Day 227: The Towering Cedar

Jeremiah 4:1-4 God was willing to forgive Israel despite its many infidelities. As in so many previous instances, God asked for a true conversion of heart and commitment of fidelity to the covenant. (CCC 2795)

Ch 4:5-31 While the previous prophecies pertained more to Jeremiah’s vision of the almond rod, the prophecies beginning here and continuing through Chapter 10 pertain to the vision of the boiling pot. These prophecies may predate the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon, a period of great uncertainty during which the various enemies of Judah were poised for possible invasion. The basic message from God was that the people of Judah should fear God rather than the opposing armies, which God could overcome. Understanding the Old Testament in light of the New Testament, these prophecies apply to the consequences of sin, which incur self-destruction and loss of freedom. Rather, we should have recourse to the graces won by Christ’s redemptive Sacrifice, which bring about an interior transformation and lead to everlasting life. (CCC 2825)

Ezekiel 31:1-18 Before its defeat, Egypt was compared to a cedar, which perhaps was the strongest and most useful tree of the region. The ideal cedar described here represents Pharaoh’s strength, which, in the end, God caused to be overpowered.

Ch 32:1-32 This poem puts Pharaoh in a negative light in contrast to the previous prophecy. God’s triumph was made manifest in the punishment of Egypt and the other nations on account of their crimes. By predicting the fall of Israel’s traditional enemies, This prophecy lends hope to the Jews in exile. (CCC 715)

Ch 32:18 Nether world...the Pit: Before the Redemption brought by Christ, the people of Israel believed that the spirits of the deceased, whether they were good or evil, were destined for the “netherworld.” The gates of Heaven would not be opened until the Messiah had atoned for the sins of the world. It is an article of faith that Christ “descended into hell”-here meaning the abode of the dead, not the eternal fire of the damned-to bring the Good News of salvation to the deceased righteous and usher them into Heaven. (CCC 633)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

• One of the things we are getting closer to the end of The Book of Ezekiel and things are about to change over the next couple of days

• But not today…

• Today we continue to talk about Egypt and Assyria and all these other nations that experience God’s judgment

• GOSH!

• We have Ezekiel and Jeremiah

• We are coming up to the end of Ezekiel, with a number of chapters left

• Ezekiel Ch 32 is what we’ve been doing for the last little bit

• Ezekiel is preaching against Pharaoh, Sidon, and Tyre

• All those cities and nations that exist at that time

• So these chapters 31 and 32 are extensions of the prophecy against Pharaoh

• Ezekiel is speaking to Pharaoh, King of Egypt

• Ezekiel is also speaking to the People of God, the Jewish people who are in EXILE IN BABYLON

• “Here is what’s going to happen to these nations that Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Judah trusted”

• “They trusted in Assyria”

• “They trusted in Egypt”

• “They thought that Egypt and Assyria, who are enemies of them and enemies of the Lord, would be their saviors in face of the Babylonians.”

• Here is what’s going to happen

• THE TOWERING CEDAR aka PHARAOH aka EGYPT ITSELF IS GOING TO COLLAPSE

• There’s something REALLY POWERFUL how God works through his prophets, particularly Ezekiel

• God says, “Yeah Pharaoh/Egypt, you were a towering cedar. You were incredible. You were beautiful. You were powerful. Others found their shade in your branches.”

• Again, this is an IMAGE OF EGYPT 

• They entered into alliances with the nations around them and those other nations took comfort in the fact that Pharaoh and Egypt were so powerful

• Other nations found their source of strength and security under the protection of Egypt 

• AND YET…

• JUST LIKE ALWAYS…

• JUST LIKE ALWAYS…

• “BUT HIS HEART WAS PROUD”

• That sense of “I WILL NEVER BE BEATEN”

• That sense of “I DON’T NEED ANY HELP”

• That sense of “I DON’T NEED THE LORD GOD”

• And that is what happens

• Ezekiel 31:15, “Thus says the Lord God: When it goes down to Sheol I will make the deep mourn for it...and all the trees of the field shall faint because of it…”

• Remember, those TREES OF THE FIELD are those trees that took their shelter, their shade, under the BRANCHES OF EGYPT

• “And all the nations shall mourn because of it…”

• WHY?

