Yesterday I took a break from Ezekiel to read the Book of Esther for Purim. If you missed it, you can view the video here. Today, we return to the Ezekiel’s prophecies. This chapter begins with a prophecy for the King of Tyre, then it takes an interesting turn into a biography of Lucifer and a prophecy of his fall from Heaven. Let’s dig in…
Ezekiel 28
A Message for Tyre’s King
Then this message came to me from the Lord: 2 “Son of man, give the prince of Tyre this message from the Sovereign Lord:
“In your great pride you claim, ‘I am a god!
I sit on a divine throne in the heart of the sea.’
But you are only a man and not a god,
though you boast that you are a god.
3 You regard yourself as wiser than Daniel
and think no secret is hidden from you.
4 With your wisdom and understanding you have amassed great wealth—
gold and silver for your treasuries.
5 Yes, your wisdom has made you very rich,
and your riches have made you very proud.6 “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
Because you think you are as wise as a god,
7 I will now bring against you a foreign army,
the terror of the nations.
They will draw their swords against your marvelous wisdom
and defile your splendor!
8 They will bring you down to the pit,
and you will die in the heart of the sea,
pierced with many wounds.
9 Will you then boast, ‘I am a god!’
to those who kill you?
To them you will be no god
but merely a man!
10 You will die like an outcast
at the hands of foreigners.
I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”11 Then this further message came to me from the Lord: 12 “Son of man, sing this funeral song for the king of Tyre. Give him this message from the Sovereign Lord:
“You were the model of perfection,
full of wisdom and exquisite in beauty.
13 You were in Eden,
the garden of God.
Your clothing was adorned with every precious stone—
red carnelian, pale-green peridot, white moonstone,
blue-green beryl, onyx, green jasper,
blue lapis lazuli, turquoise, and emerald—
all beautifully crafted for you
and set in the finest gold.
They were given to you
on the day you were created.
14 I ordained and anointed you
as the mighty angelic guardian.
You had access to the holy mountain of God
and walked among the stones of fire.15 “You were blameless in all you did
from the day you were created
until the day evil was found in you.
16 Your rich commerce led you to violence,
and you sinned.
So I banished you in disgrace
from the mountain of God.
I expelled you, O mighty guardian,
from your place among the stones of fire.
17 Your heart was filled with pride
because of all your beauty.
Your wisdom was corrupted
by your love of splendor.
So I threw you to the ground
and exposed you to the curious gaze of kings.
18 You defiled your sanctuaries
with your many sins and your dishonest trade.
So I brought fire out from within you,
and it consumed you.
I reduced you to ashes on the ground
in the sight of all who were watching.
19 All who knew you are appalled at your fate.
You have come to a terrible end,
and you will exist no more.”
A Message for Sidon
20 Then another message came to me from the Lord: 21 “Son of man, turn and face the city of Sidon and prophesy against it. 22 Give the people of Sidon this message from the Sovereign Lord:
“I am your enemy, O Sidon,
and I will reveal my glory by what I do to you.
When I bring judgment against you
and reveal my holiness among you,
everyone watching will know
that I am the Lord.
23 I will send a plague against you,
and blood will be spilled in your streets.
The attack will come from every direction,
and your people will lie slaughtered within your walls.
Then everyone will know
that I am the Lord.
24 No longer will Israel’s scornful neighbors
prick and tear at her like briers and thorns.
For then they will know
that I am the Sovereign Lord.
Restoration for Israel
25 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The people of Israel will again live in their own land, the land I gave my servant Jacob. For I will gather them from the distant lands where I have scattered them. I will reveal to the nations of the world my holiness among my people. 26 They will live safely in Israel and build homes and plant vineyards. And when I punish the neighboring nations that treated them with contempt, they will know that I am the Lord their God.”
Ezekiel 28 NLT
Lot’s to Ponder
- Tyre’s king c. 586 BC was Ithobaal III (Ethbaal in Hebrew). By the way, Ithobaal I was Queen Jezebel‘s father. This bloodline was anything but humble and pious.
- God calls out the arrogance of a king who thought himself divine. Throughout history there have been leaders and rulers who considered themselves divine and wished to be worshiped as such…
- Pharaohs
- Caesars
- Hitler
- the future Antichrist
- We can say there is a God, but we cannot say that we are like Him. Therefore, we should always humble ourselves and strive to be Christlike. Imperfect as we humans are, we will never be like God. We will, however, be transformed when He calls us up to where He is.
