EZEKIEL 31-32 A LESSON IN HUMILITY2010 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Ezekiel 31-32 A Lesson In Humility

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2010.

Ezekiel chapter 31. We've took a break for kind of a couple weeks. Aaron did a great job sharing last week and looking forward to the work that God's going to do in him and his family as they move to Texas. But this week we're back in the book of Ezekiel. We're continuing on and we're looking at judgments that God has pronounced upon the nation of Egypt.

For the first part of the book of Ezekiel, chapters 1 through 24, we were dealing specifically with the nation of Judah. And that was the nation of Judah that was under attack by Babylon that God was promising they were going to be conquered by Babylon because of their rebellion against God.

And then in chapters 25 through what we'll be looking at today, chapter 32, we've been looking at God pronouncing judgment on other nations, not just Judah, but we looked at the nation of Tyre. We looked at a couple other nations as well, Philistia and so forth. And

They were also in rebellion against God, and so God is pronouncing judgment upon them. And this week, as we continue in chapter 31 and 32, we're looking at the nation of Egypt and what God has to say in regards to the Pharaoh, who is the king of Egypt, and the nation that is there in Egypt. And so we pick it up in chapter 31, verse 1 and 2. It says,

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, Son of man, say to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and to his multitude,

We'll get to what he says in just a moment, but we see the beginning here is happening at about 587 BC. Ezekiel is writing these things before Egypt is actually conquered by Babylon. Now the things that we look at in chapter 31 and 32, these promises of destruction and judgment that God is delivering have already been fulfilled as we read this today. But in Ezekiel's day, as he's writing these things,

There was several more years before the events would actually take place. And so it's about 587 BC, right about the time or just before the nation of Judah is actually going to fall to the nation of Babylon.

Now as God is addressing the nation of Egypt, we'll see this evening, as we saw a couple weeks ago when we were in chapter 30, that the main issue for the nation Egypt is their pride. That's kind of the first and foremost thing, and that's what God's going to be dealing with. They're full of pride, they're full of themselves, and God asked them the question there in verse 2, "...whom are you like in your greatness?"

He's asking them, who are you like in your greatness? Now, he's not saying, you know, that they are wonderful and great. He's asking them, according to their own estimations, they think they are wonderful. They think that they are great. And so God is going to be paralleling their greatness with a great tree in a forest. And we'll see that as we go forward. And so they think wonderful things about themselves.

And I think that's true probably of many of us. Pride is not an issue that only Egypt dealt with. It's not only an issue for Satan himself, but pride is something that, well, probably every individual has an issue with and struggles with. Whether we are aware of it or not, pride is a serious problem.

And pride is a serious problem for one thing because in James chapter 4 verse 6 it tells us that God resists the proud or he opposes the proud but he gives grace to the humble. And so you and I, we have this issue of pride. We have these issues of pride in our hearts and in our lives where we look at ourselves, we esteem ourselves, we consider ourselves and we think, hey, we're pretty great. I'm pretty awesome. I'm pretty wonderful.

There's a lot of pride that goes on, not just outward and blatant things, but subtle things that happen in our hearts where we think that we know better than God, where we think that our ways are better than His ways, where we think that we deserve this or we deserve that. There's lots of different ways that pride manifests itself in our hearts.

And so as we look at the nation of Egypt, God is addressing and dealing with their pride. And what he's going to do is he's going to compare their pride to the nation of Assyria and the king of Assyria. He likens Assyria

As we go forward to a great cedar tree that's in the forest of God's garden. It's a parallel or illustration that he's using to compare the nation of Egypt to Assyria. And he's comparing Assyria to a great cedar or a big tree that's in Lebanon.

And this is something that God's been doing for the past couple of chapters. If you remember back to chapter 27, as God was dealing with the nation of Tyre, He compared them or spoke to them as if they were a sinking ship. And He talked about, you know, as if a ship was sinking and related to them and promised His judgment upon them in those terms, as if they were a ship that was sinking.

