Ezekiel 28
Judgment on Tyre ~ Dethrone
the King!
Pray
Intro
√ Judgment
on
Chapters 26-28 record God’s prophetic word concerning the judgment that He planned to bring
upon the sea-power
God’s plans could be outlined as such…
Chapter 26 ~ scrape the rock
Chapter 27 ~ sink the ship
Chapter 28 ~ dethrone the king
You’ll remember that to this point God’s word of judgment
has been focused on the city
of
…in this chapter His attention turns toward the ruler of the city!
In effect God is holding the leader of
It’s an interesting chapter because we get a peek at not
only the human ruler of
Ap. “The devil made me do it!”
The truth is that God has never bought into that excuse!
Rather, beginning with the first sin in the Garden we find that God holds each person, and angel, responsible for their own actions.
Adam, Eve and Satan were each judged according to their own sin.
This chapter reminds us of that truth as God judges both the
prince (the human ruler of
It also reminds us that there is a spiritual war going on behind the scene and that the governments and kingdoms of men are influenced by both God…
…and the Devil.
Judgment on the Prince (vs. 1-10)
Ez. 28:1 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,
Ez. 28:2 “Son of
man, say to the prince of
“Because your heart is lifted up,
And you say, ‘I am a god,
I sit in the seat of gods,
In the midst of the seas,’
Yet you are a man, and not a god,
Though you set your heart as the heart of a god
Ez. 28:3 (Behold, you are wiser than Daniel!
There is no secret that can be hidden from you!
Ez. 28:4 With your wisdom and your understanding
You have gained riches for yourself,
And gathered gold and silver into your treasuries;
Ez. 28:5 By your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches,
And your heart is lifted up because of your riches),”
Ez. 28:6 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
‘Because you have set your heart as the heart of a god,
Ez. 28:7 Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you,
The most terrible of the nations;
And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom,
And defile your splendor.
Ez. 28:8 They shall throw you down into the Pit,
And you shall die the death of the slain
In the midst of the seas.
Ez. 28:9 “Will you still say before him who slays you,
‘I am a god’?
But you shall be a man, and not a god,
In the hand of him who slays you.
Ez. 28:10 You shall die the death of the uncircumcised
By the hand of aliens;
For I have spoken,” says the Lord GOD.’ ”
√ Judgment on the prince
The first section of this prophecy deals with the…
“prince of
That is, the human leader of the city.
Historically we know that man was Ethbaal III who ruled the
city of
The chief sin for which God brought judgment upon him was his pride that manifest itself in his claim to be a god!
“Because your heart is lifted up,
And you say, ‘I am a god”. ~ vs. 2
An example of his arrogance is that he thought himself wiser than even Daniel the prophet as recorded in vs. 3…
“You regard yourself as wiser than Daniel and think no secret is hidden from you.” ~ NLT
The irony is that while Ethbaal thought himself wiser than Daniel…
…it would be the king whom Daniel served (Nebuchadnezzar) who would remove him from his throne!
√ God’s rebuke
There’s a very important truth revealed in this section that we need to understand, that is that people are not gods!
Ethbaal thought he was a god.
Nero thought he was god.
Shirley MacLaine thinks she’s a god.
Many people have thought they were a god.
The reality is that all of them and all of us are just people, note God’s rebuke in vs. 2 and 9…
“Yet you are a man, and not a god” ~ vs. 2
“Will you still say before him who slays you,
‘I am a god’?
But you shall be a man, and not a god,
In the hand of him who slays you.”
Vs. 9
God reminds Ethbaal and everyone else that human beings are created and not divine.
To prove His point God asks Ethbaal how his claim will hold up before the man who kills him!?
The point is that a real god cannot be killed, especially by a mortal.
Ergo, Ethbaal is not a god.
The same holds true for every human being, we’re all subject to death and corruption and we’re powerless to change our destiny by our own strength!
√ Where did he get the idea that he was a god?
While we’re not specifically told how Ethbaal came to believe he was a god I think we can safely conclude that he bought into the same lie that Satan sold Eve…
“For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ~ Gen. 3:5
It’s “the lie” that Satan has been selling to human beings since the beginning, and the same lie that leads Men to damnation and eternal destruction today!
Satan plays upon our pride and feeds our sinful egocentric perception of ourselves…
…until we reject God and begin to worship self (ref. Romans 1).
The final manifestation of self-deification will be seen in the person of the Antichrist of whom Ethbaal is a foreshadow.
Ap. Mormonism
This section of scripture dismantles a key tenet of the Mormon faith that teaches that humans can become gods.
They claim that God was once a man like us.
That Adam became a god.
That you can become a god!
To which God says…
“Yet you are a man, and not a god” ~ vs. 2
So, keep this verse handy to share with the guys who show up at your door.
Judgment on the King (vs. 11-19)
Ez. 28:11 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Ez. 28:12 “Son of
man, take up a lamentation for the king
of
‘You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
Ez. 28:13 You were
in
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
Ez. 28:14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You
were on the holy
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
Ez. 28:15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.
Ez. 28:16 “By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out
of the
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones.
Ez. 28:17 “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor;
I cast you to the ground,
I laid you before kings,
That they might gaze at you.
Ez. 28:18 “You defiled your sanctuaries
By the multitude of your iniquities,
By the iniquity of your trading;
Therefore I brought fire from your midst;
It devoured you,
And I turned you to ashes upon the earth
In the sight of all who saw you.
