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Daily Devotions

Ezekiel

Ezekiel 
Day 
Day 327

"I made it beautiful"

Text: Ezekiel 31:9

ASSYRIA AS A CEDAR TREE

The prophet Ezekiel was given a glimpse of how significant the Assyria empire was in its height. Few nations could compare with it.

“The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it;
The fir trees were not like its boughs,
And the chestnut trees were not like its branches;
No tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty.
I made it beautiful with a multitude of branches,
So that all the trees of Eden envied it,
That were in the garden of God.”
Ezekiel 31:8-9

1. The imagery of God’s garden.

a) There were many trees.

b) For example:

i) There were fir trees.

ii) There were chestnut trees.

iii) These were good trees.

b) The cedar tree in God’s garden.

i) The other trees were compared to the cedar.

ii) The word “bough” and “branch” are used interchangeably.

iii) The boughs of the other trees were compared to that of the cedar.

iv) They were inferior to that of the cedar branches and boughs.

2. Assyria

a) It had its own beauty.

b) It stood out above all the other trees.

3. God’s handiwork

a) It was God who makes anything beautiful.

b) It could be a literal tree.

c) It could be a nation.

d) Ultimately, it is God who makes anything outstanding.

e) All other trees envied the cedar for its beauty and majesty.