In Ezekiel chapter 29, in dealing with Egypt, God wrote to them or spoke to them as if they were a great sea monster and described their judgment as if he was capturing and putting to death a great sea monster.

And so here in chapter 31, he's likening them to a great tree and he's speaking this judgment against them as if they were a great tree or a great cedar in Lebanon. And so we pick it up now in verse three, it says, "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.

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.

Verse 7,

Thus it was beautiful in greatness and in the length of its branches, because its roots stretched to abundant waters. 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."

Here in verses 3 through 9, God is likening the nation of Assyria to a great tree. And he's writing about them, he's talking about them as if they were a mighty cedar in Lebanon.

Now the nation of Assyria was a massive world empire that was on the scene before Babylon. And the nation of Assyria was actually conquered by Babylon, who is currently threatening the nation of Egypt. So Babylon conquered Assyria, and now Babylon has set its sights on the nation of Judah as well as the nation of Egypt.

And so the nation of Egypt was very familiar with the nation of Assyria and the power that it had and the world dominance. And so as God is talking to them about Assyria, it was current events for them. It just had happened that Assyria had fallen to the nation of Babylon. And so he looks at the nation of Assyria and he says Assyria was like a cedar in Lebanon.

Lebanon was an area that was above, it was north of the nation of Israel, and it was known for its cedars. It had, you know, ideal or prime cedars wood for building and those types of things. When Solomon was building the temple, he brought down cedars from Lebanon, as well as his palace. It was, you know, it was well known for its cedars.

You know, like In-N-Out is well known for its burgers. Lebanon is known for its cedars. And so it's kind of the best of the best there. If you wanted the best type of wood, you wanted, you know, the best cedars, you would go to Lebanon. And so he compares the nation of Assyria to this, you know, prime ideal place for trees or this tree that was the best of the best. It was a tree that stood out from the rest.

It was above the rest. It was higher. It was stronger. It was mightier. And that's what the nation of Assyria was like in its day. It was stronger than all of the nations. It conquered. It expanded its territory greatly. And so as it talks about its branches being multiplied and spread out, that's what the nation of Assyria did. It spread out and it enlarged its territory.

Many nations made their home in the shadow of Assyria. And he makes reference to that in verse 6. And so he says in verse 7, Assyria was a vast empire like none had gone before it. And so he's talking about the nation of Assyria. But remember, he's addressing Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.

And so why is he talking about Assyria when he's addressing Pharaoh, king of Egypt? Well, because as we go on in verse 10, he's drawing a parallel between Egypt and Assyria, between the king of Egypt, the Pharaoh, and the king of Assyria. Verse 10 says, Therefore, thus says the Lord God, because you have increased in height, and it set its top among the thick bows, and its heart was lifted up in its height, and

Verse 13, Verse 13,

Verse 1.

Here in verse 10, what we see is God drawing this parallel between Pharaoh and the king of Assyria. He says, you have increased in height. You've increased yourself. Again, he's dealing with their pride. And just like Assyria made their top high and their branches wide, just like Assyria made

grew its empire and thought incredible things about themselves, the nation of Egypt was doing the same. And so God says there in verse 11, therefore I would deliver it into the hand of the mighty one. God says, because you are just like the nation of Assyria. Assyria is like this tree that was high, it was taller, it stood out from all the other trees, it was the best of the best. Egypt's

You're just like that? You think you're the best of the best? You think that you're just like Assyria? And Assyria fell. Assyria was conquered. And in the same way, Egypt, God says to the Pharaoh, I will deliver you to the mighty one of the nations. And I'm going to deal with you. And I'm going to deal with your pride. Just like I dealt with Assyria.

And so here in verses 10 through 14, what we have is him describing what he did to Assyria, but in a way that Egypt would understand, this is also what's going to happen to you. Just as that tree was chopped down and the branches were crushed and it just was laid there, it was completely demolished. In the same way, that's what God is going to do to Egypt.

