Ezekiel Chapter 31

"Perdition"

This Bible Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's transcription/ location
is provided by
http://www.theseason.org/ 

We have completed the prophecies concerning Egypt in Ezekiel 29 and 30. The king of Egypt will also be discussed in this chapter, and we will see this is a very hard chapter to understand concerning both the subject and the object of the chapter. This is because of one Hebrew word, "Teashshur". The "Massorah text gave the key to understanding the true meaning of this word, as Ezra and Nehemiah, the original authors of the Massorah text, placed it there so no one could play with the word, and make it confusing. When the "Kenites" assumed the roles of Scribes, and "religious leaders", as recorded in I Chronicles 2:55, and the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, these safe guards were made to protect the intent of the prophecies.

The "Kenite" scribes have changed "Teashshur" to read simply "Ashshur", which in the translation changes the subject from "a box tree", to an "Assyrian". Dr Ginsburg points out that there is no article; and Egypt is the subject here, and not Assyria. This confusion was also used in the translation in Ezekiel 27:6, where the "company of Ashurites that made the benches"; should have been translated; "they have made thy benches with ivory and box-wood [or cypress]"

The subject in Chapter 31 is the proud exaltation of Egypt, which is likened to a box or cypress, exalting itself into a cedar of Lebanon. It is unfortionate that those without the tools of a Massoretico-critical text miss the entire meaning of this chapter, because of the Kenite scribe's translation. So instead of the reference being to a proud Assyrian warrior, it is talking about a cheap imitation [the teashshur-box cypress], trying to become a cedar of Lebanon, the strongest of all trees.

God is using trees as a representation of people, just as He did in Genesis, in the Garden of Eden. The purpose of this altering of the original text by the Kenites, is to deceive God's children, and allow all the Kenites to assume the roles God had intended for His own. This is discussed also in Revelation 12:1-4.

The deceiver is Satan, the Antichrist, who is also called the dragon, and he will shortly be on the earth. Though God gives Satan different names for the different roles he plays, he always has the same method of operation.

Ezekiel 31:1 "And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,"

This was about two months prior to the fall of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, about 478 B.C.

Ezekiel 31:2 "Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness?

The "king of Egypt" is who Ezekiel is addressing. Israel has always leaned upon the king of Egypt, instead of God their Heavenly Father, to give them strength. God stated His sentence upon Egypt in the last chapter, in reference to it's king. [Referring to Satan in a prophetic sense] God is asking this king, just who does he think he is challenging God's authority. Thus, the subject is established; it is going to be Satan challenging the supernatural Authority of God.

Ezekiel 31:3 "Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the think boughs."

Remember in our earlier discussion about the "Assyrian" and the "Box tree"? This "Assyrian", or in the Hebrew text, "teashshur" [box tree] is claiming himself to be a "cedar of Lebanon", or one of God's own people. The "cedars of Lebanon" are used by God in reference to the Israelites. So we see the word "Assyrian" does not belong here. This is a deception of the Hebrew word being mistranslated. "teashshur", or Satan, was changed to Assyrian to throw off the reader.

This was not by accident, but through the design of the Kenite scribes intentionally. See also Ezekiel 27:6, and Isaiah 41:19.

Ezekiel 31:4 "The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field."

This "tree" is "Satan", and the description of the tree is really a description of Satan, who was created in perfect beauty.

The "waters" are the nations [peoples]; his plants are Satan's children, the Kenites; who through the sexual union between Eve and Satan in the Garden of Eden, produced their son, "Cain". The Kenites are the offspring of "Cain", and are not of Adam, Abraham, Jacob [Israel] or any part of the House of Israel [the cedars of Lebanon]. "Kenite" in Strong's Hebrew dictionary, numbers 7014, and 7017 identify the Kenites as a separate oriental tribe, of the seed, or offspring of Cain, the first son of Eve. If you can understand this, the rest of this chapter will be made easier.

The "trees" of the field are the peoples of the whole world. So we see the prophecy is starting to take form.

Ezekiel 31:5 "Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth."

Remember in Genesis 3:1; "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" 

Satan was more subtle than all the Living beings of God's creation. In Ezekiel 28:3; we were also told that Satan was wiser then even Daniel.

Ezekiel 31:6 "All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations."

Satan always found room for corruption, and deception through his offspring, the Kenites, is obvious by the deceptions they use in commerce and banking, the fields that they control. They have always hidden in the shadows of Great nations, and lived well, as they rob through their deceit. Politics and religion are also strong areas for their advancement, and brother Judah gets the brunt of the blame, because God's people are ignorant of this hidden race, and how they take control.

