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Chapters
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Eze 28:1 The word of the
LORD came again unto me, saying,
Eze 28:2 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:
This is similar to how
Satan feels about himself and how other kings throughout the ages felt
when they reigned supreme and ruled over many nations. The latter day
beast or anti-christ will also have this attitude but they are always
brought down and not allowed to overstep their bounds.
The anti-christ
will not rule longer than 7 years at the most.
Eze 28:3
Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can
hide from thee:
Daniel would have made a good ruler. He
was very wise and could interpret things that were hard to understand.
He was different than this person though in that Daniel had a heart
after God.
This king of Tyrus was so lifted up in pride that he
thought he was god and he was full of wisdom even greater than Daniel in
a worldly respect. However, since true wisdom includes the knowledge of
God, I would say that this king was not wiser than Daniel in that
respect but only in a worldly way. His knowledge of things and his
understanding was even greater than Daniel meaning that if He was a man
after God's heart, he would have truly been wiser than Daniel in all
ways. It could have been also that in his heart, he thought of himself
as wiser than Daniel.
Eze 28:4 With thy wisdom and with
thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold
and silver into thy treasures:
There are men like this
today who know how to increase in wealth. They can start with nothing
and end up wealthy. This does take a lot of worldly wisdom and
cleverness. True wealth however, is the knowledge of God and having our
treasure laid up for us in heaven.
Matthew 6:19 Lay not up
for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves break through and steal:
Mat 6:20 But lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Mat 6:21
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Eze 28:5 By thy great wisdom and by thy traffic hast thou
increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy
riches:
This is the danger of laying up for ourselves
treasure on earth. It causes us to be lifted up in pride. There are very
few humble rich men or women because they depend on their wealth to gain
approval and prestige instead of having to rely of God.
That is
why Jesus said that it is harder for a rich man to enter heaven than a
camel to go through an eye of a needle. He tends to be puffed up and
fails to understand that he is in just as much need of God in his life
as a poor man with nothing.
Eze 28:6 Therefore thus saith
the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;
Eze 28:7 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.
Eze 28:8
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.
Eze 28:9 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.
Eze 28:10 Thou shalt
die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have
spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
All evil dictators
especially those that exalt themselves as gods, end up this same way.
Their kingdoms do not last and they are brought down by other kingdoms
that are stronger than they were. It happens every time. We never get
away with evil.
Hitler's full reign did not last over 12 years.
He was brought down and even took his own life in the end. These
guys do not last.
Eze 28:11 Moreover the word of the LORD
came unto me, saying,
Eze 28:12 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.
Eze 28:13
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.
Now we know the one being
described here is Satan who is actually behind all evil rulers and
dictators. Here we see that he was beautiful, full of wisdom and had a
very exalted position.
Eze 28:14 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.
Eze 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that
thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
This
chapter is one of the best teachings are the subject of pride, beauty
and riches which can exalt any of us and cause us to lose out with God
because we think higher or ourselves than we should think. Now we see
this perfect one, created by God was found with iniquity.
Eze 28:16 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.
As
he held a high position, he was cast down. This happens to all that
follow his footsteps and are lifted up with pride, rich and increased
with goods and even get to the place where they defy the commandments of
God.
Even the church in Laodicea was guilty of this:
Rev 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write;
These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the
beginning of the creation of God;
Rev 3:15 I know thy works, that
thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev
3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will
spew thee out of my mouth.
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich,
and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that
thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Being rich and increased with goods lead to this pride and
causes us to be less dependent upon God. It even tends to create in us a
false sense of security to where we think God is the one giving us all
these things.
In some cases God may very well be the one blessing
us with wealth but it is given so that we can use it for His glory. It
is never given so that we can gloat and say to the poor believer that he
or she has no faith or they would be rich too. It is never given to put
on a show of higher spirituality.
Whether one is rich or poor
has not bearing on his or her standing with God. We are not more
spiritual if we are poor, neither are we more spiritual if we are rich.
Usually the rich, forget the poor and do not help or give to them.
Jamess 2:1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
Jas 2:2 For if
there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel,
and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
Jas 2:3 And ye
have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit
thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit
here under my footstool:
Jas 2:4 Are ye not then partial in
yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
Jas 2:5 Hearken,
my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in
faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love
him?
Jas 2:6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress
you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
Jas 2:7 Do not they
blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?
Jas 2:8 If ye
fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself, ye do well:
Jas 2:9 But if ye have respect to
persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
In say all this though, I want to remind us who do not
have riches not to envy them or covet what they have. This is just as
evil and it is the sin of idolatry and covetousness. We must never want
to take from those that have riches.
If they get a heart after
God and give to the poor, they will be blessed but we are never to set
up governments that force them to do this. It must be willing from their
hearts.
Communist types of governments become more oppressive
than the rich people ever get. Love and compassion for the poor is not
something that any of us can force on anyone. God will judge those that
could help the poor but do not, we are not to do the judging before
God's time.
1Corinthians 4:5 Therefore judge nothing
before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the
hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the
hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.
Eze 28:17 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.
All the wisdom that an evil person has is wasted and for
nothing. No matter how smart a person is, it is wasted if they lack
compassion and the love of God. It will all be for nothing. The same can
be said of beauty, riches and all things that accompany those possessing
these things.
Eze 28:18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries
by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic;
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.
Eze 28:19 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.
This will be true of
Satan and any evil world ruler both past and present.
Eze
28:20 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 28:21 Son
of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it,
Eze
28:22 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.
Eze 28:23 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.
Eze 28:24 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.
This is another city that exalted
itself against Israel and gloated when Babylon destroyed her. They also
were oppressors of Israel. They once were rich in trade and commerce
like Tyre.
Eze 28:25 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.
Eze 28:26 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.
These last two verses jumps ahead to the latter days
when Israel is gathered back into their own land and will become
sanctified in the sight of the heathen.
The first part of this
prophecy was fulfilled in 1948 and still is in the process of being
fulfilled. According to other prophecies though, many enemies of Israel
will still try to destroy them and they will almost succeed during the
years of the final tribulation or the Time of Jacob's trouble. Jesus
Christ himself will save them at that time.
Then the second part
of the prophecy is fulfilled and they will dwell safely and all other
nations will fear and tremble for Christ is to rule the world from
Israel.
All rulers that exalt themselves against the knowledge
of God will be brought low no matter how big and powerful they become.
In the end the Lord wins. So I would advise casting one's lot with God
and keep His commandments until the end. We must not seek to excel in
this life only and see things that are visible and neglect the things
that are for eternity. This life is a drop in a bucket, temporary
and but nothing in the fact of eternity.
Revelation 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they
may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates
into the city.
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