Ezekiel 31:1 - Meaning and Application

This prophecy is dated about a month before Jerusalem was taken, while the prophecy at the end of the previous chapter was given about four months earlier. When God’s people were at the lowest point of their distress, it would comfort them to hear from heaven that the cup was moving on, even the cup of trembling. It would soon be taken from God’s people and placed in the hands of those who hated them (Isaiah 51:22-23). It also checked the pride and cruelty of their neighbors, who were glad to mock them.

The prophet is told to ask Pharaoh to search for a historical example that matches his own case (Ezekiel 31:2). He is to speak to Pharaoh and to his multitude, meaning his many attendants, which added to his splendor, and his armies, which added to his power. Pharaoh was proud of these things, and he trusted in them. Those around him were proud of him too, and they trusted in him. So God asks him, “Who are you like in your greatness?”

People often measure themselves by comparison. Those who think too highly of themselves imagine that they are as great or as good as some famous ruler. Prince’s flatterers like to tell them which great figures they equal in pomp and honor. God’s answer is, “Let him choose the most famous ruler who ever lived. I will allow that he is like him in greatness and not less than he is. But whoever he chooses, he will find that the man also fell, and that all his greatness came to an end. So he must expect his own end in the same way.” The falls of others, in both sin and ruin, are meant to warn us not to feel safe or full of ourselves.

The prophet is then shown one who resembles him in greatness, the Assyrian king (Ezekiel 31:3). That monarchy had lasted from Nimrod’s time. Sennacherib was one of its mighty rulers, but it soon collapsed after him. The empire of Nebuchadnezzar was built on its ruins, or rather grew out of it. The Assyrian king is compared to a tall cedar, and the same image is used for the glory of David’s house (Ezekiel 17:3). The olive tree, fig tree, and vine, all fruit-bearing trees, had refused to be promoted over the other trees because they did not want to give up their fruitfulness (Judges 9:8 and following). So the cedar is chosen here, a tree that is stately and strong and gives great shade, but bears no fruit.

The Assyrian monarch was like a tall cedar, such as the cedars of Lebanon. His top rose above the thick branches, meaning he was attended by other princes who paid him tribute and by brave men who guarded him. He surpassed all the princes around him; they were like shrubs beside him (Ezekiel 31:5). His height was higher than all the trees in the field, and though many were tall, he rose above them all (Ezekiel 31:8). Even the cedars in the garden of Eden, the best of their kind, would not hide him, because his top branches rose beyond theirs.

He was also a spreading cedar. His branches did not only grow upward, but outward, showing that this powerful ruler was not only lifted to high rank and honor, but also gained wide rule and power. His lands were large, and he extended his conquests far and his influence even farther. Like a vine, this cedar sent its branches to the sea and to the river (Psalm 80:11). His boughs multiplied, and his branches became long (Ezekiel 31:5), so that he had a broad, shadowing cover (Ezekiel 31:3). This added much to his beauty, because he was large in proportion as well as high. He was handsome in his greatness, in the length of his branches (Ezekiel 31:7), and fair because of the many branches he had (Ezekiel 31:9).

His large kingdom was well managed, like a tree shaped and cared for by a skilled gardener, so that it looked very beautiful. To wise people, his rule seemed as pleasant as it was impressive to everyone else. The fir trees were not like his branches, because they were not so straight, green, and regular. The chestnut trees were not like his branches either, because they were not so thick and spreading. In short, no tree in the garden of God, in Eden, in Babylon, where paradise had first been planted, where there was every tree pleasant to the eye (Genesis 2:9), was like this cedar in beauty. In all the surrounding nations, there was no prince so admired, so sought after, and so widely loved as the king of Assyria. Many rulers did well, but he surpassed them all and outshone them all. All the trees of Eden envied him (Ezekiel 31:9). When they saw they could not match him, they were angry and grieved that he excelled them so far, and they secretly begrudged him the praise he deserved. Those who stand out in any way often become the target of envy, and who can stand before envy?

He was also useful, as far as a standing cedar can be useful, and that was by giving shade (Ezekiel 31:6). All the birds of heaven, of many kinds, made their nests in his branches, where they were sheltered from bad weather. The beasts of the field also found protection under his branches. There they lay down and rose up, and there they brought forth their young, because they had a natural shelter from the heat and the storm. The meaning is that all great nations lived under his shadow. They ran to him for safety and were willing to swear loyalty to him if he would protect them, just as travelers in a shower run under a thick tree. Those who have power ought to use it to protect and help those under them, because that is the purpose for which power is given. Even the bramble, if made king, invites the trees to trust in his shadow (Judges 9:15). Yet the greatest security any creature can give, even the king of Assyria, is only like the shadow of a tree, which is weak and limited and leaves a person exposed in many ways. So we should run to God for protection, and he will shelter us under the shadow of his wings, where we will be warmer and safer than under the shadow of the strongest cedar (Psalm 17:8; Psalm 91:4).

He seemed settled and firmly established in his greatness and power. It was God who made him fair, however (Ezekiel 31:9). Kings rule by God’s appointment. He was attractive with the beauty that God gave him.

We should see God’s hand at work in the rise of great people on earth, and so we should not envy them. But that does not guarantee that their prosperity will last. The God who gave them their beauty can, if he chooses, turn that beauty into deformity.

This cedar also seemed to have a strong foundation. It was not like the heather in the desert, made to live in dry places (Jer 17:6). It was not like a root growing in dry ground (Isa 53:2). No, it had great wealth to support its power and splendor (Eze 31:4). The waters made it great. It had large treasures, stores, and supply places, like deep waters lifting it up high.

It also had steady income from taxes, customs, and royal rents, like rivers flowing around its plants. These resources let it strengthen and protect its power everywhere. It sent out smaller streams, or channels, to all the trees of the field, to water them. When people receive support from the king’s palace (Ezr 4:14), or when a country is nourished by the king’s land (Act 12:20), they will likely serve him well and stay loyal.

Those who receive wealth in large amounts often have to send it out again in smaller amounts. As goods increase, so do the people who consume them. The more people have, the more they seem to need, and the more they have, the more they still want.

The branches of this cedar grew long because of the many waters that fed them (Eze 31:5, Eze 31:7). Its roots were by great waters, which seemed to make it sure that its leaves would never wither (Psa 1:3), and that it would not notice when heat came (Jer 17:8). Still, worldly people may appear to have secure prosperity, but it is only appearance (Job 5:3; Psa 37:35).