Ezekiel 28
McGeeCHAPTER 28THEME: Judgment against the prince of Tyre; judgment against the king
Ezekiel 28:1
JUDGMENT AGAINST THE PRINCE OF TYREIn this chapter we find the judgment of the prince and king of Tyre and Sidon. The prophecy looks beyond the local ruler to the one who is behind the kingdoms of the worldSatan. Again the word of the Lord comes to Ezekiel, and this time there are two messages: one for the prince of Tyre and one for the king of Tyre. In back of the great kingdom, the great commercial center, the great political center, and the great stronghold of Tyre, we are going to find the one who apparently also controls all the kingdoms of this world. He is Satan. He offered the kingdoms of the world to the Lord Jesus during his temptation in the wilderness: “And the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine” (Luk_4:5-7).
The Lord rejected Satan’s offer, but not because He didn’t recognize his ownershipChrist knew that Satan did have the kingdoms. Ultimately Christ will rule over the kingdoms of the worldbut not as the vice-regent of Satan! Today, however, the Devil is still the prince of the power of the air. He is the one who is in back of the kingdoms of our world, whether we like it or not. Here is, I believe, a type of Antichrist. Actually, it takes two persons to fulfill all that Scripture says about the Antichrist (and John says there are many). One will deny the Person of Christbe His enemy; the other will imitate Him. There will be a religious ruler and a political ruler. Now here in Ezekiel we have, I believe, the combination set before us. This is the vicegerent of Satan: “Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God"this is exactly what the Antichrist is going to say. The apostle Paul says this of him: “Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God” (2Th_2:4). And this prince of Tyre says, “I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas.” But God says, “Yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God.”
Ezekiel 28:3
Here is another reference to Daniel. Ezekiel and Daniel, you remember, were contemporaries. This young man Ezekiel had great respect for Daniel, who was prime minister in Babylon, and who really stood for the Lord. I personally think that Ezekiel had the hardest job. He lived with and preached to the captives. As I said earlier, I would have much preferred to live in the palace and spend one night in the lions’ den than to work with the captives, but Ezekiel had no choice in the matter. Ezekiel refers to Daniel’s wisdom. Ezekiel says that this prince of Tyre was a smart boy. If you don’t think there were wise men in that day, you are wrong. I think the wise men in that day would make the so-called intellectual crowd that centers in Harvard today look like beginners in kindergarten. These great men in Ezekiel’s day were really wise men. Now I believe that this prince of Tyre represents the religious ruler aspect of the Antichrist. And I think he comes out of Israel. You see, the Antichrist, the political ruler, comes out of the sea of the nations of the world. I think he will be a Gentile. His advisor, the religious ruler, will come out of the land. The religious ruler will be like a prime minister to the political ruler, like Daniel was in Babylon, or like Joseph in Egypt, or Disraeli in England. Perhaps I should not make that kind of comparison, but I think it serves to illustrate the two positions.
Ezekiel 28:11
JUDGMENT AGAINST THE KINGEzekiel is not going to let anyone forget that he is not giving his own opinion, but he is telling forth God’s message. We have had a lamentation of the city of Tyre. We have talked about the prince of Tyre, and now we come to a lamentation of the king of Tyre. Immediately we pass beyond the local king of Tyrethere were many of them. It wasn’t safe to be a king in those days. Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. The glory did not last long. It was like the bromide sic transit gloria mundi, which is Latin for “thus passeth the glory of the world.” The king in back of the kingdom of Tyre is Satan. Ezekiel 28 is one of the few passages in the Word of God that gives us the origin of the Devil and of evil. I don’t want to press this too much, but read carefully these words
Ezekiel 28:12
Satan was the wisest creature God ever created. Keep in mind that Satan is a created being. He was created perfect in beauty. If you think of Satan as a creature with horns, a forked tail, and cloven feet, you are wrong. You have been reading the literature of the Middle Ages which has its origin in Greek mythology that goes back into Asia Minor. There was a great temple of Apollo in Pergamum; also there was one in Corinth, and in Ephesus, just to name a few. This is a description of the god Pan, or Bacchus, the god of pleasure. He has horns, he runs through the grape vineyard, he is the god of the grape, the god of wine. From his waist down he is represented as a goat. The creature with horns, a forked tail, and cloven feet is right out of Greek mythology. The Word of God does not present Satan in that manner. The Bible presents him as perfect in beauty. If you could see him, you would find that he is the most beautiful creature you have ever seen. I have heard many people say how good-looking the men of certain cults are. When I was a boy, I heard such a man. He was in one of the cults. He had silver gray hair and was a fine looking manin fact, he was very handsome. Some women would almost swoon at his presence. People treated him as if he were a god, a claim that he almost made. Do you know what he was? He was a minister of Satan; I don’t mind saying it. When I was a boy, with no instruction in the things of God, he almost led me astray. Oh, how terrible the ministers of Satan are! Paul has something to say about the ministers of Satan. “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness …” (2Co_11:13-15). Ezekiel says of this one: “Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.” What was it that brought him down? We will see that when we come to verse Eze_28:15.
