Ezekiel 26–28

Go ahead and open your Bibles to Ezekiel, Chapter 26, as we continue our study through the Old Testament here on Wednesday night. And here in the book of Ezekiel and the prophecies of Ezekiel, Ezekiel chapter 26. We are going to try our best to cover three chapters tonight because they are all clumped together, in that they contain prophetic messages about the cities of Tyre and Sidon. I don't know if that –when I say Tyre and Sidon– I don't know if that brings up any kind of a mental picture for you or not, but you guys know how visual I am. So we're going to put a map up on the screen here for you of that region. You'll see at the bottom of the screen in green, that says, “Galilee.” So that is the area where Jesus was raised. And then you go north of that, and you have that area of Lebanon. But it was considered to be, in Jesus’ time, it was considered to be Syro-Phoenician population that was in that area because during the time of –those lands change names so much over the years– it is frankly challenging, and I try my best to keep it all together to think about, Okay, who was in charge of this land at what particular time… But it is Lebanon today; Lebanon and Tyre and Sidon are still fundamentally there. They are nothing like they were back in their heyday. These cities were huge ports, marine ports, and they were incredibly important to trade. You can see right on the Mediterranean there, and they are the cities, of course, that are in red there on the screen. Very important cities, both in the Old and New Testament periods. Again, they are today located in Lebanon, but after the time of the Israelite conquest of Canaan, they were part of the seacoast which eventually became known as Phoenicia. And that was a name that was given to the region by the Greeks. Interestingly enough, Phoenicia is the Greek word for purple. And the reason they called it the region of Phoenicia is because they were well known for their purple dye, which came from a kind of a mollusk-type fish sort of a thing. Animal thingy. Fishy thingy. You can tell I know all about that stuff, can't you? Anyway, apparently it was very expensive to extract, and the dye itself was very expensive. And so whoever was involved in producing it usually stood to make a good deal of money, and the Phoenician area was quite rich. They shipped their wares all over the Mediterranean world. You might remember that Jezebel was a Phoenician princess who married an Israelite king and actually introduced Baal worship. So Baal worship essentially came from that region of Phoenicia. And so, obviously, they were very pagan. The city of Tyre also became very well known, particularly during the time of King David. You'll remember that David worked with the King of Tyre, a man named Hiram, to produce wood. You have heard many times in the Scriptures, "the cedars of Lebanon," right? They were well known for their tall cedars – trees– and in the building of things, they were hugely important. And the Phoenicians were very skilled at downing trees. And I guess you call it felling trees, don't you? And then floating them down the various waterways to get where they needed to go. And that was something that they did. Later on, the King of Tyre also offered to provide wood for Solomon for his many projects. And in the days of Ezra, after the Babylonian exile, after those 70 years in Babylon, when they began to rebuild the second temple, once again Tyre and

Sidon produced much wood for that rebuilding project as well. But, like I said, they were pagan and as such, they had a pantheon of gods that they worshiped, and there were other things. They often were enemies of Israel– sometimes friends– but many times enemies. So we can see what's happening as we get started here in the 26th chapter. It begins by saying: “In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: (and this tells you where the Lord is as related to Tyre. It says,) 2Son of man, because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, 'Aha, the gate of the peoples is broken; it has swung open to me. I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste,' 3therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves." Over the course of history, many nations came against Tyre and Sidon. So we can see that the response that the Lord is giving to this area of Tyre that displeased him so much, related to the fact that when Israel was in trouble, or when Jerusalem fell, their response was, “Yes, we've got them now. Our enemy has fallen.” And I have to tell you something. That is an attitude God does not like. He doesn't ever like it because it shows something about the heart that is very problematic. I want to share with you a couple of passages, actually a few of them here. Starting in Proverbs, Chapter 24, check this out on the screen, it says:

The implication there is turning it back onto you, because you have chosen to rejoice because of the fall of your enemy. And in the very next chapter of Proverbs, we read this, Chapter 25:

So the Bible doesn't leave us in any question of how the Lord wants us to treat those who treat us badly or whom we consider enemies. We are not to rejoice when bad things happen to people that have set their sights on seeing our downfall. You know, God even worked this into the Law. Check out this passage from Exodus, Chapter 23. It says:

