**The Fall of the Mighty Cedar: A Tale of Pride and Judgment**
In the eleventh year of the exile, on the first day of the third month, the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the prophet, saying, *”Son of man, speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude: ‘To whom are you likened in your greatness?’”*
And so Ezekiel lifted his voice, his heart heavy with the burden of the Lord’s message, and he began to weave a parable—a tale of a tree, towering and proud, whose fate would serve as a warning to all who exalted themselves above the measure of God’s grace.
### **The Splendor of the Cedar**
*”Behold,”* declared the prophet, *”Assyria was once a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches that cast a vast shadow, towering high above all the trees of the field. Its top reached into the clouds, and its roots drank deeply from the abundant waters. No tree in the garden of God could rival its majesty.”*
The Lord had planted this cedar by great waters, nourishing it with rivers that flowed from the depths of the earth. Its boughs stretched wide, offering shelter to the birds of the air, and beneath its shade, all the beasts of the field found rest. The nations marveled at its grandeur, for no cedar in Eden, no cypress or plane tree, could compare to its beauty. It was the envy of every tree in the garden of God.
### **The Sin of Pride**
Yet, in its towering splendor, the cedar’s heart grew proud. *”Because you are exalted in stature,”* said the Lord, *”because your top pierces the clouds and your heart is lifted up in your height, therefore I will deliver you into the hand of the mighty one of the nations.”*
The Most High had decreed its downfall. A ruthless nation, summoned by divine judgment, would come against it. They would strip its branches, cut down its towering height, and leave its mighty trunk to rot upon the earth. The birds would flee from its fallen limbs, the beasts would scatter from its ruined shade, and all who gazed upon it would tremble at its fate.
### **The Desolation of the Mighty**
*”On the day of its fall,”* Ezekiel proclaimed, *”the waters receded, the rivers grew quiet, and the earth mourned. The trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, all that drank the waters, were comforted in the depths of the earth. They too went down to Sheol with it, joining those slain by the sword—those who once dwelt in its shadow among the nations.”*
The once-glorious cedar now lay in the pit, brought low to the company of the uncircumcised, with those who had fallen by the sword. This was Pharaoh and all his multitude—the great and proud, who had thought themselves beyond the reach of judgment.
### **The Warning to Egypt**
Then the word of the Lord thundered forth: *”To whom are you thus likened in glory and greatness among the trees of Eden? Yet you shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the world beneath. You shall lie among the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude!”*
And so the prophecy stood as a warning—not just to Egypt, but to all who trusted in their own might. For the Lord brings low the lofty and exalts the humble. The cedar, once the pride of Lebanon, now served as a solemn reminder: no kingdom, no ruler, no power can stand when it sets itself against the will of the Almighty.
Thus ended the word of the Lord through Ezekiel, a tale of glory turned to ruin, a lesson etched in the annals of time for all who would hear and understand.
