To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.
To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? Application of the parabolic description of Assyria to the parallel case of Egypt. 'All that has been said of the Assyrian consider as said to thyself. To whom art thou so like as thou art to the Assyrian? To none.' He closes with the same question with which he began in Ezekiel 31:2, "Whom art thou like in thy greatness?" The lesson on a gigantic scale of Eden-like privileges abused to pride and sin by the Assyrian, as in the case of the first man in Eden, ending in ruin, was to be repeated in Egypt's case. For the unchangeable God governs the world on the same unchangeable principles; and sin also is unchangeable in its nature and in its awful consequences.
Thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised - as circumcision was an object of mocking to thee, thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, slain by their sword (Grotius). Retribution in kind (Ezekiel 28:10).
This is Pharaoh - Pharaoh's end shall be the same humiliating one as I have depicted the Assyrian's to have been. "This" is demonstrative, as if he were pointing with the finger to Pharaoh lying prostrate-a spectacle to all, as on the shore of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:30-31). Compare also Isaiah 66:24.
Remarks:
(1) The greatness of Egypt no more secured it against a grievous downfall than the greatness of Assyria had secured it against its utter overthrow. Assyria had once been as a stately cedar, with fair branches above, and supplied with waters to nourish its roots beneath (Ezekiel 31:3-5). Wherever the Assyrian king extended his arms, prosperity had attended him: and many nations and peoples took shelter under his protection, just as the fowls and beasts avail themselves of the covert of a lofty and overshadowing tree (Ezekiel 31:6). No other king could eclipse his eminence (Ezekiel 31:8); so that he resembled a cedar which revived in itself all the glories of Paradise, so that no other tree was comparable to it. How great are the privileges, and how great also are the responsibilities of those who are thus placed in high positions, and distinguished by many excellent gifts!
(2) But the Assyrian king forgot that all his excellence and eminence were the gifts of God's grace, not due to any merit in himself. "I have made him fair," saith God (Ezekiel 31:9). This truth was lost sight of, and the Assyrian's "heart was lifted up in his height" (Ezekiel 31:10).
Therefore, in just retribution, instead of being in favour with God and with man, as he might have been by honouring God in all his ways., and by respecting the rights of his fellow-men, he became an object of "envy" to the peoples (Ezekiel 31:9), by haughtiness in his proud elevation (Ezekiel 31:10), and by oppression of those under him: then followed the day of his punishment. "Delivered up" by the hand of the righteous Judge "into the hand of the mighty one of the pagan," the representative and instrument of God's vengeance (Ezekiel 31:11), he was dealt with according to his sin, and, like a second Adam, "driven out for his wickedness." Then all the nations and peoples who had once sheltered under "his shadow left him" (Ezekiel 31:12); nay, as birds and beasts tread under foot the fallen trunk of the tree beneath which they had once taken shelter, so the very subjects of Nineveh insulted over its "ruin" (Ezekiel 31:13).
(3) How different the security afforded by the Gospel-tree! The Gospel-kingdom gathers all under its saving covert, for their present and eternal good and for the glory of God, and not for self-aggrandizement and to the hurt of men, as is the way of the kingdoms of this world (Ezekiel 31:6). Therefore it shall never fall, nor shall those who trust in its shadow (Ezekiel 17:23; Matthew 13:32) ever be confounded; because it is a kingdom that is established on the everlasting principles of the divine truth, righteousness, and love.
(4) The effect of God's judgments on the haughty ones of the earth is to abase the pride of man, "to the end that none of all ... exalt themselves for their height" (Ezekiel 31:14). The higher has been the past elevation of the proud, the deeper shall be their fall. The pit of hell beneath (Ezekiel 31:14; Ezekiel 31:16) is the appointed place of all who set themselves on high against God and His people. Their helpers, who were their "ruin," in deeds of violence, and all who have been confederate with them in sin, shall share their doom (Ezekiel 31:17). Others, too, who preceded them in sin-the great ones of the earth, who had been once, as it were, "choice trees of Eden," but who were cast down to hell through apostasy, shall feel a melancholy "comfort" in having so great a king as the Assyrian brought down to the same level with themselves, and a companion in misery (Ezekiel 31:16). Oh how terrible must be the torments of the lost, when the only consolation afforded them is the miserable one of having others to share their wretchedness!
(5) The Egyptian king resembled the Assyrian in his overweening and blasphemous pride: so therefore must he resemble him in his terrible fall; while all peoples shall point to him as an awful example of God's vengeance on proud transgressors-This is Pharaoh and all his multitude! How blessed it is to be among the meek followers of the Lamb, who, when God shall destroy the guilty, shall be eternally safe; yea, they shall adore the holy justice of God, when "they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against God; because their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh"! (Isaiah 66:24.)