{"id":21169,"date":"2022-09-24T08:52:26","date_gmt":"2022-09-24T13:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-ezekiel-281\/"},"modified":"2022-09-24T08:52:26","modified_gmt":"2022-09-24T13:52:26","slug":"exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-ezekiel-281","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-ezekiel-281\/","title":{"rendered":"Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 28:1"},"content":{"rendered":"

The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, <\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n

1 10<\/strong>. The sin of the prince of Tyre ( Eze 28:1-5<\/em><\/span>), and his destruction ( Eze 28:6-10<\/em><\/span>)<\/p>\n

The prince of Tyre of the time was probably Ithobal II. It is not, however, any individual prince that the prophet threatens, but the ruler of Tyre, who is the embodiment of the spirit of the proud commercial city. The sin with which the prophet charges the prince is pride of heart and self-deification. The prince who is but the impersonation of the spirit of the community was very wise, wiser than Daniel ( Eze 28:3<\/em><\/span>). His wisdom expressed itself and found scope in his commerce and manufactures and in his arts. These produced wealth and splendour, which led to ungodly arrogance ( Eze 28:4-5<\/em><\/span>): the prince said, I am God, I dwell in the abode of God ( Eze 28:2<\/em><\/span>). For this deifying of himself in his own mind he shall be brought down. Strangers, the most terrible of the nations, shall assail him, and he shall die the death of the uncircumcised those whose bodies are unburied or unhonoured in their burial.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

The prophecy against the prince of Tyre. Throughout the east the majesty and glory of a people were collected in the person of their monarch, who in some nations was worshipped as a god. The prince is here the embodiment of the community. Their glory is his glory, their pride his pride. The doom of Tyre could not be complete without denunciation of the prince of Tyre. Idolatrous nations and idolatrous kings were, in the eyes of the prophet, antagonists to the true God. In them was embodied the principle of evil opposing itself to the divine government of the world. Hence, some of the fathers saw upon the throne, not simply a hostile monarch, but the Prince of this world, spiritual wickedness (or wicked spirits) in high places. Whenever evil in any way domineers over good, there is a prince of Tyrus, against whom God utters His voice. The mystery of iniquity is ever working, and in that working we recognize the power of Satan whom God condemns and will destroy.<\/P>

Eze 28:2<\/B><\/span><\/P>

Thou hast said, I am a god – <\/B>Compare Eze 29:3<\/span>; Dan 4:30<\/span>; Act 12:22<\/span>; 2Th 2:4<\/span>.<\/P>

I sit in the seat of God – <\/B>Words denoting the speakers pride; but the situation of the island-city, full of beauty, in the midst of the blue water of the Mediterranean, gives force to the expression. Compare the words describing the lot of Tyre as having been in Eden Eze 28:13<\/span>.<\/P>

Thou art a man – <\/B>Rather, thou art man.<\/P>

Eze 28:3<\/B><\/span><\/P>

Thou art wiser than Daniel – <\/B>The passage is one of strong irony. Compare Eze 14:14<\/span>; Dan 6:3<\/span>.<\/P>

Eze 28:9<\/B><\/span><\/P>

But thou shalt be a man – <\/B>Rather, yet art thou man.<\/P>

Eze 28:10<\/B><\/span><\/P>

The uncircumcised – <\/B>The pagan idolaters as opposed to the covenant-people.<\/P>

The prophecy against the prince of Tyre. Throughout the east the majesty and glory of a people were collected in the person of their monarch, who in some nations was worshipped as a god. The prince is here the embodiment of the community. Their glory is his glory, their pride his pride. The doom of Tyre could not be complete without denunciation of the prince of Tyre. Idolatrous nations and idolatrous kings were, in the eyes of the prophet, antagonists to the true God. In them was embodied the principle of evil opposing itself to the divine government of the world. Hence, some of the fathers saw upon the throne, not simply a hostile monarch, but the Prince of this world, spiritual wickedness (or wicked spirits) in high places. Whenever evil in any way domineers over good, there is a prince of Tyrus, against whom God utters His voice. The mystery of iniquity is ever working, and in that working we recognize the power of Satan whom God condemns and will destroy.<\/P>

Eze 28:2<\/B><\/span><\/P>

Thou hast said, I am a god – <\/B>Compare Eze 29:3<\/span>; Dan 4:30<\/span>; Act 12:22<\/span>; 2Th 2:4<\/span>.<\/P>

I sit in the seat of God – <\/B>Words denoting the speakers pride; but the situation of the island-city, full of beauty, in the midst of the blue water of the Mediterranean, gives force to the expression. Compare the words describing the lot of Tyre as having been in Eden Eze 28:13<\/span>.<\/P>

Thou art a man – <\/B>Rather, thou art man.<\/P>

Eze 28:3<\/B><\/span><\/P>

Thou art wiser than Daniel – <\/B>The passage is one of strong irony. Compare Eze 14:14<\/span>; Dan 6:3<\/span>.<\/P>

Eze 28:9<\/B><\/span><\/P>

But thou shalt be a man – <\/B>Rather, yet art thou man.<\/P>

Eze 28:10<\/B><\/span><\/P>

The uncircumcised – <\/B>The pagan idolaters as opposed to the covenant-people.<\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Eze 28:1-10<\/span><\/p>\n

Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The causes of national decadence<\/strong><\/p>\n

Who has not sometimes, standing on Brooklyn Bridge, and looking off on the forests of masts, or upon the fleets sailing back and forth upon the river, or at the great warehouses upon one side and the homes beautiful and happy upon the other–who has not sometimes called up in his imagination the picture of Ephesus or Athens or Corinth, where great ships once rode at anchor, whose old-time harbour is now a great morass? Who has not wondered whether the time may not come in some far future age when men shall come and look on the ruins of this great bridge and the ruins of this great city and the harbour filled up with its own filth, and will regret it as we regret the forgotten splendours of Mexico or of Central America? Decay is on all mens institutions. Persia, Babylon, Greece, Rome, Venice, Spain, all lived out their life as we are living ours, and all fell into their decay, their senility, and their grave. Are we to follow them? I do not know. But this I know: that behind all these institutions, behind all these governments and laws, there is an eternal law manifested and revealed. I know not how long this republic shall endure; but I know this, that behind all kingdoms and republics, in them and by them, is manifested the eternal kingdom of God; nay, the very governments that set themselves against that kingdom to break down and destroy it are speaking, whether they will or they will not, the word that endureth forever. Tell me what lessons you have to teach us, O you nations of the past! And Babylon lifts up her voice and says, I have to teach you this: that any nation that puts its foot on the neck of prostrate humanity seals its death warrant and hastens to its own doom. And Greece says, I have this to tell you: that no art, no philosophy, no culture, can save from death the nation that is immoral. And Rome says, I have this to tell you: that no power of law will make a nation safe and strong if there be corruption eating out the heart of it. And Venice says, I have this to say to you: that no nation is rich, though its fleets sail all seas, if it be poor in manhood. And Spain says, I have this to say to you: that pride, for the nation as for the individual, cometh before a fall! And then I wonder, as I look upon my own dear native land, whether she will learn these lessons writ so large in all the history of the past. Whether we are to illustrate by our own stupendous and awful ruin that, though a nation have power and culture and wealth and law and pride, it perishes without a God; or whether we shall rather teach this: that a nation whose kings are uncrowned kings, and who beckons from far across the sea the ignorant, the unlearned, and the incompetent, is strong and enduring, because it has enshrined God in its heart and has founded itself on that judgment and that justice which are the foundations of His throne. What the history of the future shall have for our dear land, who can tell? But whether this nation is born to teach a lesson by its folly or its wisdom, by its fidelity or by its infidelity, back of all these transitory and decaying nations stands writ the truth of Him who in national life is speaking, and whose word endureth forever. (T. De Witt Talmage.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Pride and folly of accumulation of wealth<\/strong><\/p>\n

H.W. Beecher strikingly compares the great heaps of wealth that some men pile up to the Pyramids of Egypt. There they stand, looking grand on the outside, but within they contain only the dust of kings. So with these fine appearing fortunes which have been heaped up in forgetfulness of Gods service. They contain within only the dust of what might have been a kingly character.<\/p>\n

Tyre a sacred city<\/strong><\/p>\n

This feeling of superhuman elevation in the King of Tyre was fostered by the fact that the island on which Tyre stood was called the holy island, being sacred to Hercules; so much so that the colonies looked up to Tyre, as the mother city of their religion as well as of their political existence. (A. R. Fausset.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

CHAPTER XXVIII <\/P>

The first part of this chapter relates to a King of Tyre,<\/I><\/P>

probably the same who is called in the Phoenician annals<\/I><\/P>

Ithobalus. He seems to have been a vain man, who affected<\/I><\/P>

Divine honours. The prophet treats his foolish pretensions<\/I><\/P>

with severe irony, and predicts his doom<\/I>, 1-10.<\/P>

He then takes up a funeral dirge and lamentation over him, in<\/I><\/P>

which his former pomp and splendour are finely contrasted with<\/I><\/P>

his fall, in terms that seem frequently to allude to the fall<\/I><\/P>

of Lucifer from heaven<\/I>, (Isa 14:12<\/span> c.,) 11-19.<\/P>

The overthrow of Sidon, the mother city of Tyre, is next<\/I><\/P>

announced<\/I>, 20-23<\/P>

and the chapter concludes with a promise to the Jews of<\/I><\/P>

deliverance from all their enemies, and particularly of their<\/I><\/P>

restoration from the Babylonish captivity<\/I>, 24-26. <\/P>

NOTES ON CHAP. XXVIII<\/P><\/p>\n

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

The word of the Lord came again unto me<\/strong>,…. With another prophecy; as before against the city of Tyre, now against the king of Tyre:<\/p>\n

saying<\/strong>; as follows:<\/p>\n

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Fall of the Prince of Tyre<\/p>\n

Eze 28:1<\/span>. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, <\/em> Eze 28:2<\/span>. Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thy heart has lifted itself up, and thou sayest, “I am a God, I sit upon a seat of Gods, in the heart of the seas,” when thou art a man and not God, and cherishest a mind like a God’s mind, <\/em> Eze 28:3<\/span>. Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; nothing secret is obscure to thee; <\/em> Eze 28:4<\/span>. Through thy wisdom and thy understanding hast thou acquired might, and put gold and silver in thy treasuries; <\/em> Eze 28:5<\/span>. Through the greatness of thy wisdom hast thou increased thy might by thy trade, and thy heart has lifted itself up on account of thy might, <\/em> Eze 28:6<\/span>. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thou cherishest a mind like a God’s mind, <\/em> Eze 28:7<\/span>. Therefore, behold, I will bring foreigners upon thee, violent men of the nations; they will draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and pollute thy splendour. <\/em> Eze 28:8<\/span>. They will cast thee down into the pit, that thou mayest die the death of the slain in the heart of the seas. <\/em> Eze 28:9<\/span>. Wilt thou indeed say, I am a God, in the face of him that slayeth thee, when thou art a man and not God in the hand of him that killeth thee? <\/em> Eze 28:10<\/span>. Thou wilt die the death of the uncircumcised at the hand of foreigners; for I have spoken it, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah.<\/em> – This threat of judgment follows in general the same course as those addressed to other nations (compare especially Ezekiel 25), namely, that the sin is mentioned first (Eze 28:2-5<\/span>), and then the punishment consequent upon the sin (Eze 28:6-10<\/span>). In Eze 28:12<\/span> is used instead of , dux. In the use of the term to designate the king, Kliefoth detects an indication of the peculiar position occupied by the prince in the commercial state of Tyre, which had been reared upon municipal foundations; inasmuch as he was not so much a monarch, comparable to the rulers of Bayblon or to the Pharaohs, as the head of the great mercantile aristocracy. This is in harmony with the use of the word for the prince of Israel, David for example, whom God chose and anointed to be the nagid <\/em> over His people; in other words, to be the leader of the tribes, who also formed an independent commonwealth (vid., 1Sa 13:14<\/span>; 2Sa 7:8<\/span>, etc.). The pride of the prince of Tyre is described in Eze 28:2<\/span> as consisting in the fact that he regarded himself as a God, and his seat in the island of Tyre as a God’s seat. He calls his seat , not “because his capital stood out from the sea, like the palace of God from the ocean of heaven” (Psa 104:3<\/span>), as Hitzig supposes; for, apart from any other ground, this does not suit the subsequent description of his seat as God’s mountain (Eze 28:16<\/span>), and God’s holy mountain (Eze 28:14<\/span>). The God’s seat and God’s mountain are not the palace of the king of Tyre, but Tyre as a state, and that not because of its firm position upon a rocky island, but as a holy island ( , as Tyre is called in Sanchun. ed. Orelli, p. 36), the founding of which has been glorified by myths (vid., Movers, Phoenizier<\/em>, I pp. 637ff.). The words which Ezekiel puts into the mouth of the king of Tyre may be explained, as Kliefoth has well expressed it, “from the notion lying at the foundation of all natural religions, according to which every state, as the production of its physical factors and bases personified as the native deities of house and state, is regarded as a work and sanctuary of the gods.” In Tyre especially the national and political development went hand in hand with the spread and propagation of its religion. “The Tyrian state was the production and seat of its gods. He, the prince of Tyre, presided over this divine creation and divine seat; therefore he, the prince, was himself a god, a manifestation of the deity, having its work and home in the state of Tyre.” All heathen rulers looked upon themselves in this light; so that the king of Babylon is addressed in a similar manner in Isa 14:13-14<\/span>. This self-deification is shown to be a delusion in Eze 28:2<\/span><\/em>; He who is only a man makes his heart like a God’s heart, i.e., cherishes the same thought as the Gods. , the heart, as the seat of the thoughts and imaginations, is named instead of the disposition.<\/p>\n

This is carried out still further in Eze 28:3-5<\/span> by a description of the various sources from which this imagination sprang. He cherishes a God’s mind, because he attributes to himself superhuman wisdom, through which he has created the greatness, and might, and wealth of Tyre. The words, “behold, thou art wiser,” etc. (Eze 28:3<\/span>), are not to be taken as a question, “art thou indeed wiser?” as they have been by the lxx, Syriac, and others; nor are they ironical, as Hvernick supposes; but they are to be taken literally, namely, inasmuch as the prince of Tyre was serious in attributing to himself supernatural and divine wisdom. Thou art, i.e., thou regardest thyself as being, wiser than Daniel. No hidden thing is obscure to thee ( , a later word akin to the Aramaean, “to be obscure”). The comparison with Daniel refers to the fact that Daniel surpassed all the magi and wise men of Babylon in wisdom through his ability to interpret dreams, since God gave him an insight into the nature and development of the power of the world, such as no human sagacity could have secured. The wisdom of the prince of Tyre, on the other hand, consisted in the cleverness of the children of this world, which knows how to get possession of all the good things of the earth. Through such wisdom as this had the Tyrian prince acquired power and riches. , might, possessions in the broader sense; not merely riches, but the whole of the might of the commercial state of Tyre, which was founded upon riches and treasures got by trade. In Eze 28:5<\/span> is in apposition to , and is introduced as explanatory. The fulness of its wisdom showed itself in its commerce and the manner in which it conducted it, whereby Tyre had become rich and powerful. It is not till we reach Eze 28:6<\/span> that we meet with the apodosis answering to ‘ in Eze 28:2<\/span>, which has been pushed so far back by the intervening parenthetical sentences in <\/em> Eze 28:2-5<\/span>. For this reason the sin of the prince of Tyre in deifying himself is briefly reiterated in the clause ‘ ( Eze 28:6<\/span><\/em>, compare Eze 28:2<\/span><\/em>), after which the announcement of the punishment is introduced with a repetition of in Eze 28:7<\/span>. Wild foes approaching with barbarous violence will destroy all the king’s resplendent glory, slay the king himself with the sword, and hurl him down into the pit as a godless man. The enemies are called , violent ones of the peoples – that is to say, the wild hordes composing the Chaldean army (cf. Eze 30:11<\/span>; Eze 31:12<\/span>). They drew the sword “against the beauty ( , the construct state of ) of thy wisdom,” i.e., the beauty produced by thy wisdom, and the beautiful Tyre itself, with all that it contains (Eze 26:3-4<\/span>). , splendour; it is only here and in Eze 28:17<\/span> that we meet with it as a noun. The king himself they hurl down into the pit, i.e., the grave, or the nether world. , the death of a pierced one, substantially the same as . The plural and here and Jer 16:4<\/span> ( mortes<\/em>) is a pluralis exaggerativus <\/em>, a death so painful as to be equivalent to dying many times (see the comm. on Isa 53:9<\/span>). In Eze 28:9<\/span> Ezekiel uses the Piel<\/em> in the place of the Poel<\/em> , as in the Piel<\/em> occurs elsewhere only in the sense of profanare <\/em>, and in Isa 51:9<\/span> and Poel<\/em> is used for piercing. But there is no necessity to alter the pointing in consequence, as we also find the Pual<\/em> used by Ezekiel in Eze 32:26<\/span> in the place of the Poal<\/em> of Isa 53:5<\/span>. The death of the uncircumcised is such a death as godless men die – a violent death. The king of Tyre, who looks upon himself as a god, shall perish by the sword like a godless man. At the same time, the whole of this threat applies, not to the one king, Ithobal<\/em>, who was reigning at the time of the siege of Tyre by the Chaldeans, but to the king as the founder and creator of the might of Tyre (Eze 28:3-5<\/span>), i.e., to the supporter of that royalty which was to perish along with Tyre itself. – It is to the king, as the representative of the might and glory of Tyre, and not merely to the existing possessor of the regal dignity, that the following lamentation over his fall refers.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Fall of the Prince of Tyre.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD>

B. C.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> 588.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE>

      1 The word of the LORD<\/B> came again unto me, saying,   2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD<\/B>; Because thine heart is<\/I> lifted up, and thou hast said, I am<\/I> a God, I sit in<\/I> the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art<\/I> a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:   3 Behold, thou art<\/I> wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:   4 With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:   5 By thy great wisdom and<\/I> by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:   6 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD<\/B>; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;   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.   8 They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are<\/I> slain in the midst of the seas.   9 Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am<\/I> God? but thou shalt be<\/I> a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.   10 Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it,<\/I> saith the Lord GOD<\/B>.<\/P>

      We had done with Tyrus in the foregoing chapter, but now the prince of Tyrus is to be singled out from the rest. Here is something to be said to him by himself, a message to him from God,<\/I> which the prophet must send him, whether he will hear or whether he will forbear.<\/P>

      I. He must tell him of his pride. His people are proud (ch.<\/I><\/span> xxvii. 3<\/span>) and so is he; and they shall both be made to know that God resists the proud.<\/I> Let us see, 1. What were the expressions of his pride: His heart was lifted up,<\/I> v.<\/span> 2<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. He had a great conceit of himself, was puffed up with an opinion of his own sufficiency, and looked with disdain upon all about him. Out of the abundance of the pride of his heart he said, I am a god;<\/I> he did not only say it in his heart, but had the impudence to speak it out. God has said of princes, They are gods<\/I> (Ps. lxxxii. 6<\/span>); but it does not become them to say so of themselves; it is a high affront to him who is God alone,<\/I> and will not give his glory to another. He thought that the city of Tyre had as necessary a dependence upon him as the world has upon the God that made it, and that he was himself independent as God and unaccountable to any. He thought himself to have as much wisdom and strength as God himself, and as incontestable an authority, and that his prerogatives were as absolute and his word as much a law as the word of God. He challenged divine honours, and expected to be praised and admired as a god, and doubted not to be deified, among other heroes, after his death as a great benefactor to the world. Thus the king of Babylon said, I will be like the Most High<\/I> (Isa. xiv. 14<\/span>), not like the Most Holy. “I am the strong God,<\/I> and therefore will not be contradicted, because I cannot be controlled. I sit in the seat of God;<\/I> I sit as high<\/I> as God, my throne equal with his. Divisum imperium cum Jove Csar habet–Csar divides dominion with Jove.<\/I> I sit as safely as God, as safely in the heart of the seas,<\/I> and as far out of the reach of danger, as he in the height of heaven.<\/I>” He thinks his guards of men of war about his throne as pompous and potent as the hosts of angels that are about the throne of God. He is put in mind of his meanness and mortality, and, since he needs to be told, he shall be told, that self-evident truth, Thou art a man, and not God,<\/I> a depending creature; thou art flesh, and not spirit,<\/I> Isa. xxxi. 3<\/I><\/span>. Note, Men must be made to know that they are but men,<\/I> Ps. ix. 20<\/I><\/span>. The greatest wits, the greatest potentates, the greatest saints, are men, and not gods.<\/I> Jesus Christ was both God and man. The king of Tyre, though he has such a mighty influence upon all about him, and with the help of his riches bears a mighty sway, though he has tribute and presents brought to his court with as much devotion as if they were sacrifices to his altar, though he is flattered by his courtiers and made a god of by his poets, yet, after all, he is but a man;<\/I> he knows it; he fears it. But he sets his heart as the heart of God;<\/I> “Thou hast conceited thyself to be a god, hast compared thyself with God, thinking thyself as wise and strong, and as fit to govern the world, as he.” It was the ruin of our first parents, and ours in them, that they would be as gods,<\/I> Gen. iii. 5<\/I><\/span>. And still that corrupt nature which inclines men to set up themselves as their own masters, to do what they will, and their own carvers, to have what they will, their own end, to live to themselves, and their own felicity, to enjoy themselves, sets their hearts as the heart of God,<\/I> invades his prerogatives, and catches at the flowers of his crown–a presumption that cannot go unpunished.<\/P>

