Today in God’s Word

May 15, Ezekiel 31

”Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude: Whom are you like in your greatness?" - Ezekiel 31:2

Surely you've heard the saying, "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." The quote (or misquote) is often attributed to philosopher George Santayana, Winston Churchill, Edmund Burke and others. Whoever said it first and whatever the exact original said, the saying has a clear meaning. If we fail to learn from the mistakes and failures of the past, we are sure to make the same mistakes and experience similar failure.

That's the way the parable of the great tree works in Ezekiel 31. God gave Ezekiel a parable to tell the king of Egypt about a great tree and its spectacular fall. He clearly identified the tree as Assyria. At the end of the story, the punchline was plain: "You, Pharaoh and your multitude, are going to come down, just as Assyria did before you."

Both these "trees" fell in ancient history. But when Ezekiel told the parable, less than 25 years had passed since Assyria had fallen. That world-changing event had happened during the lifetimes of the prophet and Pharaoh. And the fulfillment of the prophecy against Egypt was just ahead. Egypt would fall to the same Babylon that had cut down Assyria. Adults living then could remember what happened to the Assyrian empire, and Ezekiel told them it was about to happen again.

Like so many prophecies in God's word, the words had specific application to some situation or event. In this case, Assyria's unthinkable fall should have warned Pharaoh and Egypt that it could and would happen to them. Ezekiel made it plain to Pharaoh in the last line of this chapter: "Who are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? You shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the world below. You shall lie down among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD."

But there is also an abiding principle that applies to nations like ours and people like us. The message for you and me from this story is that "Pride goes before destruction," as Solomon expressed it a few centuries before Ezekiel's time.

When any nation or person defies God and ignores God's will, arrogant pride is once again paving the way to destruction. When we choose to do what we want to do instead of humbling ourselves to God, our actions betray the pride in our hearts. It feels like freedom, like we're asserting ourselves. We may not intend to hurt or destroy ourselves by doing our will instead of God's will for us. But the outcome of self-willed, prideful disregard for God is the same. It destroys us whether we intended it as rebellion or not.

God used the mighty Assyrians to destroy northern kingdom Israel before he allowed Babylon to dethrone Assyria from its prominence. Babylon had humbled what was left of Israel in Judah, and would take away the arrogant glory of Pharaoh and Egypt before the Babylonian empire would itself fall.

When nations grew large and proud, God humbled them. That principle has not been reversed or neutralized today. It still applies, not only to nations, but to you and me as well. We choose a way that leads to destruction when we disobey God and follow our selfish desires.

The gospel of Christ is the only solution to the deadly self-destroying problem of pride. In his great love for us and his desire to save us from ourselves, God gave Jesus to die in our place, to take the wrath we deserved for our disobedience upon himself at the cross. When our hearts receive and believe that message, we deny self and come to him for forgiveness and new lives. When we are truly converted to Christ, we no longer serve self and sin, but the

Savior who died to redeem us.

History's lesson is clear: Pride leads to destruction. I want to be smart enough to learn from history, don't you? May God grant us the grace to commit (or recommit) ourselves to him and his will for us. That's the way to life instead of death.

Copyright © 2024 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Today in God's Word—May 2024

 East Tallassee Church of Christ