Ezekiel 30-31

“‘Who can be compared with you in majesty? Consider Assyria, once a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest” (31:2-3). Through the prophet Ezekiel, God challenged mighty Egypt’s sense of unbeatable supremacy. Assyria, too, had been an ‘unbeatable’ power; like a mighty cedar, “all the great nations lived in its shade” (31:6). It rivaled the beauty of Eden’s trees in “the garden of God” (31:8-9), yet it was eventually “cast aside” (31:11). Egypt’s dominance could also crumble at any time.

The “splendor and majesty” of military might and economic power, from Assyria to Egypt to today, seem to rule the world (31:18). Yet empires come and go, and God remains the true King. His judgment over the world and our lives is what matters.