Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 856. Bible Study: Ezekiel 31 (Assyria, Lebanon (Tyre?), Egypt described as "Trees")

Transcript

856. Bible Study: Ezekiel 31 (Assyria, Lebanon (Tyre?), Egypt described as "Trees") · Faith by annm2705

• 0:00
  Ezekiel chapter 31 dear Lord, please let our eyes be opened
• 0:06
  and our hearts be opened to hear what you have to say through
• 0:09
  your word today. We ask this in Jesus name this
• 0:14
  this chapter is titled Pharaoh as a felled cedar of Lebanon.
• 0:21
  That's kind of interesting how they worded that.
• 0:25
  OK, so chapter 31, in the 11th year, in the third month, on the
• 0:30
  first day, the word of the Lord came to me, son of man, say to
• 0:34
  Pharaoh, king of Egypt. So he's talking to the king of
• 0:39
  Egypt to and to his hordes, who can compare with you in majesty.
• 0:49
  Consider Assyria, once a Lebanon, once a cedar in
• 0:55
  Lebanon, with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest.
• 1:00
  It towered on high, its top above the thick foliage.
• 1:04
  The waters nourished it. Deep springs made it grow tall.
• 1:08
  Their streams flowed all around its base and sent their channels
• 1:14
  to all the trees of the field. So it towered higher than all
• 1:19
  the trees of the field. Its bows increased and its
• 1:22
  branches grew long, spreading because of abundant waters.
• 1:28
  All the birds of the sky nested in its bows.
• 1:33
  All the animals of the wild gave birth under its branches.
• 1:37
  All the great nations lived in its shade.
• 1:41
  It was majestic in beauty with its spreading bows, for its
• 1:45
  roots went down to abundant waters.
• 1:49
  The Cedars in the Garden of God could not rival it, nor could
• 1:55
  the Junipers equal to equal its bows, nor could the plane trees
• 2:02
  compare with its branches. No tree in the Garden of God
• 2:06
  could match its beauty. I made it beautiful with
• 2:11
  abundant branches, The envy of all the trees of Eden in the
• 2:18
  Garden of God. OK, this is obviously poetic and
• 2:25
  yet, and the symbolism that's in here is very interesting.
• 2:28
  In fact, I plan to do a separate podcast exclusively to talk
• 2:34
  about the trees because there's so many trees that are mentioned
• 2:37
  throughout the Bible, not just this chapter, but they have a
• 2:41
  symbolic, A symbolic meaning that is really helpful to be
• 2:48
  aware of. So first of all, we're seeing
• 2:51
  that he's talking to the king of Egypt and he's comparing it to
• 2:55
  Assyria and he's saying Assyria had been that had been this tall
• 2:59
  tree. And then he's comparing these
• 3:03
  tall trees, the Cedars of Lebanon and they're compared to
• 3:09
  the Cedars in the garden of God. So there's a difference.
• 3:14
  There's, there's some of them that are in Lebanon and some of
• 3:17
  them are in the garden of God and God made them all.
• 3:23
  And I think this is really interesting too, because I think
• 3:27
  it's spiritually significant because we just see that the
• 3:31
  same kind of spiritual influence continues today.
• 3:36
  When I get to the next chapter, you'll see what I mean, but
• 3:41
  especially when we start reviewing what these different
• 3:45
  trees signify. Anyway.
• 3:49
  So this is a warning to Pharaoh that Assyria was once great, but
• 3:56
  now you know, there's, there's more that's coming.
• 3:58
  OK, so and talking about the Garden of Eden, and I'm thinking
• 4:03
  about like who was in the Garden of Eden?
• 4:05
  It was really what Adam and Eve and God and the serpent.
• 4:10
  And that was about it because after Adam and Eve sinned, they
• 4:14
  were banned from the garden that was kind of closed off.
• 4:18
  So there were, and then also in Genesis 3, and I think it's
• 4:25
  Genesis 315, because of sin, God says he will put enmity between
• 4:33
  the serpent or Satan's seed and the woman's seed or offspring.
• 4:42
  And so it it, it, it really tells a lot like there was there
• 4:47
  was definite separation. So what shocked me when I first
• 4:52
  looked into that in Genesis 315 was that Satan has offspring.