Ezekiel 31:7 "Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters."

Ezekiel 31:8 "The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty."

The "garden of God" is the "garden of Eden, of Genesis 2:8. The "fir trees" then are an example of eternal beings. God states in Hosea 14:8 that He [God] is like a great fir tree. These fir trees are examples of eternal beings. Here in Ezekiel 31:8, God is telling Satan; you are not like me, for your just an old box or chestnut tree.

However, we are told here that Satan's tree, or body is also not like any other tree [person] that God has created. For God created Satan's beauty in the full pattern of beauty. Before Satan's fall, in the world that was, Satan must have held a very high position in God's heavenly order. For God created Satan above all His other created beings, and his purpose and duties were to protect the "Cherub that covereth", which is God's holy mountain.

God anointed Satan for the highest of positions, and Satan's pride caused him to fall. See Ezekiel 28:14:15. Because of his pride, Satan has been sentenced to death.

Ezekiel 31:9 "I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him."

We are back in the Garden of Eden again [Genesis 2], and though the word "tree" is used, it is still in reference to people. It is sort of like a parable where we are substituting the word trees for people. All races, including Adam and Eve envied Satan. He used his wisdom and great beauty as a tool to subdue all mankind and upset God's eternal plan.

Ezekiel 31:10 "Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;"

Ezekiel 31:11 "I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness."

The term; "above the thick boughs" is in reference to those that God places in charge. Satan tried to take control of all of God's realm, through his pride, which is the term, "lifted up in his height". This is a type of what will fall upon the earth when Satan reappears shortly to rule the one world system as the Antichrist.

Keep the subject of this chapter in mind, God is talking about the "king of Egypt" at the time Jesus Christ returns to earth. That king is Satan, the Antichrist, for Satan will rule the entire world's religious order. God is warning us to be aware of what happened to Satan when his pride got in his way; and not allow that to happen to us. While God is speaking to this earthly king, He is giving us a good description of this supernatural man, and his "Methods of operation".

The "heathen" is better translated "nations". It was at the over-throw in the first earth age, that Satan was driven out of God's favor. That is the time period between Genesis 1:1, and 1:2. The reoccurrence of this was written in Genesis 3:24; in the garden of Eden.

The title of this chapter, according to "the Companion Bible" of the Massorah test, is "Perdition". Perdition means to perish; that is to perish from this earth.

Ezekiel 31:12 "And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him."

"Rivers" is to gentle of a translation from the Hebrew text ["Aphikim"], for it should read "torrents". These torrents shall not take place until the first day of the Millennium age, when every knee will bow to our Lord Jesus Christ. We read that all those peoples and nations that followed the Antichrist, and his world religious system, "cut him off"; they left him. It is too bad that those people did not know and seal in their minds who he was, before he arrived as the false Christ. At Christ's return they will all know that they have been deceived, and then face great shame.

Ezekiel 31:13 "Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches:"

Ezekiel 31:14 "To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit."

Satan's deceit shall cause many to stay in their mortal [liable to die] souls, at the beginning of the Millennium age. Those soul's will not have the opportunity to come into the presents of our Lord Jesus Christ, when He sets up His kingdom on earth. Throughout the Millennium period, these souls are even called "the dead", in reference to their soul's condition. Revelation 20:5 reads; "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection".

Those who will overcome in the Millennium age will no longer be called "Mortal", but they will receive an immortal soul [eternal soul]. They will earn it in the Millennium.

Because we are talking of trees being people in an analogy, lets go to Isaiah 14:4 for a second witness. This chapter is about Lucifer.

Isaiah 14:4 "That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!"

The "king of Babylon" in the end times is Satan, the Antichrist, and the "golden city" is Satan's one world religious order, controlling the earth. God is asking here, How did it cease?

Isaiah 14:5 "The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers."

It is our Lord Jesus Christ that will destroy this one world system, at His coming; and the Antichrist along with it.

Isaiah 14:6 "He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth."

Satan will come to power on the earth as a man of peace, and great deception. The title is of "prince of the power of the air" is given him for this earth age only.

Isaiah 14:7 "The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing."

This singing will break forth on the first day of the Millennium age, and Satan is around no more. Then Satan will be in the pit, and all knees will bow to our Lord and Savior. All those that bow to Satan will have a thousand years to wait, with much teaching and discipline, before they earn their immoral souls.

Isaiah 14:8 "Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us."