Interesting, isn't it? So the Lord even worked this into the Law of Israel saying, I don't care if this person is your enemy. If you allow your heart to become darkened, you are no better than their hatred for you. You know, that's the problem, isn't it, when we come up against people whom we find challenging, shall we say. And we find out that they don't like us very much. To save our heart, we just determine that we don't like them either. And it's okay if they don't like me because I don't like them. And I don't really mind. I don't mind that they're waiting for bad things to happen to me, because I'm waiting for bad things to happen to them too. And God says, no. That's not the way my people are going to do it. Finally, Jesus comments on the subject from Matthew, Chapter 5 on the screen. He says:

We don't think of tax collectors like the Jews did, but that's like saying the worst of the worst in society loves those who love them. So what's the big deal? So, we have seen a testimony from both the Old and the New Testaments related to how we view our enemies. And people that dislike us, persecute us, want to see bad things happen to us. We are not given the freedom to return the attitude that they have given to us. And the city of Tyre, and Sidon as well, did come against Jerusalem in that way. And the Lord is now responding. Look with me as we continue reading now. Verse 4, he says,

(That's an interesting thing for the Lord to say, isn't it?)

(That usually makes a reference not to physical daughters, but to cities in and around. And then he says,)

Now, the Lord is going to get specific here concerning who is going to begin this destruction. He is not going to end it. He is going to begin it.

The implication there is that the dust from the movement of all the horses is going to be a cloud that is going to cover everything. And that is another way of saying he will have an enormous army.

And by the way, I'll just tell you that history tells us that the destruction that took place in Tyre and Sidon was probably one of the most drawn-out sorts of things that we frankly know very many places in history. I mean, it began with Nebuchadnezzar. We find Alexander the Great also coming against these cities many years later when Greece came over and conquered the Persian Empire. And so this went on for a long time. So now the Lord goes on to predict the response to the initial fall of the city of Tyre. Now, remember, it was a huge port for the movement of goods because it was a seaport. So it is obviously going to affect a lot of nations, their wealth, their ability to earn wealth. It says, “15Thus says the Lord GOD to Tyre: Will not the coastlands shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when slaughter is made in your midst? 16Then all the princes of the sea will step down from their thrones and remove their robes and strip off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit on the ground and tremble every moment and be appalled at you. 17And they will raise a lamentation over you and say to you, “‘How you have perished, you who were inhabited from the seas, O city renowned, who was mighty on the sea; she and her inhabitants imposed their terror on all her inhabitants!18 Now, the coastlands tremble on the day of your fall, and the coastlands that are on the sea are dismayed at your passing.’ “19For thus says the Lord GOD: When I make you a city laid waste, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I bring up the deep over you, and the great waters cover you, 20then I will make you go down with those who go down to the pit (and that is obviously a biblical and figurative way of speaking of those who die) to the people of old, and I will make you dwell in the world below, among ruins from of old, with those who go down to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited; but I will set beauty in the land of the living. 21I will bring you to a dreadful end, and you shall be no more. Though you be sought for, you will never be found again, declares the Lord GOD.” Like I said, you can actually go today to some cities that are called Tyre and Sidon but they are small in comparison, and they have nothing of the importance and power and prestige of the original cities. That was completely destroyed over many years. Now, as we get into Chapter 27, we essentially are going to see in the entirety of this chapter a lament, which is a cry, that Ezekiel was commanded to write down from the Lord concerning the city of Tyre, that was so important to so many in the region because of the merchant trade of the area. And this chapter is going to go into a lot of detail about what kind of activity went on in the city that is now stopped. And it is going to talk about God's judgment related to the many places in and around it and the other regions. So we are just going to– the Lord is going to drop a lot of names here of cities and areas– read through this chapter without a whole lot of comment. Verse 1: “The word of the Lord came to me: 2Now you, son of man, raise a lamentation over Tyre, 3and say to Tyre, who dwells at the entrances to the sea, merchant of the peoples to many coastlands, thus says the Lord GOD, O Tyre, you have said, ‘I am perfect in beauty’ (then, of course, that just speaks of the pride of the area). 4Your borders are in the heart of the seas; your builders made perfect your beauty. 5They made all your planks of fir trees from Senir; they took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you. 6Of oaks of Bashan they made your oars; they made your deck of pines from the coasts of Cyprus, inlaid with ivory. 7Of fine embroidered linen from Egypt was your sail, serving as your banner; blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah was your awning. 8The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers; your skilled men, O Tyre, were in you; they were your pilots. 9The elders of Gebal and her skilled men were in you caulking your seams; all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you to barter for your wares.” You can just tell there is all this merchant exchange of goods and stuff that is going on there in Tyre.