• 4:58
  And so he, whether or not that's like a literal offspring or just
• 5:03
  those that are allied together, he certainly does have allies
• 5:07
  together because in Revelation, it says, it says he takes a
• 5:11
  third of the angels with him. Those are what they call the
• 5:14
  fallen angels. And, and we'll see in other
• 5:18
  places where he has allies. And so this is this seems to be
• 5:23
  a comparison between the Cedars in the Garden of God and the
• 5:27
  Cedars of Lebanon. Now just a few chapters ago, God
• 5:32
  was basically rebuking the king of Tyre and he was also
• 5:36
  referring to the king of Tyre as being in the Garden of Eden.
• 5:41
  And he really described this kind of like a high priest.
• 5:48
  And because it said that you were decorated with these, with
• 5:51
  these stones like an ephod that the high priest wore and it was
• 5:55
  back in the Garden of Eden. I mean, this is no mortal that
• 5:58
  he's talking to. This is something more than
• 6:01
  that. Again, this this supports the
• 6:03
  theory that I believe that there there are spiritual entities
• 6:08
  over different areas. And maybe that's what Paul meant
• 6:12
  when he talked about the principalities in the heavenly
• 6:16
  realms, like they have their certain territories that they
• 6:20
  oversee. And just like in Job, God, you
• 6:25
  know, is he has like a a counsel with many that come forward and,
• 6:30
  and Satan was in the presence too, along with the other
• 6:33
  angels. So there's some.
• 6:36
  And then Michael, we know is the protector of Israel, the
• 6:41
  Archangel Michael is the protector of Israel in the
• 6:44
  heavenly realms and he battles in the heavenly realms.
• 6:48
  We know this according to the book of Daniel against the
• 6:51
  Prince of Persia, who is in the heavenly realms, which is the
• 6:55
  Prince of Iran in the heavenly realms.
• 6:58
  And Michael is battling with that Prince.
• 7:02
  So that's what held up getting a message to Daniel when he had
• 7:07
  first prayed. So there's there's there's a lot
• 7:10
  that support that theory that I have.
• 7:13
  But here again, there's more support.
• 7:15
  Where there's a difference. There are there is greatness,
• 7:19
  but the greatness associated with Lebanon here is not a good
• 7:23
  thing, as we will see as it gets a little bit further.
• 7:27
  So I think this is more like Satan's allies versus gods.
• 7:34
  And here we go in verse 10. Therefore, this is what the
• 7:38
  sovereign Lord says. Because the great cedar towered
• 7:43
  over the thick foliage, and and because it was proud of its
• 7:47
  height, I gave it into the hands of the ruler of the nations for
• 7:53
  him to deal with. According to its wit wickedness.
• 7:58
  I cast it aside, and the most ruthless of foreign nations cut
• 8:03
  it down and left it. So this is interesting.
• 8:07
  God says I gave it into the hands of the ruler of the
• 8:11
  nations. Now that could mean a a personal
• 8:14
  ruler. But we also have heard in the
• 8:18
  Bible that Satan is the ruler of the air and that Satan has some
• 8:22
  authority. Like when he was tempting Jesus
• 8:24
  and he was saying it right after Jesus's baptism in the
• 8:28
  wilderness and Satan saying, I'll give you all of this.
• 8:31
  And Jesus didn't say you don't have the right to do that, which
• 8:34
  he could have said because he would have known that he didn't
• 8:36
  say that. He just, he said that he was not
• 8:40
  going to bow down to Satan because that's what Satan,
• 8:44
  apparently it shows through scripture.
• 8:46
  That's what he wants to be worshipped.
• 8:48
  And there are Satan worshippers in the world today.
• 8:52
  So he has some authority. And that's also why Jesus came
• 8:58
  to break the power of the devil, to break the power of Satan and
• 9:04
  to bring people into God's Kingdom.
• 9:07
  So we, you know, this is definitely a spiritual battle,
• 9:10
  just like Paul says in Ephesians 6 verse 12.
• 9:16
  So anyway, continuing on, I, I gave it, he's talking about in
• 9:20
  Assyria. I gave it into the hands of the
• 9:23
  rulers of the nations for him to deal with it for him to deal
• 9:28
  with according to its wickedness.
