXI].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC26030.HTM">Previous</A>]
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[<A HREF="MHC26032.HTM">Next</A>]<BR>
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>E Z E K I E L.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXXI.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The prophecy of this chapter, as the two chapters before, is against
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Egypt, and designed for the humbling and mortifying of Pharaoh. In
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passing sentence upon great criminals it is usual to consult
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precedents, and to see what has been done to others in the like case,
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which serves both to direct and to justify the proceedings. Pharaoh
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stands indicted at the bar of divine justice for his pride and
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haughtiness, and the injuries he had done to God's people; but he
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thinks himself so high, so great, as not to be accountable to any
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authority, so strong, and so well guarded, as not to be conquerable by
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any force. The prophet is therefore directed to make a report to him of
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the case of the king of Assyria, whose head city was Nineveh.
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I. He must show him how great a monarch the king of Assyria had been,
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what a vast empire he had, what a mighty sway he bore; the king of
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Egypt, great as he was could not go beyond him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:3-9">ver. 3-9</A>.
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II. He must then show him how like he was to the king of Assyria in
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pride and carnal security,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:10">ver. 10</A>.
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III. He must next read him the history of the fall and ruin of the king
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of Assyria, what a noise it made among the nations and what a warning
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it gave to all potent princes to take heed of pride,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:11-17">ver. 11-17</A>.
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IV. He must leave the king of Egypt to apply all this to himself, to
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see his own face in the looking-glass of the king of Assyria's sin, and
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to foresee his own fall through the perspective glass of his ruin,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:18">ver. 18</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Eze31_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze31_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze31_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze31_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze31_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze31_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze31_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze31_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze31_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The King of Assyria's Greatness.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 588.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third
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<I>month,</I> in the first <I>day</I> of the month, <I>that</I> the word of the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came unto me, saying,
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2 Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his
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multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness?
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3 Behold, the Assyrian <I>was</I> a cedar in Lebanon with fair
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branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of a high stature;
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and his top was among the thick boughs.
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4 The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with
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her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her
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little rivers unto all the trees of the field.
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5 Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the
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field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became
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long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth.
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6 All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and
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under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth
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their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.
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7 Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his
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branches: for his root was by great waters.
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8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir
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trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut-trees were not
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like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like
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unto him in his beauty.
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9 I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so
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that all the trees of Eden, that <I>were</I> in the garden of God,
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envied him.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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This prophecy bears date the month before Jerusalem was taken, as that
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in the close of the foregoing chapter about four months before. When
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God's people were in the depth of their distress, it would be some
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comfort to them, as it would serve likewise for a check to the pride
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and malice of their neighbours, that insulted over them, to be told
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from heaven that the cup was going round, even the cup of trembling,
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that it would shortly be taken out of the hands of God's people and put
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into the hands of those that hated them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:22,23">Isa. li. 22, 23</A>.
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In this prophecy,</P>
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<P>
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I. The prophet is directed to put Pharaoh upon searching the records
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for a case parallel to his own
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>Speak to Pharaoh and to his multitude,</I> to the multitude of his
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attendants, that contributed so much to his magnificence, and the
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multitude of his armies, that contributed so much to his strength.
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These he was proud of, these he put a confidence in; and they were as
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proud of him and trusted as much in him. Now ask him, <I>Whom art thou
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like in thy greatness?</I> We are apt to judge of ourselves by
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comparison. Those that think highly of themselves fancy themselves as
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great and as good as such and such, that have been mightily celebrated.
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The flatterers of princes tell them whom they equal in pomp and
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grandeur. "Well," says God, "let him pitch upon the most famous
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potentate that ever was, and it shall be allowed that he is <I>like him
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in greatness</I> and no way inferior to him; but, let him pitch upon
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whom he will, he will find that <I>his day came to fall;</I> he will
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see there was <I>an end</I> of all <I>his perfection,</I> and must
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therefore expect the end of his own in like manner." Note, The falls of
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others, both into sin and ruin, are intended as admonitions to us not
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to be secure or <I>high-minded,</I> nor to think we stand out of
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danger.</P>
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<P>
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II. He is directed to show him an instance of one whom he resembles in
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greatness, and that was the Assyrian
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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whose monarchy had continued from Nimrod. Sennacherib was one of the
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mighty princes of that monarchy; but it sunk down soon after him, and
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the monarchy of Nebuchadnezzar was built upon its ruins, or rather
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grafted upon its stock. Let us now see what a flourishing prince the
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king of Assyria was. He is here compared to a stately cedar,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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The glory of the house of David is illustrated by the same similitude,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+17:3"><I>ch.</I> xvii. 3</A>.
