Ezekiel 32:31-32
“When Pharaoh sees them, he will be comforted for all his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, declares the Lord God. For I spread terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid to rest among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord God.”
Ezekiel 31:14
All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to towering height or set their tops among the clouds, and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height. For they are all given over to death, to the world below, among the children of man, with those who go down to the pit.
Tag: Leadership is Held Accountable
In this section of Ezekiel the prophet is asked to prophecy against the leaders of the world. In the case of the above passage, it is Egypt in the prophets crosshairs. The Pharaoh of Egypt, like the other leaders of other nations, had lifted up his head and thought himself to be invincible. God refers to him as a “tall tree” in this section and the “tall tress” of the nations are being exposed for their wickedness. God calls them out for being put in a place of authority and they refused to honor God for His Sovereign power. The above prophecy states that Pharaoh will be brought low and the only “comfort” he will receive is that when he is brought low, there, too, will be the other nations that foolishly exalted themselves.
The key part of the above verses is this portion:
“For I spread terror in the land of the living ...”.
There is some dispute as to who the “I” is. It is scary to believe the “I” refers to God. We don’t want to believe that God “spreads terror” around the world. Yet, that is the entire point of the passage. The leaders of the world (in this section) are being called out for their failure to follow God’s Word and God’s Plan. God uses the leaders of this world to accomplish this task. God brings disaster on the land when it is in His interest to accomplish His plan:
Isaiah 45:7
I form light and create darkness,
I make well-being and create calamity,
I am the Lord, who does all these things.
God states through the prophet that “all this” is so that the “trees” (leaders) will not grow to a height that they think they can change the course of God’s plan. When we look at our leaders today they think of themselves as quite powerful. Yet, God is the one who sets them in their place and God will hold them accountable to what they do while in that place. God is in the process of accomplishing His plan and leaders are simply a cog in that plan. We can be fearful of wicked leaders and what they do to our country, or we can rejoice in the fact that God will control the “tall tress” and bring them all into account.
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