• 9:31
  I cast it aside and the most ruthless of foreign nations cut
• 9:37
  it down and left it. Now the most ruthless of foreign
• 9:42
  nations we will see a little bit later is often referred to as
• 9:47
  Babylon. So again, Babylon, I think, you
• 9:51
  know, it certainly was a city, but I also think it's a
• 9:54
  spiritual reality too. And there's like a spiritual
• 9:58
  force that may may impact multiple people throughout
• 10:02
  generations. But I do think there is a
• 10:04
  spiritual Babylon. And when, you know, Babylon was
• 10:08
  located in what is modern day Iraq right now, But we also see
• 10:13
  that it there's a lot of talk about the demise of Babylon that
• 10:19
  like the demise of Tyre. So again, I think it's more of a
• 10:25
  spiritual condition that is in multiple cities rather than just
• 10:32
  a single single place, a single place, because let's see, it
• 10:38
  also is talked about, I believe in Revelation, OK, the great
• 10:45
  city was Nineveh and that's located in in Iraq.
• 10:50
  But Jerusalem also is called the great city in a almost like a
• 10:57
  sarcastic way by God when he talks about, you know, where the
• 11:01
  Lord was crucified. And so again, this is another
• 11:07
  theory. There's there's the spiritual
• 11:09
  Babylon that's affected many different cities and nations.
• 11:18
  And again, if you go back to who did Babylon worship, they
• 11:23
  worshipped Ishtar and Asher and just look up those and it's
• 11:29
  really interesting because those goddess deity, it's about love
• 11:36
  and war and and it's about sexual immorality.
• 11:42
  It's about gender confusion and just think about what has been
• 11:49
  happening in our world that that has been increasing.
• 11:54
  And the Bible tells us that darkness will increase.
• 11:57
  And it's just been really strange things that have
• 12:00
  happened in the world that things that most people would
• 12:05
  know are not true. Then everybody says that they're
• 12:12
  true, and then they want to punish people who don't agree
• 12:17
  with them. It's just the most bizarre
• 12:19
  thing. It's like craziness just like
• 12:22
  came over the earth. And I don't know if this is, I
• 12:26
  don't know if this is in the Bible, but I've heard it like
• 12:28
  Satan is the author of confusion.
• 12:31
  So I I can't remember if that's actually a biblical verse or if
• 12:35
  it's just something that people say.
• 12:37
  But anyway, let's go back to Scripture.
• 12:42
  Let's see where I left off It's bow.
• 12:46
  It's bows fell on the mountains, and in all the valleys it's
• 12:49
  branches lay broken, and all the ravines of the land, all the
• 12:53
  nations of the earth came out from under its shade and left
• 12:58
  it. All the birds settled on the
• 13:00
  fallen tree, and all the wild animals lived among its
• 13:04
  branches. Therefore no other trees by the
• 13:07
  waters are ever to tower proudly on high, lifting their tops
• 13:12
  above the thick foliage. No other trees so well watered
• 13:17
  are ever to reach such a height. They are all destined for death
• 13:25
  for the earth below among mortals.
• 13:29
  OK, so this is where the theory of this being spiritual, because
• 13:35
  they are destined for death for the earth below among mortals.
• 13:41
  So does that mean that they're different than mortals?
• 13:44
  Could that mean that they are angelics or spirits or demons or
• 13:48
  something like that? So I'll read this sentence
• 13:51
  again. No other trees so well watered
• 13:53
  are ever to reach such a height. They are all destined for death,
• 13:59
  for the earth below, among mortals who go down to the realm
• 14:04
  of the dead. This is what the Sovereign Lord
• 14:07
  says on the day it will it was brought down to the realm of the
• 14:12
  dead. I covered the deep springs with
• 14:17
  mourning for it. I held back its streams, and its
• 14:22
  abundant waters were restrained because of it.
• 14:27
  I clothed Lebanon with gloom, and all the trees of the field
• 14:33
  withered away. I made the nations tremble at
• 14:37
  the sound of its fall, when I brought it down to the realm of
• 14:41
  the dead to be with those who go down to the pit.
• 14:46
  This is the abyss that is being referred to.
• 14:50
  Then all the trees of Eden. So think about that again.