your wares; wrought iron, cassia, and calamus were bartered for your merchandise. “20Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding. Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your favored dealers in lambs, rams, and goats; in these they did business with you. 22The traders of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; they exchanged for your wares the best of all kinds of spices and all precious stones and gold. 23Haran, Canneh, Eden, traders of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad traded with you. 24In your market these traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of blue and embroidered work, and in carpets of colored material bound with cords and made secure.25 The ships of Tarshish traveled for you with your merchandise. So you were filled and heavily laden in the heart of the seas. “26Your rowers have brought you out into the high seas. The east wind has wrecked you in the heart of the seas. 27Your riches, your wares, your merchandise, your mariners and your pilots, your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise, and all your men of war who are in you, with all your crew that is in your midst, sink into the heart of the seas on the day of your fall. 28At the sound of the cry of your pilots, the countryside shakes, 29and down from their ships come all who handle the oar. The mariners and all the pilots of the sea stand on the land 30and shout aloud over you and cry out bitterly. They cast dust on their heads and wallow in ashes; “31They make themselves bald for you and put sackcloth on their waist, and they weep over you in bitterness of soul, with bitter mourning. 32In their wailing they raise a lamentation for you and lament over you: ‘Who is like Tyre, like one destroyed in the midst of the sea? “‘33When your wares came from the seas, you satisfied many peoples; with your abundant wealth and merchandise you enriched the kings of the earth. 34Now you are wrecked by the seas, in the depth of the waters; your merchandise and all your crew in your midst have sunk with you. 35All the inhabitants of the coastlands are appalled at you, and the hair of their kings bristles with horror; their faces are convulsed. 36The merchants among the peoples hiss at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever.’” Wow. You can see how the importance of this one area fed so much of that area, the region all around, and so that all of these nations benefited and traded and became prosperous. We are now in a position where they stood to lose great wealth because of the fall of this area of trading.

Now we come to Chapter 28. This is the chapter that I really want to call your attention to because you are going to find that it is made up of three separate prophetic messages given to Ezekiel. But it is here in the second of these prophetic messages that we are going to be presented with a prophetic insight where the subject of the prophecy, which is the king of Tyre, is going to morph before our eyes as we read it. And the first subject, which is the King of Tyre, is going to be seen as a symbolic picture of the second subject. Let me explain that. Again, the first subject of these prophetic messages, at least the first and second one, is the Prince or King of Tyre. And in this chapter we are going to see the Lord call out the King of Tyre, the prince of Tyre, for his pride and his arrogance. But in the midst of discussing and judging, passing judgment on this earthly king, we are going to discover that we go into a understanding that “king” was a type and a shadow of the second subject, who is Satan himself. In other words, this prophetic message, or at least one of the three here, is going to teach us about the fall of Satan. And we wouldn't know these things otherwise. And because there was a likeness or a similarity in the King of Tyre and the fall of Satan himself, God is going to use these prophetic messages to speak of both. And so it is speaking of an earthly prince and an angelic prince. And we are going to see that here. Now, the first message, which takes up the first ten verses of the chapter is all about the earthly prince of Tyre. It says:

