Egypt and Assyria
Many scholars of the Old Testament choose to change the reading of
the opening verses of Chapter 31 from Assyria to “cypress tree” or even “pine
tree.” While they may not seem related,
in Hebrew the words are only a few vowels separated. The scholars who do this argue that it makes
more sense to compare Egypt to a strong and productive tree than to a kingdom
that was clearly not of God’s creation.
After all, reading through these verses Ezekiel says some pretty
incredible things about Assyria. Ezekiel
says that Assyria rivals even the trees in the garden of God. For a student of the Old Testament, that is a
hard description to swallow.
However, as difficult as that expression is to swallow, I think
there is more evidence to accept the description as written and not try to
explain it away as a Hebrew misspelling.
After all, Assyria was the last nation to enter into Egyptian territory
and have military dominance. Assyria was
probably the only nation that Ezekiel could lift up in the presence of the
Egyptians and have them actually think that Ezekiel may have a point.
Furthermore, Ezekiel is speaking to the judgment of the
Egyptians. Who better to compare the
Egyptians to than someone who was already beaten by the Babylonians? Isn’t that God’s overarching point in these
chapters? Egypt will fall to Babylon in
the judgment of the Lord. This is
probably the greatest reason to understand that Ezekiel truly does mean Assyria
in this chapter.
Moving past this point, what purpose does it serve Ezekiel to use
Assyria here? Well, Ezekiel says that
Assyria was an incredible nation. Their
splendor was unrivaled. Their might was unchallengeable
- until God lifted up the Babylonians in judgment against them. Even the greatest nations in the world shall
be capable of being humbled by God. This
was a message Egypt needed to hear.
Their splendor had a match. In
fact, their splendor would be outdone and undone by God.
Pride
In fact, one might even say that we can go further according to
verses 10-14. Not only was God able to
overcome their splendor, He overcame them because of their splendor. Their national pride was simply too
much. Assyria thought too highly of
themselves. Assyria thought too much of
their greatness. Their pride was what
truly needed to be brought low. It wasn’t
that God had an issue with their splendor; it was that their splendor evoked an
insatiable pride and self-reliance. They
became too proud for their own good.
They had to fall.
For Egypt, this is a two-fold message. We’ve already spoken about one of those messages:
their pride will be challenged by God.
The Egyptians will be brought low in judgment.
The second message is a particularly interesting one. As Ezekiel describes at the end of this
chapter just how God brought Assyria deep into the pit of Sheol and closed the
grave over her, He is sending a message to Egypt about the longevity of
nations. Egypt had been a nation before
most of the current nations had come into existence. Egypt was trying to continue to be a powerful
nation even while these nations rose and fell.
Egypt believed that they could stay relevant forever. Egypt believed that they could outlast the ebb
and flow of nations that it saw around them.
God is telling them that they are wrong.
Quite simply, they will not remain as a power. Sure, they might remain as a nation. But they would not continue to be relevant. God would bring them and show them what it
felt like to be a normal nation.
Humbleness
I can’t help but think that there is a powerful message in here
for just about any nation. God is more
powerful than any nation. God will
outlast any nation. One’s power and
prestige is nothing compared to the power and prestige of God. No matter how hard we try on our own might,
we cannot stay relevant forever. Tides
turn.
Historically speaking, think about this. What nation has continued to be relevant
throughout all of history? Sure, some
nations have existed throughout all of history – Egypt being one of them. But what nation has truly been relevant
throughout all of history? There is
none.
So what is it that causes a nation to think that they can be
different? What is it that causes a
nation to think that they can be relevant forever? Self-centered pride. Refusing to look at history from a true
perspective. Arrogance. Making the assumption that we’re actually
different.
The reality is that Egypt will learn that nothing lasts
forever. It is a lesson that all nations
would be wise to learn. You can’t be a
global power forever. So rather than
throw your weight around and dominate for a few years, make friends in the
shadows and last for a long time. Live
humbly among the nations.
The alternative is judgment.
The alternative to humbleness among the nations is pride and
arrogance. We see in this whole book of
Ezekiel what happens to those who arrive at nationalistic pride and arrogance.
<><
No comments:
Post a Comment