• Because they trusted in EGYPT when they should have trusted in the LORD GOD

• That’s when we go into Ezekiel Ch 32 The Lamentation over Pharoah

• IT IS REALLY INCREDIBLE

• Think about this…

• This is what people have put their trust in

• They have put their trust in Pharaoh and Egypt and in their strength and in their power

• And it turned out to be the WORST BET OF THEIR LIVES

• That’s why there is a LAMENTATION OVER PHARAOH

• Here’s a little history lesson

• Assyria is there

• Elam is there

• Meshech is there

• Tubal is there

• Edom is there

• The princes of the north are there

• Sidon is there

• All these cities 

• This is a great history lesson for us

• I know all these places! (No I actually do not know them but go with it….Maybe you know all these places🤪)

• THEY ARE ALL IN SHEOL

• THEY ARE ALL IN THE PLACE OF THE DEAD

• BECAUSE THEY HAD PLACED THEIR TRUST IN EGYPT

• THEN ALONG CAME BABYLON

• This is Ezekiel’s way of REMINDING THE PEOPLE, not only PROPHESYING, not just FORETELLING, but FORTHTELLING (Do you remember the difference between FORETELLING and FORTHTELLING? Anyone?? FORETELLING is predicting the FUTURE and FORTHTELLING is speaking the TRUTH about the current situation😁)

• “HERE IS THE TRUTH OF OUR SITUATION!!”

• GOSH THINK ABOUT THIS!!

• That is what we are preoccupied with

• What we are talking about sounds like a lot of politics

• It sounds like governments

• It sounds like kingdoms and nations

• What’s happening with Egypt?

• What’s happening with Edom?

• What’s happening with Elam?

• What’s happening with Sidon?

• What’s happening in the news of the day?

• Ezekiel is HIGHLIGHTING THE FACT that all these nations are COLLAPSING under the attack of the Babylonians

• “You should be more interested not in what these nations are doing. You should be more interested in the JUDGMENT OF THE LORD GOD.”

• “You should be less concerned with the politics of the day. And you should be more concerned with the ultimate fate, the ultimate destiny, the ultimate end of these nations that are experiencing God’s judgment upon them.”

• That is SO CLEAR and it even goes back to Jeremiah Ch 4 which we read today

• We have just been introduced to Jeremiah who is the WEEPING PROPHET

• We see that in Jeremiah 4:10, “Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God, surely you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem saying, ‘It shall be well with you’; whereas the sword has reached their very life.’”

• Remember, this is before the ABSOLUTE DESTRUCTION of Jerusalem

• That’s not going to happen for another 40ish years from now

• This is even before the Babylonians have come in and destroyed everything

• This is on the CUSP of that destruction

• And here is Jeremiah WRESTLING WITH THIS

• Jeremiah is basically saying, “God, if we repent and turn to you then we will be saved. But is that what’s going to happen now?”

• Remember he is the WEEPING PROPHET and you can hear his anguish in Jeremiah 4:19, “My anguish, my anguish! I write in pain! Oh, the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent; for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.”

• Jeremiah sees what is happening and he knows the writing is on the wall (Fun fact: This “writing on the wall” is an allusion to another event in The Bible in a certain prophet’s book. Can you guess what I’m referring to? 🤔😉)

• God is revealing to him what is going to happen

• IN FACT…

• We will find out that Jeremiah will preach for 40-50 years

• The people WILL NOT REPENT

• So what’s going to happen is not just Jeremiah’s message being one of REPENTANCE 

• Although he IS CLEARLY SAYING, Jeremiah 4:16, “Warn the nations that he is coming; announce to Jerusalem…”

• Jeremiah 4:14, “O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved.”

