3 Look! Assyria was a Big Tree, huge as a Lebanon cedar, beautiful limbs offering cool shade, Skyscraper high, piercing the clouds. 4 The waters gave it drink, the primordial deep lifted it high, Gushing out rivers around the place where it was planted, And then branching out in streams to all the trees in the forest. 5 It was immense, dwarfing all the trees in the forest - Thick boughs, long limbs, roots delving deep into earth's waters. 6 All the birds of the air nested in its boughs. All the wild animals gave birth under its branches. All the mighty nations lived in its shade.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 31:3-6
Commentary on Ezekiel 31:1-9
(Read Ezekiel 31:1-9)
The falls of others, both into sin and ruin, warn us not to be secure or high-minded. The prophet is to show an instance of one whom the king of Egypt resembled in greatness, the Assyrian, compared to a stately cedar. Those who excel others, make themselves the objects of envy; but the blessings of the heavenly paradise are not liable to such alloy. The utmost security that any creature can give, is but like the shadow of a tree, a scanty and slender protection. But let us flee to God for protection, there we shall be safe. His hand must be owned in the rising of the great men of the earth, and we must not envy them. Though worldly people may seem to have firm prosperity, yet it only seems so.