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The olive-tree, the fig-tree, and the vine, which were all fruit-trees,
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had refused to be <I>promoted over the trees</I> because they would not
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leave their fruitfulness
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+9:8">Judg. ix. 8</A>,
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&c.), and therefore the choice falls upon the cedar, that is stately
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and strong, and casts a great shadow, but bears no fruit.
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1. The Assyrian monarch was a tall cedar, such as the cedars in Lebanon
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generally were, of a <I>high stature,</I> and <I>his top among the
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thick boughs;</I> he was attended by other princes that were
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tributaries to him, and was surrounded by a life-guard of brave men. He
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surpassed all the princes in his neighbourhood; they were all shrubs to
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him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>His height was exalted above all the trees of the field;</I> they
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were many of them very high, but he overtopped them all,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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The cedars, even those in the garden of Eden, which we may suppose were
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the best of the kind, <I>would not hide him,</I> but his top branches
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outshot theirs.
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2. He was a spreading cedar; his branches did not only run up in
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height, but run out in breadth, denoting that this mighty prince was
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not only exalted to great dignity and honour, and had a name above the
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names of the great men of the earth, but that he obtained great
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dominion and power; his territories were large, and he extended his
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conquests far and his influences much further. This cedar, like <I>a
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vine,</I> sent forth <I>his branches to the sea, to the river,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+80:11">Ps. lxxx. 11</A>.
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<I>His boughs were multiplied; his branches became long</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>);
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so that <I>he had a shadowing shroud,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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This contributed very much to his beauty, that he grew proportionably
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large as well as high. He was <I>fair in his greatness, in the length
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of his branches</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
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very comely as well as very stately, <I>fair by the multitude of his
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branches,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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His large dominions were well managed, like a spreading tree that is
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kept in shape and good order by the skill of the gardener, so as to be
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very beautiful to the eye. His government was as amiable in the eyes of
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wise men as it was admirable in the eyes of all men. The
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<I>fir-trees</I> were not <I>like his boughs,</I> so straight, so
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green, so regular; nor were the branches of <I>the chestnut-trees like
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his branches,</I> so thick, so spreading. In short, <I>no tree in the
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garden of God,</I> in Eden, in Babylon (for that stood where paradise
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was planted), where there was every tree that was <I>pleasant to the
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sight</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+2:9">Gen. ii. 9</A>),
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was like <I>to this cedar in beauty;</I> that is, in all the
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surrounding nations there was no prince so much admired, so much
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courted, and whom every body was so much in love with, as the king of
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Assyria. Many of them <I>did virtuously,</I> but he <I>excelled them
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all,</I> outshone them all. <I>All the trees of Eden envied him,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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When they found they could not compare with him they were angry and
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grieved that he so far outdid them, and secretly grudged him the praise
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due to him. Note, It is the unhappiness of those who in any thing excel
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others that thereby they make themselves the objects of envy; and
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<I>who can stand before envy?</I>
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3. He was serviceable, as far as a standing growing cedar could be, and
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that was only by his shadow
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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<I>All the fowls of heaven,</I> some of all sorts, <I>made their nests
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in his boughs,</I> where they were sheltered from the injuries of the
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weather. The <I>beasts of the field</I> put themselves under the
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protection of <I>his branches.</I> There they were <I>levant--rising
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up,</I> and <I>couchant--lying down;</I> there they <I>brought forth
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their young;</I> for they had there a natural covert from the heat and
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from the storm. The meaning of all is, <I>Under his shadow dwelt all
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great nations;</I> they all fled to him for safety, and were willing to
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swear allegiance to him if he would undertake to protect them, as
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travellers in a shower come under thick trees for shelter. Note, Those
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who have power ought to use it for the protection and comfort of those
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whom they have power over; for to that end they are entrusted with
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power. Even the bramble, if he be anointed king, invites the trees to
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come and <I>trust in his shadow,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+9:15">Judg. ix. 15</A>.
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But the utmost security that any creature, even the king of Assyria
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himself, can give, is but like the shadow of a tree, which is but a
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scanty and slender protection, and leaves a man many ways exposed. Let
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us therefore flee to God for protection, and he will take us <I>under
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the shadow of his wings,</I> where we shall be warmer and safer than
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under the shadow of the strongest and stateliest cedar,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+17:8,91:4">Ps. xvii. 8; xci. 4</A>.
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4. He seemed to be settled and established in his greatness and power.
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For,
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(1.) It was God that <I>made him fair,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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For by him kings reign. He was comely with the comeliness that God put
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upon him. Note, God's hand must be eyed and owned in the advancement of
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the great men of the earth, and therefore we must not envy them; yet
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that will not secure the continuance of their prosperity, for he that
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gave them their beauty, if they be deprived of it, knows how to turn it
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into deformity.
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(2.) He seemed to have a good bottom. This cedar was not like the
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<I>heath in the desert, made to inhabit the parched places</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+17:6">Jer. xvii. 6</A>);
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it was not a <I>root in a dry ground,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:2">Isa. liii. 2</A>.
