Ezekiel 31

During the final weeks before the fall of Jerusalem, God spoke through Ezekiel concerning the mighty power of the Egyptian empire. For many generations the Egyptians were the great power to the south and west of Israel. During this time there was normally some other great empire to the north and east. That empire to the east had more of a natural incentive and opportunity to attack and subdue Israel. In Israel’s efforts to protect herself from the eastern adversary, there was a great temptation to turn to Egypt as the answer for their security. God did not like this. He insisted on being the great Father for Israel and Judah. The Egyptians who had enslaved them for over 400 years were not the answer for them. God had once delivered His people out of Egypt through the hand of Moses. Would they now turn away from Him and consider the great Egyptian Empire as a great helper, particularly when their real Father was disciplining them through the powers that He had established to the east?