Ezekiel 31:15-16
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 mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.
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.
Chapters 32 and 33 are directed toward Egypt and intended to warn the nation of their pride. The subject of hell is a predominant theme in both chapters. The end of pride is destruction. The ultimate destruction is hell.
· The monarch of Assyria went there
· Those who fought alongside of him went there
· The implication is that unless they humbled themselves, Egypt and her people would also go there
God's truth is immutable. This place prepared for the devil and his angels will be the final destination of all who, through pride of heart, reject Christ.
But that by no means demands that God wills it to be so. God would have all men to be saved. God's love extends not only to the Jews and to the Christians, but to every man. He wishes no man to be lost. So, when the Assyrians were cast into hell, God caused a mourning to take place.
No man ever goes to hell by the will of God. It is always the result of proud rejection of Jesus Christ. It is the result of loving the glories of this world and of thinking so highly of self as to believe we do not need the God of the Word.
And it never brings pleasure to God.
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