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No; he had abundance of wealth to support his power and grandeur
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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<I>The waters made him great;</I> he had vast treasures, large stores
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and magazines, which were as <I>the deep that set him up on high,</I>
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constant revenues coming in by taxes, customs, and crown-rents, which
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were <I>as rivers running round about his plants;</I> these enabled him
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to strengthen and secure his interests every where, for he <I>sent out
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his little rivers,</I> or conduits, <I>to all the trees of the
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field,</I> to water them; and when they had <I>maintenance from the
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king's palace</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ezr+4:14">Ezra iv. 14</A>),
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and <I>their country was nourished by the king's country</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+12:20">Acts xii. 20</A>),
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they would be serviceable and faithful to him. Those that have wealth
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flowing upon them in great rivers find themselves obliged to send it
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out again in little rivers; for, <I>as goods are increased, those are
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increased that eat them,</I> and the more men have the more occasion
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they have for it; yea, and still the more they have occasion for. The
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<I>branches</I> of this cedar <I>became long,</I> because of <I>the
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multitude of waters</I> which fed them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:5,7"><I>v.</I> 5 and 7</A>);
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<I>his root was by great waters,</I> which seemed to secure it that
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<I>its leaf should never wither</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+1:3">Ps. i. 3</A>),
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that it should not <I>see when heat came,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+17:8">Jer. xvii. 8</A>.
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Note, Worldly people may seem to have an established prosperity, yet it
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only seems so,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:3,Ps+37:35">Job v. 3; Ps. xxxvii. 35</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Eze31_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze31_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze31_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze31_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze31_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze31_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze31_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze31_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze31_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The King of Assyria's Downfall; The Fall of Assyria.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 588.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>10 Therefore thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; Because thou hast lifted
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up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick
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boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;
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11 I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty
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one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven
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him out for his wickedness.
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12 And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him
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|
off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys
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his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the
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rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down
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from his shadow, and have left him.
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13 Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and
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all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches:
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14 To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt
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themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the
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thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all
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that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the
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nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men,
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with them that go down to the pit.
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15 Thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; In the day when he went down to the
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grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I
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restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed:
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and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the
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field fainted for him.
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16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I
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|
cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and
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all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that
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|
drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.
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17 They also went down into hell with him unto <I>them that be</I>
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slain with the sword; and <I>they that were</I> his arm, <I>that</I> dwelt
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under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.
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18 To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among
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|
the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees
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|
of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the
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midst of the uncircumcised with <I>them that be</I> slain by the
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sword. This <I>is</I> Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord
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G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have seen the king of Egypt resembling the king of Assyria in pomp,
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|
and power, and prosperity, how like he was to him in his greatness; now
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here we see,</P>
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<P>
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I. How he does likewise resemble him in his pride,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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For, as face answers to face in a glass, so does one corrupt carnal
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heart to another; and the same temptations of a prosperous state by
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|
which some are overcome are fatal to many others too. "<I>Thou,</I> O
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|
king of Egypt! <I>hast lifted up thyself in height,</I> hast been proud
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|
of thy wealth and power,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:3"><I>ch.</I> xxix. 3</A>.
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And just so <I>he</I> (that is, the king of Assyria); when he had
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<I>shot up his top among the thick boughs his heart</I> was immediately
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|
<I>lifted up in his height,</I> and he grew insolent and imperious, set
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|
God himself at defiance, and trampled upon his people;" witness the
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messages and letter which <I>the great king, the king of Assyria,</I>
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|
sent to Hezekiah,
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+36:4">Isa. xxxvi. 4</A>.
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How haughtily does he speak of himself and his own achievements! how
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|
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
|
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+52:4">Isa. lii. 4</A>);
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|
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|
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>
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<P>
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II. How he shall therefore resemble him in his fall; and for the
|
|
opening of this part of the comparison,</P>
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|
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<P>
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|
1. Here is a history of the fall of the king of Assyria. For his part,
|
|
says God
|
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|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
<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>
|
|
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|
<P>
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|
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|
(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
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+75:7">Ps. lxxv. 7</A>);
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
(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
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
<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>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+4:23">Dan. iv. 23</A>)
|
|
|
|
and to bud <I>through the scent of water</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+14:9">Job xiv. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
<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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+11:2">Zech. xi. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
[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 grace, <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>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+82:7">Ps. lxxxii. 7</A>);
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
<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
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<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 grace</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>)
|
|
|
|
<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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+18:9">Rev. xviii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> To give an admonition to the nations about, and to
|
|
their kings
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
<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>
|
|
|
|
2. Here is a prophecy of the fall of the king of Egypt in like manner,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
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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