Here we go back to the trees again. This is like Ezekiel 31, where God is comparing trees to people, in His parable. The "fir trees" are those souls who have immortality. These "cedars of Lebanon" are God's people, the "True Israel". All the trees, or people are rejoicing because Satan is in the pit.

Isaiah 14:9 "Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations."

Because Satan is already sentenced, he sill not be at the Great white throne judgment. This is then in reference to the one world system that he has built up. This system is well formed even today. It's laws, organizations, and government is now here, and every school child is being taught to respect it.

Isaiah 14:10 "All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?"

This system will not last long, for God is reminding Satan of his condition, and that his days are numbered."

Isaiah 14:11 "Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee."

This is to remind Satan, and those who take part in one world religious order, and political system, what will become of them. Satan will lay in the pit and decay before their very eyes. The word "Worm" shows the word's meaning as "sheol", given in the Hebrew, and this is a material matter, and not in the spiritual. See also Mark 9:44, 46. and 48. Satan will be dead in this period and there will be no fear of him.

Isaiah 14:12 "How are thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!"

This is also aligned with Ezekiel 31, for it is Lucifer [teashshur] that is the subject here. This is also the identical parable we are studying now in Ezekiel. If you don't understand who this fake sower, Lucifer is you will not understand this parable. Satan will come to earth, and he will destroy all nations by bringing all of them into his system.

Isaiah 14:13 "For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of GOD: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:"

This is the act of the "abomination of desolation", which is better translated, "The abomination by the desolator", who is Satan. the prophet Daniel spoke of it in Daniel 9:27; and Jesus warned us to watch out for it also, in Matthew 24:15. The "sides of the north" in Jerusalem is God's holy temple; and Satan will sit there and proclaim himself God."

Isaiah 14:14 "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the MOST HIGH."

This statement is unlimited blasphemy! The "stars of God" are the children of God. Satan is declaring that he will ascend even above God's prophets and disciples, and Michael. This is why Paul writes in II Thessalonians 2, that before Christ returns to this earth you will see the "son of perdition [Satan] sitting on the temple of God, claiming to be God. It will happen, and very shortly. Satan will sit in Jerusalem, and rule over his world wide system, and proclaim himself to be God.

Isaiah 14"15 "Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."

Isaiah 14:16 "They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;"

The world will wonder how this wretched being [Satan, the Antichrist], could have ever deceived the entire world, as they view him in the pit. If you take part in the "rapture theory", and use it as an escape door from facing the Antichrist, and the seven seals, then you will also be part of Satan's system and deceived. It will then be you standing at the side of the pit and wondering, How could I have been so deceived by this man.

It will be in the Millennium age that God will separate His sheep, from Satan's goats. The outcome of your choice now, results in the condition of your eternal soul; mortality [liable to die] or immortality, and an eternity with Jesus Christ.

Ezekiel 31:15 "Thus saith the Lord God; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to morn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him."

The grave is "Sheol" in the Hebrew . This is written in the futuristic sense, and the floods are in the overwhelming flood of lies and deceptions caused by the Antichrist, and his many fallen angels and children [the Kenites]. It is God that will withhold the "waters of truth" from flowing, that will allow the whole world to accept the Antichrist's lies as truth. That is all except the "elect of God", and all those that have the truth of God's Word sealed in their minds.

The cedars of Lebanon are God's people, and it is God who will allow all things to happen. Remember in Matthew 13; where Jesus in explaining the parables, He told his disciples and us that the field is the world. In the parable of Isaiah 14, as in this chapter; the trees represent people.

All the people of the world that followed Satan, the Antichrist, will mourn when they finally realize they have been tricked into following the wrong Christ. It is here and now that we must put on the full armour of God, stated in Ephesians 6:10-20. Our spiritual battle with the Antichrist, and his enormous locust army of angelic beings will be a war of words, ideas, concepts, and in a large scale, the twisting of God's word. Our only defense is our being forewarned, and alert to the news and times of today.

Ezekiel 31:16 "I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth."

Why would the whole world shake when Satan finally falls? Because they have all worshipped Satan as the Antichrist. "Hell" is the same word in the Hebrew, as "grave", used in verse fifteen.

"All the trees of Eden" refers to all of mankind, and "all of the nether parts" is in reference to the "degradation of the mind" of all those who will worship Satan as the Antichrist. This includes the whole being of that person; the body, soul, mind, and spirit. they will give their whole being over to this "fake Christ", for they believed Satan to be the True Christ. Their worship of the Antichrist will be in ignorance, through the false teaching of their church houses. Their pastors have taught them that large amounts of their Spiritual armor were not necessary to wear, because they were going to "fly away". Their "rapture theory" assured them of that. And they left their spiritual armor hanging on the wall, or in a drawer.