      2. We are here told what it was that he was proud of. (1.) His wisdom. It is probable that this prince of Tyre was a man of very good natural parts, a philosopher, and well read in all the parts of learning that were then in vogue, at least a politician, and one that had great dexterity in managing the affairs of state. And then he thought himself wiser than Daniel,<\/I> v.<\/span> 3<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. We found, before, that Daniel, though now but a young man, was celebrated for his prevalency in prayer, ch.<\/I><\/span> xiv. 14<\/span>. Here we find he was famous for his prudence in the management of the affairs of this world, a great scholar and statesman, and withal a great saint, and yet not a prince, but a poor captive. It was strange that under such external disadvantages his lustre should shine forth, so that he had become wise to a proverb.<\/I> When the king of Tyre dreams himself to be a god he says, I am wiser than Daniel. There is no secret that they can hide from thee.<\/I> Probably he challenged all about him to prove him with questions,<\/I> as Solomon was proved, and he had unriddled all their enigmas, had solved all their problems, and none of them all could puzzle him. He had perhaps been successful in discovering plots, and diving into the counsels of the neighbouring princes, and therefore thought himself omniscient, and that no thought could be withholden from him; therefore he said, I am a god.<\/I> Note, Knowledge puffeth up;<\/I> it is hard to know much and not to know it too well and to be elevated with it. He that was wiser than Daniel<\/I> was prouder than Lucifer. Those therefore that are knowing must study to be humble and to evidence that they are so. (2.) His wealth. That way his wisdom led him; it is not said that by his wisdom he searched into the arcana either of nature or government, modelled the state better than it was, or made better laws, or advanced the interests of the commonwealth of learning; but his wisdom and understanding<\/I> were of use to him in traffic.<\/I> As some of the kings of Judah loved husbandry<\/I> (2 Chron. xxvi. 10<\/span>), so the king of Tyre loved merchandise, and by it he got riches, increased his riches, and filled his treasures with gold and silver,<\/I>Eze 28:4<\/span>; Eze 28:5<\/span>. See what the wisdom of this world is; those are cried up as the wisest men that know how to get money and by right or wrong to raise estates; and yet really this their way is their folly,<\/I> Ps. xlix. 13<\/I><\/span>. It was the folly of the king of Tyre, [1.] That he attributed the increase of his wealth to himself and not to the providence of God, forgetting him who gave him power to get wealth,<\/I>Deu 8:17<\/span>; Deu 8:18<\/span>. [2.] That he thought himself a wise man because he was a rich man; whereas a fool may have an estate (Eccl. ii. 19<\/span>), yea, and a fool may get an estate, for the world has been often observed to favour such, when bread is not to the wise,<\/I> Eccl. ix. 11<\/I><\/span>. [3.] That his heart was lifted up because of his riches,<\/I> because of the increase of his wealth, which made him so haughty and secure, so insolent and imperious, and which set his heart as the heart of God.<\/I> The man of sin,<\/I> when he had a great deal of worldly pomp and power, showed himself as a god,<\/I> 2 Thess. ii. 4<\/I><\/span>. Those who are rich in this world have therefore need to charge that upon themselves which the word of God charges upon them, that they be not high-minded,<\/I> 1 Tim. vi. 17<\/I><\/span>.<\/P>

      II. Since pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall,<\/I> he must bell him of that destruction, of that fall, which was now hastening on as the just punishment of his presumption in setting up himself a rival with God. “Because thou hast pretended to be a god (v.<\/I><\/span> 6<\/span>), therefore thou shalt not be long a man,” v.<\/I><\/span> 7<\/span>. Observe here,<\/P>

      1. The instruments of his destruction: I will bring strangers upon thee<\/I>–the Chaldeans, whom we do not find mentioned among the many nations and countries that traded with Tyre, ch.<\/I><\/span> xxvii.<\/span> If any of those nations had been brought against it, they would have had some compassion upon it, for old acquaintance-sake; but these strangers will have none. They are people of a strange language,<\/I> which the king of Tyre himself, wise as he is, perhaps understands not. They are the terrible of the nations;<\/I> it was an army made up of many nations, and it was at this time the most formidable both for strength and fury. These God has at command, and these he will bring upon the king of Tyre.<\/P>

      2. The extremity of the destruction: They shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 7<\/span>), against all those things which thou gloriest in as thy beauty and the production of thy wisdom. Note, It is just with God that our enemies should make that their prey which we have made our pride. The king of Tyre’s palace, his treasury, his city, his navy, his army, these he glories in as his brightness, these, he thinks, made him illustrious and glorious as a god on earth. But all these the victorious enemy shall defile, shall deface, shall deform. He thought them sacred, things that none durst touch; but the conquerors shall seize them as common things, and spoil the brightness of them. But, whatever becomes of what he has, surely his person is sacred. No (v.<\/I><\/span> 8<\/span>): They shall bring thee down to the pit,<\/I> to the grave; thou shalt die the death.<\/I> And, (1.) It shall not be an honourable death, but an ignominious one. He shall be so vilified in his death that he may despair of being deified after his death. He shall die the deaths of those that are slain in the midst of the seas,<\/I> that have no honour done them at their death, but their dead bodies are immediately thrown overboard, without any ceremony or mark of distinction, to be a feast for the fish. Tyre is likely to be destroyed in the midst of the sea<\/I> (ch.<\/I><\/span> xxvii. 32<\/span>) and the prince of Tyre shall fare no better than the people. (2.) It shall not be a happy death, but a miserable one. He shall die the deaths of the uncircumcised<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 10<\/span>), of those that are strangers to God and not in covenant with him, and therefore die under his wrath and curse. It is deaths,<\/I> a double death, temporal and eternal, the death both of body and soul. He shall die the second death;<\/I> that is dying miserably indeed. The sentence of death here passed upon the king of Tyre is ratified by a divine authority: I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.<\/I> And what he has said he will do. None can gainsay it, nor will he unsay it.<\/P>

      3. The effectual disproof that this will be of all his pretensions to deity (v.<\/I><\/span> 9<\/span>): “When the conqueror sets his sword to thy breast, and thou seest no way of escape, wilt thou then say, I am God?<\/I> Wilt thou then have such a conceit of thyself as thou now hast? No; thy being overpowered by death, and by the fear of it, will force thee to own that thou art not a god, but a weak, timorous, trembling, dying man. In the hand of him that slays thee<\/I> (in the hand of God, and of the instruments that he employed) thou shalt be a man, and not God,<\/I> utterly unable to resist, and help thyself.” I have said, You are gods; but you shall die like men,<\/I>Psa 82:6<\/span>; Psa 82:7<\/span>. Note, Those who pretend to be rivals with God shall be forced one way or other to let fall their claims. Death at furthest, when we come into his hand, will make us know that we are men.<\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

EZEKIEL – CHAPTER 28<\/strong><\/p>\n

REBUKE AND FALL OF KING OF TYRE<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Much like the Devil)<\/p>\n

Verses 1-19:<\/p>\n

Verses 1, 2 are <\/strong>a charge from God for Ezekiel to begin a rebuke of the prince or chief ruler of Tyre named Ithboal II. The name indicates that he had a close affinity with Baal which was the chief Phoenician god, whom he as monarch of Tyre represented. His heart was so lifted up with conceit and pride that he had announced, “I am a God.” “I sit in the throne-seat of God,” <\/strong>though a false god, in the midst of the sea, issuing governing decrees over the great commerce traffic of the seas that flowed through Tyre. Ezekiel was directed to preach it to him, and make it plain, that he was a deceived, pride-filled man, and not God, v. 9; Eze 27:3-4<\/span>; 2Th 2:3-10<\/span>. He was a devil possessed and devil directed man, much as the king of Babylon was described, Psa 82:6-7<\/span>; Isa 14:14<\/span>; Isa 31:3<\/span>. His real fulfillment was in satan, Dan 7:25<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verses 3, 4 chide <\/strong>the pride and self-esteem of Tyre’s king by telling him that he is “wiser than Daniel,” who had prophesied for some 14 years, from the palace in Babylon at this time 588 B.C. In his conceit, with an uplifted heart of pride, he ascribed to himself supreme wisdom and glory in getting riches, gold, and silver into his treasure, so much like the rich man of Luk 12:16-21<\/span>; Dan 1:20<\/span>; Dan 2:46<\/span>; Dan 2:48<\/span>; Zec 9:2<\/span>. It was surely with a tinge and sting of rebuke that he received Ezekiel’s compliment of sarcasm, “look, you are wiser than Soloman,” in your own mind. Yet, the king of all Babylon had acknowledged that “I know that the spirit of the holy god is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee,” a thing the king of Tyre had surely heard, Dan 4:6<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verses 5, 6 continue <\/strong>the Lord’s rebuke at the mouth and pen of Ezekiel. Ezekiel allows that Ithaboal II, king of Tyre, did have the kind of merchandising, commercial, trade wisdom that made him wealthy and caused him to exalt himself in his heart because of his riches, Deu 8:12-14<\/span>; Dan 7:25-26<\/span>; Dan 11:36<\/span>; Act 12:22<\/span>; 2Th 2:4<\/span>. But because he had set his heart, or fixed it himself, as the heart of God, that he as the only God one needed, he was justly due a judgment fall, as one wise in his own conceit, <\/strong>not fearing the true God, Pro 1:7<\/span>; Rom 12:16<\/span>; Pro 3:7<\/span>; Pro 12:15<\/span>; Pro 18:11<\/span>; Pro 28:11<\/span>; 1Co 3:19<\/span>; 1Ti 6:10<\/span>; 1Ti 6:17<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 7 warns <\/strong>that the Lord will bring strangers, even the terrible one of the nations, upon the king of Tyre, Eze 30:11<\/span>; Eze 31:12<\/span>; Eze 32:12<\/span>. This referred to the barbarous, cruel, ferocious Chaldean armies, known for their ferocity in war, Isa 1:11<\/span>; Isa 25:2<\/span>; Eze 31:12<\/span>. It was declared that they would draw their sword against the wisdom and beauty of the king of Tyre and his estate to destroy it.<\/p>\n

Verse 8 declares <\/strong>that these cruel warriors from the east would bring the proud king of Tyre down to the pit, so that he should die the death of those who were slain within the midst of the sea, dying and decaying without any to mourn his burial, decay on the field of battle. His death was to be excruciating as many deaths, Jer 16:4<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 9<\/strong> asks with scolding, rhetoric-like sarcasm, “will you say before him who slays you I am God?” It is then certified by the Lord that the king of Tyre would be a man, and no God, in the hand of the one who should slay him, v. 2.<\/p>\n

Verse 10 reasserts <\/strong>that the king of Tyre would die the ferocious death of the uncircumcised, at the hand of cruel foreigners, because the Lord had irrevocably decreed it, because of his pride, self-exaltation, and blasphemy that he himself was God, Exo 20:1-5<\/span>. Jews desired to avoid such a death of shame, 1Sa 31:4<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verses 11, 12 reaffirms <\/strong>Ezekiel’s commission from the Lord to prophesy to the king of Tyre in a form of lamentation against and upon him. He was told that he “fit the bill” in sealing up legal claims, the sum total of pride, insolence, and contempt toward the God who sustained him, Eze 27:3<\/span>. Full of cosmic beauty and degraded pride of exaltation, he was a just candidate for the fury of Divine judgment, because of his exalting himself above the Elohim God, claiming to be a deity, or God himself, v. 2; Psa 115:4-9<\/span>; 1Co 8:5-6<\/span>; Eze 27:3<\/span>; Pro 16:18<\/span>; Luk 12:16-21<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 13 describes <\/strong>the once lofty, exalted position and condition of the luxurious life of the king of Tyre who gathered such wealth from diverse lands; He was once living in a state of wealth and beauty like Eden, Gen 2:8<\/span>; Gen 3:23-24<\/span>; Joe 2:3<\/span>. Every kind (major grade) of precious stones had adorned him in his regal days, Eze 26:13<\/span>. The mine stones found or worn in the High Priest’s breastplate are said to have formerly adorned this self-acclaimed god of Tyre, v. 2, 6; Eze 39:10-13<\/span>. It is then stated that craft of workmanship in his tabrets and pipes was prepared in him in the day he was created, formed or fashioned. Because Ithbaal II, king of Tyre was born, not created, it is believed that this description of him is predominantly describing him as being a near likeness to the devil himself, who as Lucifer, a created arch angel, rebelled against God and became the devil, in his rebellion and fall, Isa 14:12-17<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 14 personifies <\/strong>the king of Tyre as being the “anointed cherub that covereth,” signifying his regal rule over Tyre. But perhaps alluding to his being rebellious as the devil himself in his fall, <\/strong>v. 16; Exo 25:20<\/span>; Exo 30:26<\/span>; Exo 40:9<\/span>; Isa 14:12<\/span>; Isa 14:15<\/span>. It is likely this personification of Tyrus as “mean and rebellious as the devil,” alludes to the fall of Lucifer, one of the original, anointed, reigning cherubs or angels that governed God’s original perfect universe. The two cherubims covering the mercy seat <\/strong>represented the two realms of angels of God who now serve the redeemed of God, while this fallen cherub seems definitely to point to Lucifer, almost totally personified in the king of Tyre. For this “covering cherub” had once been set of the Lord over the mountain or government of God, where he walked about among its precious stones and Edenic beauty, till he rebelled, 2Th 2:4<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 15 asserts <\/strong>that this anointed cherub, now fallen and personified in the king of Tyre, was once perfect in beauty the day he was created, “till iniquity, lawlessness, or rebellion was found in him,” as also suggested, v. 13; 1Ti 3:6<\/span>. Let it be expressly understood that the king of Tyre was born, not created, even as Hiram, 1Ki 5:7<\/span>. This leads to the seeming necessary inference that the devil was the person described, <\/strong>whom the king of Tyre typified in his pride, beauty, and arrogance, in his fall.<\/p>\n

Verse 16 describes <\/strong>that multitude of merchandise, possessions, and wealth this person was motivated to choose as a Violent sin of rebellion against God, claiming himself to be God, v. 2, 6; Psa 89:39<\/span>. God therefore cast him as profane out of His holy mountain or government, and from the precious stones, where he once had a cherubic reign-perhaps alluding to Lucifer, Isa 14:11-14<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 17 relates <\/strong>that the king of Tyre, a self-proclaimed god, would be cast to the ground, be laid before kings of the earth, who should behold his fall, because of two classes of self-chosen sins, Isa 14:9<\/span>; Isa 14:11<\/span>; 2Pe 2:6<\/span>; Jud 1:7<\/span>. First, <\/strong>his heart was lifted up, exalted, or proud because of his beauty; and second, <\/strong>he had corrupted, polluted, or profaned his wisdom, chosen the wisdom of the depraved world order, by reason or occasion of his brightness, his regal reigning position, given of the Lord, but without any returned gratitude toward Him, Dan 5:18-23<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 18 charges <\/strong>that the king of Tyre, like the devil he emulated, had defiled his sanctuaries, whatever moral virtues he once had, by his multitude of iniquities in merchandising traffic, including trafficking in human souls. Because of these chosen deeds of iniquity, God resolved to send upon the king of Tyre a devouring fire that would bring him to ashes, before and in view of all who looked on, Jdg 9:15<\/span>; Jdg 9:20<\/span>; Amo 1:10<\/span>; Amo 2:2<\/span>; Amo 2:5<\/span>; Rev 18:8<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Verse 19 concludes <\/strong>that all who had known him as the king and chief ruler of international sea commerce and merchandizing would be confounded at his fall and death. Both he and Tyre, the continental city, would be destroyed as objects of fury and terror from the Chaldean warriors from the east, so that neither should be any more, Eze 26:21<\/span>; Eze 27:36<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

PROPHETICAL DIRGE ON THE KING OF TYRE, AS THE EMBODIMENT OF THE SPIRIT OF CARNAL PRIDE AND SELF-SUFFICIENCY OF THE WHOLE STATE. THE FALL OF ZIDON, THE MOTHER-CITY. THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL IN CONTRAST WITH TYRE AND ZIDON (Chap. 28)<\/p>\n

EXEGETICAL NOTES.In this chapter we have a sublime threnody on the prince of Tyre, couched in language of the keenest irony. His fall is first of all traced to his insufferable pride, which is described in the most glowing terms (Eze. 28:2-6<\/span>). His merited punishment is next announced (710). The prophet, in obedience to the divine command, then proceeds to deliver the funeral dirge, exaggerating the dignity and magnificence of the fallen monarch, with which he contrasts his utter degradation (1119). Then follows a prediction announcing the fall of the mother-city, Zidon (2023). And the chapter concludes with promises of deliverance to the Jews, and their restoration to prosperity in their own land.Henderson<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Eze. 28:2<\/span>. The prince of Tyrus.<\/strong> The monarch of Tyre, at the time of Ezekiels prophecy, was Ithbaal II. The latter part of this compound name implies his close connection with Baal, the Phnician supreme God, whose representative he was. I am a God, I sit in the seat of God.<\/strong> The seat of God is a seat which, in its absolute inaccessibleness, is like the seat of God in heaven. He sets or makes his mind like the mind of God; he has so pushed himself into the height that in his folly he arrogates to himself what God claims to Himself by right. It belongs to the nature of God, to be and to have all from Himself; to the nature of man, to derive all from the fulness of God. If man imagines himself to subsist as God in himself, this is the greatest of all perversities, which cannot remain unpunished, because God does not give His glory to another. The fundamental passage is Isa. 14:14<\/span>, where the king of Babylon compares himself with the Most High. The general divine name, Elohim, the Godhead, stands as usual, where there is a contrast of man and God, of earth and heaven.(Hengstenberg.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Eze. 28:3<\/span>. Wiser than Daniel.<\/strong> Daniel had, at this time (B.C. 588), been chief of the wise men of Babylon for about fourteen years. Daniels wisdom must have been generally known and acknowledged, especially among the Jews in the Chaldean exile; for Ezekiel presupposes that the King of Tyre knew of Daniel, and certainly as one whom no other but himself excelled in wisdom; so that Daniel can be no mere Jewish celebrity, but must have proved his wisdom on the theatre of the world. To Daniel is ascribed not merely wisdom, but even a special kind of it, that to which nothing hidden was dark. The King of Babylon says of Daniel in Eze. 4:6<\/span>, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee. Daniel had appeared as one from whom no secret was hidden in the very beginning of his career, and thereby laid the foundation of his prominent position.(Hengstenberg.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Eze. 28:7<\/span>. The terrible of the nations.<\/strong> The foreigners, barbarians, the terrible ones of the nations. These were the Chaldean foreigners, noted for their ferocity (Isa. 1:11<\/span>; Isa. 25:2<\/span>; Eze. 31:12<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Eze. 28:8<\/span>. Thou shalt die the deaths.<\/strong> Deaths<\/em>, a peculiar form in the plural, to indicate emphatically the most violent death. The death of the king of Tyre is compared to that of those slain in a sea-engagement, and cast into the deep.(Henderson)<\/em>. The plural here and Jer. 16:4<\/span> is a pluralis exaggerativus<\/em>, a death so painful as to be equivalent to dying many times.(Keil)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Eze. 28:12<\/span>. Thou sealest up the sum.<\/strong> The literal rendering is, Thou art the one sealing the sun of perfection. Seals were used for the purpose of authenticating or securing anything. When it is said, therefore, that the King was the seal of perfection, the meaning is, that he could not be surpassed in riches, splendour, or power. The sum-total of all that was illustrious concentrated in him. He vindicated to himself all that mortal could pretend to.(Henderson)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Eze. 28:13<\/span>. Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God. The prophet places the monarch in the primitive abode of man, with which was associated every idea of pleasure and delight. It is quite a lowering of the subject to suggest with Michaelis that he might have had a summer residence in the beautiful valley of the cedars of Lebanon, whither he retired during the hot season of the year. Eden was called the garden of God because it was of His plantation, and formed the delightful scene of His Divine manifestations to the first pair To have been there conveys the idea of the most distinguished honour and felicity. Taking occasion from his reference to Eden, with which the Bible history connects the existence of bdellium and onyx-stones, Ezekiel, with his usual minuteness, gives a detailed account of the precious gems which adorned the regal state. The nine precious stones here specified correspond to those with the same names in the description of the high priests breastplate (Exo. 39:10-13<\/span>).Henderson<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Eze. 28:14<\/span>. The anointed cherub that covereth.<\/strong> Ezekiel, as a priest, employs imagery drawn from the Jewish temple. Like the cherubim overshadowing the mercy seat, the King of Tyrea demi-god in his own esteemspread his protecting wings over his dominions. The holy mountain of God.<\/strong> To this his illimitable ambition aspired. In imagination he occupied Mount Zion, the dwelling place of the Most High.(Henderson)<\/em>. Thou hast walked up and down.<\/strong> As priest (1Sa. 2:30<\/span>; 1Sa. 2:35<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Eze. 28:15<\/span>. Thou wast perfect in thy ways till iniquity was found in thee.<\/strong> The rectitude with which the monarch commenced his reign may be illustrated by a reference to the history of Hiram (1Ki. 5:7<\/span>); but having in process of time become corrupt through the uninterrupted commercial prosperity of the Tyrian state, he indulged in unscrupulous acts of injustice and cruelty, on account of which merited punishment is here denounced.(Henderson)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Eze. 28:18<\/span>. Thy sanctuaries.<\/strong> The king is said to possess sanctuaries in regard to the ideal position ascribed to him (Eze. 28:14<\/span>). Any greatness consecrated by God, any glory imparted by Him, may be regarded as a sanctuary, the desecration of which by the foeffee is followed by desecration by the feudal lord. The idea of the sanctuary is that of separation from the world, which exerts all its destructive powers in vain against the gift imparted by God, so long as the possessor remains in the right position towards God.(Hengstenberg.)<\/em> From the midst of thee.<\/strong> The king is here regarded as comprehending in himself the city and the people.<\/p>\n

