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. 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.
The verse portrays Assyria at the height of its prosperity as a noble cedar in the garden of God, towering above all the surrounding trees. The waters made the tree great and the deep set it on high, with its rivers running round about its plants and sending out its little rivers unto all the trees of the field, by nourishing its roots. The abundant waters are its unusual blessings, resources and prosperity that sustained its greatness and power. Those same streams extended its influence over the surrounding nations, so that all great nations dwelt under its shadow.
Rooted by great waters, it gained fairness in its greatness and length of branches. No cedar, fir, chestnut, or other tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty, and all the trees of Eden envied it. Its rise and fall is rich in lessons for the nations of earth today. Instead of using their blessings for the benefit of mankind, the rulers of Assyria became a merciless scourge of many lands, with no thought of God or fellow men. Their fixed policy was to cause all nations to acknowledge the supremacy of the gods of Nineveh, whom they exalted above the Most High.