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The Bible Breakdown
Ezekiel 31: Troubles Come and Go, But Not God
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The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Well, everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today. Ezekiel, chapter 31,. And today's title is Troubles Come and Go, but Not God. Troubles come, troubles go, but not God. We're going to look at today, as we continue this journey through, how God is bringing justice to these rebellious nations but at the same time, he's bringing us hope and this promise and warnings so that we don't become one of them, right? And so, as we get ready to do that, if you have your Bibles, I'm going to open up with me to Ezekiel, chapter 31. While you're doing that, as always, if you're new around here, make sure you like, share, subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast, make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast it really does help and and make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. There's an amazing group of people over there doing a wonderful job. We have got this journey that we're going to be on that. We want to go all the way through the Bible together. We're more than halfway there and it's because of us doing it together. So make sure you go over there and you engage with us, because the more we dig, the more we find.
Speaker 1:Once again, if you have your Bibles, I want to open up with me to Ezekiel, chapter 31. Don't forget, the overall goal is God's promise of renewal, and one of the things I hope that you can see here is as God has turned his attention away from judging the nation of Israel. They didn't have theirs. Right Now that he is moving toward the rebellious nations, not only is he judging them, but along the way, he's still teaching us as well, and that is that troubles come and troubles go, but God does not. So in this, he's going to be talking about this beautiful picture. Remember, a couple days ago, we had this picture of Pharaoh like a crocodile in the Nile, and he's going to be pulling Pharaoh out of there and dealing with him all that. Well, this one, he's painting a picture of this massive tree and how it's going to come down and how, even though it looks big, it looks impossible to come down. It's going to come down, and that's how pride poisons these trees. And so we're going to see this, this massive story, and see how God's word will speak to us today. So, if you're ready, god's word. Ezekiel 31, verse 1, says this. So, if you're ready, god's word. Ezekiel 31, verse 1, says this On June 21st, in the 11th year of King Jehoiakim's captivity, this message came to me from the Lord, son of man. Give this message to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and all his hordes.
Speaker 1:To whom would you compare your greatness? Like the mighty Assyria, which is one of like a cedar of Lebanon, with beautiful branches that cast deep forest shade and with its top high among the clouds, deep springs watered it and helped it grow tall and luxuriant. The water flowed around it like a river streaming to all the trees nearby. This great tree towered high, higher than all the other trees around it. It prospered and grew long, thick branches because of all the water at its roots. The birds nested in its branches and in its shade. All the wild animals gave birth. All the great nations of the world lived in its shadow. It was strong and beautiful, with wide spreading branches, for its roots went deep into abundant water. No other cedar in the garden of God could rival it. No cypress had branches to equal it. No plain tree had boughs to compare. No tree in the garden of God came close to its beauty.
Speaker 1:Because I made this tree so beautiful and gave it so much magnificent foliage, it was the envy of all the other trees of Eden, the garden of God. Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says. Because Egypt became proud and arrogant and because it set itself high above others, with its tops reaching the clouds, I will hand it over to a mighty nation who will destroy it as its wickedness deserves. I have already discarded it. A foreign army, the terror of the nations, has cut it down and left it fallen on the ground. Its branches were scattered across the mountains and valleys and ravines of the land. All those who lived in its shadow have gone away and left it lying there. The birds roost in its fallen trunk and the wild animals lie among its branches. Let the tree of no other nation profoundly exalt in its own prosperity. Though it be higher than the clouds, it will be watered from the depths, for all are doomed to die, to go down to the depths of the earth. They will land in the pit along with everyone else on earth. This is what the sovereign Lord says.
Speaker 1:When Assyria went down to the grave, I made the deep springs mourn. I stopped its rivers and dried up its abundant water. I clothed Lebanon in black and caused the trees of the field to wilt. I made the nation shake with fear as it sound at the sound of its fall, for I sent it down to the grave with all the others who descent into the pit. In all the proud trees of Eden, the most beautiful and the best of Lebanon, the ones whose roots went deep into the water, took comfort to find it there, to find them in the depths of the earth. Its allies too were all destroyed and had passed away. They had gone down to the grave, all those nations that had lived in its shade. O Egypt, which of the trees of Eden will you compare your strength and glory? You too will be brought down to the depths of all these other nations. You will lie there among the outcasts who died by the sword, and this will be the fate of Pharaoh and all his hordes. Wow, so what an interesting deal, and I hope you didn't kind of get lost in the weeds pun intended of the metaphor of these different trees.
Speaker 1:God is saying that, just like a tree that was the most beautiful tree among beautiful trees, like he says, like the most beautiful tree among the trees of Eden. Well, eden, you know all the way, all going all the way back to the perfect creation that God made back in Genesis was saying it was, it was a beautiful place. So among beautiful things was the most beautiful tree. And he was saying what do you want to compare yourself to Like that? Well, here's the thing Because of your pride, because of your arrogance, because you thought you were the best, I'm going to cut you down. And what a wonderful lesson that is for all of us. Because, if you notice, he's saying all these things are going to happen to cut you down, but really the one who cut you down was you, because of your pride, because of your arrogance.
Speaker 1:Isn't it true that many times, what truly ends up destroying our lives is not really what other people do to us, because we have the opportunity to respond instead of react to the things that happen. It's what happens on the inside of us. If we keep a humble spirit and we say you know what I am going to grow, where I'm planted, wherever I'm at, that's where I'm going to be. I'm going to do the very best I can with what I have. I'm going to be content with what God has done in my life. I'm going to move forward. That person will never be defeated because they just don't know how. They're just going to keep on getting up over and over again, because that's the mentality they have. But if you get somebody who's prideful, they think this is the only way, it can be my way or the highway well then what happens when that gets tore down is they are utterly destroyed because they don't know what else to do. They have no resilience, and so the lesson to us here is to don't destroy ourselves with our own pride, but to always keep a humble spirit.
Speaker 1:Humbleness is not saying that you are less of a person. It's just thinking of yourself less often. It's being self-aware, not self-obsessed. It's figuring out who you are so you know where your strengths and your weaknesses are, and then you put that aside and you move forward. Self-obsessed is when you're constantly thinking that you are the center of your universe and in the culture we live in, in the way that marketing is done with us and social media and all this kind of stuff. It is so very hard not to become self-obsessed kind of stuff. It is so very hard not to become self-obsessed. But we have to work on it every single day so that we can be in a position where we can keep that humble spirit so that God can use us Otherwise, just like what happened to Egypt and this metaphorical tree will be what happened to us. It may be outside influences that are the tools, but the root of the problem is what happens on the inside of us. So we have to be self-aware and be challenged to stay pure on the inside.
Speaker 1:Let's pray, god. Thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, that you're with us and you're for us. Thank you, god, that you give us these moments of self-reflection because you care about us. You don't want us to fall by our own sword. You don't want us to fall by pride, because many times it's not just the pride, but then it's what happens afterward that keeps us down. Help us, lord, to have a humble spirit. Jesus, when you were on the earth, you had a humble spirit. It doesn't mean you thought less of yourself. It meant that you didn't think of yourself, but you were here to offer your life as a ransom for many. Let us focus our eyes on others and move forward together. In Jesus' name, we pray amen and what God's word says in Ezekiel 34, verse 14, I will put my spirit in you and you will live again. I pray that we will understand what true life is, as we do it with God every day. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. For Ezekiel, chapter 32.