Eze. 28:20<\/span>. Against Zidon.<\/strong> Zidon was a very ancient Phnician city, otherwise famous for its fishery, (hence its name from Zud<\/em> to fish), and afterwards for its extended and flourishing commerce both by sea and land. It became so noted for the manufacture of glass and other articles of luxury, that the epithet Sidonia ars<\/em> was used by the ancients to denote whatever was elegant or magnificent. According to Strabo, the Zidonians were celebrated for their skill in astronomy, philosophy, navigation, and all the liberal arts. Zidon was founded by the first-born of Canaan (Gen. 10:15<\/span>); and was situated, according to Straoo, two hundred stadia to the north of Tyre. Favoured by its position on the coast of the Mediterranean, it early became celebrated for its commerce. In the time of Jacob, it is mentioned in connexion with shipping (Gen. 49:13<\/span>); and in that of Joshua, it is celebrated as a Great city (Jos. 11:8<\/span>; Jos. 19:28<\/span>). It lay within the boundary of the land assigned to the tribe of Asher; but was never conquered by the Israelites (Jdg. 1:31<\/span>). At the present day, the town of Saida, a little to the west; occupies its site. It has a fine old ruined tower projecting far into the sea, with a bridge of many arches that was built to reach it. In Mat. 11:22<\/span>, Tyre and Zidon are coupled together. (Henderson)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Eze. 28:24<\/span>. A pricking.<\/strong> The word occurs elsewhere only in Lev. 13:51-52<\/span>; Lev. 14:44<\/span>, and is used of the fretting<\/em> leprosy. The Sidonian briar had wounded Israel.<\/p>\n

Eze. 28:25<\/span>. And shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen.<\/strong> These cities, which had been a constant source of annoyance to their neighbours, and to none more than to the Jews, being rendered powerless, the people of God, restored from Babylon to their own land, should enjoy all their ancient privileges, and all around them be compelled to ascribe to Jehovah, as their covenant God, the glory due to His name.(Henderson.)<\/em><\/p>\n

HOMILETICS<\/em><\/p>\n

Eze. 28:1-19<\/span>.<\/p>\n

THE KING OF TYRE<\/p>\n

Consider the prophets description of this King.<\/p>\n

I. As the incarnation of earthly pride and self-sufficiency<\/strong>. The pride and vain glory of the nation, the history of its prosperity and of the corruptions that led to its fall, are, by the imagination of the prophet, supposed to be embodied in an ideal Prince of Tyre. This prince is regarded as the incarnation of the carnal pride, self-sufficiency, and wickedness of the whole state. He is the sum-total of the wickedness of the entire nation, but his chief offence is pride; or rather pride is the spring and fountain of all his iniquities. His pride manifested itself in two forms:<\/p>\n

1. In assuming to be God<\/em>. Thou hast said, I am God, I sit in the seat of God (Eze. 28:2<\/span>). Beyond this, it is not possible for human arrogance to go. Not content with adopting the title of God, he must needs seize upon the functions of the Divine government. Many will not state this pretence in words, but they act as if neither God nor man had a right to say anything to them. Not to acknowledge Gods rights over us is to throw off His authority, and to become a God unto ourselves. In such a spirit as this to sit in judgment on His dealings, as if we could correct Him, is to commit a daring iniquity. It is to snatch from His hand the balance and the rod. His pride also showed itself:<\/p>\n

2. In the conceit of wisdom<\/em>, (Eze. 28:3<\/span>). As he thought that he possessed all wisdom in himself, so he would pray for none. In his own imagination he was wiser than Daniel, who was the wisest man of whose fame he had heard. The Chaldeans confessed Daniels wisdom (Dan. 2:10-11<\/span>). He had done what they admitted was beyond human power. He stood upon the highest stage of wisdom attainable by man. For this prince to declare himself wiser than Daniel was to transcend the stage of humanity, and to make himself equal with God. And further, Daniel had predicted the coming of Gods universal kingdom (Dan. 2:44<\/span>). This prince proudly thought that he could convict Daniel of error, seeing he had established himself as the God of this world. The prophet ascribes to Daniel a special kind of wisdom,that to which nothing was dark or hidden (Dan. 4:9<\/span>). There is no secret that they can hide from thee, says the prophet when interpreting the thoughts of this proud prince (Eze. 28:3<\/span>). The prince of Tyre also boasted of his wisdom to get riches,of that practical wisdom which can show material results that dazzle and impress the minds of men (Eze. 28:5-6<\/span>). And Daniel also was remarkable for this kind of wisdom. He was a great public man, and not merely a solitary thinker. He was the statesman among the prophets. But we are not to. regard the prophet as merely making a<\/em> comparison between one wise man and another, as this world counts wisdom. Daniel ascribed all his<\/em> wisdom to God above. Therefore the wisdom of these two men could not be compared by the same scale (Dan. 2:20<\/span>; Dan. 2:28-30<\/span>; Dan. 2:45<\/span>).<\/p>\n

II. His punishment<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

1. Great humiliation<\/em>. The Chaldean foreigners, noted for their great ferocity, would descend upon the nation (Eze. 28:7<\/span>). All the beautiful possessions acquired by this princes boasted wisdom would be spoiled. The oblivion and dishonour of the grave would be the fittest natural image of his humiliation. They shall bring thee down to the pit (Eze. 28:8<\/span>). He would die many deaths, for as the king he would die in each of his slain subjects. <\/p>\n

2. His great pretentions would not save him from destruction<\/em>. Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? (Eze. 28:9<\/span>). The hope that he cherished in the day of his prosperity will fail him before the enemy. Then will it be manifest that he is man and not God. In the day of adversity he shall have to learn another language. <\/p>\n

3. He shall have punishment in kind<\/em>. He defiled the nation by his pride, and now he is desecrated in turn. His brightness was to be defiled, his person to be profaned (Eze. 28:9<\/span>). [The second slayeth in this verse should be rendered profaneth.] 4 His punishment demands a sad lamentation<\/em>. Consider what he once was. He was highly endowed (Eze. 28:12<\/span>). He enjoyed as it were, a glory like unto the first man in Paradise (Eze. 28:13<\/span>). He once had the beauty of youth, and was in a state of comparative innocence (Eze. 28:15<\/span>). Nations degenerate towards their old age. Now he had gone the way of old-world nations, who were all wrecked by pride (Eze. 28:17<\/span>). It was sad to think of all his labours and pains coming to nought. All that exalts itself against God is nothing, and will come to nothing. He only that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.<\/p>\n

Consider this Prince of Tyre:<\/p>\n

III. As a prelude of Antichrist<\/strong>. Antichrist is one who being only man claims to be God. The King of Tyre was a type of this man of sin (2Th. 2:3-4<\/span>). In our own age there are various forms of this spirit of Antichrist. <\/p>\n

1. The spirit of lawlessness<\/em>. St. Paul speaks of this in 2 Thess. 7, 8, where the mystery of iniquity is literally the mystery of lawlessness, and that Wicked, that lawless one. The growing spirit of disregard to all authority, human and divine, is an instance of this apostacy. It is a state of things in which every man is a law unto himself. <\/p>\n

2. The religion of humanity<\/em>. This age in its pride of knowledge has produced some bold enough to make the blasphemous assertion that there is no God save humanity. And Unitarianism also has a natural tendency to drift into the same form of blasphemy. It shrinks from saying Christ is God, yet cannot rest in this denial, but boldly says Man is God. <\/p>\n

3. Popery<\/em>. When men lost their faith in Christ as the real, though invisible Head of His Church; when the God-man, because he could be no longer seen or touched or handled, appeared to be far off, they yearned for a substitute. They lent questionable honours and ambiguous titles to a Pope. They invested with the powers of Christ the man who had placed himself in the seat of Christ. All such blasphemies as these spring from one bitter root in human naturethe tendency in man to yield to the tyranny of the visible. The truth is forgotten, that the Head of every man is Christ. Wherever by the speculations or actions of men Christ is dethroned, there will not fail many to arise to claim the vacant seat.<\/p>\n

(Eze. 28:20-23<\/span>.)<\/p>\n

THE PROPHECY AGAINST ZIDON<\/p>\n

1. Gods aim in His judgments<\/em>. It is to make Himself known what a dreadful, just, and holy God He is, and that He may be declared by men to be so. God would destroy Zidon by pestilence and war, that He might be glorified and sanctified in her. She would not give glory to God before; the Lord would therefore fetch His glory out of her by His judgments, and make others see the same, so that they might confess Him to be a God of power, justice, and holiness. (Psa. 9:16<\/span>.) <\/p>\n

2. It is the Lord that sends judgments upon cities and persons<\/em>. I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets. It is the Lord gives commissions as to the prophets to prophecy judgments against a city, so to the judgments themselves, to come to and upon them. Let none stumble by looking at the instruments, they are the sword in Gods hand, He causes it to wound and to kill.(Greenhill.)<\/em><\/p>\n

(Eze. 28:24<\/span>).<\/p>\n

I. Some general observations from hence, that wicked men are thorns.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

1. Their acquaintance is not desirable<\/em>. Familiarity with them is dangerous (Pro. 24:1<\/span>). They may be honourable or eminent, yet we should neither envy them nor affect their company: and why? For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief. They are the seed of the serpent, and cannot cordially close with the seed of the woman. There is enmity between their seeds. The best of them is as a briar; the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge. <\/p>\n

2. Answerable fruit is to be expected from them<\/em>. Thorns and briers must bring forth fruit suitable for their natures. A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit. Wickedness proceeds from the wicked, it is natural to them to do wickedly, and nothing else: fire comes out of brambles, and devours the cedars of Lebanon (Jdg. 9:15<\/span>). The Lords servants should see to it, that briers and brambles overrun not all the field and, vineyard of God<\/em>. They do grow high, great, spread, and are like to endanger much if they be not dealt with. There are thorns and briers in all places; there are state brambles, city thorns, and church briers: such were in the church of Galatia, which Paul wisheth were cut off (Gal. 5:12<\/span>), because they scratched and troubled them: and Davids resolution was, to thrust away as thorns all the sons of Belial who troubled the state and city of Jerusalem (2Sa. 23:6<\/span>). And in Psa. 101:8<\/span>, he saith, I will early destroy all the wicked of the Land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord. Here was a man after Gods own heart, that would not suffer pricking thorns and grieving briers.<\/p>\n

II. Some more general observations from the words of the verse<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

1. The church and people of God live amongst thorns<\/em>. The church is a lily among thorns (Son. 2:2<\/span>). Jerusalem was amidst heathenish nations. Christ and His apostles were among scribes and Pharisees, whose spirits were thorny. Hence we ought to infer<\/p>\n

(1.) That Gods people ought to take heed how they walk.<\/em> Men who live and walk among briers and thorns had need have their eyes in their heads; they may otherwise be entangled in the briers and miserably scratched. <\/p>\n

(2.) Then it is not strange if Gods people be scratched sometimes by wicked men<\/em> They will tear and rend their names, states, comforts, peace, privileges. <\/p>\n

(3.) Then see a reason why Gods people cannot carry on His work with more speed<\/em>. When thorns are in the way, things move slowly. When good seed was sown, the thorns hindered the growth of it. When Joshua went about taking Ai, there was Achan, a great thorn, in the way; when Nehemiah was in the work of the Temple, Tobias and Sanballat were thorns in the way. <\/p>\n

2. The church and people of God shall not always be among briers and thorns<\/em>. They shall have a time of freedom. There shall be no more a pricking brier and a piercing thorn. This was made good to the Jews in the letter after their return. The nations which had been thorns to them the Lord destroyed. This promise refers also to the Gospel times; the Lord is making way for it now. This should draw out our spirits in prayer unto the Lord to hasten the time, and that He would make good what he hath promised (Isa. 55:13<\/span>). <\/p>\n

3. Wicked men have ill thoughts of Gods people<\/em>. They slight them. The briers and thorns round about the house of Israel despised them and scorned them (Psa. 79:4<\/span>).Greenhill<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(Eze. 28:25<\/span>)<\/p>\n

The Jews were scattered into the Eastern countries, over several provinces of the King of Babylon, and here the Lord promiseth to gather them out thereof, and to return them to their own land. <\/p>\n

1. Gods people have no fixed, certain habitation in this world, but are subject to scatterings<\/em>. The Church was scattered throughout all the regions of Judea and Samaria (Act. 8:1<\/span>; Heb. 11:37<\/span>). <\/p>\n

2. God hath a care of His scattered people<\/em>. He will sanctify His name in bringing them into a safe and happy condition. They shall be brought into Canaan, that is into the Church, which Canaan represents. As the Jews were gathered out of Babylon, and the provinces thereof, into their own land, so shall all the elect be brought into the Church of God, where is peace, safety, and confidence, where they shall find God a habitation, a vineyard. (Isa. 11:10<\/span>). The Lord Christ was a great gatherer (Luk. 11:23<\/span>; Luk. 14:16-17<\/span>; Luk. 14:21<\/span>; Luk. 14:23<\/span>). <\/p>\n

3. Gods end in gathering His people<\/em>. That they may sanctify Him, and that He may be sanctified by them. Gods power, faithfulnes and goodness, appear in His gathering them and bringing them out of their enemies hands; and so way is made for His praise and honour, and that before their enemies.(Greenhill)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(Eze. 28:24-26<\/span>.)<\/p>\n

Gods judgments on the ungodly tend to the good of His Church. God sets His own free at length. The promise has been fully made good through Christ, as Zacharias says, that we are redeemed from the hand of our enemies to serve Him without fear. (Luk. 1:74<\/span>.) Then do believers first come to their true and perfect rest, when all their bodily and spiritual enemies have been rooted out. This prophecy is fulfilled in the Christian Church, which is the true seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Those born under the Old Covenant were in bondage, while believers under the New Testament are free,(Lange.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

III. THE PRINCE OF TYRE 28:119<\/p>\n

The three chapters dealing with Tyre conclude with a vigorous attack against the prince of Tyre for his claims to deity. This attack is not to be interpreted personally of any one Tyrian king.[420] Rather the king of Tyre becomes an embodiment of the entire nation. The attitude of the prince was that of the city and vice versa. This section divides naturally into two parts: (1) the death of the prince (Eze. 28:1-10<\/span>); and (2) the dirge over the prince (Eze. 28:11-19<\/span>).<\/p>\n

[420] It is conjectured that Ithobal II was ruler of Tyre in the days of Ezekiel.<\/p>\n

A. The Death of the Prince 28:110<\/p>\n

TRANSLATION<\/strong><\/p>\n

(1) And the word of the LORD came unto me saying, (2) Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre: Thus says the Lord GOD: Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, I am God, I sit in the seat of God in the heart of the seas; yet you are a man and not God, even though you consider yourself as wise as God.[421] (3) Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; no secret can be hidden from you! (4) By your wisdom and understanding you have acquired for yourself wealth, and you have amassed gold and silver in your treasuries. (5) By your great wisdom in your trading ventures you have increased your wealth, and your heart is lifted up because of your wealth. (6) Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: Because you considered yourself as wise as God, (7) therefore, behold, I am about to bring strangers upon you, the most ruthless of the nations, and they shall bring their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, and defile your splendor. (8) They shall thrust you down to the pit, and you shall die the death of the slain in the heart of the seas. (9) Will You still say before the one who slays you, I am God, although you are a man and not God in the hand of those who wound you? (10) You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers; for I have spoken (oracle of the Lord GOD.<\/p>\n

[421] Literally, you set your heart as the heart of God.<\/p>\n

COMMENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Obnoxious haughtiness and national arrogance were the besetting sins of Tyre. The prince of Tyre is pictured as exalting himself to the position of God. His island fortress in the midst of the sea he regarded as a divine abode. The splendor of the place combined with its richness and isolation caused the proud monarch to regard his realm as not of this world the seat of God. In his heart (intellect) he considered himself as smart as God Himself. Yet in reality this pompous ruler was only a man, subject to all the frailties and limitations of the flesh (Eze. 28:2<\/span>).<\/p>\n

The princes claim to wisdom is not denied by the prophet. Daniel was famous for his piety (Eze. 14:14<\/span>) and for his wisdom.[422] In the latter quality the prince of Tyre exceeded Daniel. Ezekiel is probably speaking sarcastically here. Like Daniel who could understand the dark mysteries of dream revelations, no secret could elude the prince of Tyre (Eze. 28:3<\/span>). His wisdom in commercial transactions had resulted in the amassing of wealth into the treasuries of Tyre (Eze. 28:4<\/span>). However, as is so often the case with those who know material success, the princes heart was lifted up because of those riches (Eze. 28:5<\/span>).<\/p>\n

[422] One can sense in Ezekiels references to Daniel a humble respect. Daniel for Ezekiel was the epitome of righteousness and wisdom.<\/p>\n

Because the prince of Tyre regarded his intelligence as equal to that of God (Eze. 28:6<\/span>), he was destined to face the wrath of the God of Israel. Foreigners the most ruthless of the nations would come against Tyre. All which the prince of Tyre had acquired through his wisdom would fall to the invading forces. The splendor of the king, considered by himself to be God-like, would be profaned by the sword (Eze. 28:7<\/span>). The prince himself would die in the attack. His island fortress would afford no protection. He would go down to the pit (grave) with all those slain in battle (Eze. 28:8<\/span>). Will the vainglorious, self-deified prince still proclaim his deity in the face of execution by the blade of the enemy? Obviously not! Gods do not bleed! The humanity of the prince would be perfectly obvious in that day (Eze. 28:9<\/span>). In death all men realize their humanity. The once proud prince would be treated with the contempt reserved for uncircumcised men.[423] He would be dishonored and unlamented with no outward sign of reverence (Eze. 28:10<\/span>). What a way for a god to go!<\/p>\n

[423] It is unclear whether the treatment of the uncircumcised would he accorded the dead body of the prince in this world, or in Sheol, the realm of the dead. The Phoenicians practiced circumcision until their contact with the Greeks in the fourth century. The death of the uncircumcised is a threat of violent death, marked by the absence of Gods care and concern. See Hall, WBC, p. 441<\/p>\n

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

‘The word of Yahweh came to me again saying, “Son of man, say to the prince (nagid) of Tyre, thus says the Lord Yahweh.”<\/p>\n

This new oracle comes with a deliberate contrast between ‘a prince’ in contrast with a Sovereign Lord. The King of Tyre is to recognise that before the Lord Yahweh he is but a ‘prince’, a warleader subject to an overall commander, as the early ‘princes’ of Israel were to Yahweh. It is a deliberate downgrading of the king because of the king’s own upgrading of himself.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Oracle Against the Nagid of Tyre.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here the King of Tyre is called ‘the Nagid of Tyre’. Nagid (prince) is a title elsewhere restricted in the singular to princes and leaders of Israel. (Some see Dan 9:26<\/span> as an exception, but that might tell us something about their interpretation of Dan 9:26<\/span>). Thus the use here would seem to be a sarcastic one, comparing him to a Prince of Israel. But in contrast to princes of Israel he saw himself as a god. Thus he is further condemned. The prince referred to was probably Ithobal II.<\/p>\n