And he explains why in verse 14. He says, so that no trees by the waters may ever again exalt themselves for their height. Now he's not saying that there's never going to be a tall tree. And you can look around today, you can go up to see the redwoods in Northern California, and you can see that, okay, there's tall trees. But what he's talking about is the nations. He's teaching the nations a lesson. There's not going to be world empires like there was in the nation of Assyria.

There's not going to be world empires like there was in that day. That God is knocking them down so that they learn not to exalt themselves, not to set their tops among the thick bows, that no tree would reach up to that level again. And so again, God is dealing with their pride. He's dealing with their self-sufficiency. He's dealing with that issue that's in their hearts.

That they are wonderful, that they are great, that they have everything that they need, and most importantly, they don't need God. And that's the issue that God is addressing. That's the issue that God is dealing with as He brings judgment on this nation and upon all nations. Verse 15.

Thus says the Lord God,

Verse 18. Verse 18.

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. So we see here, it kind of sums it up there in verse 18, where God makes it quite clear. Here's what's going to happen to you, Pharaoh. Just like the nation of Assyria was this mighty tree that was chopped down,

Well, that tree, not only was it chopped down, he goes on to explain, but it went down to hell. Now, Assyria was judged because of their rejection of God. Because they decided, they determined, we don't need God and we don't need to be obedient to God. God gave Assyria specific instruction in regard to the nation of Judah. And Assyria decided, we don't need to listen to God. We're going to do it our way and do what we want.

Remember in those days, God sent an angel of the Lord and took out 186,000 of the Assyrian army in one night.

Because they were in rebellion against God. They never recovered from that blow. And Babylon came on the scene and took over and conquered the nation of Assyria. Not only were they taken out of power, not only were they taken off the world scene, they weren't politically important anymore. Not only were they conquered, but God is describing here, they went to hell. They were judged. The king of Assyria,

The armies of Assyria, the people who were slaughtered, the people who were killed in the battles, they went to hell because they rejected God, because they rebelled against God. They didn't just lose their status, but they lost their souls. And so as he addresses Egypt here in verse 18, he says, okay, Egypt, so what tree are you going to liken yourself to?

And he mentions Eden, the garden of God. And so what he's talking about here is, look, even if you liken yourself to the best of the best, even if you liken yourself to a tree in the garden of Eden, consider the fact that, well, the garden of Eden is gone.

Consider the fact that those trees, they're not there anymore. Even the best of the best. You could say that I'm the most wonderful tree or I'm like the most wonderful tree that's ever existed. But even the most wonderful tree can be chopped down. Even those trees in the Garden of Eden, they're gone. Destroyed long ago. Assyria's destruction shocked the world and the world mourned. They couldn't believe it. Egypt,

also felt that they could not be destroyed, that they could not be defeated. They were full of themselves. They looked to themselves. They refused to humble themselves and look to the Lord and be obedient to the Lord. No matter how great you are, this is the lesson we're learning here, no matter how great you are, you will end up in hell like Assyria if you do not humble yourself and submit yourself to God.

It doesn't matter how great you are. Think about it this way, since we're talking about trees and Christmas is coming up. You go down to Home Depot, you go down to the tree lot, you find the most beautiful, the best, the tallest tree that you can find. No matter what tree you get, you can take it home and you can put it in water and you can put the little, you know, feeding stuff that you're supposed to put in there and you can try to keep it alive, but it's going to die.

and it's going to be tossed out on the curb, it's going to be thrown in the garbage, it's going to be taken to the dump. Or since we're coming up on Light the Night and Halloween, you can carve the most awesome pumpkin in the world. It's still not going to last. It's going to shrivel, it's going to crack, it's going to rot, and you're going to throw it away. In the same way Assyria, in the same way Egypt, in the same way you and I this evening, we will not last forever.

without God. No matter how great you are, no matter how strong you are, no matter how beautiful you are, no matter how muscular you are, no matter how rich you are, no matter how popular you are, nothing that we have can preserve us. We need God and we must humble ourselves and submit to Him in salvation but also in obedience in all of life.