This false comfort that most Christians rely on today will be gone, when Satan is put into the pit, and subdued. Then they will no longer be comforted by Satan and his lies. So God is saying here. When the people of the world see Satan in the pit, they will then say, "is this the man that caused the world to stumble?" And at that moment they will all understand what they have done.

Ezekiel 31:17 "They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen."

Many Christians will fall when the Antichrist comes. The term; "that dwell under his shadow in the midst of the heathen," refers to those Christians and others who press to be close to the Antichrist, and worship Satan along with the entire world.

The word "arm" includes the entire force of beings, miracles, and supernatural acts, and all other operations that will cause Christians to think he is God. Who are those that will help the Antichrist? The manuscripts read; "and his seed". Satan's "seed" are his offspring through "Cain", the son of the sexual union between Satan [the serpent], and Eve. The children of Cain are called the "Kenites in the Scriptures. Remember that "trees" are people, whether physical or angelic.

In Genesis 2:16 and 17 tells us that Satan, the serpent, is called "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," and then in Genesis 3:5, and 6 we see Eve partook of the tree. Friend , what took place in the "garden of Eden" between Eve and Satan was the sex act, and not the eating of apples. From that act a son was born, and his name is Cain. When you understand this as fact, then you can start to understand the "parable of the fig tree", that our Lord Jesus Christ said to learn and know, in Matthew 24:32, Mark 13:28, and Luke 21:29.

It was those offspring of Cain, the "bad figs" [Kenites] that took over the duties of the scribes , as recorded in I Chronicles 2:55, and also all the duties of the priests, during and after the time of Jewish captivity in Babylon. This take over is recorded in Ezra and Nehemiah, and in Ezra 2:63; "And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy thing, till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummin."

This "peace offering" remains the meal offering, or sin offering, and the right shoulder of the peace offering. as recorded in Leviticus 2:3, and 10:12-17. This offering is given by the priest as he makes the offering before the altar of God, in the manner that God has instructed that worship should be. The right to do the duties of the Lord for sin offerings was given to one man, and to his family. They were Levites, and the man was Aaron.

Exodus 28:30 reads; "And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummin: and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goes in before the Lord: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually."

The "Urim and the Thummin were probably two precious stones which were drawn out as lots, to give YHVH's judgment. These stones are placed into the breastplate that the high priest wore. Though the lot is cast, the judgment is still the Lord's. God said that no judgment could be given, or sin covered, unless the high priest was present with that breastplate, with its bag, and with the lots of Urim and Thummim. Then was given Jehovah's decision of "guilty, or Innocent".

What Ezra 2: 63 is saying then, is that when the temple and the altar were prepared for the sin offering, the breastplate had to be worn by the man of God's choosing, the descendent of Aaron, of the Levite tribe; there were none to be found. How could this happen? Because the Kenites, who were of the "Nethinims" [foreigners] had taken over the entire order of the priesthood. This was why Ezra and Nehemiah wrote the Massorah text in the sides and columns of the original text, so not one dot, or character of meaning could be changed without the tampering be known.

I have pointed all this out to allow you to understand who the Kenites are, and why they do what they do. They are of the seed of Satan, and their devotion is to their father. Jesus knew this, the churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia [Revelation 2:9. and 3:9] knew this, and if you know the parable of the fig tree, you will know about these Kenites also. Ezekiel 31:17 included these "Kenites" when refering to the trees of Satan.

The "Kenites" are the ones that Jesus addressed in Matthew 23:31, when he accused them of killing the prophets, and these same Kenites are the ones that killed Jesus Christ, Judas, and Stephen. Jesus called them vipers, and serpents, because they are the physical offspring of their father Satan, who is the old serpent in the Garden of Eden.

When you understand exactly who the "Kenites are, then you will understand why Christians will follow Satan.

Ezekiel 31:18 "To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword; This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord God."

This thought does not change, nor does the subject, or the object of this chapter. We are still referring to Satan, and his deception. In verses one and two, Satan is in the form of Pharaoh, "king of Egypt". Then in verses 3-17, Satan is the "teashshur", or the "box-tree" trying to be something that he is not, He was trying to represent himself as the "fir tree", big and strong [eternal].

God is addressing this king of Egypt at last. It is the sword of the Lord, carried by those with their gospel armor on, that will bring down Satan and all of the uncircumcised. That sword is a two edged sword, and is the word of God, your Bible. There will be a great wounding, however, there will also be much healing in these days coming upon us. An awakening is coming.

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