Note how the charges against Tyre have built up. Firstly she gloated at the riches she would receive now that Jerusalem was destroyed (Eze 26:2<\/span>). Then she proclaimed herself ‘perfect in beauty’ (Eze 27:3<\/span>) and as almost invincible. Now her king claims godlikeness. And Tyre shares in his god-like status. All that is said about the king also applies to his people.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Eze 28:1-19<\/strong><\/span> Third Prophecy against Tyre Eze 28:1-19<\/span><\/strong> records the third of three prophecies against the coastal city of Tyre and its leadership, each ending in the refrain, “I will make you a terror, and you shall be no more forever.” (Eze 26:21<\/span>; Eze 27:36<\/span> b; Eze 28:19<\/span> b)<\/p>\n

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/strong> God’s Judgment upon the Prince of Tyre<\/p>\n

v. 1. The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,<\/strong> <\/p>\n

v. 2. Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus,<\/strong> the ruler of the great commercial capital arid metropolis, Thus saith the Lord God,<\/strong> He who holds in his hand the fate of empires as well as of individuals, Because thine heart is lifted up,<\/strong> in sinful, blasphemous pride, and thou hast said, I am a God,<\/strong> a claim advanced by many heathen rulers who demanded for themselves divine veneration, I sit in the seat of God,<\/strong> on the throne of the one heavenly Ruler Himself, in the midst of the seas,<\/strong> considering the stronghold of his capital impregnable as far as men and the forces of nature were concerned; yet thou art a man,<\/strong> merely a lowly and mortal human being, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God,<\/strong> not only imagining himself to hold the position of God, but also thinking of himself as possessing, and able to use, the almighty power of God; <\/p>\n

v. 3. behold, thou art wiser than Daniel,<\/strong> that is, the Tyrian ruler held this opinion concerning himself, he placed his knowledge and understanding above that of the wisest man of his time; there is no secret that they can hide from thee,<\/strong> this assertion on the part of the heathen prince again placing him on the level of Daniel with his revelations concerning the future; <\/p>\n

v. 4. with thy wisdom and with thine understanding,<\/strong> particularly his business acumen, thou hast gotten thee riches,<\/strong> his business sagacity having brought its own reward, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures,<\/strong> so that the wealth of this commercial metropolis of the world, as later that of Venice, was almost unbelievably great; <\/p>\n

v. 5. by thy great wisdom,<\/strong> with which he credited himself, and by thy traffic,<\/strong> the trade which had been established in the course of the centuries, hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches,<\/strong> this being the effect which the possession of wealth has in the majority of cases: <\/p>\n

v. 6. therefore thus saith the Lord God,<\/strong> taking up the thought of verse 2 once more, for the intervening statements are intended, of course, only as an ironical concession, picturing the empty boastfulness of the heathen ruler, in his overwhelming opinion of himself, Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God,<\/strong> ascribing an honor to himself which only the one true God possesses: <\/p>\n

v. 7. behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee,<\/strong> invaders from foreign lands, the terrible of the nations, for the Chaldeans were known for the fierceness of their natures; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom,<\/strong> for the showiness of the trade and commerce of Tyre was the offspring of the busines s acumen with which the king prided himself, and they shall defile thy brightness,<\/strong> literally, “profane thy shining beauty,” treating it with mocking disrespect, destroying it with rough ruthlessness. <\/p>\n

v. 8. They shall bring thee,<\/strong> namely, the ruler himself, down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas,<\/strong> the expression denoting that the prince, as it were, died the death of every inhabitant of Tyre who was slain, his fate overtaking him as in a mighty shipwreck. <\/p>\n

v. 9. Wilt thou yet say before Him that slayeth thee, I am God?<\/strong> Would the Tyrian prince, after the sentence of God had gone into effect, still make such extravagant claims for himself and his power anti wisdom? But thou shalt be a man and no God,<\/strong> that is, he would be given proof positive to that effect, in the hand of Him that slayeth thee,<\/strong> namely, completely at the mercy of the one and only Ruler of the universe. <\/p>\n

v. 10. Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised,<\/strong> such as the godless heathen deserve by their blasphemous pride, by the hand of strangers,<\/strong> in further humiliation upon him and in just retribution upon him who had probably often scoffed at the Jews; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God. <\/strong> Though the unbelievers jeer at the fact, yet it remains true that the Lord resents every insult offered his saints and will in due time take his revenge upon his enemies. <\/p>\n

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

EXPOSITION<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eze 28:1<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

From the city the prophet passes to its ruler, who concentrated in himself whatever was most arrogant and boastful in the temper of his people. He is described here as a” prince,” in Eze 28:12<\/span> as “king,” and the combination of the two words points probably to some peculiarity of the Tyrian constitution. “Prince” it will be remembered, is constantly used by Ezekiel of Zedekiah (Eze 7:27<\/span>; Eze 12:20<\/span>, el al<\/em>.). <\/em>The King of Tyro at the time was Ithobal or Ethbaal III<\/strong>. (Josephus, ‘Contra Apion,’ Eze 1:21<\/span>), who had taken part with Pharaoh-Hophra and Zedekiah in the league against Nebuchadnezzar, Ezekiel’s description of what one may call his self-apotheosis may probably have rested on a personal knowledge of the man or of official documents.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:2<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I am a God<\/strong>. We are reminded of Isaiah’s words (Isa 14:13<\/span>, Isa 14:14<\/span>) as to the King of Babylon. Did Ezekiel emphasize and amplify the boasts of Ethbaal, with a side-glance at the Chaldean king, who also was lifted up in the pride of his heart (Dan 4:30<\/span>)? For like examples, see the boast of Hophra, in Eze 29:3<\/span>; and the praise given to Herod Agrippa by the Tyrians (Act 12:21<\/span>). It is noticeable that St. Paul’s description of the man of sin (2Th 2:4<\/span>) presents the same picture in nearly the same words. I sit in the seat of God<\/strong>, etc. Tyro was known as the Holy Island. The city was thought of as rising from its waters like the rock-throne of God. Though thou set thy heart<\/strong>. The words remind us of the temptation in Gen 3:5<\/span>. To forget the limitations of human ignorance and weakness, to claim an authority and demand a homage which belong to God, was the sin of the Prince of Tyre, as it had been that of Sennacherib, as it was of Nebuchadnezzar, as it has been since of the emperors of Rome, and of other rulers.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:3<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Thou art wiser than Daniel<\/strong>, etc. There is, of course, a marked irony in the words. Daniel was for Ezekieland there seems something singularly humble and pathetic in the prophet’s reverence for his contemporarythe ideal at once of righteousness (Eze 14:14<\/span>) and of wisdom. He was a revealer of the secrets of the future, and read the hearts of men. His fame was spread far and wide through the Chaldean empire. And this was the man with whom the King of Tyro compared himself with a self-satisfied sense of superiority, and he found the proof of his higher wisdom in his wealth. Here, again, I venture to trace a side-thrust at Nebuchadnezzar and his tendencies in the same direction,” Is not this great Babylon, which I have builded?”<\/p>\n

Eze 28:7<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I will bring strangers<\/strong>, etc. These are, of course, the hosts of many nations that made up the Chaldean army (comp. the parallel of Eze 30:11<\/span> and Eze 31:12<\/span>). The beauty of thy wisdom<\/strong> is that of the city on which the prince looked as having been produced by his policy.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:8<\/span><\/strong>, <\/strong>Eze 28:9<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The effect of the Chaldean invasion was to bring the king down to the nether world of the dead. In the use of the plural “deaths” we have a parallel to the “plurima morris imago” of Virgil (‘AE<\/strong>neid,’ 2.369). And this death was not to be like that of a hero-warrior, but as that of those who are slain in the midst of the seas<\/strong>, who fall, i.e; <\/em>in a naval battle, and are cast into the waters. Would he then repeat his boast, I am God?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eze 28:10<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The climax comes in the strongest language of Hebrew scorn. As the uncircumcised were to the Israelite (1Sa 17:36<\/span>; 1Sa 31:4<\/span>), so should the King of Tyro, unhonored, unwept, with no outward marks of reverence, be among the great cues of the past who dwell in Hades. Ezekiel returns to the phrase in Eze 31:18<\/span>; Eze 32:24<\/span>. The words receive a special force from the fact that the Phoenicians practiced circumcision before their intercourse with the Greeks (Herod; 2.104).<\/p>\n

Eze 28:12<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Thou sealest up the sum<\/strong>, etc. The noun is found only there and in Eze 43:10<\/span>, where it is translated “pattern,” but is cognate with the word rendered” tale” (equivalent to “measure”) of Exo 5:13<\/span>, and “measure” in Eze 45:11<\/span>. The probable meaning is, Thou settest the seal to thy completeness <\/em>(perfection<\/em>). <\/em>Thou deemest that thou hast attained the consummation of all beauty and wisdom. The LXX<\/strong>. and the Vulgate give, “Thou art a seal;” and this suggests a parallelism with Jeremiah’s works to Coniah (Jer 22:24<\/span>). The words were, of course, written with a keen irony. This was what the King of Tyro thought of himself.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:13<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Thou hast been in Eden<\/strong>, etc. The words are suggestive, as showing that Ezekiel was familiar with the history of Gen 2:1-25<\/span> and Gen 3:1-24<\/span>. (compare the mention of Noah, in Eze 15:1-8 :14, 20). To him the King of Tyre seemed to claim a position like that of Adam before his fall, perfect in beauty and in wisdom, the lord of the creation. And in that fancied Eden he stood, so he thought, not like Adam, “naked and ashamed,” but like one of the cherubim that guarded the gates of the primeval Paradise (Gen 3:24<\/span>), covered with all imaginable splendor. Ezekiel returns to the phrase in Eze 31:8<\/span>, Eze 31:16<\/span>, Eze 31:18<\/span> and Eze 36:35<\/span>. Other instances meet us in Joe 2:3<\/span> and Isa 51:3<\/span>. Every precious stone.<\/strong> All the stones named are found in the list of the gems on the high priest’s breastplate (Exo 28:17-20<\/span>; Exo 39:8-14<\/span>). Three, however, of those gems are wantingthose in the third row of the breastplatewhich are not named elsewhere; and the order is not the same. The LXX<\/strong>. makes the two lists identical, apparently correcting Ezekiel by Exodus. St. John (Rev 21:19<\/span>) reproduces his imagery in his vision of the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem, but naturally returns to the fullness of the symbolic numbertwelve. Possibly the description of gold and bdellium and onyx (or beryl), as in Gen 2:11<\/span>, Gen 2:12<\/span>, may have suggested the thought that Eden was a land of jewels. The workmanship of thy tabret and pipes<\/strong>; better, the service<\/em>. <\/em>The Authorized Version and Revised Version follow Luther. Keil agrees as to “tabret” (so Gen 31:27<\/span>; Isa 5:12<\/span>; elsewhere, as in Exo 15:20<\/span> and Job 21:12<\/span>, the Authorized Version gives “timbrels”), but takes the latter word (not found elsewhere) as identical with its feminine form, and meaning “female.” He sees in the clause, accordingly, a picture of the pomp of the Tyrian king, surrounded by the odalisques of the harem, who, with their timbrels, danced to his honor as their lord and king (camp. Isa 23:16<\/span>; Exo 15:20<\/span>; 1Sa 18:6<\/span>). Havernick, who agrees with Keil, calls attention to a passage in Athenaeus, in which Strafe, a Sidonian king, is said to have prepared for a great festival by bringing girls who played on the flute and harp from all parts of Greece. Others, however (Smend), find in both the words articles of jewelry, pearls perforated or set in gold (as in Exo 28:20<\/span>), and so see in them the conclusion of the description of the gorgeous apparel of the king. Furst takes the words as meaning musical instruments that were of gold set with jewels. Ewald, following out the Urim and Thummim idea, takes the gems as the subject of the sentence, and translates, “they were for the work of thine oracles and divining.” On the whole, the interpretation given above seems preferable. In the day that thou wast created<\/strong>. The words point to the time of the king’s enthronement or coronation. It was then that he appeared in all his supreme magnificence. Had Ezekiel been a witness of that ceremony?<\/p>\n

Eze 28:14<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The anointed cherub that covereth<\/strong>. The word for “anointed” is not found elsewhere, but is cognate in form with that which is commonly so rendered. The Vulgate, however, tracing it to another root, gives extentus et protegens, <\/em>and is followed by Luther, Gesenius, Ewald, and others. Keil and Hengstenberg accept “anointed.” The sequence of thought seems to be as follows: The splendor-of the King of Tyre had suggested the idea of Eden the garden of God. This, in its turn, led on to that of the cherub that was the warder of that garden (Gen 3:24<\/span>). The Paradise of God is pictured as still existing, and the cherubwe remember how prominent the word and the thing had been in Ezekiel’s thoughts (Eze 1:10<\/span>; Eze 10:1-16<\/span>)is there (according as we take the above words) either as its anointed, i.e.<\/em> “consecrated,” ruler, or as extending the protection of its overshadowing wings far and wide as the cherubim of the tabernacle extended their wings over the ark (comp. Exo 25:20<\/span>; Exo 33:22<\/span>; 1Ki 8:7<\/span>). Those cherubim, we may remember, were actually anointed (Exo 30:2<\/span>, Exo 30:6<\/span>). The King of Tyro boasted that he was, like them, consecrated to his office as king “by the grace of God.” In that earthly Paradise the prophet saw the “holy mountain of God,” the Olympus, so to speak, of the Hebrews, the throne of the Eternal (compare the Meru of India, the Albard of Iran, the Asgard of German poetry). Isaiah’s words as to the King of Babylon (Isa 14:13<\/span>, Isa 14:14<\/span>) present a suggestive parallel. In the midst of the stones of fire.<\/strong> The words receive their interpretation partly from Gen 3:24<\/span>; partly from 2Sa 22:9<\/span>, 2Sa 22:15<\/span>; Psa 18:8<\/span>, Psa 18:12<\/span>; Psa 120:4<\/span>. The cherub’s sword of fire is identified with the lightning-flash, and that in its turn with the thunderbolts of God. Out of the throne of God went thunders and lightnings (Exo 19:16<\/span>). The “Flammantia maenia mundi” of Lucretius (1. 73) offers a suggestive parallel. The King of Tyre, like the King of Babylon (Isa 14:13<\/span>, Isa 14:14<\/span>), is painted as exulting in that attribute of the Divine glory.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:15<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Thou wast perfect in thy ways<\/strong>. The glory of the King of Tyre was, the prophet goes on to say, conditional. He began his reign in righteousness, but afterwards iniquity was found<\/strong> in him. And the root of that iniquity was the pride of wealth engendered by the greatness of his commerce (Eze 28:16<\/span>). He was no longer like the cherub who guarded the Paradise of God, but like Adam when he was east out from it. Wealth and pride had tempted him to violence and to wrong, and he was no longer an “anointed” or consecrated, but a profaned and desecrated, king. The, “stones of fire,” the thunders and lightnings of the Divine Majesty, should no longer protect him. <\/p>\n

Eze 28:17<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Thine heart was lifted up<\/strong>, etc. In yet another point Ezekiel sees the fall of Adam reproduced in that of the Tyrian king. He had forfeited his beauty<\/strong> and his wisdom<\/strong> through the pride which sought for a yet greater glory by a false and counterfeit wisdom (Gen 3:6<\/span>). I will cast thee<\/strong>, etc. The words are better taken, as in the Revised Version, in the past tense, I have cast thee <\/em> I have laid thee before kings<\/em>. <\/em>Pride was to have its fall, as in Isa 23:9<\/span>. The very sanctuaries, the temples which made Tyre the “holy island,” were defiled by the iniquities through which the wealth that adorned them had been gained. The “fire,” instead of being a rampart of protection, should burst forth as from the center of the sanctuary to destroy him. Is there an implied allusion to the fiery judgment that fell on Nadab and Abihu (Le Isa 10:2<\/span>) and on Korah and his company (Num 16:35<\/span>)? The doom of Sic transit gloria mundi <\/em>was already passed on her.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:19<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Thou shalt be a terror<\/strong>, etc. The knell of doom, as heard in Eze 27:36<\/span>, rings out again. The same judgment falls alike on the city and on its king. The question when and in what manner the prediction received its fulfillment has been much discussed. Josephus (‘Ant.,’ 10.11. 1; ‘Contra Apion,’ 1.19) states that Nebuchadnezzar besieged the island Tyre and Ithobal (Ethbaal III<\/strong>.) for thirteen years; that, on his father’s death, leaving his Phoenician and other captives to be brought by slower stages, he himself hastened to Babylon, and that afterwards he conquered the whole of Syria and Phoenicia; but he does not say, with all the Tyrian records before him, that the city was actually captured by him. It has been inferred, indeed, from Eze 29:18<\/span>, that Nebuchadnezzar’s siege of Tyre ended in, at least, partial failure, that he and his army had no “wages” for their work, i.e. <\/em>that the spoil of the city was meager and disappointing. Possibly the merchant-princes of the city had contrived to carry off part of their treasures in their ships. On the other hand, it may be noted<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> that the national historians of the ancient world (perhaps not of that only) willingly minimized the disasters of their country; and<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> that the Phoenician fragment quoted by Josephus (‘Contra Apion,’ 1.21) simply for synchronistic purposes, shows a significant change of government following on the siege. Ithobal was “king” during the thirteen years, but afterwards “judges” were appointed, and these ruled for periods of two, or three, or ten months. All this indicates a period of confusion and anarchy, the consequence of some great catastrophe. As a whole, too, we have to remember that it was with Tyre, as with Babylon and with other nations. The prophecies against them had “springing and germinant accomplishments.” What the prophet saw in vision, as wrought out in a moment of time, was actually the outcome of the slow decay of centuries, and of catastrophes separated from each other by long intervals of a dwindling history. The main facts of that history may be briefly stated. There was, as implied in Isa 23:17<\/span>, a revival of commerce under the Persian monarchy, and of this we have traces in Neh 13:16<\/span>. Two hundred and fifty years after Nebuchadnezzar, Tyre was still so strongly fortified that Alexander the Great did not take it till after a seven years’ siege (Died. Sic; 17.20; Arrian; 2.17; Q. Curtius, 4.2-4). It rose again into wealth and power under the Selencidare, and the Romans made it the capital of their province of Phoenicia. It appears as a flourishing town in Mat 15:21<\/span>; Act 12:20<\/span>; Act 21:37<\/span>, and is described by Strabo (16.2, 23), as having two harbors and lofty houses. From A.D. 636 to 1125 it was in the hands of the Saracens. Saladin attacked it without success in A.D. 1189. In A.D. 1291, after Acre had been taken by storm by El-Ashraf, Sultan of Egypt, Tyro passed into his hands without a struggle. When it again passed into the power of the Saracens, its fortifications were demolished, and from that time it sank gradually into its present obscurity. The present Sur is a <\/em>small town of narrow, crooked, and dirty streets, and the ruins of the old Phoenician city cover the suburbs to the extent of half a league round. The harbor is choked up with sand, and with remains of the old palaces and walls and temples, and is available for small boats only. The sea has swallowed up its grandeur. The soft on which the traveler stands is a mass of debris, <\/em>in which marble, porphyry, and granite mingle with coarser stones. So it has come to pass that it is little more than “a place for the spreading of nets” and that the sentence, “Thou shalt never be any more,” seems to be receiving its fulfillment. There was for it no prospect of an earthly restoration, still less that of a transfigured and glorified existence like that which, in the prophet’s visions, was connected with Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:21<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Set thy face against Zidon<\/strong>. The relation of this city to Tyre was one of sufficient independence to justify a separate oracle for the completeness of the prophet’s arrangement of his messages (Eze 27:8<\/span>; Joe 3:4<\/span>; Jer 25:22<\/span>; Zec 9:2<\/span>). It was sufficiently identified with it not to call for any long description. It is assumed that her sins were of the same kind and required a like punishment.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:22<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I will be glorified in thee<\/strong>. The thought and the phrase come from Exo 14:4<\/span>; Le Exo 10:3<\/span>. Ezekiel reproduces it in Eze 39:13<\/span>. God is glorified, or, as in the next clause, sanctified<\/strong>, when his power and holiness are manifested in righteous judgment. (For “sanctified,” see Eze 38:16<\/span> : Num 20:13<\/span>.)<\/p>\n

Eze 28:23<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pestilence<\/strong> was the natural accompaniment of a siege. As in Eze 14:19<\/span>, blood probably points to death from this cause, as distinct from the slaughter threatened in the following clause.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:24<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

There shall be no more a pricking brier<\/strong>. There is a special appropriateness in Ezekiel’s imagery. The words had been used in Num 33:55<\/span> of the Canaanites at large (comp. Jos 22:13<\/span>). Ezekiel applies them to the cities which were the most conspicuous survivors of the old Canaanite races. Israel, he implies, had been wounded with those thorns and briers, had caught (as e<\/em>.g<\/em>. <\/em>in the case of Jezebel) the taint of evil life and evil worship from those races; but for her there is, as in Verse 25, the future of restoration, and when that future comes, the Canaanite cities, with their idolatries and vices, should have passed away forever.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:25<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