And that's the lesson that God is proclaiming to the nation of Egypt. He says, hey Egypt, what tree are you going to liken yourself to? It doesn't really matter because you're going to be brought down just like the trees of Eden were brought down to the depths of the earth. He says, you're going to lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, those slain by the sword. You thought you were better than everybody else, but you're going to lie down in death just like the poor, just like the weak, just like the sick,

You're going to go down to hell or to Sheol. He says, this is Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord God. And so it's a proclamation. It's a judgment against Egypt that just like Assyria was knocked down, just like Assyria was judged and went to hell because they rejected God. Egypt, you will experience the same for your rejection and rebellion against God.

Going on to chapter 32, we continue on. It's a new prophecy, though. In verse 1, it says, And it came to pass in the twelfth year and the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and say to him, You are like a young lion among the nations, and you are like a monster in the seas, bursting forth in your rivers, troubling the waters with your feet, and fouling their rivers.

So now as we go into chapter 32, we're still talking about the nation of Egypt, but God just changes the imagery a little bit and changes the language a little bit. And so instead of likening the nation of Egypt to a great tree, a cedar in Lebanon, now he likens Egypt to a young lion or a sea monster.

Maybe a crocodile or some other type of ferocious creature there in the rivers that were in Egypt, the Nile River and such. And so he likens Egypt to these ferocious animals, to these strong animals that are able to show strength, that are able to be effective, that are able to strike fear in the hearts of people. We were watching, my wife and I, a while back, the

Yeah.

But most normal people do not want to go and wrestle crocodiles, right? I don't think that's something normal people want to do. Those sea monsters, they're meant to be fearful, they're meant to be stayed away from, and you're right to run and scream like a girl when you see one. That's appropriate.

Egypt, he says, I'm going to liken you to this sea monster. I'm going to liken you to this young lion. But as he goes on, it's not because they're so fearful and dreadful. As scary as crocodiles are, they've been captured. There's people who wrestle them. There's people who catch them for a living and dispose of them. There's people who catch them and take them to the zoo. They're caught. They're trapped. They're conquered. They're beaten. They're killed.

And that's what's going to happen with the nation of Egypt. And so even though they're like a young lion, they're ferocious, they're strong, they're in their prime, even though they're like this sea monster that's a force to be reckoned with, they're not so strong, they're not so great that they will escape God's judgment. Because again, they're full of themselves. They're full of their own strength. Egypt was the strongest opposition that Babylon faced. But Babylon would overcome them.

And that's what God is announcing here. Verse 3, Thus says the Lord God, I will therefore spread my net over you with a company of many people, and they will draw you up in my net. Then I will leave you on the land. I will cast you out on the open fields and cause to settle on you all the birds of the heavens. And with you I will fill the beasts of the whole earth. I will lay your flesh on the mountains and fill the valleys with your carcass.

I will also water the land with the flow of your blood, even to the mountains and the riverbeds will be full of you. When I put out your light, I will cover the heavens and make its stars dark. I will cover the sun with a cloud and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of the heavens I will make dark over you and bring darkness upon your land, says the Lord God.

And so here as God continues to deal with the nation of Egypt, again He's likened them to this great sea monster and so He continues this language. He says, I'm going to spread my net over you. And so you could picture a crocodile or some kind of sea monster and the net is spread over it and it's dragged out of the water into the field.

Now it thrives and it has strength there in the sea, but out in the field, it doesn't last very long. It dies. And then what happens? Well, the carcass begins to rot and the birds and the beasts, they come and they feast on the body of this sea monster that has been dragged out of the water.

And so he's using this imagery, he's using this language to describe what's going to happen to Egypt. Not that literally a net is going to go across the nation of Egypt, but Babylon is going to come against them like a net in that there will be no escape. That they're going to be conquered, they're going to be caught, and they're going to be slaughtered.

They're going to be killed. And so even though they might liken themselves to a great sea monster and, oh, you better not mess with me. God says, no problem. I got a big net and I'm going to take care of you because of your pride, because of your rebellion against me. Verse 9.

He says, I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples when I bring your destruction among the nations into the countries which you have not known. Yes, I will make many peoples astonished at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid of you when I brandish my sword before them, and they shall tremble every moment, every man for his own life in the day of your fault.

