Ezekiel — Chapter 31
Egypt compared to the great cedar of Lebanon surpassing all trees in beauty — and then cut down: Lapide reads the cedar as a type of worldly greatness and learning. He notes that Egypt was the intellectual center of the ancient world (citing Alexandria's library), and its fall instructs all who trust in natural wisdom rather than divine wisdom.
Verse 14
To the end that no trees by the waters may grow to towering height or set their tops among the clouds: Lapide's sermon on the providential limitation of all worldly greatness. No created power is permitted to become absolute; the only absolute sovereignty belongs to God. He cites the collapse of all ancient empires as evidence and warns contemporary European monarchs.