LET ANY ONE WHO THINKS HE STANDS, TAKE HEED!

THE DAILY FOUNTAIN DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE OF THE CHURCH OF NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION)

DATE: FRIDAY, 15TH SEPTEMBER, 2023 

TOPIC: LET ANY ONE WHO THINKS HE STANDS, TAKE HEED!

TEXT: EZEKIEL 31:1-18

1. Now it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third [month,] on the first [day] of the month, [that] the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

2. "Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude: 'Whom are you like in your greatness?

3. Indeed Assyria [was] a cedar in Lebanon, With fine branches that shaded the forest, And of high stature; And its top was among the thick boughs.

4. The waters made it grow; Underground waters gave it height, With their rivers running around the place where it was planted, And sent out rivulets to all the trees of the field.

5.  'Therefore its height was exalted above all the trees of the field; Its boughs were multiplied, And its branches became long because of the abundance of water, As it sent them out.

6.  All the birds of the heavens made their nests in its boughs; Under its branches all the beasts of the field brought forth their young; And in its shadow all great nations made their home.

7.  'Thus it was beautiful in greatness and in the length of its branches, Because its roots reached to abundant waters.

8.  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.

9.  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.'

10.  " Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'Because you have increased in height, and it set its top among the thick boughs, and its heart was lifted up in its height,

11.  'therefore I will deliver it into the hand of the mighty one of the nations, and he shall surely deal with it; I have driven it out for its wickedness.

12.  'And aliens, the most terrible of the nations, have cut it down and left it; its branches have fallen on the mountains and in all the valleys; its boughs lie broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the peoples of the earth have gone from under its shadow and left it.

13.  'On its ruin will remain all the birds of the heavens, And all the beasts of the field will come to its branches --

14.  'So that no trees by the waters may ever again exalt themselves for their height, nor set their tops among the thick boughs, that no tree which drinks water may ever be high enough to reach up to them. 'For they have all been delivered to death, To the depths of the earth, Among the children of men who go down to the Pit.'

15.  " Thus says the Lord GOD: 'In the day when it went down to hell, I caused mourning. I covered the deep because of it. I restrained its rivers, and the great waters were held back. I caused Lebanon to mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted because of it.

16.  'I made the nations shake at the sound of its fall, when I cast it down to hell together with those who descend into the Pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the depths of the earth.

17.  'They also went down to hell with it, with those [slain] by the sword; and [those who were] its [strong] arm dwelt in its shadows among the nations.

18.  'To which of the trees in Eden will you then be likened in glory and greatness? Yet you shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the depths of the earth; you shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with [those] slain by the sword. This [is] Pharaoh and all his multitude,' says the Lord GOD."

 

MESSAGE: 

In our today’s text, the prophecy is against Egypt, and is designed to humble Pharaoh. Pharaoh stood indicted for his pride and haughtiness and the injuries he inflicted on God’s people. He paid no attention to God’s warning that said, touch not my anointed and do my prophet no harm. He thought of himself so highly as not to be accountable. God directed prophet Ezekiel to report to him as case study the king of Assyria whose head city was Nineveh.

 

He showed him how great a monarch the king of Assyria was and the vast empire he had (vv. 3-9). He also showed him how he was like the king of Assyria in pride (v.10). He made it explicit to him the history of the fall and ruin of the king of Assyria (vv. 11-17). He thereby left the king of Egypt to apply all these to himself to beware of the sins of the king of Assyria lest he should meet his own doom and fall. We must fear and tremble before God, the consuming fire. We have nothing to boast of, every good gift comes from the Father of light. We cannot rebel against God and go free. Sheol is real and falling into it is sure if we don’t repent. Anyone who thinks he stands should take heed lest he falls.

PRAYER: 

Father God, in Your mercy, keep us from falling in Jesus’ name. Amen.