Verse 2.

Verse 15, Verse 16,

So now God stops speaking in the imagery and the parallel and he says it very clearly. Babylon is going to come and conquer you. And when Babylon comes to conquer you, many nations and many people are going to be troubled. They're going to be troubled because no one thought that Egypt could fall. They're going to be shocked. Even Egypt has fallen to Babylon. For people like the nation of Judah, Egypt was their hope.

Egypt was their defense. The nation of Judah, if you remember in their final days, they were conspiring to disobey God and go ally themselves with Egypt because they figured, well, Egypt will protect us and Babylon won't be able to conquer Egypt. And so we can be allies with Egypt and be safe. They never thought Egypt would fall. So when Egypt falls, many people will be troubled. They will tremble.

God says, the sword of the king of Babylon will come upon you. And so he names the one who is going to conquer them. Babylon is going to come and be victorious. And then the land is going to be desolate. And so it's not just going to be a little bit of a victory in battle. It's not going to be a little bit of a conquering into the land of Egypt. They're going to lose a little bit of territory. The destruction is going to be complete.

Much like the inhabitants were removed from the land of Judah, the land of Egypt would be left desolate, uninhabited for a season, uninhabited for a time. So the waters were going to be clear. There weren't going to be people around muddying up the waters because they're trampling around or working the land. It's just going to be left dormant, left desolate.

And notice at the end of verse 15, that phrase we see over and over again in the book of Ezekiel. He says, Then they shall know that I am the Lord. The problem with the nation of Egypt was their pride. Because of their pride, they did not know that He is the Lord. It's not that they did not know intellectually that He is the Lord. They didn't know with their lives that He is the Lord.

In other words, they were not submitted to God. And so God is declaring here, this is what it's going to take. Your rebellion is so persistent. Your pride is so great that only after all of this destruction and judgment takes place will you finally recognize and know that I am the Lord. And as we come across this phrase in the book of Ezekiel, I always ask us, what's it going to take for you?

What will it take for me? When will we know that He is the Lord? So many times in our lives, we know what God says, but we live differently. We know what God says about certain situations and actions. We know what God says about certain attitudes and practices. We know what God says about the workplace. We know what God says about the family. We know what God says about these things and those things.

We know what God says, but what is it going to take for us to finally submit to Him and obey Him and do what He's asked us to do and do what He's commanded us to do? When will we finally surrender and say, I'm going to do it God's way?

And I'm going to be obedient to Him even if it doesn't make sense to me, even if I don't like it, even if my friends don't like it, even if my family doesn't like it. I'm going to submit to God first and seek to please Him first. What is it going to take for us to know that He is the Lord? Now, if you ask any one of us, of course, we'd say, yes, Jesus is Lord. But remember what Jesus said, many will say to me in that day, in the day of judgment, Lord, Lord.

Have I not done all these things for you? Didn't I go to church all the time for you, Lord? His response will be, depart from me. I never knew you. You called me Lord. You knew I was Lord, but you did not do what I said. You were not obedient. You were not submitted to me. When will you know that he is the Lord? For Egypt, it would take this final, complete judgment and destruction.

Complete brokenness for them to know that He is the Lord. Listen, if there's things that God's speaking to your heart, you don't have to search for them. You don't have to be like, oh, I wonder, you know, is there something? Listen, God's already speaking to you. If there's something out of place, if there's something where you know He wants you to be obedient, don't resist. Don't persist in rebellion. If you know God is speaking to your heart, if it's something you're wrestling with because you don't want to do it, surrender.

Run up the white flag and surrender to God. Don't fight him on it. Don't take him to the place where you have to be broken, smashed, crushed to finally know, okay, Lord, you're Lord and I'm going to obey you and I'm going to do the things that you've asked me to do. I'm going to live according to your word. What's it going to take? For Egypt, this is what it was going to take because their pride was great because they were full of themselves.