My servant Jacob<\/strong>. The use of “Jacob” for “Israel” is not common in Ezekiel, but Eze 20:5<\/span>; Eze 27:25<\/span>; Eze 34:25<\/span> may be noted as parallels.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:26<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Shall build houses<\/strong>, etc. The words sound almost like a direct quotation from Jer 23:6<\/span> and Jer 36:28<\/span>; and, at all events, present a suggestive parallel. The restoration was to include also the blessing of confidence and hope; no longer a groundless and false confidence, like that of Jer 2:37<\/span> and Jer 48:13<\/span>, but one resting on the fact that God was in very deed the Judge of all the earth. We may note, at the close of the chapter, how its juxtaposition of the two Phoenician cities seems to have been present to the mind of the Christ in his references to the judgment that should come upon both of them (Mat 11:21<\/span>; Luk 10:13<\/span>). He himself, it will be remembered, passed through the coasts of Tyre and Zidon (Mat 15:21<\/span>), and probably, according to the best text of Mar 7:24<\/span>, actually trod the streets of the latter city. They supplied some of the great multitude of Mar 3:8<\/span>, who listened to his teaching.<\/p>\n

HOMILETICS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eze 28:2<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

A prince’s sin.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> GREAT<\/strong> RESPONSIBILITY<\/strong> IS<\/strong> ATTACHED<\/strong> TO<\/strong> HIGH<\/strong> OFFICE<\/strong>. In the two previous chapters the prophet denounced judgment on the city of Tyre, and lamented its approaching accomplishment. Now he turns to the ruler of the city, selecting him for an ugly pre-eminence of guilt. This man is entrusted with the weal of the city. If Tyre is doomed, a heavy share of the blame must lie at his door. It is a fearful thing to be responsible for the fate of so great and splendid a community. In the sight of God accountability is always measured by power. Heedless men grasp hastily at the reins of government, little considering how severe must be the judgment of Heaven if they abuse their great trust. It is no light thing to be in a position of influence over our fellow-men. We need, therefore, especially to pray for the souls of princes and governors. The ambition that craves their privileges might be restrained if people considered the terrible questions that they will have to answer when called upon to give an account of their stewardship.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> PRIDE<\/strong> IS<\/strong> THE<\/strong> BESETTING<\/strong> SIN<\/strong> OF<\/strong> HIGH<\/strong> OFFICE<\/strong>. The Prince of Tyre exclaims, “I am a God, I sit in the seat of God.” There are many temptations to this sin of pride.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Power<\/em>. <\/em>Holding high office necessarily confers great influence. The man in power may really be a weak person, but he has great resources at his command. Thus he is inclined to think too much of himself, and to transfer to the score of his merits what really only belongs to his position.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Flattery<\/em>. <\/em>The prince is not the only person to blame. They are highly culpable who encourage him in a belief in his own greatness by their base adulation. All people in office need to beware of the honeyed words of those beneath them.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> PRIDE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> HIGH<\/strong> OFFICE<\/strong> IS<\/strong> AN<\/strong> INSULT<\/strong> TO<\/strong> GOD<\/strong>. The prince compares himself to a god, and his throne to the seat of a god. This implies two evils.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Godlessness<\/em>. <\/em>Carrying out this notion in practice, the Prince of Tyre refuses to humble himself in the sight of Heaven. As all men bow to him, he is tempted to forget that he should look up to and bow before a higher Power.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Rebellion against God<\/em>. <\/em>The proud ruler usurps the place of God. He elects to become an earthly providence. He dispenses with any reference to the holy will of the Supreme, and sets up his own will as the highest authority.<\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong> SIN<\/strong> IN<\/strong> HIGH<\/strong> OFFICE<\/strong> IS<\/strong> ESPECIALLY<\/strong> CULPABLE<\/strong> BECAUSE<\/strong> IT<\/strong> INVOLVES<\/strong> A MULTITUDE<\/strong> IN<\/strong> ITS<\/strong> EVIL<\/strong> EFFECTS<\/strong>. The effects are seen in its contagious influence and in, its punishment.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Its influence<\/em>. <\/em>The bad ruler is like Jeroboam, whose awful climax of wickedness was seen in the fact that he “made Israel to sin” (1Ki 15:30<\/span>). The power of a bad ruler is one that makes for wickedness. It sows seeds of sin broadcast. Society takes its fashion from the court, and then each order of the community from that next above it. It is a fearful thing to be the leader of a fashion of wickedness.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Its punishment<\/em>. <\/em>The ruler’s sin brings misery on the nation. The people must reap the consequences of the misdeeds of their princes. Tyre’s doom is the heavier because her prince is a bad man. Therefore<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> the people should look well to the characters of the men they put in office;<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> all persons in authority should dread the double guilt of brining ruin on the multitude as well as wrecking their own lives.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:3<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Wiser than Daniel.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> TYPICAL<\/strong> WISDOM<\/strong> OF<\/strong> DANIEL<\/strong>. Evidently this wisdom was proverbial in the days of Ezekiel. The prophet implies that the fame of it had reached the province of Tyre. Consider its nature, its application, and its source.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Its nature<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> Insight. Daniel was able to discern the meaning of mysteries that baffled the ingenuity of the most skilful of the magi. The greatest wisdom is required to penetrate beneath the surface. Foolish people are shallow; wisdom dives into depths of truth.<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> Foresight. Daniel had visions of the future. We speculate on the future; he saw it.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Its application<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> To human affairs. Daniel’s wisdom was not expended on abstract problems; he did not even use it for that interpretation of nature which, since the days of Bacon, has yielded us such rich results; he employed it in the consideration of what was most nearly concerned with man. Here wisdom is most practically valuable; but it is just here that the application of it is most difficult.<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> To large questions. Daniel did not spend his mind on little personal affairs. His vision swept empires. The highest wisdom is required for large public interests.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> Its source<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> Springing from Divine inspiration. Daniel was trained in Chaldean lore, but he did not find his wisdom in that school. It was derived from his religion. We must connect it with his fidelity. He who dared the lions’ den rather than be unfaithful to God was rewarded with heavenly wisdom. True wisdom is from above (Jas 3:17<\/span>).<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> Engaged in self-restraint. No doubt the simple living which Daniel chose in common with his three companions prepared him to receive light from God. Luxury and self-indulgence blind the eyes of the soul. Simplicity and self-restraint make a man most susceptible to the influences of Heaven.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> MOCKERY<\/strong> OF<\/strong> WORLDLY<\/strong> WISDOM<\/strong>. The proud Prince of Tyre vainly pretends to excel this high wisdom of Daniel.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Its nature<\/em>. <\/em>It is “earthly, sensual, devilish” (Jas 3:15<\/span>). The wisdom of the Prince of Tyre was seen in his successful management of the commercial affairs of his city. It did not touch the counsels of God; it had no bearing on the true welfare of the state; it gave no insight into the essentially corrupt condition of the city; it was entirely lacking in foresight of impending doom. But it was in a large measure successful in opening up new markets, favoring mercantile exchange, and generally promoting the trade interests of the community. This was its highest attainment. There are many people in the present day whose minds are entirely absorbed in similar subjects. They are keen men of business, and they imagine that their astuteness in making money is the height of wisdom. Flattered by temporary success, they despise all other considerations as dreamy. The intelligence that makes money is with them true wisdom; all else is but so much wasted thinking.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Its folly<\/em>. <\/em>This wisdom, when held to be supreme, is really foolishness, because then it blinds men to the great facts of life and eternity. It is bad to throw dust in the eyes of people, even if this be gold-dust. The supposed wisdom of the Prince of Tyre was one element that contributed to his ruin, because it prevented him from seeing approaching danger, in the confidence of his worldly success. The wisdom of the world is foolishness when it comes as a veil between us and truths that we need to know. Thus the proudly wise may perish, while the foolish in this world are endowed with heavenly wisdom, especially that highest wisdom of the gospel of Christ (1Co 1:24<\/span>, 1Co 1:25<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Eze 28:15<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The innocence of early days.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THERE<\/strong> IS<\/strong> AN<\/strong> INNOCENCE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> EARLY<\/strong> DAYS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> In the race<\/em>. <\/em>The Bible represents Adam and Eve as commencing life in primitive innocence. However we may interpret the narrative in Genesis-as literal history or as allegoryif we attach any inspired authority to it we must see that it points back to a time when man lived in childlike innocence and ignorance of evil.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> In the nation<\/em>. <\/em>Even Tyre, wicked, corrupt Tyre, had once known better days. Nearly every people has traditions of a good age preceding the later corruptions. We do not see that the heathen are advancing. On the other hand, behind idolatry there are often to be discovered shreds of an ancient faith in one spiritual God. Thus the Vedas show a purer religion and a higher thought than are to be found in modern Hinduism. We may believe that God is educating the world, and yet see that vast portions of it do not as yet respond to the uplifting influences.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> In<\/em> the individual. <\/em>Children begin life in innocency. Though they come into the world with hereditary tendencies to evil, those tendencies are at first latent, and until they have received the consent of the will they cannot be accounted elements of guilt. Concerning little children our Lord said, “Of such is the kingdom of God” (Mar 10:14<\/span>).<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> PRIMITIVE<\/strong> INNOCENCE<\/strong> AGGRAVATES<\/strong> THE<\/strong> GUILT<\/strong> OF<\/strong> LATER<\/strong> YEARS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> In the community<\/em>. <\/em>Man was not created corrupt. He cannot lay the charge of his sin against his Maker. There has been a fall. Degeneracy is especially evil. To go from good to bad and from bad to worse in a descending scale of wickedness is to be without excuse in sin.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> In the individual<\/em>. <\/em>The child who has never known goodness can scarcely be blamed for living a bad life. He can hardly be said to have chosen evil rather than good, for he has had no alternative set before him. But it is otherwise with one who has begun well. Israel is the more to blame because her goodness was like the morning cloud (Hos 6:4<\/span>). The child of a Christian home is exceptionally wicked when he turns his back on the good influences of his early days, and deliberately descends into the lower paths of sin. There is this guilt with sin in some measure for all of us. For we have all turned aside. When the hardened sinner looks back on his child-days, when he remembers his simple, innocent life in the old home, when he sees his younger condition reflected in the frank countenance of some little child, be may well learn that his own self will be his accuser in the day of judgment.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> INNOCENCE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> EARLY<\/strong> DAYS<\/strong> INSPIRES<\/strong> US<\/strong> WITH<\/strong> HOPES<\/strong> OF<\/strong> RESTORATION<\/strong>. Man is not naturally a brute. What he has been suggests what he may yet become. Absolute primitive innocence is indeed irrecoverably lost. The bloom of childhood can never be restored. Yet as Naaman’s flesh became like the flesh of a little child after he had bathed seven times in the Jordan (2Ki 5:14<\/span>), it is possible to be converted, and become as a little child again (Mat 18:3<\/span>) in simplicity and a new purity of heart. This is the great Christian hope. The most abandoned sinner may, through Christ, be restored. He need not despair when he compares his present shame with his past innocence. The old fallen world may be recovered. The gospel of Christ goes forth to arrest the deepening degeneracy of mankind.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:20-23<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The judgment of Zidon.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> PARTNERS<\/strong> IN<\/strong> GUILT<\/strong> WILL<\/strong> BE<\/strong> PARTNERS<\/strong> IN<\/strong> DOOM<\/strong>. Tyre and Zidon were constantly associated together by reason of their nearness to one another, and their common interests and actions. Zidon followed Tyre in its degenerate course of wickedness. Thus, like Sodom and Gomorrah, Type and Zidon were commonly named together as conjoined in an ugly pre-eminence of wickedness (e.g. Luk 10:14<\/span>). There is no security in such companionship. We gain nothing by following a multitude to do evil (Exo 23:2<\/span>). When a large province rebels, there is more hope of immunity than when a few citizens behave seditiously, because the central government may not be strong enough to cope with the more serious disturbance. But in dealing with the Almighty such considerations do not apply. God can as easily destroy two cities as one. The number of sinners does not dilute the guilt of the separate individuals; it cannot mitigate their doom.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> UNPROSPEROUS<\/strong> SINNERS<\/strong> WILL<\/strong> BE<\/strong> PUNISHED<\/strong> AS<\/strong> WELL<\/strong> AS<\/strong> PROSPEROUS<\/strong> ONES<\/strong>. Tyre was prosperous; Zidon was unprosperous. At least, the history of Zidon is that of a decline in influence compared with the growing importance of Tyre. The oldest and most prominent settlement of the Canaanites (Gen 10:15<\/span>), and the representative of the whole Canaanitish trade (Gen 49:13<\/span>), Zidon had gradually declined until it had become virtually, if not nominally, a dependence of Type. But though she reaped less earthly good from her wickedness, she did not therefore escape punishment. There is a superstitious notion that those people who suffer adversity on earth will be spared further punishment after death. But this notion is utterly without warrant, unless it can be proved that the last farthing is paid, and we can scarcely be bold enough to assert that anything of the kind has happened to the most unfortunate. Further, it is sometimes thought that failure exonerates. The evil deed is not carried out to perfection because the doer of it is hampered by external circumstances. This fact is no mitigation of his guilt. He would have consummated his wickedness had he been able to do so. Then he is guilty of the full completion of it, for the sin lies in the intention. Lastly, it is perhaps secretly thought that obscurity will hide from judgment. It was not so with Zidon. God sees all.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> GOD<\/strong> IS<\/strong> CONCERNED<\/strong> WITH<\/strong> WHAT<\/strong> WE<\/strong> REGARD<\/strong> AS<\/strong> SECONDARY<\/strong> IN<\/strong> IMPORTANCE<\/strong>. He even gets glory through his just treatment of such a second-rate place as Zidon. God is too great to need to confine his attention to what is only of primary importance. As this is true of judgment, so it is also true of redemption. God does not only get glory through “pestilence and blood.” His highest glory is seen in the redemption of the world. This redemption is not only for the great and notable. Second-rate characters are not beneath the attention of Christ. His salvation is for allfor the obscure, the neglected, the unfortunate.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:25<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The home-gathering.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is a relief to turn from repeated threatenings of approaching doom to the voice of gracious promises. We have here a gleam of sunshine breaking for a moment through the clouds of judgment. As there was light in the land of Goshen while a plague of darkness fell on the rest of Egypt (Exo 10:23<\/span>), so now the Jews are to be blessed when every neighboring nation lies in ruins. The home-gathering of the Jews is their great expected blessing, which stands out in strong contrast with the hopeless desolation of the heathen. A wider Christian vision will desire to see in this a type of that great spiritual restoration which is for all the people of God, and for all who are willing to become his people, even though they now belong to lost heathen races. A Jewish prophet predicted this wider and more glorious future (Isa 19:25<\/span>).<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> FRUIT<\/strong> OF<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong> REDEMPTION<\/strong> IS<\/strong> A GREAT<\/strong> HOME<\/strong>–GATHERING<\/strong>. It was so physically with Israel; it is so spiritually with Christians.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Sin scatters<\/em>. <\/em>It drives men from God, banishes them from their old privileges, breaks up the brotherhood of fellow-men, and destroys the true family spirit. All evil is a solvent of society.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Christ restores<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> To God. The first departure was from God. Where the parent is, there is the home. We leave our home in leaving God; in restoration we first come hack to God. The first great result of it is a return of the soul to communion with God.<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> To the home. Israel is restored to Palestine, the land flowing with milk and honey. The redeemed are now restored to what is better than Caanan even in its palmy daysto the kingdom of heaven brought down to the earth. Here the Christian may eat of the tree of life and drink of the river of water of life. Here no pricking briars may grow.<\/p>\n

(3)<\/strong> To Christian fellowship. The home is the abode of the family. By redemption Christ heals enmity, destroys selfishness, inspires sympathy, draws and binds souls together. This is the earthly blessedness of the Divine recovery. <\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> GREAT<\/strong> HOME<\/strong>–GATHERING<\/strong> IS<\/strong> FOR<\/strong> THE<\/strong> GLORY<\/strong> OF<\/strong> GOD<\/strong>. God was to be glorified in the punishment of the wicked (Eze 28:22<\/span>). But he gains a fresh glory from redemption. When Israel is restored God “shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen.” The holiness of God will then be made apparent to the world. The restoration of Israel reveals the power and goodness of God, and shows how he cares for and saves the people who acknowledge him. In a much higher way the redemption of the world sanctifies God by revealing his holiness.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> It shows his power over sin<\/em>. <\/em>He restrains the wicked, that those who obey his Word may have freedom to do so.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> It shows his recovering grace<\/em>. <\/em>The Jews had sinned and had been banished as a punishment for their wickedness, in which they resembled the heathen. But they were penitent, and, being pardoned, they were also restored. There is greater glory in redemption than in retribution. If God conquers sin, not by destroying the sinner, but by converting him, God’s holiness is most fully glorified. There is nothing on earth that so sanctifies God, by revealing him in separate, supreme goodness, as the triumphs of the gospel. Nebuchadnezzar glorified God, but Cyrus more so. God was glorified in the destruction of Jerusalem; he was more glorified in the preaching of St. Paul.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:26<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Confidence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> CHRISTIANS<\/strong> MAY<\/strong> ENJOY<\/strong> CONFIDENCE<\/strong>. This is named as part of the blessedness of the restoration: “Yea, they shall dwell with confidence.” Confidence is good on many accounts.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> It glorifies God<\/em>. <\/em>To be forever doubting, questioning, and fearing shows an unworthy want of appreciation of God’s glorious redemption. We honor God by taking him at his word, and quietly trusting in his grace.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> It<\/em> confers peace on the soul<\/em>. <\/em>We can possess our souls in quietness when we have confidence. Diffidence keeps up a sense of perpetual unrest.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> It inspires energy<\/em>. <\/em>“They shall build houses, and plant vineyards.” So long as the restored Jews expected to be surprised at any moment by their foes and driven away again from their homes, they would not have much heart to build up the walls of Zion. Tents are sufficient for sojourners. Confidence, however, will give a motive for laying good foundations and building solid structures. The confident Church will launch out in daring enterprises, or carry on long patient toil in sure expectation of enduring results.<\/p>\n

4.<\/strong> It gives leisure for service<\/em>. <\/em>The distrustful workmen must carry the sword as well as the trowel, and thus be hampered in their work. Confidence dismisses fear of danger. The confident servant of God may give himself wholly to his Master’s work.<\/p>\n

5.<\/strong> It wins others to confidence<\/em>. <\/em>Timorous Christians will make but few converts, but one person’s confidence infuses a corresponding confidence in others.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> TRUE<\/strong> CONFIDENCE<\/strong> IS<\/strong> BASED<\/strong> ON<\/strong> SAFETY<\/strong>. Confidence is a feeling; safety is a fact. The one is only justified by the other. Confidence without security is mere bravado. There is no security in the bare sense of safety. Thus often they are most confident who have least reason to be so. The first inquiry is as to facts, not feelings. If we lack confidence our business is not to endeavor to stimulate it, to lull fear with spiritual opiates, or to rouse assurance with spiritual intoxicants. Such conduct is as foolish as it is dangerous. The right course is to look into the question of the justification of confidence. If we want to know whether the house will stand, let us have its foundations examined. When we can be assured of safety, confidence will be a natural result.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> SAFETY<\/strong> ON<\/strong> WHICH<\/strong> TRUE<\/strong> CONFIDENCE<\/strong> IS<\/strong> BASED<\/strong> IS<\/strong> ACCOMPLISHED<\/strong> BY<\/strong> THE<\/strong> REDEEMING<\/strong> WORK<\/strong> OF<\/strong> GOD<\/strong>. The Jews were to dwell in confidence when God had destroyed the power of their enemies. Thus they were to “despise them round about them.” It is shown in the Old Testament as well as the New that the sources of confidence as well as the grounds of safety are not to be found in man. We are not to be confident nor to count ourselves safe because of anything we have done, or because of our assurance of our own strength and resources. Our confidence is in God; therefore the feeblest souls may be confident, as the weakest of men may be quite safe within a strong fortress. Judgment reveals God to the wicked. Thus Zidon knows that God is the Lord (Eze 28:22<\/span>). Redemption reveals him still more to his people, to those who trust and acknowledge him. They will be confident when they are brought by the gracious goodness of the Lord to know him by experience as indeed “their God.” <\/p>\n

HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eze 28:2<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The height of arrogance.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In addressing the Prince of Tyre, the prophet is in reality dealing with what may be called the national spirit pervading the proud and mighty citya spirit regarded as embodying itself in the person of the chief ruler. The claim made by Tyre, and disputed by the prophet, is a claim to virtual divinity. Exalted above other cities, Tyre deems itself superior to human infirmity and to human fortune. This attitude God resents; and his representative here declares it to be the deep-seated and ultimate reason and cause of Tyre’s approaching overthrow and destruction.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> GROUND<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> ARROGANT<\/strong> CLAIM<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> There is on the part of Tyre an assumption of extraordinary wisdom, superior to that of Daniel, a wisdom from which no secret can be hidden.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> By the exercise of this singular wisdom and understanding, the city has devised means, such as the enterprise of its merchants, by which it has accumulated riches, and has filled its treasuries with store of gold and silver and all the conveniences and luxuries which wealth can purchase.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> The eminent position among the nations which Tyre has thus attained, the honor accorded to it, its weight in political relations, have so lifted up its heart that it claims to be a god, and to sit in the seat of God. By this must be understood a claim and assumption to be superior to the need of any Divine care or protection, to be independent of all assistance of any kind, to be secure against the assault of any foe, and even against the mutability characteristic of the human lot. This is arrogance beyond what is to be found even in the wisest and the greatest of mankind.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> VANITY<\/strong> AND<\/strong> FOLLY<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> ARROGANT<\/strong> CLAIM<\/strong>. A state is a human institution; and although it undoubtedly embodies the Divine idea and principle of authority requiring submission, although there is such a thing as national character and national life, still every earthly and human institution, beginning in time, ends in time, and participates in human weakness and ignorance. They who claim deity for aught earthly cannot understand what Deity is, how it is creative and not created, eternal and not transitory, immutable and not shifting, perfect and not subject to development and dissolution. To know one’s self is true wisdom; he who forgets or disclaims his humanity is the subject of illusion, and illusion which must be speedily and irretrievably dispelled.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> SINFULNESS<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> ARROGANT<\/strong> CLAIM<\/strong>. The assumption of Tyre is rebuked and censured, not as a violation of good taste, not as an insult to other nations, but as a defiance of the Lord of all. To claim unfailing wisdom and irresistible power is to assume the attributes, to aspire to the throne, of the Eternal. Pride has been reckoned as one of the seven deadly sins. It is indeed pernicious in its effect upon the character of those who suffer it to take possession of their being and to control the habits of their life. It is offensive and injurious in its influence upon human society. But primarily it is a sin against Godthe placing of the creature in that supreme position which is God’s of right, and God’s alone.<\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> DISPROOF<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> ARROGANT<\/strong> CLAIM<\/strong>. Events occur which dispel human illusions, confound human vanity, and unmask human pretensions. In the days of its prosperity and power, men, ever ready to flatter and to worship the great, were too ready to concede the extravagant and monstrous claims Tyre advanced. But the time of trial comes, and their baselessness and absurdity are exposed. Evils which a Divine power would avert prove able to assault and master the pretentious and self-confident. The one great lesson of human history is thisman is but man, and not God.<\/p>\n

V.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> PUNISHMENT<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> ARROGANT<\/strong> CLAIM<\/strong>. In the zenith of its prosperity, the acme of its power, Tyre is confronted by a force mightier than its own. The agency is the king and army of Babylon; but the great Actor in the awful scenes which transpire is none other than the Eternal himself. The forces of Tyre are defeated, the fleets of Tyre destroyed, the walls of Tyre razed, the wealth of Tyre dispersed, the city of Tyre itself demolished. “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.” Here is something more than disproof; here is reversal, refutation, annihilation. Pride is humbled to the dust; and the proud are scattered and are no more.T. <\/p>\n

Eze 28:3-10<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The folly of worldly wisdom.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It might not have occurred to an ordinary observer that Tyre owed its position to its wisdom, and its downfall to an unwise confidence in that wisdom. Bat the Prophet Ezekiel looked below the surface, and traced the arrogance and presumptuous ungodliness of the great city to its claim to worldly prudence, sagacity, and skill, which, being substituted for true and Divine wisdom, became the occasion of the city’s downfall and destruction.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> RANGE<\/strong> AND<\/strong> REALITY<\/strong> OF<\/strong> WORLDLY<\/strong> WISDOM<\/strong>. It has respect to earthly good, prescribing means by which health of body, riches and luxuries, worldly honor, etc; may be attained. It bounds its regards by the horizon of earth and time. It employs instrumentalities which experience approves as efficacious. It takes counsel of the prosperous and the honored. It pursues patiently and persistently aims which are mundane and which are within human reach, wasting no time (as it would say) upon ethereal sentiment, imaginary and ideal perfection, Utopian schemes.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> FRUIT<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> WISDOM<\/strong>. The case of Tyre is to the point. The understanding and skill for which the Tyrian merchants and mariners were noted were not employed in vain. Success was their attestation and approval. Uncertainty is indeed distinctive of all human endeavor and undertaking. But a large measure of success may fairly be reckoned upon as likely to be secured by the use of means devised by the wisdom of this world. As a man soweth, so does he reap.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> BOAST<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> WISDOM<\/strong>. Tyre claimed to be wiser than Daniel, and to be able to penetrate all secrets. There are those who would think it vulgar and contemptible to boast of their birth, their wealth, their honors, who, however, are not above boasting of their insight, sagacity, and prudence. They would never have fallen into errors which misled their neighbors! They would have known how to deal with such a person, how to contend with such difficulties, how to adapt themselves to such circumstances! Trust them to find their way, however intricate its windings!<\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> TRIAL<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> WISDOM<\/strong>. It is admitted that, in ordinary circumstances and times, worldly wisdom is sufficient to preserve a man and a nation from calamities, to secure to them many and real advantages. But every true student of human nature and human history is aware that times of exceptional probation and difficulty have to be encountered. It is so in the life of every man, it is so in the history of every people. The principles which served well enough before are useless now. The men of the world are at a loss, and know not whither to turn. The crisis has come: how shall it be met?<\/p>\n

V.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> VANITY<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> WISDOM<\/strong>. Mere cleverness and fox-like keenness, mere experience upon the low level of expediency, are proved in times of trial to be altogether worthless. Deeply rooted convictions of Divine truth, and habits of reverential conformity to laws of Divine righteousness, “the fear of the Lord” (in the language of Scripture),such are true wisdom. Anything short of this must issue in disappointment and powerlessness. Human expediencies may carry us a long way, but a point is reached where they fail, and where their worthlessness is made apparent. Such a point was reached in the history of Tyre, when it was found that wealth could not buy off the hostility of Babylon, and that mercenaries could not resist Babylonian arms or policy overcome Babylonian persistence.<\/p>\n

VI.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> OVERTHROW<\/strong> AND<\/strong> CONFUSION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> WISDOM<\/strong>. The language of the prophet upon this is singular and suggestive: “I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, <\/em>and they shall defile thy brightness.” The wisdom in which the Tyrians trusted, and which excited the admiration of their neighbors and rivals, could not withstand the attack of Oriental soldiery and tactics. It was boasted in days of prosperity; but in the day of adversity its strength was small.<\/p>\n

VII.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> DISCREDITING<\/strong> AND<\/strong> CONTEMPT<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THIS<\/strong> WISDOM<\/strong>. There are times when professions are accepted as valid and trustworthy; but there are also times when professions are of no avail, and when solid facts and realities alone will abide. As in the case of Tyre, the wisdom which is weighed in the balances and is found wanting is utterly discredited. Men despise what formerly they praised. Such is the fate to which the wisdom of the worldly wise is doomed. “It is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the prudence of the prudent will I reject Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?”T. <\/p>\n

Eze 28:16<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sin and destruction.<\/strong><\/p>\n

No doubt the inspired prophet of the Lord saw in the fate of Tyro what was not discernible to worldly and enlightened minds. These would look for political causes and motives and consequences in the rise and fall of states. But Ezekiel saw below the surface. He knew that there was Divine action in and beneath the action of Tyre’s enemies; and that there were reasons only recognizable by a reflecting and religious man for the awful disasters which he was commissioned to foretell.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> OCCASIONS<\/strong> OF<\/strong> SIN<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> We may discover what may be called material <\/em>occasions of sin, in the wealth and prosperity, the fame and renown, the beauty and splendor, of Tyre. Circumstances of very different kinds may yet agree in suggesting evil thoughts, desires, and habits. Men lay the blame upon circumstances, but this is a very shortsighted method of proceeding.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> There are moral <\/em>promptings to sin which may spring out of the former. The heart is lifted up with exultation; a not unnatural confidence in possessions and resources springs up and asserts itself.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> MANIFESTATIONS<\/strong> OF<\/strong> SIN<\/strong>. “Thou hast sinned’ is the reproach addressed by God to the guilty city; and it is the reproach addressed to every nation and to every man that has yielded to temptations which should have been withstood, repelled, and mastered. The forms which sin assumes are innumerable, and vary with varying times and with varying states of society. The context refers to:<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Iniquity, or the violation of Divine laws regulating men’s relations among themselves and to God himself.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Violence, such as the powerful, willful, and haughty are given to exercise in their treatment of their inferiors.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> Corruption and defilement, such as are certain to prevail where God is not honored, and where selfish ends inspire men’s conduct.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> PUNISHMENT<\/strong> OF<\/strong> SIN<\/strong>. This is:<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> By the decree of God. He is the Speaker throughout this passage. He claims to bestow privileges, and to call men to account for the manner in which those privileges are used. Whatever be the agency or instrumentality of chastisement and correction, it is by the Eternal Wisdom and Righteousness that it is inflicted.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> In the case of national sin, the penalties are put in force through the instrumentality of neighboring nations. A barbarian horde, or a mighty sovereign and conqueror, has again and again been used as a “scourge of God.” It would be wrong to attribute any moral superiority to the victorious people; they may be merely the rod, the sword, in the hand of the Lord of hosts.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> Where the offence has been heinous, the visitation may be one involving complete destruction, as in the case of Tyre. The terms of threatening here recorded are of the strongest and most unsparing. “I will destroy thee;” “I will cast thee to the ground;” “I will bring forth a fire from the midst of thee; it shall devour thee.” Such punishment is sometimes regarded as inconsistent with the attributes of a just and merciful King and Judge. But, whilst it may not be in our power to vindicate all the ways of God, it is certainly not for us to question the acts of him who is omniscient, and whose righteousness is without a flaw. There is nothing in Scripture to support the opinions of those who think that, because God is benevolent, therefore there is no such thing as punishment. There is a moral law which the Sovereign Judge will surely maintain and vindicate.<\/p>\n

4.<\/strong> The punishment inflicted upon sinners shall be published far and wide. What is done by God in the exercise of punitive justice is done in the sight of all, and all shall be astonished. This publicity may surely be explained as an arrangement intended for the universal goodto impress upon the minds of all mankind the heinousness of iniquity, that they may “stand in awe, and sin not.”T.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:25<\/span><\/strong>, <\/strong>Eze 28:26<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The favor shown to Israel.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the writings of Ezekiel, as in those of other prophets, we cannot but observe the remarkable conjunction of passages denouncing judgment with passages revealing Divine grace and promising Divine clemency. The attentive reader cannot but be surprised and charmed upon meeting with such a promise as is contained in these two verses, coming in between the denunciation of Tyre and the denunciation of Egypt. Undoubtedly, the fate of surrounding nations had relation to the history and prospects of Israel, though it would be presumption in us to define those relations too exactly. It was not a mere rhetorical art which led to the introduction of this portion of the prophecies just in this place. Yet we feel that its position both enhances its beauty and deepens its interest and significance. <\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> FAVOR<\/strong> TO<\/strong> BE<\/strong> SHOWN<\/strong> TO<\/strong> ISRAEL<\/strong> IS<\/strong> IN<\/strong> CONTRAST<\/strong> TO<\/strong> THE<\/strong> FATE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> OTHER<\/strong> NATIONS<\/strong>. <\/em>Tyre should perish from off the earth; Egypt should be trodden underfoot, and should be degraded in the scale of nations; but Israel should dwell in their own land with confidence.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> FAVOR<\/strong> SHOWN<\/strong> TO<\/strong> ISRAEL<\/strong> IS<\/strong> CONSEQUENT<\/strong> UPON<\/strong> ISRAEL<\/strong>‘S DEPRESSION<\/strong>, CONQUEST<\/strong>, AND<\/strong> CAPTIVITY<\/strong>. It is not to be supposed that Israel, because the chosen nation, was exempt from calamity and discipline. On the contrary, it was because, to some extent, the discipline was answering its intended purpose, that brightness followed the storm, that the winter of Israel’s discontent was succeeded by the genial and happy springtime.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> FAVOR<\/strong> SHOWN<\/strong> TO<\/strong> ISRAEL<\/strong> WAS<\/strong>, HOWEVER<\/strong>, UNDESERVED<\/strong> BY<\/strong> ISRAEL<\/strong>‘S OWN<\/strong> CHARACTER<\/strong> AND<\/strong> ACTION<\/strong>. So it had been from the beginning. Israel was a rebellious and stiff-necked people, lapsing now into idolatry and again into murmuring or licentiousness. God had a purpose in Israel’s election, and that purpose must needs be carried out. But in any case, it was no virtue, excellence, or merit in Israel that accounted for the forbearance continually and repeatedly extended towards the people of the covenant.<\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> FAVOR<\/strong> SHOWN<\/strong> TO<\/strong> ISRAEL<\/strong> WAS<\/strong> OWING<\/strong> TO<\/strong> THE<\/strong> CLEMENCY<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong> RULER<\/strong>. Why such clemency was extended to Israel, and was withheld from Tyre, it may not be possible for us to explain. But there is no caprice in the government of God; justice and mercy are his attributes, and it would be folly in man to impugn them. Who is there who is not indebted to Divine long-suffering and loving-kindness? What nation has not been spared and delivered from its enemies, once and again in the course of its history? Certainly, the mercy of the God of Abraham towards the people that sprang from the father of the faithful was great and marvelous.<\/p>\n

V.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> FAVOR<\/strong> SHOWN<\/strong> TO<\/strong> ISRAEL<\/strong> WAS<\/strong> MANIFEST<\/strong> IN<\/strong> THE<\/strong> DELIVERANCE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> PEOPLE<\/strong> FROM<\/strong> CAPTIVITY<\/strong> AND<\/strong> EXILE<\/strong>. They were “gathered from the people among whom they were scattered.” Instead of being reduced to perpetual bondage or absorbed by their conquerors, the Hebrew people, though appointed to exile, were in due time redeemed from their subjection, dependence, and expatriation.<\/p>\n

VI.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> FAVOR<\/strong> SHOWN<\/strong> TO<\/strong> ISRAEL<\/strong> WAS<\/strong> MANIFEST<\/strong> IN<\/strong> THEIR<\/strong> PEACEFUL<\/strong> RE<\/strong>–ESTABLISHMENT<\/strong> IN<\/strong> THEIR<\/strong> OWN<\/strong> LAND<\/strong>. It was the land given by Jehovah to his servant Jacob, the land of promise, the land of the covenant. God had his own wise purposes to work out by this replanting and resettling of the people of Israel upon the sacred soil. There it was appointed for them to dwell in safety and confidence, to build their houses and to plant their vineyards, and above all to worship the God of their fathers in his chosen sanctuary.<\/p>\n

VII.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> FAVOR<\/strong> SHOWN<\/strong> TO<\/strong> ISRAEL<\/strong> WAS<\/strong> INTENDED<\/strong> TO<\/strong> AWAKEN<\/strong> THE<\/strong> ACKNOWLEDGMENTS<\/strong> OF<\/strong> GRATEFUL<\/strong> PIETY<\/strong>. The services and their motives may not always have been spiritual and pure, free from every taint of selfishness and self-satisfaction. The Israelites, thinking of the judgments God had executed upon all those who had despised them round about them, congratulating themselves that, whilst their foes had been humiliated or destroyed, they had been spared, restored, and blessed, may, perhaps, have allowed some feelings of self-righteousness to take possession of their hearts. Yet they could not fail to acknowledge Jehovah as their true Friend and mighty Deliverer; they could not but offer grateful sacrifices of adoring praise to him who had remembered them in their low estate; for his mercy endureth forever. They could not but know and confess him as the Lord their God.T.<\/p>\n

HOMILIES BY J.D. DAVIES<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eze 28:1-10<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pride’s terrible fall.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A real king incorporates in himself all that is best and mightiest in the people. The aims, and enterprises, and ambitions, and spirit of the nation should find a place in his breast. He is a mirror, in which the life of the empire is reflected. Whether he leads or whether he follows the bent of the nation’s will (and, in part, he will do both), he becomes the visible exponent of the nation’s life. All that is good in the empire, and all that is evil, blossoms in him. Hence this message.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> SUPERIOR<\/strong> WISDOM<\/strong> LEADS<\/strong> TO<\/strong> SUCCESS<\/strong> IN<\/strong> COMMERCE<\/strong>. “With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches.” So far, no sin was committed. It is God’s will that the rocks of earth should disclose their treasures of silver and gold. It is God’s will that the nations of the earth should interchange their products. The wisdom requisite for enterprise and commerce God himself gives. “Say not in thine heart, My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth; but thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for he it is who giveth thee power to get wealth.” Far-reaching sagacity, careful plan, prudent thrift, and bold adventure bring stores of wealth. “The hand of the diligent maketh rich.”<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> COMMERCIAL<\/strong> SUCCESS<\/strong> LEADS<\/strong> TO<\/strong> STATE<\/strong> MAGNIFICENCE<\/strong>. More or less in every human breast there is a hunger for dignity, luxury, magnificent display. As soon as means are forthcoming this hunger will satiate itself. Nor is it merely a matter of personal satisfaction. It lends importance to the man; it lends importance to the state; it impresses other peopleother nationswith a sense of superiority. It obtains homage and deference from men, and this is delicious. How otherwise can wealth be expended? The king cannot consume more food, unless it be to his injury. Expenditure on dress soon reaches its utmost limit. Therefore wealth can find outlets only on palatial buildings, pompous equipages, and martial defenses.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> STATE<\/strong> MAGNIFICENCE<\/strong> BREEDS<\/strong> A SPIRIT<\/strong> OF<\/strong> VAIN<\/strong> ASSUMPTION<\/strong>. The tendency of all material possession is to foster a feeling of self-importance. The adulation of others strengthens this feeling. Every addition of influence or power contributes to this inward vanity. In proportion to a king’s poverty of mind will he over-estimate his importance. He looks upon his granite ramparts and upon his vast armaments, and imagines himself unconquerable. All other monarchs flatter him. He is easily cajoled into the belief that he possesses a clear superiority among menyea, positive supremacy. He conceives that be is cast in a mould unlike that of mortalsthat he is deathless and divine. He demands honors which belong to God alone. Instead of making his perilous position secure by the ramparts of God’s friendship, he makes God an enemy.<\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong> PROFANE<\/strong> ASSUMPTION<\/strong> IS<\/strong> DESTINED<\/strong> TO<\/strong> A TERRIBLE<\/strong> REVERSE<\/strong>. “Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers.” A castle built without foundation is sure, sooner or later, to fall. In proportion to the loftiness of the erection will, in such a case, be the greatness of the catastrophe. Instead of being secure and permanent as God, he will find himself vulnerable as a man, frail as a flower at noonday. The spears of those he had despised will pierce his flesh as they would the flesh of another man; and when another kingthe king of terrorsriding furiously on his pale horse, shall confront him, his heart will be the victim of such remorse and shame as other mortals have never known. Better far not to be lifted up than to be lifted up and then cast down. The momentum of a body falling from a dizzy height is terrible: what is the momentum of a lost soul?<\/p>\n

