Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: Ambition
- Ambition: We all need a goal to which we can strive. When our ambition comes from God, we find fulfillment in our obedience into that for which we have been equipped because our Out is in proper focus. But when our ambition comes from ourselves, we find ourselves chasing after our own dreams and trying to find fulfillment in accomplishments of our own making.
This chapter
is a stinging blow to Egypt. After all,
this chapter promises to be about Egypt.
But from the very opening line we hear more about Assyria than Egypt. In fact, God doesn’t say much about Egypt
until the very end. We hear how Assyria
was more splendid than many of the trees in Eden!
Why is this
such a low blow? Well, there is the fact
that God won’t even talk about Egypt in a chapter that is supposed to be about
the splendor of Egypt. That in and of
itself is pretty striking. God went on
and on about the king and prince of Tyre.
In a chapter about Egypt, God talks about Assyria instead. His point is clear.
Second,
remember that at the writing of this chapter Assyria has already fallen to
Babylon. Assyria is a conquered
nation. They were beautiful, high, and
mighty. However, God brought them down. God will do the same to Egypt.
Third,
Assyria was the last major nation to come against Egypt and win. Assyria embarrassed Egypt in the battlefield
until Babylon came along. They would
remember the loss as a mark against their history.
What is the
point of this? God desires to strike
against the ambition of Egypt. They were
proud. They thought they could master
the world. They were convinced that they
had what it took. They were not humble
before God. Their ambition led them far
from God. Because of this, they will be
humbled.
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