CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
Ezekiel 28
Chapter 28 of 48
Chapter Overview
What happens in Ezekiel 28
God condemns the proud king of Tyre, who claimed to be a god. Then God speaks about the 'guardian cherub' in Eden who fell because of pride. The chapter ends with a prophecy against Sidon and a promise that Israel will one day live safely again.
Scripture
Ezekiel 28
The Pride of the King of Tyre
Study note
The king of Tyre had become incredibly proud because of his wealth and trading success. He declared himself a god, sitting on his throne in the middle of the sea. God reminded him that he was merely a man, not a god. Though he was wiser than Daniel (or a legendary wise man) and had built vast wealth through trade, his heart had become proud. God would bring foreigners against him, and he would die like any other person.
1 The Lord gave me this message. The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
2 "Son of man, deliver this to the ruler of Tyre: The Lord God says -- Your heart is bloated with pride. You have announced, 'I am a god! I sit enthroned like a god in the middle of the seas.' But the truth is, you are just a man, not a god, no matter how wise you think you are." Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:
3 "You consider yourself wiser than Daniel! You think no secret is beyond you!" Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:
4 "Through your cleverness and business skill you amassed great wealth, stockpiling gold and silver in your vaults." With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:
5 "Your great skill in trading made your wealth grow and grow. And all that wealth made you proud." By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:
6 "So the Lord God says: Because you imagine yourself to be as wise as a god," Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;
7 "I am bringing the most brutal foreign armies against you. They will draw their swords against your magnificent wisdom and stab through your shining splendor." Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.
8 "They will send you plunging into the grave. You will die a violent death in the middle of the seas." They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.
9 "Will you still claim to be a god when you stand face to face with your killers? In the hands of those who wound you, you will be nothing more than a man -- not a god." Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.
10 "You will die a humiliating death at the hands of foreigners. I have spoken, says the Lord God." Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
The Guardian Cherub in Eden
Study note
This passage goes beyond the human king to describe a being who was 'the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.' This figure was in the garden of Eden, covered with precious stones, and was an anointed guardian cherub on God's holy mountain. But he sinned through pride caused by his beauty and was cast down from God's mountain. Many see this as a description that goes beyond the king of Tyre to describe the fall of Satan himself.
11 The Lord spoke to me again. Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
12 "Son of man, compose a funeral song for the king of Tyre. Tell him the Lord God says: You were the picture of perfection -- overflowing with wisdom and flawless in beauty." Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13 "You lived in Eden, God's own garden. Every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, emerald, chrysolite, onyx, jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise, and beryl. Your mountings and settings were crafted from gold, prepared on the very day you were created." Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14 "You were chosen and anointed as a guardian cherub. I personally placed you there. You walked on God's holy mountain among the blazing stones." Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 "Your conduct was flawless from the day you were created -- until wickedness took root inside you." Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
16 "Your booming trade filled you with violence and led you into sin. So I threw you off God's mountain in disgrace and banished you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones." By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 "Your beauty made your heart swell with pride. Your splendor corrupted the wisdom you once had. So I hurled you down to the earth and put you on display before kings." Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
18 "Your many sins and crooked business dealings polluted your sacred places. So I caused fire to erupt from inside you, and it consumed you. I turned you to ashes on the ground while everyone watched." Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
19 "Every nation that knew you is horrified by what happened. You have come to a terrible end and will never exist again." All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.
Judgment on Sidon and Hope for Israel
Study note
Sidon was Tyre's sister city further north on the coast. God would send disease and sword against it. Then God gave a beautiful promise: Israel would no longer have cruel neighbors who treated them like thorns and briers. God would gather his scattered people, and they would live safely in their own land, building houses and planting vineyards. He would carry out judgment on all their enemies.
20 The Lord spoke to me. Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
21 "Son of man, face the city of Sidon and prophesy against it." Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it,
22 Say this: The Lord God says, "I am coming against you, Sidon. I will show my glory right among you. When I carry out my judgments and show my holiness through you, everyone will know that I am the Lord." And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.
23 "I will send plague into your streets and bloodshed into your city. Bodies will fall everywhere, struck down by swords coming from every direction. Then you will understand that I am the Lord." For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
24 "After that, Israel will no longer be surrounded by cruel neighbors who are like painful thorns and sharp briers. Then they will acknowledge that I am the Lord God." And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
25 The Lord God says: "When I gather Israel back from the nations where they were scattered, I will display my holiness through them for all the world to see. Then they will settle down in their own homeland, the land I gave to my servant Jacob." Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.
26 "They will live there securely, building homes and planting vineyards. They will enjoy safety once I have judged all their neighbors who treated them with such contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God." And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God.
Key Themes
Themes in Ezekiel 28
Pride and self-exaltationThe fall of the king of tyreEden imageryGod opposes the proud
Apply This Today
Living Ezekiel 28
The king of Tyre declared himself a god because of His wealth and wisdom. But no human achievement makes us equal to God. This chapter warns against the kind of pride that forgets we are created beings, dependent on a Creator. Humility keeps us grounded in reality.
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