V.<\/strong> GOD<\/strong>‘S WORD<\/strong> IS<\/strong> MIGHTIER<\/strong> THAN<\/strong> ALL<\/strong> HUMAN<\/strong> RESOURCES<\/strong>. “I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.” In the largest sense it is true that we cannot go against the word of the Lord. God’s word is the forthputting of his thought, purpose, will. It is omnipotent resolve interpreted into speech. “He spake, and it was done.” A word becomes a world. A breath of God sweeps the earth like a tornado. A promise is a ladder by which we can climb to the skies; it is a ship that will bear us away safely to the eternal haven. One word of God is a feast that will nourish the life of our soul for ages. It is a refuge in which we may securely hide. Jehovah’s word is a rampart, from behind which we may calmly defy ten thousand foes. It is a wall of fire that never has been broken through. That word is more worth than all bankers’ coffersthan all Californian mines. It is a title-deed to immortality and to heaven.D.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:11-19<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The glory and shame of Eden reproduced.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is no reason why we should not regard the biblical narrative of Adam’s trial and fall as fact and as allegory also. There is no real discrepancy between these two principles of interpretation. We are bound to accept it as a narrative of historical fact. Yet it is also an outline picture of every man’s history. In each man’s case there is the Edenic period of innocence, there is the crisis of first temptation, there is the fall, and then the banishment from Edenic joy. The circumstances of the first probation are more clearly and vividly reproduced in the case of a young prince than in any other. Hence the application to the King of Tyre.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> KING<\/strong> CONSIDERED<\/strong> AS<\/strong> THE<\/strong> IDEAL<\/strong> MAN<\/strong>. Adam was placed in Eden as a monarch. He was placed in dominion over all creatures in earth, or air, or sea. This gave him a great “coin of vantage.” In this respect he was made after the pattern of Godhe was God-like. All that ministered to his needs was within his reach. Not a thing was denied to him that could meet a want or satisfy a just desire. His home was stored with every form of beauteous vegetation and with every kind of precious gem. And he was priest as well as king. He had access to God at all times. In him creation was summed up. In a similar position was the King of Tyrus placed. All material good was within his reach. There was no temptation to acquire wealth by unlawful means. Tyre and its possessions were to him as a garden, over which he could roam at large, He stood towards men in the stead of Godthe dispenser of truth and justice. He was gifted with robust health and with abundant wisdom. He had all that heart could wish. He was placed in an Eden of abundance”in Eden, the garden of God.” Like Adam, he was on his trial.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> <\/em>THE<\/strong> TEMPTATION<\/strong>. To every man temptation comes. If his heart be not set upon the acquisition of spiritual richeswisdom, holiness, and lovehe will desire inordinately the lower good, and will break through lawful restraints in order to possess it. This is the core and essence of temptation. In this way the King of Tyre was tested. He was set up by God to exemplify righteousness, and to administer justice among the people. Nor among his own subjects only, but from his high position “the mountain of God”he could have disseminated righteous principles among all the nations with whom Tyre traded. Yet in this respect the king egregiously failed. His love of gain was too greatwas excessive. It overmastered his love of righteousness. What advantage he could not gain by fair and legitimate methods he extorted by violence. This is clear from Eze 28:16<\/span>, “By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence.” If the king personally was not the prime instigator of these deeds, he connived at them through unprincipled or corrupt judges. His prosperity and glory made him vain and arrogant. Temptation came to pluck the forbidden fruit, and the king weakly yielded.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> CRIME<\/strong>. The crime was selfishness, covetousness, avarice. This favored and fortunate man was placed in the possession of abundance. There was one thing he might not <\/em>do. He might not rob others to enrich himself. The possessions of the foreigner ought to have been as much respected and protected as his own. But the devil whispered in his ear counsels of unrighteous enrichment, and he listened, wavered, succumbed. “Iniquity was found in thee.” “Thou hast corrupted thy wisdom;” i.e. <\/em>thou hast twisted it into cunning and craftiness. “Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic.” He had imagined that no higher power than himself would supervise his deeds. “God is not observant of such things,” said his wily tempter. “Thou shalt not surely die.” This was his crime. His very brightnesshis prosperitybrought him into scenes of new <\/em>temptation. He might have blessed mankind; but he was set on selfish ends. He was in indecent haste to aggrandize self. He trampled on others’ rights, on law and order, that he might swell his self-importance. He chafed against the idea that he, a king, was only a subject to a higher scepter. He would brook no interference with his proud will. This was his crime.<\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> RAVISHMENT<\/strong>. “I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God . I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.” The exclusion from Eden is here repeated. The changes of fortune through which Adam passed, every one, in a measure, passes through also. “I will bring forth a fire from the midst of thee.” No heavier punishment can be passed upon a man than banishment from God’s favor. Where God is, there is safety; where God is not, there is ruin. Where God is, there is heaven; where he is not, there is hell. To be forsaken of Godthis is despair and woe. God departed from Saul, and straightway he began to descend the slippery plane that landed him in destruction. Appearances are very delusive. The eye is easily deceived. Beneath a fair exterior of prosperity there is often incipient decay, yea, corruption hastening to final ruin. “Pride goeth before a fall.” If we have made God our foe, not all the alliances and intrigues in the universe can save us from destruction.D.<\/p>\n

HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eze 28:1-10<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The course and doom of arrogance.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This prophecy is directed against “the Prince [or, ‘King’] of Tyre” (Eze 28:1<\/span>), and was doubtless meant lot him particularly; but it may be taken that he was representative of his court and of his people, and that the denunciation and doom here recorded apply to the state as well as to its head. We have suggested to us the course as well as the doom of arrogance.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> IT<\/strong> BEGINS<\/strong> IN<\/strong> A DANGEROUS<\/strong> AND<\/strong> IRREVERENT<\/strong> COMPLACENCY<\/strong>. The consciousness of power or of priority is found to be a pleasant thing, and it need not be any wise associated with evil. ‘It is often the gift of God; it is often the result of such natural advantages as Tyro possessed. It may give a pure and honest joy to the heart; and when it leads to gratitude and ends in blessing, it is good in every light and at every turn. But when, as is only too often the case, it gives rise to an unwholesome complacency of spirit, which ascribes too much to its own sagacity and too little to the Divine favor, then it stands on perilous ground (Eze 28:4<\/span>, Eze 28:5<\/span>). Indeed, it has already begun to depart from the highway of wisdom and goodness; for this is not the spirit of godliness, but of irreverence.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> IT<\/strong> PASSES<\/strong> ON<\/strong> TO<\/strong> A WEAK<\/strong> AND<\/strong> FOOLISH<\/strong> EXAGGERATION<\/strong>, Its heart is “lifted up” (Eze 28:2<\/span>). It magnifies its own capacities, its own virtues, its own achievements. It conceals its own errors, defects, misdoings, so that they are not visible to its own eyes. It thinks much “more highly of itself than it ought to think,” and supposes itself capable of accomplishing that to which it is wholly unequal. It thinks itself a Daniel (Verse 3) when it is not.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> IT<\/strong> ENDS<\/strong> IN<\/strong> IMPIOUS<\/strong> PRESUMPTION<\/strong>. It says, “I am a god, I sit in the seat of God” (Verse 2). There have been many men and there have been some “world-powers”Babylon, Macedon, Rome, Spainwho (which) have arrogated to themselves an authority and a power little (if any) short of the Divine. They have believes themselves able to act as a Divine providence, determining who or what should be raised up or cast down, supposing that their will could be impressed upon the institutions, or the peoples, or the Churches of their age. They have claimed a homage and assumed a function which belong to none but the Most High himself. Thus human arrogance places on its own haughty head the crown of a daring and impious assumption.<\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong> IT<\/strong> BRINGS<\/strong> UPON<\/strong> ITSELF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> SEVERE<\/strong> CONDEMNATION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> GOD<\/strong>. (Text; see 2Sa 22:28<\/span>; Isa 2:11<\/span>; Dan 4:37<\/span>; Luk 1:51<\/span>; Jas 4:6<\/span>.)<\/p>\n

V.<\/strong> IT<\/strong> IS<\/strong> DOOMED<\/strong> TO<\/strong> DESTRUCTION<\/strong>. (Verses 6, 10.) The strong terms of the text speak of:<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> The decisive and successful antagonism of those who have been despised, but who prove to be “terrible” and victorious (Verse 7, former part).<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> The loss of all that has been most prized (Verse 7, latter part).<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> Uttermost ruin (Verse 8). And this is the fate of the haughty-hearted. They suffer the most mortifying humiliation in the discovery to themselves and exposure to others of their false pretensions; the loss of their high position and forfeiture of all that they once held in so tight a grasp; the ruin, material or moral, which is fitly described as “death.” They “go down to the pit.”<\/p>\n

Let us learn:<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> To guard our power and our success by cultivating the spirit of humility and of gratitude.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> To gain the approval of our Lord by employing our position and our privilege to bless our neighbors, so that we may win his smile and not suffer his reproach.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> To humble our heart, if it should be lifted up, that we may gain God’s mercy and not endure the penalty of our sin.C.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:11-19<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The insufficiency of circumstance, etc.<\/strong><\/p>\n

However we may interpret this imaginative passage (see Exposition), there are certain truths which are not only clear, but even brilliant to our sight as we regard it.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> INSUFFICIENCY<\/strong> OF<\/strong> FAVORABLE<\/strong> CIRCUMSTANCE<\/strong>. The Prince of Tyro was under such fortunate and enviable conditions that he is drawn by the prophet as a man who dwelt in the garden of Eden, in a perfect paradise; as one clothed with garments that shone with all precious stones; as one who was admitted, like the cherubim of the most holy place, to the very near presence of God; as one that stood, with the illustrious leader of Israel, on the sacred mount, and that saw, with him, the splendor of the Divine manifestation (Eze 28:13<\/span>,Eze 28:14<\/span>). Nothing was wanting that the craving heart of man could desire; he “sealed up the sum,” or he “sealed completeness” (Fairbairn) (Eze 28:12<\/span>). He was “perfect in his ways” (Eze 28:15<\/span>); i.e.<\/em> not perfect in the ways of wisdom and worth, but of pleasure and honor and privilege. He lacked nothing that would lend beauty or grandeur or delight to human life. But what availed it all without righteousness? No barrier of rocky walls or of surrounding sea would keep out the enemy when unrighteousness had bred corruption (Eze 28:15<\/span>), and corruption had ended in weakness and downfall. No wealth of favoring circumstance, no multiplication of earthly good, even though a man should have (as this king is imagined to have) the choicest advantages of different generations, will secure lasting good; that is only to be gained by righteousness, by a strong and virtuous character, by steadfast piety.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> PERIL<\/strong> OF<\/strong> GREAT<\/strong> EXALTATION<\/strong>. “He that is down need fear no fall;” but he that is exalted may suffer a terrible humiliationhe may be cast out (or down) from the mountain on which he stood (Eze 28:16<\/span>, Eze 28:17<\/span>); he, the overshadowing cherub, may be ejected from the holy place, from the innermost chamber of sacred privilege, and be cast forth among the unholy (Eze 28:16<\/span>). Let those who are exalted beware, for there is an abasement possible to them of which the unprivileged have no need to be afraid. And they have no other security than in a humble heart, an obedient spirit, a life of integrity and devotion.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> PENALTY<\/strong> OF<\/strong> PROFANATION<\/strong>. Tyre had “corrupted its wisdom” (Eze 28:17<\/span>); had “profaned its sanctuaries” (Eze 28:18<\/span>). Its traffic should have been, as it might have been, carried on in honesty and equity; but it had been depraved, it had become lawless and dishonest; its streets, that should have been the highways of peaceful industry and happy fellowship, had became the places of violence and iniquity (Eze 28:18<\/span> and Eze 28:16<\/span>). That which was intended for the practice and illustration of virtue and excellence had become the scene and source of wrong and guilt. Therefore the righteous Judge would “profane” it (Eze 28:16<\/span>; Fairbairn), would “cast it out as profane” (Authorized Version); the fires of retribution would devour it (Eze 28:18<\/span>); its sad and shameful end would excite the awe and even the terror of the beholder (Eze 28:19<\/span>). Profanation means penalty. If we do wrong to that human spirit <\/em>of ours which comes to us from God, and in which we may closely resemble him; if we defile that human body <\/em>in which the Son of God himself was once clothed, and which should be the very sanctuary or temple of the Divine; if we profane that human life <\/em>of ours which should be so sacred in our sight and may be so charged with blessing and crowned with fruitfulness and beauty;then may we expect the severe condemnation and the serious visitation of the righteous Ruler of mankind. We have then “sinned “(Eze 28:16<\/span>); “iniquity is found” in us (Eze 28:15<\/span>). And there will come the wages of sin, the brand of iniquityloss, sorrow, shame, death. But to the penitent there is reconciliation and return; for though “the wages of sin is death,” yet “the gift of God is eternal life.”C.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:20-26<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The end of Divine judgment.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This severe condemnation of the idolatrous and vicious Zidon, coupled with the very gracious promise to Israel, with which the prophecy concludes, many instruct us<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> WHY<\/strong> AND<\/strong> HOW<\/strong> GOD<\/strong> IS<\/strong> AGAINST<\/strong> US<\/strong>. “I am against thee, O Zidon” (Eze 28:22<\/span>). And we know that Jehovah was expressing his high displeasure and was warning of serious national disaster (Eze 28:23<\/span>) because of the iniquities of the state. The worst forms of religious superstition had long existedidolatrous rites accompanied by immoral practices; the city was utterly corrupt; its condition called for Divine rebuke and chastisement. And the prophet delivers the one while he foretells the other, in the Name of the Lord. God may be “against” us. Not that he ever wishes us evil (Eze 33:11<\/span>); on the contrary, he always desires the return and restoration of the worst (Luk 15:7<\/span>). But God is against us:<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> When our spirit and our life are wrong; when these are irreverent, immoral, unworthy, mischievous.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> He then is seriously displeased with us, especially when his special kindness to us demands a very different return (Joh 3:19<\/span>).<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> He<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> rebukes <\/em>us in his Wordhe condemns us in the strong but yet the merciful language which his Son and his human spokesmen have uttered in his Name; and he<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> chastens <\/em>us,he sends us, as individual souls, that which answers to the national distresses here announced (Eze 28:23<\/span>). He lets sickness and suffering, or defeat and disappointment, or opposition and overthrow, or bereavement and loneliness, come to our home or our heart; we are laid low; some “sword” goes through us, and we are among the slain.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> AIM<\/strong> JUDGMENT<\/strong>. Jehovah would smite Zidon, that that city, darkened in its mind by its long-continued guilt, might be enlightened; that it might understand that its licentious goddess was impotent to help in the hour of peril, and might know that God “was the Lord” (Eze 28:22-24<\/span>). God’s purpose in permitting or in sending trouble to the home and sorrow to the soul, is restorative<\/em>. <\/em>He seeks to enlighten, and, by enlightening, to restore us.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> He wishes us to understand clearly that the earthly forces and human attachments in which we have been putting our trust and seeking our satisfaction are wholly insufficient to us; that they break down when we most need their help; that they are vain; and that we are wrong.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> He desires to lead us back to himselfto his side and to his service; to an absolute trust in his Son our Savior; and to a whole-hearted consecration to his holy service. And it is well worth while to suffer anything and everything that we may “know that he is Lord;” that we ]nay recognize in him the Savior in whom to hide, the Divine Friend whom we can love with all the strength of our soul, the Leader whom we can follow at every step, the Lord whom it is both our sacred duty and our lasting joy to serve in every sphere.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> His PROMISE<\/strong> TO<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> PEOPLE<\/strong>. (Eze 28:24<\/span>, Eze 28:26<\/span>.) How far this prediction has been fulfilled is matter of sacred history; perhaps it is one of those promises which are only realized by “the springing and germinant” fulfillment of which Lord Bacon speaks. Beside<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> the historical, <\/em>there is<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> the spiritual<\/em>; <\/em>and there is also<\/p>\n

(3)<\/strong> the heavenly <\/em>fulfillment.<\/p>\n

Of these three, the second is found in the spiritual condition of those who, by a full surrender of spirit to their Divine Lord, find a perfect rest in him (Mat 11:28<\/span>; Joh 14:27<\/span>; Php 4:7<\/span>; Eph 3:16-19<\/span>). The last will be found when the thorns and the briers which here are felt even in “the garden of the Lord” shall have been cut away by the strong hand of the Divine Husbandman, and there shall be beauty without decay, joy without suffering or satiety, life without any fear of death or of decline.<\/p>\n

“Thorn without flowers; flowers on the thorn,
Then thornless, everlasting bloom.
Three crowns;the first when Faith has worn,
And Hope the next, with brow still torn,
Love shall the last assume.”<\/p>\n

C.<\/p>\n

HOMILIES BY W. JONES<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eze 28:1-10<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Prince of Tyre; or, the expression and punishment of pride.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto the Prince of Tyre,” etc. Following the prophecies concerning the city and state of Tyre, and completing them, Ezekiel delivers these concerning the king of the famous city. They apply to him, not only as a person, but as the representative of the people in their prosperity, power, and pride. “Throughout the East,” says the ‘Speaker’s Commentary,’ “the majesty and glory of a people were collected in the person of their monarch, who in some nations was not feared as a man, but actually worshipped as a god . The prince is here the embodiment of the community. Their glory is his glory, their pride his pride. The doom of Tyre could not be complete without denunciation of the Prince of Tyre.” Our subject has two chief divisions.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> EXPRESSION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> PRIDE<\/strong> BY<\/strong> MAN<\/strong>. (Verses 2-6.)<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Pride of personality<\/em>. <\/em>“Thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a god” (Verse 2; cf. Isa 14:14<\/span>). There are other instances of exceeding pride recorded in the sacred Scriptures; e<\/em>.g<\/em>. <\/em>“Pharaoh King of Egypt said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself” (Eze 29:3<\/span>). Nebuchadnezzar said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling-place?” etc. (Dan 4:30<\/span>). Herod accepted the homage of the people who greeted him as a god (Act 12:21<\/span>, Act 12:22<\/span>). But the Prince of Tyre, in claiming to be a god, goes beyond these examples. It is as if he upheld the city and state, maintained the prosperity and power of his people, and gave them all their glory. It is a claim of independence and self-sufficiency. In it pride reaches its most daring and blasphemous development, as weak, mortal, sinful man sets himself as a rival even unto God.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Pride of position<\/em>. <\/em>“I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas” (Verse 2). This proud boast of the Tyrian prince is partly accounted for by “the situation of the island-city, full of luxury and beauty, in the midst of the blue water of the Mediterranean.” Moreover, Tyre was regarded by many as a sacred island. Fairbairn says that “Sanchoniathon expressly calls it ‘the holy island;’ and it is known that the Tyrian colonies all reverenced it as the mother-city of their religion, not less than the original source of their political existence. It was only in the spirit of ancient heathenism to conclude that a state which was not only strong by natural position, and by immense maritime resources, but also stood in such close connection with the Divine, might be warranted in claiming, through its head, something like supernatural strength and absolute perpetuity of being.”<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> Pride of wisdom<\/em>. <\/em>“Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee.” Three facts concerning the wisdom of the Prince of Tyro are here brought to light.<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> He laid claim to pre-eminent wisdom. He looked upon himself as being wiser than Daniel. It is implied that the extraordinary wisdom of Daniel was at this time generally and widely known and acknowledged. “The prophet presumes it to be acknowledged that Daniel stands on the highest stage of wisdom attainable by man.” When he made known unto Nebuchadnezzar the dream which that monarch had forgotten, he did that of which the wise men of Chaldea had declared, “It is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh” (Dan 2:11<\/span>). Hence, as Hengstenberg remarks, for the Prince of Tyro “to declare himself wiser than Daniel, is at once to transcend the stage of man, and make himself equal with God.”<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> This wisdom had special reference to the discovery of secrets. The proud prince boasted that no secret could be hidden from him (Verse 3). The comparison with Daniel is still maintained. “The secret” of the forgotten dream of Nebuchadnezzar was revealed unto Daniel in a “vision of the night” (Dan 2:19<\/span>), and then communicated by him to the troubled king. And on a subsequent occasion that king said to him, “I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee” (Dan 4:9<\/span>). But the Prince of Tyro boasted that his wisdom transcended even this; and from his proud boast we infer that his wisdom was not genuine. True wisdom humbles its possessor. Where it really is, as knowledge increases reverence also increases.<\/p>\n

(3)<\/strong> The aim of this wisdom was the increase of their material riches. “By thy wisdom and by thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches,” etc. (Verses 4, 5), However great this wisdom might have been, however varied its manifestations, its great aim was the secular prosperity of the state. It did not look beyond the material and temporal to the spiritual and eternal. It was bounded by time and that little portion of this world over which the Prince of Tyre reigned. What a contrast it presents in this respect from the wisdom which is commended in the sacred Scriptures!<\/p>\n

4.<\/strong> Pride of richer<\/em>. <\/em>(Verses 4, 5.) In our survey of Eze 26:1-21<\/span> and Eze 27:1-36<\/span>, we noticed the abounding commercial prosperity of Tyre. Its merchants lived as princes. Its wealth was exceeding great. And as its king contemplated these immense riches his heart exulted in the sense of his own wisdom, importance, and power. “Thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches.” In all self was supreme. In his treasures, in his wisdom, in his might, in the security of his situation, he recognizes no person or power greater than himself. Verily he regarded himself as a god.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> PUNISHMENT<\/strong> OF<\/strong> PRIDE<\/strong> BY<\/strong> GOD<\/strong>. (Eze 27:6-10<\/span>.) Since “pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall,” the Prince of Tyro must soon meet with a severe check to his unbridled arrogance. The prophet proclaims his doom. Notice:<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> The nature of this punishment<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> The abasement of his glory. “They shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy ‘brightness” (Eze 27:7<\/span>). We have seen that the great end for which the Prince of Tyro employed his wisdom was the promotion of their mercantile success, and the consequent increase of their riches. So that the beauty of his wisdom was the commercial prosperity of the state, which he viewed as its choicest result. Their affluence and success, their luxury and splendor, would be diminished, and their glorying in these things would be abased.<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> The slaughter of his life. “They shall bring thee down to the pit; and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the heart of the seas. The plural is used heredeaths, because the king, the central personage, the animating breath of the whole people, as the king is called in Lam 4:20<\/span>, dies as it were many deaths-dies in each of his slain subjects” (Hengstenberg). Here is death in dishonor: “The deaths of them that are slain in the heart of the seas.” “For kings to be slain by foreigners is dishonorable; when slain, not to be buried as kings is a greater dishonor; to be cast out, and drowned as common men, is a height of dishonor.” Here is death in sin: “Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers.” The uncircumcised denotes the heathen world in contradistinction to the covenant people of God. The death of the uncircumcised is the exact opposite of “the death of the righteous ‘ (Num 23:10<\/span>).<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> The Author of this punishment<\/em>. <\/em>“Thus saith the Lord God Behold, I will bring strangers upon thee,'” etc. (Lam 4:7<\/span>). God himself, in the operations of his providence, would thus bring down his pride of heart and vain-glorious boasting.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> The instruments of this punishment<\/em>. “I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations.” The Chaldeans were strangers to the Tyrians. They are not mentioned (in Eze 27:1-36<\/span>.) amount the peoples who traded with Tyre. They were a people of a strange language, and their army was drawn from countries which were strange to the proud people of the island-city. And they were “terrible.” They were powerful and violent beyond all others in that agethe dread conquerors of all whom they assailed. They came against Type, and, after long persistence, humbled the proud city.<\/p>\n