Ez. 28:19 All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you;
You have become a horror,
And shall be no more forever.” ’ ”
√ Judgment on the king
You probably noticed in this 2nd message from God that the person to whom it’s directed changes from…
…”prince” (vs. 2) to “king” (vs. 12).
Two different Hebrew words used, “prince” is “nagid” and “king” is “melek”.
Significant because Ezekiel rarely uses the word melek so it indicates that this word of judgment is directed at someone other than Ethbaal.
The question is, who?
√ The power behind the throne
Bible students don’t all agree as to the identity of the “king” in verses 11-19.
Some suggest that Ezekiel is describing Ethbaal in poetic language.
Others suggest that he is describing the false god
worshipped by the people of
Finally, some believe that Ezekiel is describing Satan himself the true power
behind the throne of
Each interpretation has some merit but my opinion is that the weight of evidence points to Satan, note that we’re told this king was…
Vs. 12 ~ full of wisdom & perfect in beauty
Doesn’t sound like Ethbaal or Baal, but it does sound like Lucifer.
Satan was not created evil, rather, like all of God’s creation Lucifer was created to perfectly reflect the beauty of God.
The description of him in vs. 12-15 reveal what Lucifer looks like, not just then, but now! (2 Cor. 11:14)
Satan is beautiful to look at, covered with gems, precious things and musical instruments.
Not the pointed-tail invention of Man’s imagination.
Vs. 13 ~ present in the Garden of Eden
Again this can’t be describing the human ruler of
Vs. 14 ~ called a “covering cherub”
In verse 14 we’re told that the king of
We were introduced to the Cherubim earlier in the book of Ezekiel and learned that they are a special class of angels who are always found near to the throne of God.
Kind of like Secret Service angels.
The point is that certainly doesn’t describe Ethbaal or the false god Baal, but it does describe Lucifer who we know from Scripture is a fallen angel.
Vs. 14 ~ walked on God’s mountain
Verse 14 also tells us that the king had access to God’s presence and that he walked among the “fiery stones”, thought to be a reference to the consuming fire of God’s holiness.
Once again only Lucifer fits that description. We know that he dwelt in heaven with God up until sin was found in his heart (vs. 15 & Isa. 14).
That even after he was evicted from heaven he still had access to God’s presence (Job 1 &2).
In fact, it’s not until half way through the Tribulation that Satan is permanently cast from heaven (Rev. 12:9).
So, once again this description doesn’t fit the human ruler
of
I would suggest then that Ezekiel is describing the devil who was the real power behind the throne of Ethbaal.
√ Judgment on Satan
In verses 16-19 God tells us that He is going to judge Satan…
Cast from the
Cast to the ground and exposed ~ vs. 17
Judged with fire and turned to ash ~ vs. 18
Will become nothing forever ~ vs. 19
While Ezekiel describes Satan’s judgment as a single event I think it’s best to read this section as a broad overview of God’s plans for the Devil.
That is, as we compare scripture with scripture we find that
Satan’s final judgment doesn’t
come until after the
As we’ve already discussed the Bible tells us that Satan was…
In time past was cast from his place of authority (Isa. 14 & Luke 10)
Currently wanders the earth & has access to heaven (Job 1 & 2; Zech. 3:1-2, & Rev. 12:10)
Will be cast to the earth and denied access to heaven at the midpoint of the Tribulation (Rev. 12:7-13)
Will be imprisoned in the bottomless during the
Released at the end of the 1,000 years (Rev. 20:7-9)
Finally cast into the
Until then we find all through human history that Satan is working behind the scenes to influence our world with his evil plans.
Working through men like Ethbaal, Haman, Nero, and Hitler, to try and circumvent God’s purposes and plans.
The good news as revealed here in Ezekiel and further clarified in the Revelation is that God has a plan to put Satan out of business…
…forever!
Judgment on
Ez. 28:20 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Ez. 28:21 “Son of
man, set your face toward
Ez. 28:22 and say, “Thus says the Lord GOD:
‘Behold, I am against you, O Sidon;
I will be glorified in your midst;
And they shall know that I am the LORD,
When I execute judgments in her and am hallowed in her.
Ez. 28:23 For I will send pestilence upon her,
And blood in her streets;
The wounded shall be judged in her midst
By the sword against her on every side;
Then they shall know that I am the LORD.
√ Judgment
on
What is significant is that
…Jezebel
the daughter of Ethbaal (a different man than the prince of
However, because
…God includes her in His judgment of
Justice for
Ez. 28:24 “And there shall no longer be a pricking brier or a painful thorn for the house of Israel from among all who are around them, who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.”
Ez. 28:25 “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am hallowed in them in the sight of the Gentiles, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob.
Ez. 28:26 And they will dwell safely there, build houses, and plant vineyards; yes, they will dwell securely, when I execute judgments on all those around them who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God.” ’ ”
√ Justice
for
At the end of this long prophecy against Tyre God gives to
Ezekiel a word of encouragement to
Remember that at the time of Ezekiel’s prophecy all of
But, God looks ahead and promises that a time is coming when He will gather the Jewish people from all over the world and bring them back to the land that He gave them.
That His people will dwell in safety and will prosper.
That He will bring judgment upon the nations around
That process has begun but will not be completed until after Jesus returns to establish His Kingdom.
Close
√ Judgment
on
Reminds us that there is a war going on behind what we can see with our eyes…
…a war in which Satan and his fallen angels seek to