So once again, those first ten verses are about the earthly prince of Tyre, and you can see that he was a man of great pride. His pride was such that he literally referred to himself as a god, sitting in the seat of the gods. Remember, as a pagan, he would have believed in a multiplicity of gods. And so he considered himself one of the gods. And his pride and arrogance knew no end. And God said, “You are not a god, you are a man and you are going to die like a man. And I am going to bring ruthless people against you and you will die.” Now, as we get into verse 11, this picture that we have now been given in the first ten verses of this prideful earthly Prince is going to morph into a prophetic picture of the angelic Prince being Satan. And you will notice that this section begins with the word, “Moreover,” and that's an interesting word that suggests that what we're about to read is a continuation of the previous message. Moreover, in fact, that word in the Hebrew can literally be translated "and." "And" the word of the Lord, or “Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me: (Ezekiel writes saying,) Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: “You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.” Now you will remember that he chastised the earthly king for saying these things about himself. But now we get our first hint that what we are reading in this first couple of verses goes beyond merely an earthly king of Tyre. And the description borders on the other-worldly, but it is going to become even more so as we read on. Look at these next couple of verses. Verse 13: “You were in Eden, the garden of God…” And I dare say that the earthly king of Tyre was never in the Garden of Eden along with Adam and Eve. We know that garden was closed off to any human occupation after Adam and Eve. We are taken out of it. Now, what is interesting about this is some of you who were paying attention might have noticed in the previous chapters, they actually mentioned a city in and around Tyre called Eden. So there was a town in that area. So this once again, causes the earthly king of Tyre to be a picture of the angelic prince. And we are going to see that it goes on speaking of very other-worldly sorts of things. After he says, “You were in Eden, the garden of God,” he goes on to say, “every precious stone was your covering, (And then he names several) sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared.”

Then in the very next verse, it even becomes clearer who is in view here. Verse 14: “You were an anointed guardian cherub.” All right. Now I want to have you stop there for just a moment. We will finish it out. But we have already been introduced to the cherubim earlier in our study of the book of Ezekiel. In fact, Ezekiel started with these incredible visions that Ezekiel had where he was taken up into literally the throne room of God. He saw the throne of God, and he saw these powerful cherubim who attended the throne of God. And so we are told now that this prince that is being referred to now was a created and anointed guardian cherub. So this is obviously a very incredibly powerful angel that is being referenced here. In fact, in the middle of verse 14, God goes on to say, “I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.” This being that God is describing here in these prophecies was placed by God. We are on the holy mount of God and from what we have read so far in these verses we’re given to understand that Satan was granted a very high and lofty position prior to his fall. We read that he was an angel of great perfection, great wisdom, great beauty, and that he was adorned with all these precious stones and gems. In fact, you know that some, but not all, of the gems that it says this angelic Prince was adorned with, some of those were actually found on the breast piece of the Jewish high priest that they had made for the high priest to wear. Not all of these stones. Some of them. I think there were nine of them, I believe, ultimately on the breast piece of the ones that are listed, and there are something like twelve mentioned here that this angel was adorned with. He goes on here in verse 15. He says, “You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you.” And so we're given to understand here that Satan maintained a place of power and glory and status until something happened, some kind of a rebellion. We don't know. All we are told here is that it was unrighteousness. The New King James Version uses the word “iniquity” right there. And it says that either unrighteousness or iniquity was found in him. And we learn a bit more, interestingly enough, about that iniquity in a companion passage, I want to call your attention to the screen where we are going to look at Isaiah 14, which also speaks prophetically of some insights related to Satan. It says:

mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” So we believe that what we are getting here is just some further insight as it relates to the iniquity that is referenced here in the book of Ezekiel related to Satan and his fall from his angelic position as a cherubim. Now let's keep reading in verse 16. The Lord says, “In the abundance of your trade, you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you.” Now, I find it interesting in verse 17 that the Lord says, “You corrupted your wisdom.” That's an interesting phrase, isn't it? “You corrupted your wisdom.” And I had somebody write me here about a week and a half, two weeks ago, and ask a question, frankly, in a crude sort of way. But the question was, “Who created sin?” And that is a fairly common question, and people want to know. Where did sin come from? You know, because we know that Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, but prior to that, they were created with pure hearts. They were innocent, if you will, but they were tempted to disbelieve God and so forth. And they did, and they committed a sin, but obviously the temptation did not come from within; it came from without. And we know that Satan was in the garden with Adam and Eve when that happened. So we have to assume from that, that Satan is the originator of iniquity, that he literally originated it. Now there is another statement that Jesus makes about Satan that gives us the same idea that he originated iniquity. You are familiar, I'm sure, in the Bible that whenever the Bible refers to someone as the father of something, he is the originator of that thing. Abraham is the father of the Jews, and in that sense, the originator of the Jewish people. And Jesus refers to Satan as the father of lies, as he is confronting the Jews, he says, you are a liar, like your father, who was a murderer from the beginning, he says, a liar from the beginning, and then he says, and the father of lies. So again, there is that term, the originator of those things. So we believe from the biblical evidence that we have that iniquity originated with Satan. How that could happen, that's the part we don't know. So if somebody were to say to me, “Well,

