35 lines
1.5 KiB
Markdown
35 lines
1.5 KiB
Markdown
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title = "Ezekiel 31:1–18"
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date = "2023-06-01"
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### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ezekiel31.1-18)
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Chapter 31 is a prophecy against Pharaoh, but it is a little strange in that
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it is mostly not about him. Instead, Egypt is compared to Assyria, a great
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empire that had fallen in the previous century to Babylon. There are apparently
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some scholars who think "Assyria" was a one-letter copy error, and it should
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be translated as "cypress" to make the whole passage about Egypt directly. I'm
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not conviced by that. The wording of the question in verse 2 still makes sense
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when "Assyria" is the answer.
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Assyria stood tall and proud like a cedar of Lebanon. Such trese grew hundreds
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of feet tall and were prized for their lumber. Their boughs provided homes
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for birds and shade for the beasts of the field, which are compared to the
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smaller nations surrounding it. Not even the trees in the Garden of Eden were
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as beautiful and great as this tree.
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But that made Assyria the tree proud. Its top rose higher than the clouds and
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its pride caused God to bring it low. A foreign nation cuts down the tree, and
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the birds and beasts dwell on the fallen trunk . No longer will a tree grow
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that tall, and all the other trees take notice and quake at the disaster that
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has befallen Assyria.
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So then, the question is asked of Egypt again: "Whom are you like in glory and
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greatness?" And the answer is still "Assyria", for the same fate will befall
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them.
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* * *
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Human pride always seeks to supplant Your deserved greatness. Show us the error
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of our ways.
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