Because they insisted on doing what they wanted to do rather than listening to what God said. Verse 17, It came to pass also in the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt and cast them down to the depths of the earth, her and the daughters of the famous nations, with those who go down to the pit."

Verse 2.

So here we see a third prophecy, a third pronouncement that God is making here in the 12th year, the 15th day of the month. This is about 585 BC or so. The nation of Judah has probably already been conquered at this time. And now Babylon is heading for Egypt, preparing to conquer Egypt.

And so God speaks to Ezekiel again and says, hey, bring out this word, prophesy this against Egypt. He says, cast them down to the depths of the earth. Now, throughout this prophecy, he's going to be referring to the depths of the earth, the pit, hell, or Sheol in the Hebrew. He's talking about the place of judgment for those who've rejected God.

If you want to look into this a little bit more, I would encourage you to spend some time in Luke chapter 16 where Jesus tells that account of that rich man who had rejected God and the poor man Lazarus who was righteous. And one was rich in this life. One was poor and begged at the rich man's gates. When they both died, the poor man Lazarus, he was in Abraham's bosom. The rich man Lazarus

He was in a place of torment. There was a great chasm that separated the two. And so this place, Sheol, or the grave, it was divided into two parts. One was a place of comfort for the righteous, and then the other was a place of judgment and torment for those who, like Egypt, had rejected God. And so as he talks about going, you know, the depths of the earth or the pit or hell or Sheol,

He's referring to that place of judgment, that place of torment. It's a temporary place. The final judgment is the lake of fire as we've been making reference to on Sunday mornings going through Revelation. We'll get to that on Sunday mornings at the end of the book of Revelation, that final judgment where those who are not written in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire. But until that day, until that great white throne judgment happens,

Those who die having rejected God go to this temporary place of judgment. And that's where Egypt is going to go. It's a place of torment, a place of judgment. It's a temporary holding place until the final judgment. And so he says to Ezekiel that they're going to be cast down to the depths of the earth. Her and the daughters of the famous nations. Now he asked the question there in verse 19, whom do you surpass in beauty?

Who is it that you surpass in beauty? Egypt had great beauty. Egypt had great power. Egypt had a lot going for it. But you know, it doesn't matter how beautiful a nation or a person is, how strong a nation or a person is, how much we've got going on for us, that does not matter if we have rejected God. Because as beautiful as Egypt was, in their death, they went down to the depths of the earth.

To the place of judgment, to the place of torment. They went down, it says, go down, be placed with the uncircumcised. They prided themselves on circumcision. They prided themselves, we're set apart, we're better than the rest of the world. But guess what? In death, we're all on level playing ground. Just like at the cross, right? And so without Christ, without God, without submitting to God, it doesn't matter how much money you've got, it doesn't matter how many toys you have,

Those who die without God, they're all the same. They go to the same place of torment, the same place of judgment. So he says, whom do you surpass in beauty? It doesn't matter. You're going to be down with all those other people that you despise who also rejected God and died without him. He says, the strong and mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with those who help them. Those who have gone down, they lie with the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.

Now he goes on in verses 22 and following to talk about the other people who are there, the other nations who are there. Verse 22, he says, Assyria is there and all her company with all their graves all around her, all of them slain, fallen by the sword. Her graves are set in the recesses of the pit and her company is all around her grave. All of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living.

So down there in that place of temporary judgment, who's waiting for Egypt? Well, Assyria is. Assyria was a great nation, a mighty empire, but they rejected God. And so they're in that place of judgment. Egypt is going to join the nation of Assyria. And that's not a good thing. It doesn't mean they're going to have good company and have a great party. It means they're on the same level. They're all going to be judged.

Egypt, just like Assyria was. Verse 24, there is Elam. So also Elam is going to be. And all her multitude, all around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who have gone down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living. Now they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

Here on earth, they caused terror. They were frightful. They caused fear in the hearts of people. Man, this nation is powerful. This nation is awesome.