Pastor Paul, explain to me how an angelic being who has created perfect in wisdom, perfect in beauty, could originate iniquity when obviously that can't originate with God, there is nothing in God that can originate iniquity. So how in the world could an angel?” Well, we don't know the answer to that question except to say that the angels are very powerful and like human beings, we are also given a free will when they were created. But again, we are not just talking about necessarily choosing something. He is creating, he is originating something; that is a little bit deeper than simply choosing, right? It's crazy and it's bizarre to think about. And hopefully the Lord will unveil more of this when we stand in presence. But anyway, I find it interesting there in verse 17, that again, he says, “You corrupted your wisdom." Verse 18: “By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries; so I brought fire out from your midst; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you.” I think there's something there that is still yet future. “All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever.” All right, now the final verses of this chapter simply deal with a word of judgment against Tyre's sister city of Sidon. All of this has been focused on Tyre, but they were only like 20 miles apart. They were very close. So, this is concerning Sidon, but what you are going to see also here as we finish out the chapter is that as the Lord speaks of the judgment of Sidon, He speaks of the restoration of Israel and Jerusalem, and you are going to see that in these verses. So we are going to end on a bit of an up-note here. Verse 20, “The word of the Lord came to me: 21Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against her 22and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Sidon, and I will manifest my glory in your midst. And they shall know that I am the LORD when I execute judgments in her and manifest my holiness in her: 23for I will send pestilence into her, and blood into her streets; and the slain shall fall in her midst, by the sword that is against her on every side. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” Isn't this fascinating? Do you hear what is happening in these verses 20 - 23? The Lord is speaking about the judgment He is going to send upon the city of Sidon. And He talks about some pretty rotten things. If you look at it, pestilence and bloodshed and the sword that is going to slay many people. But I want you to notice in the midst of that, what God calls it. We call that terrible. God says, “I'm going to manifest my holiness in that city.” You get it? Judgment is a response of God's holiness, His holy nature. Our God is a holy God who cannot abide sin. And so when He judges sin, it is an expression of His holy nature. He must judge sin. He has to, or He would not be a holy God. See, holiness, His holiness demands holiness. The judging of sin, right? Makes you even more thankful that Jesus Christ came and bore our sin on the cross. But while Jesus was suffering for our sin on the cross, God was expressing His holiness, even in the judging of His Son. Now check out how these last verses, beginning of verse 24, turn and begin to speak restoratively. He says, “And for the house of Israel there shall be no more a brier to prick or a thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt.” (The Lord is likening Tyre and Sidon to a briar or a thorn. against his people. And He says,) “Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.” “25Thus says the Lord GOD: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they shall dwell in their own land that I gave to my servant Jacob. 26And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God.” And I see shades of prophetic words here related to the end of the Great Tribulation as well, when Jesus fights against the enemies of Israel and they are finally able to dwell in their land peacefully. So that is where we are going to stop for tonight. We will pick it up in Chapter 29 next time. The kids have another 14 minutes left before they are done over in the other building. So you have some fellowship time to hang out if you desire. So let's close in prayer. Heavenly Father. Thank You for giving us this time tonight to get into your Word. Lord, as we talk about and read these prophetic words about the judgments that were visited upon the nations for their pagan and cruel and vicious ways. Lord, we are just reminded how much we too deserve judgment. But instead of judgment, we receive forgiveness when we embrace the work of our Lord Jesus on the cross, the one who came to bear the judgment of God on our behalf and to become the propitiation to take away the wrath of God on our behalf.

We are so thankful, Lord, for that. We praise You that You have saved us, not because we deserved to be saved, but because You're good. And righteous. And true. And we thank You for that, Father. We thank You for prophecies and insights and for helping us to understand who You are and Your great love. So be with us. We pray, Father, bless our time of fellowship before the kids are done, and keep everybody safe on their way home and bless all those, Lord, in our fellowship who are dealing with sickness. We pray for their quick healing. And we pray that You would restore their strength and vitality. We ask it, Father, in Jesus’ name, amen.