• AND YET…

• Jeremiah knows, and we are going to learn this in the next couple of chapters and Jeremiah is the LONGEST BOOK in the ENTIRE BIBLE, that the word is not going to be so much REPENTANCE as it is going to be BRACE FOR IT

• “JUDGMENT IS COMING”

• “YES, THERE IS REPENTANCE”

• “BUT YOUR REPENTANCE IS NOT GOING TO TURN AWAY FROM THE JUDGMENT OF GOD”

• “YOU NEED TO BRACE FOR IT”

• “YOU NEED TO PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR IT”

• Jeremiah 4:22, “For my people are foolish, they know me not; they are stupid children, they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but how to do good they know not.”

• There is something about that which is FOR ALL OF US

• When it comes to doing RIGHT, YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO

• When it comes to doing EVIL, YEAH YOU’RE A PRO!

• YOU HAVE A PHD IN HOW TO DO EVIL AND HOW TO TRY TO GET AWAY WITH THINGS!

• When it comes to VIRTUE then we are still back in KINDERGARTEN!!

• That is the case for SO MANY OF US

• It seems like, “I’ve learned how to do wrong things and try to get away with it ever since we reached the age of reason and realized that I don’t want to get punished by my parents or nuns. I’ve become really good at doing evil.”

• “But at doing good, you are stupid. You are foolish. You have no understanding.”

• AND YET…

• Part of being HERE

• Part of LISTENING TO GOD’S WORD

• Is asking God, “God, help me to be WISE.”

• “Help me to not only be skilled in doing EVIL.”

• “I don’t want to know how to do EVIL.”

• “I want to be skilled at DOING THE RIGHT THING.”

• “I want to be skilled at BEING VIRTUOUS.”

• “I want to be skilled at learning how to come back to you EVEN WHEN I DO FALL.”

• Honestly, think about that…

• “I want to be skilled at being HUMBLE.”

• “I want to be skilled at COURAGEOUSLY APPEALING TO THE LORD JESUS.”

• “AND TO HIS MERCIFUL LOVE.”

• “TO HIS SACRED HEART”

• “TO HIS PRECIOUS BLOOD THAT IS POURED OUT FOR THE SINS FOR ALL MANDKIND, BUT ALSO FOR MY OWN SINS.”

• Jeremiah 4:13, “Behold, he comes up like clouds...like the whirlwind…”

• All of a sudden everything was FINE

• AND NOW THEY ARE NOT FINE

• Remember, Jeremiah was preaching this 40-50 years ahead of times when it was going to be NOT FINE

• Jeremiah is saying, “You know you’re going to keep waiting around thinking things are fine. All of a sudden they are going to be not fine, very much not fine.”

• And so we say, “God, please help. Help me to become not only wise in sin. Help me to become wise in virtue so we can live lives worthy of the Lord God. Live lives worthy of the name Christian. Live lives worthy of the God who has given his life so that we can have life.”

• WE CAN’T DO IT ON OUR OWN

• WE NEED GOD’S HELP

• WE NEED EACH OTHER’S PRAYERS

• FR. MIKE IS PRAYING FOR YOU

• PRAY FOR FR. MIKE

• PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we give you praise and glory. We thank you so much. Gosh, Lord God, what a gift you are and what a gift your Word is. What an incredible gift it is to be able to be on Day 227 on this journey through your Word and the journey of your Word through us. Because that is what’s happening, Lord God. It’s not just our journeying through your Word. It is your story, your Word, your self journeying through us, making your way to our minds, to our hearts, and to our actions that our lives may be built upon your truth and your wisdom. Lord God, help us to put that truth and wisdom into practice this day and every day. Help us to build our lives upon you, upon Jesus Christ the Rock. Help us to be inspired and guided and given courage by the Holy Spirit at every moment of every day all of our lives. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”