- Apparently Daniel’s wisdom was renown throughout the area. We will meet him in a few days. Subscribe so you don’t miss out.
- Starting with verse 11, God stops talking about an earthly being and refers to Satan himself. We get a little behind-the-scenes history regarding Satan’s (or Lucifer’s) fall from Heaven. This is depicted also in Isaiah 14, Revelation 12 and even Jesus speaks of it when the 72 disciples returned from a successful evangelizing trip…
8 “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! 19 Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. 20 But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.”
Luke 10:8-20 NLT
- Eden is where pride began. When Satan, the tempter, convinced Eve that if she eats the forbidden fruit, she would be like God, PRIDE was born. Pride is of the devil.
- Lucifer/Satan/the devil, started out as an angel of light, the “model of perfection”. Pastor Sandy Adams explains…
Obviously, God is no longer speaking of the King of Tyre. [Ithobaal III] never graced the Garden [of Eden]. After Adam and Eve sinned, God drove man out of the garden, and placed a flaming sword to block its entrance. Other than God, only three people walked in the Garden of Eden – Adam, Eve, and the Tempter. It’s interesting that Lucifer was in the Garden of Eden. It could be that one of his jobs was to till the garden. Perhaps he had dominion over the earth at one time. But when God created man that dominion was taken from Lucifer and given to the man. For that reason, or for other reasons, Lucifer became jealous of the humans God created, and wanted to take back the dominion he once had. He concocted a plot to steal their dominion. Remember, Lucifer was called “the [object] of perfection.” When he saw man take over his seat of dominion — when he realized he would be serving the man and that one day this man would judge angels, even him — he couldn’t stand the thought of being submissive to these creatures made from the dirt. So, he rebelled against God. His goal was to steal man’s dominion and end up destroying him…
…Sadly, due to pride, Lucifer’s strategy changed — from giving God glory to stealing worship from Him. In the Gospels, Satan promised Jesus all the kingdoms of the Earth — if He would bow down and worship him right then and there… In Revelation 13 the Antichrist blackmails the world into worshiping Satan… Satan’s goal is now to garner worship for himself.
This is why Satan and his ugly hordes go nuts — they come unglued — they clutch their pointed ears when they hear God worshiped. Our praise and worship of God are like fingernails scraping a blackboard to the devil and his demons. If you want to torment the tormentor; then worship God. Sing! Magnify and praise His name!
As we glorify God, our praise uncovers the devil’s lies, reminds him of his inferiority, and exposes him as an imposter. Like a high-pitched siren, the devil can’t concentrate on his diabolical deeds when we praise God. He has to stop our praise or drop his schemes. The devil grows confused and disoriented in the sound of our praise. All he wants to do is to escape earshot.
Sandy Adams
Let’s be clear…
- Satan is a created being.
- Lucifer is NOT God’s equal.
- The Devil is NOT Jesus’ brother (what Jehovah’s Witnesses erroneously think).
- He was full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
- When pride was found in Satan’s heart, he was kicked out of Heaven.
Israel’s Restoration
Finally, Ezekiel ends the chapter with a promise for Israel. God will gather them from all the nations. He’s doing that now! Pastor Sandy Adams comments…
There are still more Jews who live outside Israel than within her borders. Of the Top Ten cities with the largest Jewish population only four are in Israel (Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Beersheba). Five are in the US (NY, LA, Miami/South Florida, Chicago, and Philadelphia). The other is Paris. But one day God will gather the Jews from the ends of the Earth, and will set them apart from the Gentiles.
Sandy Adams
We’ll go deeper into that prophecy in a few chapters.
As God told Abram…
3 “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt….”
Genesis 12:3 NLT
The Choice is Yours
Where you spend eternity is your choice to make now while you’re still alive and coherent. You can either go to hell with Lucifer or Heaven with Jesus.
If you’re not sure if you’re saved or not, if you truly want to be born again and have the assurance of salvation, receive the Holy Spirit, feel His Shalom — a peace that surpasses all understanding, and get a 1-way, non-stop ticket to Heaven after you die, or that you won’t be left behind at the Rapture, which can happen at any moment, this is what you have to do…