But in death, because they rejected God, they're just like everybody else. They go down to the pit. They go down to the place of judgment. It doesn't matter how strong you are, how great you are, you cannot escape and get around the judgment of God. You can't buy off God. So even if you make millions, you can't have everybody vote. So even if you're, you know, the American Idol or real popular idol,

You can't escape. It doesn't matter. Even if you're strong, even if you're mighty, even if you're beautiful, even if you're powerful, even if you're rich, if you reject God, you join everyone else in that place of judgment. Well, not only is Assyria there and Elam there, verse 26 and 27, now Meshach and Tubal are there. He says, there are Meshach and Tubal

Verse 1.

but their iniquities will be on their bones because of the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. Yes, you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised and lie with those slain by the sword. So just like Assyria, just like Elam, just like Meshach and Tuval, Egypt is going to be conquered. They're going to be beaten. They're going to be taken to the grave.

Verse 29, there is Edom, her kings and all her princes, who despite their might are laid beside those slain by the sword. They shall lie with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit.

There are the princes of the north, all of them and all the Sidonians who have gone down with the slain in shame at the terror which they caused by their might. They lie uncircumcised with those slain by the sword and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. And so another example, Edom is there as well, waiting for Egypt to join them. Edom was mighty. They were powerful. They had great strength. But there they are in that place of judgment.

And so God is proclaiming to Egypt, "I know you think you're awesome, but it doesn't matter how awesome you are if you reject Me, because those who reject Me all go to the same place. Whether it's a real powerful nation, whether it's a beautiful nation, whether it's a wealthy nation, if you reject God, you're lost. It doesn't matter who you surpass in beauty. It doesn't matter if you have the strongest army that ever marched." And that's still true to this day.

We, here in the United States, pride ourselves on our military, our might, our power. But listen, if we reject God, Egypt and Assyria and Elam and Meshach and Tupac, they're all going to be waiting for this nation that rejects God. For those individuals who refuse to submit. Even if we say, Lord, Lord, with our mouths, if it's not lived with our lives, these are the nations that are waiting for us in that place of judgment. It's why we need to humble ourselves.

To bow down before God. To surrender and submit ourselves to Him. And be obedient to Him at all cost. Verse 31. He says, Pharaoh will see them.

Pharaoh, Egypt, they thought they were awesome. They thought they were great. They thought they were unbeatable, undefeatable. They thought that they did not need God.

So they refused to submit. But God says, Pharaoh and his multitude, they're going to join everybody else in that temporary place of judgment, awaiting that final judgment day, because they're proud, because they refuse to look to God and surrender to Him. This evening, as you and I consider these things, it's a call for us to humble ourselves before the Lord. To not just say, Lord, with our lips.

but to live it with our lives. Are you submitted to God? Are you obedient to Him as He speaks to your heart? As we read in His Word, are you being obedient to what God has said? Are you denying yourself and taking up your cross and following Jesus? Are you going therefore into all the world and making disciples? Are you putting away from yourselves all lying and wrath and filthy language? Are you drawing near to God in a relationship with Jesus Christ?

Are you considering one another to exhort, to edify, and so much more as you see the day approaching? Are you living in obedience to God? Are you walking in relationship with Him? Are you humbled, surrendered, and submitted to God? We have these examples here, the nation of Egypt, the nation of Judah, the nation of Tyre, so that we don't have to learn the hard way. What's it going to take for you to know that He is Lord?

Because it doesn't matter how strong you are, how great you are, how beautiful you are, how rich you are, how popular you are. Without God, we're lost. We need to be fully submitted to Him. The worship team is going to come up and lead us in some worship. And as they do, let's take this time. If God's speaking to your heart, it's a great opportunity right now. Give it over to Him. Repent. Change your life right now, this evening. Turn to Him. Let those things go.

And surrender. Submit. Run up the white flag and say, I give up, Lord. I don't want to do it my way. I don't want to be broken and crushed to finally recognize that you are the Lord. I want to willingly, joyfully surrender to you now and experience your will and your plan and your purposes for my life. And so as we worship the Lord together, let's let that be the state of our heart, the cry of our heart, that we humble ourselves before God

to be fully submitted to Him. Let's worship the Lord together.