Verse 3
They were similar to the Assyrians who had towered among the nations as a beautiful cedar of Lebanon (cf. Ezekiel 17:1-10; Ezekiel 17:22-24; Ezekiel 19:10-14; Ezekiel 26:19-21; Ezekiel 28:11-19; Isaiah 14:3-21). Some of the Lebanese cedars grew 80 feet high, were beautifully symmetrical, and contained thickly interwoven branches. [Note: Feinberg, p. 178. Allen, Ezekiel 20-48, p. 125, wrote an interesting paragraph on the motif of the cosmic tree in ancient mythology, which Ezekiel may have had in mind.]
Assyria had been one of the greatest nations in history before its fall in 612 B.C., perhaps the greatest nation. It was of particular interest to the Egyptians for two reasons. It had been the only Mesopotamian nation to invade Egypt successfully. The Assyrians destroyed Thebes in 633 B.C. (cf. Nahum 3:8-10) and eventually incorporated Egypt into its empire. Second, Assyria had fallen to the Babylonians, the same enemy that now threatened Egypt. The city of Nineveh fell to Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar’s father, in 612 B.C., and Nebuchadnezzar crushed the rest of the Assyrian army at Haran in 609 B.C.
Be the first to react on this!
