Prophecy is hard, yet God is worth it, so in His will for you is where you really want to be. Empathy is what I feel for Ezekiel in his having to say all this, and illustrate a lot of it. Even though it is God doing most of the talking here, it still hits me like such a painful message to share. But God is Holy and He will judge the whole earth for the wickedness it has done and the awful things people have said and thought.
Let’s pray:
Lord Jesus, thank You for being here, for coming to earth between when this was written and now and for your Holiness. It’s something we can always count on. So I praise You and I thank You and I ask You to lead me through this chapter. Thank You, Lord.
Please read Ezekiel 28:1-10
Tyre’s King Overthrown
1 The word of the Lord came again to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord God,
“Because your heart is lifted up
And you have said and thought, ‘I am a god,
I sit in the seat of the gods
In the heart of the seas’;
Yet you are [only] a man [weak, feeble, made of earth] and not God,
Though you [imagine yourself to be more than mortal and] think your mind is as [wise as] the mind of God—
3 Behold, you are [imagining yourself] wiser than Daniel;
There is no secret [you think] that is hidden from you;
4 With your [own] wisdom and with your [own] understanding
You have acquired your riches and power
And have brought gold and silver into your treasuries;
5 By your great wisdom and by your trade
You have increased your riches and power,
And your heart is proud and arrogant because of your wealth;
6 Therefore thus says the Lord God,
‘Because you have imagined your mind [to be]
Like the mind of God [having thoughts and plans like God Himself],
7 Therefore, behold, I will bring strangers (Babylonians) upon you,
The most ruthless and violent of the nations.
And they will draw their swords
Against the beauty of your wisdom [O Tyre]
And defile your splendor.
8 ‘They will bring you down to the pit [of destruction],
And you will die the death of all those who die
In the heart of the seas.
9 ‘Will you still say, “I am a god,”
In the presence of him who kills you?
But you are [only] a man [made of earth] and not God,
In the hands of those who wound and profane you.
10 ‘You will die the death of the uncircumcised [barbarian]
By the hand of strangers,
For I have spoken!’ says the Lord God.”’”
Another thing to never think or say, that you are somehow a god, in control of your location and your life. Pride and arrogance are deadly sins. For all of your life is in His hands, even the exact place where you live.
Exact Places
Acts 17:24-27 NIV
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.
When I memorized this collection of verses from Acts 17 a few years ago, it was in the old version of the NIV where it says boundaries now it said “exact places” and I can’t even tell you how much comfort that brought me. Because I have struggled so with living this far from my family. To be honest though, I still miss them terribly and wish we were so much closer geographically speaking. But I trust God and know that He has us here for a reason, maybe a life long reason. You can trust Him too. In everything and for everything. He has your life in His hands.
Another Dirge
Please read Ezekiel 28:11-15
11 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 12 “Son of man, take up a dirge (funeral poem to be sung) for the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God,
“You had the full measure of perfection and the finishing touch [of completeness],
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 “You were in [a]Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The ruby, the topaz, and the diamond;
The beryl, the onyx, and the jasper;
The lapis lazuli, the turquoise, and the emerald;
And the gold, the workmanship of your [b]settings and your sockets,
Was in you.
They were prepared
On the day that you were created.
14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers and protects,
And I placed you there.
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked in the midst of the stones of fire [sparkling jewels].
15 “You were blameless in your ways
From the day you were created
Until unrighteousness and evil were found in you.
So pretty until… when God says that doesn’t it just make your heart ache? Oh so much they had, so much we have, watch yourself. And there was an until. Unrighteousness and evil were found there, they still exist and we can still commit them, so pray and watch yourself. In Jesus we are blameless.
Ruinous Commerce
Please read Ezekiel 28:16-19
16 “Through the abundance of your commerce
You were internally filled with lawlessness and violence,
And you sinned;
Therefore I have cast you out as a profane and unholy thing
From the mountain of God.
And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the stones of fire.
17 “Your heart was proud and arrogant because of your beauty;
You destroyed your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground;
I lay you before kings,
That they might look at you.
18 “You profaned your sanctuaries
By the great quantity of your sins and the enormity of your guilt,
By the unrighteousness of your trade.
Therefore I have brought forth a fire from your midst;
It has consumed you,
And I have reduced you to ashes on the earth
In the sight of all who look at you.
19 “All the peoples (nations) who knew you
Are appalled at you;
You have come to a horrible and terrifying end
And will forever cease to be.”’”
A horrible and terrifying end. Unrighteousness and evil, the enormity of their sins brought this judgment on them. Now we leave Tyre like this.. and we turn to Sidon.
Please read Ezekiel 28:20-24
Judgment of Sidon
20 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 21 “Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against her 22 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God,
“Behold, I am against you, O Sidon,
And I will show My glory and be glorified in your midst.
Then they will know [by personal experience] that I am the Lord when I bring judgment and punishment on her,
And I will manifest My holiness in her.
23 “For I will send virulent disease to her
And blood into her streets,
And the wounded will fall in her midst
By the sword upon her from every side,
And they shall know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.
24 And there will no longer be a briar or a painful thorn to prick the house of Israel from all those around them who treated them with contempt; then they will know [with clarity] that I am the Lord God.”
Know by personal experience that He is God. That’s what is known as experiential faith. If you don’t yet have that, ask for it. So you can know without enduring the judgment that those who don’t know Him and treat His people with contempt will experience.
Still He manifested His holiness in Sidon. One day He will do so again. That day is known as the Day of the Lord. Come, Lord Jesus.
Please read Ezekiel 28:25-26
Israel Regathered
25 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “When I gather the house of Israel from the nations among whom they are scattered, and I manifest my Holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they will live in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob. 26 They shall live in it securely; and they will build houses, plant vineyards and live securely when I execute judgment on all those around them who despise them. Then they will know [with clarity and confidence] that I am the Lord their God.”’”
That’s different. His people are to know Him with clarity and confidence that He is their God. His people everywhere should know with clarity and confidence that He is our God. Peace is His plan. Security is what He provides.
Thus far my hope is that we have learned how not to talk, how not to think, how to instead focus on His presence in our lives. Yes, Ezekiel is a very long book, but we’re 28 chapters in now, and we should have learned something. He knows you. He knows where you are. He knows what you’re doing. Ask Him to reveal His presence. Then watch.
Footnotes
[a] Ezekiel 28:13 -You were in Eden – This speech, though not addressed directly to Satan, seems to be spoken against his evil nature expressing itself in and through the human ruler who grants to himself the honors due only to God. Here may be seen also a foreshadowing of “the beast” who is to attribute to himself divine rights in the time of the end (Dan 7:8-28; 2 Thess 2:1-12; Rev 13; 19:20).
[b] Ezekiel 28:13 – And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and your sockets, Was in you. – Or tambourines.