Ezekiel 28:13
“Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God"no king of Tyre has been in the Garden of Eden! “Every precious stone was thy covering"can you imagine what a beautiful creature he was! “The workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee.” Not only could he sing, he was a band; he was music itself. Do you know the origin of music on this earth? Go back to Gen_4:21, and you will see that it originated with the progeny of Cain. And when I hear some of the music of my contemporaries, I am confident that it came out of the pitit couldn’t come from any place else! Satan was a musician.
Ezekiel 28:14
Satan was the “anointed cherub that covereth"that is, he protected the throne of God. This is not the Eden which was on earth, but apparently is a picture of heaven itself. Satan had access to heaven, of course.
Ezekiel 28:15
Satan protected God’s throne. He had the highest position a created being could have. What was it that brought him down? Ezekiel doesn’t tell us, but Isa_14:12-15 has already told us: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” The thing that brought him down was pride!
Satan wanted to lift up his throne. He wanted to divorce himself from God and be God. He was in rebellion against God. Now, let me say this: If you are one of the saints today who thinks you have arrived, that you are perfect, and you have set yourself up as a standard, remember that Satan was the angel of light; he was perfectbut he fell. Since he fell, what about you? What about me? We are only frail human beings. God cannot tolerate rebellion, so what is He going to do?
Ezekiel 28:16
Satan will be judged for his sin. He is only a creature. I don’t know about you, but this is comforting to me. I frankly would not be able to overcome him. I am no match for him. I am thankful, therefore, that God is going to deal with him.
Ezekiel 28:17
“Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty"pride. “Thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.” You see, Solomon, the wisest man, played the fool. And here we see that the greatest creature whom God ever created, perfect (filled with all that could be learned), played the fool. Oh, my friend, God’s children can do the same today! “I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.” God is going to make a spectacle of Satan someday.
Ezekiel 28:19
At some time in the future God is going to get rid of Satan in His universe, and we pray for that day to come. In verses Eze_28:20-24 judgment is pronounced on Sidon, but not complete destruction. He says that there will be blood in the streets, and that is exactly what happened. It is a matter of history. It is interesting to note that Tyre, the prominent city and capital city, was destroyed, scraped like a rock, never to be rebuilt; yet Sidon, about fifteen miles from Tyre, was also judged, but not destroyed. That city exists today; it is the place where oil is brought in from the Near East. It comes by pipeline and is loaded onto ships.
Sidon is a thriving port, whereas down the coast is Tyre lying in ruins, with only a little fishing village there. God says that Tyre will never be rebuilt. God knew what He was talking about. In this chapter He has made the prophecies clear-cut: Tyre would be destroyed and never be rebuilt; Sidon would be judged but not destroyed. Today after approximately twenty-five hundred years, Tyre is gone and Sidon lives on.
Ezekiel 28:25
God says, “I intend to regather Israel.” Satan cannot disturb His plan and program with the children of Israel. Neither can any theologian today dismiss God’s plan to restore Israel to the land in peace. One reason that so many theologians are believed when they say that God is through with the nation Israel is because God’s people are not acquainted with Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the minor prophets. The theme song of these prophets is that God is not through with Israel as a nation. For this reason they should be studied. They throw new light on the Word of God so that it is no longer a jigsaw puzzle, but everything falls into place.