# Ezekiel 31 📖: The Fall of the Great Cedar
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> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]]
> [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]]
> [[#💬 Discussion Questions]]
> [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]]
> [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#📂 Internal Notes]]
## 📜 Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
### A Cedar in Lebanon
[[#Verse 01.]] In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the Lord’s message came to me:
[[#Verse 02.]] “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and his hordes:
“‘Who are you like in your greatness?
[[#Verse 03.]] Consider Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon,
with beautiful branches, like a forest giving shade,
and extremely tall;
its top reached into the clouds.
[[#Verse 04.]] The water made it grow;
underground springs made it grow tall.
Rivers flowed all around the place it was planted,
while smaller channels watered all the trees of the field.
[[#Verse 05.]] Therefore it grew taller than all the trees of the field;
its boughs grew large and its branches grew long,
because of the plentiful water in its shoots.
[[#Verse 06.]] All the birds of the sky nested in its boughs;
under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth;
in its shade all the great nations lived.
[[#Verse 07.]] It was beautiful in its loftiness, in the length of its branches;
for its roots went down deep to plentiful waters.
[[#Verse 08.]] The cedars in the garden of God could not eclipse it,
nor could the fir trees match its boughs;
the plane trees were as nothing compared to its branches;
no tree in the garden of God could rival its beauty.
[[#Verse 09.]] I made it beautiful with its many branches;
all the trees of Eden, in the garden of God, envied it.
[[#Verse 10.]] “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because it was tall in stature, and its top reached into the clouds, and it was proud of its height,
[[#Verse 11.]] I gave it over to the leader of the nations. He has judged it thoroughly, as its sinfulness deserves. I have thrown it out.
[[#Verse 12.]] Foreigners from the most terrifying nations have cut it down and left it to lie there on the mountains. In all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs lie broken in the ravines of the land. All the peoples of the land have departed from its shade and left it.
[[#Verse 13.]] On its ruins all the birds of the sky will live, and all the wild animals will walk on its branches.
[[#Verse 14.]] For this reason no watered trees will grow so tall; their tops will not reach into the clouds, nor will the well-watered ones grow that high. For all of them have been appointed to die in the lower parts of the earth; they will be among mere mortals, with those who descend to the Pit.
[[#Verse 15.]] “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day it went down to Sheol I caused observers to lament. I covered it with the deep and held back its rivers; its plentiful water was restrained. I clothed Lebanon in black for it, and all the trees of the field wilted because of it.
[[#Verse 16.]] I made the nations shake at the sound of its fall, when I threw it down to Sheol, along with those who descend to the Pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and the best of Lebanon, all that were well-watered, were comforted in the earth below.
[[#Verse 17.]] Those who lived in its shade, its allies among the nations, also went down with it to Sheol, to those killed by the sword.
[[#Verse 18.]] Which of the trees of Eden was like you in majesty and loftiness? You will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lower parts of the earth; you will lie among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword! This is what will happen to Pharaoh and all his hordes, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary
###### Overall.
###### Verse 01.
###### Verse 02.
###### Verse 03.
###### Verse 04.
###### Verse 05.
###### Verse 06.
###### Verse 07.
###### Verse 08.
###### Verse 09.
###### Verse 10.
###### Verse 11.
###### Verse 12.
###### Verse 13.
###### Verse 14.
###### Verse 15.
###### Verse 16.
###### Verse 17.
###### Verse 18.
###### Verse 19.
###### Verse 20.
###### Verse 21.
###### Verse 22.
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###### Verse 24.
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###### Verse 30.
###### Verse 31.
###### Verse 32.
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###### Verse 48.
###### Verse 49.
## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. The prophecy is dated to the eleventh year, third month, first day (31:1), around 587 BC.
2. Egypt is asked to compare itself to Assyria, the great empire that had already fallen (31:3).
3. Nineveh, Assyria's capital, was destroyed by the Babylonians and Medes in 612 BC.
4. Egypt had marched to help the last of Assyria's forces, and was defeated by Babylon at Carchemish in 605 BC.
5. Birds nested in the cedar's branches and animals gave birth under it (31:6), a picture of empire repeated in Daniel 4:12.
6. Even the trees of Eden envied the great cedar (31:9).
7. The cedars of Lebanon could grow over 100 feet tall.
8. Sheol (31:15-17) is the Hebrew word for the realm of the dead.
9. Lying among the uncircumcised (31:18) meant a shameful death and burial.
10. Jesus used similar imagery in His parable of the mustard seed, where birds nest in the branches (Matthew 13:32).
## 🧠 Chapter Summary
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is the One who was lifted up through humility. Assyria was a towering cedar cut down because its heart grew proud (31:10-11), but Jesus humbled Himself, and God exalted Him above every name (Philippians 2:8-9).
## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## 💬 Discussion Questions
1. God asks Pharaoh, "Who are you like in your greatness?" (31:2). Why is it wise to learn from those who have already fallen?
2. The tree's height made its heart proud (31:10). How can success lead to pride if we are not careful?
3. Many nations once found shelter under the cedar (31:6). What kind of shelter should God's people offer the world?
## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember
- 📖 verse 3: Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches and great height.
- 📖 verse 10: Because its heart was proud of its height, it would be cut down.
- 📖 verse 18: This is Pharaoh and all his hordes.
## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference
- 🔗 [[Daniel 04#Verse 10.|Daniel 4:10-14]] - Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the great tree.
- 🔗 [[Philippians 02#Verse 08.|Philippians 2:8-9]] - God exalted Him to the highest place.
- 🔗 [[Nahum 03#Verse 07.|Nahum 3:7]] - Nineveh is devastated.
- 🔗 [[Isaiah 10#Verse 12.|Isaiah 10:12-15]] - God punishes the proud king of Assyria.
- 🔗 [[James 04#Verse 06.|James 4:6]] - God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
## 🙏 Devotional Reflection
📝 SOAP: [[Ezekiel 31 - SOAP|Troubles Come and Go, But Not God.]]
## 📂 Internal Notes