• 14:55
  Eden, who's been in Eden. Then all the trees of Eden, The
• 14:59
  choicest and best of Lebanon, the well watered trees were,
• 15:04
  were consoled in the earth below.
• 15:08
  They too, like the great cedar, had gone down to the realm of
• 15:13
  the dead, to those killed by the sword, along with the armed men
• 15:20
  who lived in its shade among the nations.
• 15:25
  Then it says, Which of the trees of Eden can be compared with you
• 15:30
  in splendor and majesty? Yet you too will be brought down
• 15:36
  with the trees of Eden to the earth below.
• 15:39
  You will lie among the uncircumcised with those killed
• 15:44
  by the sword. So mortals are the ones who are
• 15:49
  killed by the sword, but spiritual entities live on.
• 15:55
  So I really do think this is spiritual.
• 15:57
  I mean, this chapter is really affirming it more for me.
• 16:00
  But this is spoken to this where we're starting again.
• 16:03
  Which of the Trees of Eden can be compared with you?
• 16:05
  This is Egypt. Egypt is coming next to this
• 16:08
  realm. This is Pharaoh and all his
• 16:12
  hordes declared the sovereign Lord.
• 16:15
  OK, so that's the end of chapter 31.
• 16:18
  So I will read the questions and answers from this study and then
• 16:22
  we'll go on to chapter 32 because 32 relates to 31.
• 16:28
  Why call Assyria a cedar in Lebanon?
• 16:30
  Lebanon was no for known for its cedar trees.
• 16:33
  Many trees remain in in remain small in Lebanon due to its arid
• 16:38
  climate, but cedar trees grow large by sending their roots
• 16:42
  down deep, tapping into underground springs like the
• 16:46
  cedar. God had caused a series to grow
• 16:49
  larger and more powerful than the nations around it.
• 16:53
  Why did God help wicked Assyria? God aided Assyria not because He
• 16:58
  wanted to reward its evil ways, but because He wanted to punish
• 17:02
  Israel for its sin. God often used nations more
• 17:07
  wicked than Israel to punish His people when they rejected Him.
• 17:14
  That's another thing for all of us, just to think about.
• 17:16
  We don't want to reject God, because if God does this to his
• 17:21
  chosen people and he has no favoritism, then what can we
• 17:26
  expect? Who was this ruler of the
• 17:31
  nations? The increasingly powerful ruler
• 17:35
  of Babylon who conquered Assyria?
• 17:39
  Until that defeat, Assyria had been a superpower power.
• 17:43
  So yes, I believe Babylon the, you know, the king of Babylon,
• 17:46
  Nebuchadnezzar was, was that guy.
• 17:48
  But it's also, I think it's a spiritual thing for all the
• 17:51
  reasons I said before. So why would God lift no other
• 17:56
  trees as high as he did Assyria? God probably refrained from
• 18:00
  exalting another nation because Assyria had become so extremely
• 18:04
  arrogant and wicked. While God had raised Assyria up
• 18:08
  to judge His own people, Assyria later faced judgement for its
• 18:13
  arrogance and excessive cruelty. This was not a perpetual
• 18:19
  worldwide prophecy. Other nations from other regions
• 18:23
  of the globe would later achieve greater accomplishments than
• 18:28
  Assyria. Why give Pharaoh a history
• 18:33
  lesson? God warned Pharaoh by reminding
• 18:36
  him of a serious fate. Since Egypt had not turned from
• 18:40
  its wicked ways, judgement would come against Egypt just as it
• 18:45
  had come against Assyria. Assyria had surpassed Egypt in
• 18:50
  power and prominence but had not been able to escape destruction.
• 18:55
  The lesson for Pharaoh? He could expect nothing less
• 19:00
  than what had happened to Assyria.
• 19:03
  What other nations went down with Assyria?
• 19:05
  Archaeology has not yet revealed which nations might have been
• 19:10
  Assyria's allies. However, Assyria's ruthless ways
• 19:14
  caused many to have an intense hatred toward it.
• 19:18
  Toward it. See the Book of Nahum.
• 19:20
  As a result, it's doubtful there would have been many allies.
• 19:27
  All right, now we will go over. Let me see, Maybe I'll stop here
• 19:33
  and then start a new podcast for Chapter 32.