4.<\/strong> The consequence of this punishment<\/em>. <\/em>“Wilt thou say before him that slayeth thee, I am God” but thou art man, and not God, in the hand of him that woundeth thee” (Lam 4:9<\/span>). The proud boasting of the Prince of Tyre would be effectually silenced. He would learn not only that he was not a god, sitting in the seat of God, but a man, whose honor could be laid in the dust, and who could be slain by a world-power mightier than that in which he had gloried. God will certainly bring down the pride of those who exalt themselves against him. “The lofty looks of man shall be brought low, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted” (Isa 2:11<\/span>). This was strikingly exemplified in Pharaoh (cf. Exo 5:2<\/span>; Exo 12:29-32<\/span>), in Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 4:29-37<\/span>), and in Herod (Act 12:21-23<\/span>).<\/p>\n

5.<\/strong> The certainty of this punishment<\/em>. “I have spoken it, saith the Lord God” (Lam 4:10<\/span>). And his word did not fail of fulfillment.<\/p>\n

CONCLUSION<\/strong>. Learn:<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> The<\/em> danger of prosperity generating pride<\/em>. <\/em>“When flowers are full of heaven-descended dews, they always hang their heads; but men hold theirs the higher the more they receive, getting proud as they get full” (Beecher). Let the prosperous guard against this danger.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> The certainty of pride meeting with punishment<\/em>. (Cf. Psa 138:6<\/span>; Pro 11:2<\/span>; Pro 16:5<\/span>,Pro 16:18<\/span>; Pro 18:12<\/span>; Pro 29:23<\/span>; Mat 23:12<\/span>; Jas 4:6<\/span>.)W.J.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:11-19<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Man in impressive aspects.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the King of Tyrus,” etc. This lamentation for the Prince of Tyre presents considerable difficulties to the expositor. It has been interpreted from various points of view, which we need not discuss here. Different meanings also have been assigned to many of its clauses. Two things of great importance to a correct understanding of it, however, seem to us quite clear.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> That in the King of Tyre here we have the representation of an ideal person, who stands for the Tyrian monarchy. “The kings of Type,” says Fairbairn, “are personified as one individual, an ideal manone complete in all material excellence, perfect manhood.”<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> That a deep vein of irony runs through the description of the perfections and splendors of this ideal prince. “This ideal man, the representative of whatever there was of greatness and glory in Type, and in whom the Tyrian spirit of self-elation and pride appears in full efflorescence, is ironically viewed by the prophet as the type of humanity in its highest states of existence upon earth. All that is best and noblest in the history of the past he sees in imagination meeting in this new beau-ideal of humanity.” This irony implies that the Prince of Tyre had a very exaggerated sense of his own greatness and glory; otherwise it would be pointless anti inapt. This paragraph presents to us man in three impressive aspects.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> MAN<\/strong> IN<\/strong> A MOST<\/strong> EXALTED<\/strong> CONDITION<\/strong> AND<\/strong> MOST<\/strong> FELICITOUS<\/strong> CIRCUMSTANCES<\/strong>. (Eze 28:12-15<\/span>.)<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Here is a most exalted condition<\/em>. <\/em>This condition is variously described. “Thou sealest up the sum” (Eze 28:12<\/span>). “To seal means to seal up and close that which is complete (cf. Dan 9:24<\/span>; Job 9:7<\/span>). To seal the sum is to make up the whole measure of perfection.” The King of Tyre is said to be “full of wisdom: In our homily on the foregoing paragraph we noticed that he boasted of his wisdom (cf. Eze 28:3-5<\/span>). He was probably praised and flattered because of it. With truth Greenhill observes, “When princes know a little in anything, they are applauded and. magnified for knowing men; but if they have got some deeper insight into things than others, <\/em>then they are deified.” This king is also represented as “perfect in beauty:’ In form and features, in expression and action, he deemed himself perfect. Or the Tyrians regarded their monarchy as perfect in its order and power and splendor. “Thou wast perfect in all thy ways from the day that thou wast created” (Eze 28:15<\/span>).<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Here are most felicitous circumstances<\/em>. <\/em>(Eze 28:13<\/span>, Eze 28:14<\/span>.)<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> Delightful residence. “Thou wast in Eden, the garden of God.” The reference is probably to the luxuriousness and beauty and grandeur of Tyre. The king had lived there in the full enjoyment of its countless comforts and its various pleasures, realizing as it were a paradisiacal existence.<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> Royal splendors. “Every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, the topaz, and the diamond” etc. “The precious stones with which the king is bedecked bring the glory of his rank to outward view.” He had jewels in great abundance, and rich variety, and of rare luster and beauty. “Full <\/em>many a gem of purest ray serene” glittered upon his person. Music is mentioned as another element of the royal state and glory. “The workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was in thee; in the day that thou wast created they were prepared.” The accession of the king to the throne was celebrated with musical honors and rejoicings. Or perhaps the clause means that the Tyrian monarchy was thus inaugurated. In either case, music was one of the delights of the royal court of Tyre.<\/p>\n

(3)<\/strong> Illustrious station (Eze 28:14<\/span>). “Thou wast the anointed cherub that covereth.” The cherub was an ideal combination of creature life in highest forms and fullest perfection; and the cherubs in the temple were consecrated and anointed with oil (Exo 40:9<\/span>). And as a king the Prince of Tyre was anointed, and was looked up to, or looked upon himself, as the embodiment of perfection. Moreover, as the cherubim with outstretched wings covered the mercy-seat, so the King of Tyre covered his people with his protection. The prophet goes on to say, “Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God,” which the ‘Speaker’s Commentary’ explains thus: “The cherub was in the temple on the holy mountain, so the Prince of Tyre was presiding over the island-city, rising like a mountain from the deep.” But “the holy mountain of God” may be simply a figure denoting a very exalted station. The prophet continues: “Thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.” Various and conflicting are the interpretations of this clause. It probably means that his state apartments were decorated with precious stones like those mentioned in Eze 28:13<\/span> (cf. Eze 1:27<\/span>), and that he walked in the midst of their glittering splendor. Here, then, notwithstanding that the exact meaning of some parts of the text is uncertain, we have a picture of a man in very exalted condition and very felicitous circumstances.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> MAN<\/strong> IN<\/strong> A MOST<\/strong> EXALTED<\/strong> CONDITION<\/strong> AND<\/strong> MOST<\/strong> FELICITOUS<\/strong> CIRCUMSTANCES<\/strong> FALLING<\/strong> INTO<\/strong> HEINOUS<\/strong> SINS<\/strong>, (Eze 28:16-18<\/span>.) Unrighteousness was found in this exalted prince. Two forms of sin in particular are charged against him.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Injustice in commerce<\/em>. <\/em>“By the multitude of thy traffic they filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned . By the multitude of thine iniquities, in the unrighteousness of thy traffic, thou hast profaned thy sanctuaries.” Great traffic occasions great temptation. When men are devoted to merchandise, their path is beset by moral perils. They will be tempted to achieve commercial success by unworthy or unrighteous meansmeans which the unsophisticated conscience condemns as sinful, but which the commercial world allows and practices under plausible names. “The constant excitement of selfishness and covetousness connected with trade can only be effectually counteracted by the grace of God.” “They that desire to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare,” etc. (1Ti 6:9<\/span>, 1Ti 6:10<\/span>).<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Pride of person and position<\/em>. <\/em>“Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.” The pride of this prince has already met with deserved rebuke. “Thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches” (Eze 28:5<\/span>); “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” (Eze 28:2<\/span>). Secular prosperity often begets pride, and pride (as in the case of the King of Tyre) corrupts wisdom. Hengstenberg observes truly, “The foundation of wisdom is humility, which sees things as they are, has an open eye for its own weakness and the excellences of others, and is on its guard against dangerous undertakings, as David says in Psa 131:1<\/span>, ‘O Lord, my heart is not haughty,’ etc. The ‘brightness’ received into the heart blinds the eye, so that one regards himself alone as great, and everything else as small, and rushes wantonly into dangers for which he is not prepared, and enters on paths which lead to perdition; as, for example, Tyre undertook the combat against the flourishing Chaldea monarchy. God does not need to appear as a Deus ex machined <\/em>in the judgment upon the proud, who wantonly brings himself to ruin.” <\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> MAN<\/strong> IN<\/strong> EXALTED<\/strong> CONDITION<\/strong> AND<\/strong> FELICITOUS<\/strong> CIRCUMSTANCES<\/strong>, HAVING<\/strong> FALLEN<\/strong> INTO<\/strong> HEINOUS<\/strong> SINS<\/strong>, VISITED<\/strong> WITH<\/strong> SEVERE<\/strong> PUNISHMENT<\/strong>. Three features of the punishment of the proud Prince of Tyro are exhibited by the prophet.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> His forcible removal from his exalted condition and felicitous circumstances<\/em>. <\/em>“Therefore have I cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God; and I have destroyed thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.” He had gloried in his wealth and power and grandeur, and he should be deprived of them all.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> His open degradation<\/em>. <\/em>“I have cast thee to the ground, I have laid thee before kings, that they may behold thee.” “Formerly,” says Hengstenberg, “in its brightness a spectacle of wonder and envy for kings, Tyro is now become for them a spectacle of astonishment and spiteful joy in its terrible downfall” (cf. Eze 27:36<\/span>). This was the appropriate punishment of excessive pride. The punishment corresponded with the sin. “When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom” (Pro 11:2<\/span>; Pro 16:18<\/span>; Pro 18:12<\/span>).<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> His utter destruction<\/em>. <\/em>“Therefore have I brought forth a fire from the midst of thee, it hath devoured thee, and I have turned thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.” The fire signifies the wrath of God in the punishment of sin; and the effect of that wrath would be the complete destruction of the Tyrian monarchy. Here is an important fact. The destructive fire springs out of the midst of that which is to be destroyed. “All God’s judgments upon sinners take rise from themselves; they are devoured by a fire of their own kindling.” “The fire of lust and covetous desire draws after it the other fire of judgment.”<\/p>\n

CONCLUSION<\/strong>. Several important lessons are enforced by this subject. We mention three of them.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> The<\/em> unsatisfactoriness of temporal prosperity when dissociated from righteous principles and intelligent piety<\/em>.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> The<\/em> peculiar moral perils of successful traders, whether as communities or individuals<\/em>.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> The<\/em> necessity of resisting the earliest risings of pride<\/em>.<\/em>W.J.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:20-24<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

God glorified in the execution of judgment.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Zidon,” etc. Zidon was “an ancient and wealthy city of Phoenicia, on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, less than twenty English miles to the north of Tyre,” and on the extreme northwestern border of the land of Israel. The Hebrew word Tsidon <\/em>signifies” Fishing,” and indicates the earliest employment of its inhabitants. The land in the neighborhood of Zidon was of great fertility. “Adjoining the city there are luxuriant gardens and orchards, in which there is a profusion of the finest fruit trees suited to the climate.” “The gardens of Zidon,” says Dean Stanley, “are conspicuous even from a distance.” In early times Zidon seems to have been a more important city than its neighbor, Tyro (cf. Jos 11:8<\/span>; Jos 19:28<\/span>). Homer, in his poems, makes no mention of Tyro, but several times he mentions Zidon and the Zidonians. But from the time of Solomon until the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar, Zidon appears to have been less influential than Tyro. Our text declares the judgment of God against Zidon, and that in that judgment he will be glorified; and it suggests that he is glorified<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> IN<\/strong> THE<\/strong> REASONS<\/strong> OF<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> JUDGMENT<\/strong>. These reasons maybe arranged under two heads.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> The conduct of the Zidonians in relation to himself<\/em>. <\/em>They were idolaters, worshipping Baal, the sun-god (1Ki 16:31<\/span>), and Ashtoreth as their tutelary goddess (1Ki 11:5<\/span>, 1Ki 11:33<\/span>; 2Ki 23:13<\/span>). It was from them that these idolatries had been introduced amongst the chosen people. The influence of Zidonian women upon the religious character of Solomon was most deplorable; and the marriage of Ahab to Jezebel, a Zidonian princess, was prolific of most disastrous consequences to the kingdom of Israel, both religiously and in other ways. The Zidonians might have obtained the knowledge of the true God from their neighbors the Israelites, and have turned to him in heart and life, if they had been so disposed. But instead of that, they corrupted Israel with their idols. Thus they robbed God of his rightful honor and praise. And his glory he will not give to another, neither his praise unto graven images (Isa 42:8<\/span>).<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> The conduct of the Zidonians in relation to his people<\/em>. <\/em>We have already spoken of their evil influence over them religiously. In other ways they were troublesome to them. They had been as “a pricking brier” and “a grieving thorn” to Israel (Eze 28:24<\/span>). There is probably a reference in this verse to Num 33:55<\/span> and Jos 23:13<\/span>. And, like others of the neighbors of the Israelites, the Zidonians seem to have rejoiced in their troubles and distresses. They are said to have done “despite <\/em>unto them” (Verse 24). They had made them smart with their contempt and derision. The Lord takes notice of this, and will judge them for it. Says Hengstenberg, “While the Lord chastises his own people with an unsparing rod, he visits the neighboring heathen nations for the wrong which they have done to his people, as if it were directed against himself, and verifies in them his word, ‘He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye’ (Zec 2:8<\/span>).” Thus we see that there were good reasons for this judgment. God does not punish any person or people without just cause.<\/p>\n

“His work is perfect;
For all his ways are judgment;
A god of faithfulness and without iniquity,
Just and right is he.”<\/p>\n

(Deu 32:4<\/span>.)<\/p>\n

“Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of thy throne” (Psa 89:14<\/span>); “Righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of the ages” (Rev 15:3<\/span>).<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> IN<\/strong> THE<\/strong> NATURE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> JUDGMENT<\/strong>. “I will send into her pestilence, and blood in her streets; and the wounded shall fall in the midst of her, with the sword upon her on every side” (Verse 23). This judgment by pestilence and sword call hardly be said to have been executed in the invasion by Nebuchadnezzar, seeing that Zidon submitted to him apparently without offering any serious resistance. But this threatening of pestilence and sword may point to the sufferings of the Zidonians at a later period of their history, in consequence of their revolt against the Persians, to whom they were then subject. Zidon was at that time a wealthy and flourishing city; and the revolt would probably have been successful but for the treachery of Tennes, their king, who, in fulfillment of a compact with Artaxerxes Ochus, the Persian monarch, betrayed into his “power one hundred of the most distinguished citizens of Zidon, who were all shot to death with javelins. Five hundred other citizens, who went out to the king with ensigns of supplication, shared the same fate; and by concert between Tennes and Mentor, the Persian troops were admitted within the gates, and occupied the city walls. The Zidonians, before the arrival of Ochus, had burnt their vessels to prevent any one leaving the town; and when they saw themselves surrounded by the Persian troops, they adopted the desperate resolution of shutting themselves up with their families, and setting fire each man to his own house. Forty thousand persons are said to have perished in the flames. Tennes himself did not save his own life, as Ochus, notwithstanding his promise to the contrary, put him to death. The privilege of searching the ruins” eze-7 for the gold and silver they contained was sold by Artaxerxes for money. But our point is that the character of this judgment contributes to the glory of God. Whether we refer the prophecy to the conquest by Nebuchadnezzar, or to the terrible transactions connected with the revolt against the Persian power, or to both, there was nothing arbitrary on God’s part in the execution of the judgment. The Lord did not, as it were, go out of his way to inflict it. The Zidonians may be said to have brought it upon themselves. Yet all was regulated and controlled by the providence of God. The Divine punishment of sin is never an arbitrary infliction, but the natural working of a necessary law. The penalty is the natural consequence of the transgression. The suffering is the fruit of the sin.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> IN<\/strong> THE<\/strong> EFFECT<\/strong> OF<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> JUDGMENT<\/strong>. A twofold effect is exhibited by the prophet.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Relief and blessing to the people<\/em> of the Lord<\/em>. <\/em>“And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor a grieving thorn of any that be round about them, that did despite unto them” (Verse 24). This refers not to the Zidonians alone, but to the other peoples who, being neighbors to the house of Israel, had been a trouble unto them. They “that are round about them, that did despite unto them,” would cease to molest and distress them. “God s judgment on the ungodly tends to the good of his Church.”<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Acknowledgment of the supremacy of the Lord<\/em>. <\/em>Twice in this brief paragraph it is said of the Zidonians, “And <\/em>they shall know that I am the Lord.” (These words, which occur so frequently in this book, we noticed in Eze 6:7<\/span>, Eze 6:10<\/span>; Eze 7:4<\/span>.) The people of Zidon “must recognize or experience him in his operations, whom they obstinately refused to recognize willingly” (Hengstenberg). It is also said of the Israelites, “they shall know that I am the Lord God.” In the relief afforded to them and the deliverances wrought for them they would recognize the presence and power and supremacy of Jehovah. Thus “the Lord of hosts is exalted in judgment, and God the Holy One is sanctified in righteousness” (Isa 5:16<\/span>).W.J.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:25<\/span><\/strong>, <\/strong>Eze 28:26<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

God glorified in his dealings with his people under chastisement.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Thus <\/em>saith the Lord God; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered,” etc. In bringing to a close the prophecies against the heathen nations which bordered upon the Holy Land, Ezekiel briefly outlines the glorious restoration of the people of God in contrast to the judgments which destroyed those nations. He also declares that he will be sanctified in his people in the sight of the nations. His dealings with his people who were in captivity would be of such a character as to promote his honor in the eyes of the nations who were cognizant of those dealings. Thus the subject is presented to us of God glorified in his treatment of his people under chastisement<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> IN<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> CARE<\/strong> FOR<\/strong> THEM<\/strong> WHILE<\/strong> THEY<\/strong> ARE<\/strong> UNDER<\/strong> CHASTISEMENT<\/strong> BECAUSE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THEIR<\/strong> SINS<\/strong>. Our text is itself an evidence of this care. They needed some strong encouragement to counteract “the despondency which was now, after the opening of the siege of Jerusalem, the most dangerous foe” which they had to contend against. God recognized their need, and the inspiring promises of the text were a contribution towards its supply. Moreover, his purpose to gather them again and restore them to their own land necessitated the exercise of care over them during their exile. We have reason to believe that when his people are under chastisement they are the objects of his special care. This is taught, in his holy Word, especially in Mal 3:3<\/span>, “He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver.” In purifying silver from its dross “the refiner not only places his crucible on a hot fire, but heaps fire around and above it. Under this process it at first throws out a dark and offensive smoke, which, as the heat and its effects increase, becomes less offensive, until it altogether ceases, and the silver becomes beautifully white. The point of requisite purity and perfection is when the refiner sees his own likeness reflected in the silver<\/em>. <\/em>How admirably does this illustrate the gracious process by which, through means of affliction, our heavenly Father carries on the work of purification in the hearts of his children!” The refiner of silver keeps his eye steadily on the furnace, lest the silver should be injured by the intense heat, and that he may see when the process is complete; so the great Refiner watches over his children when they are passing through the cleansing fires of Divine chastisement. Here, then, is encouragement to the people of God in seasons of trial. God himself is graciously observing you. His eye is constantly and tenderly upon you. In this fact there is also vindication of the Divine honor in relation to the afflictions of his people.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> IN<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> REMOVAL<\/strong> OF<\/strong> THE<\/strong> CHASTISEMENT<\/strong> WHEN<\/strong> IT<\/strong> HAS<\/strong> ACCOMPLISHED<\/strong> ITS<\/strong> PURPOSE<\/strong>. “Thus saith the Lord; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered,” etc. (Verse 25), When the object for which the covenant people were sent into captivity was achieved, he brought them together and reinstated them in the land which he gave to his servant Jacob, “In that furnace of affliction the national tendency to idolatry was burnt out of the national heart, never to reappear;” and then they were delivered out of the furnace. In their restoration to their own land the nations would see that the Lord had not cast them off or forsaken them. “For the Lord will not cast off forever. For though he cause grief,” etc. (Lam 3:31-33<\/span>). Moreover, in that restoration there was a manifestation of the faithfulness, power, and goodness of the Lord to his people. Faithfulness <\/em>in his remaining true to them and to his engagements to them, notwithstanding their former long-continued unfaithfulness to him. “If <\/em>we are faithless, he abideth faithful; for he cannot deny himself.” Power <\/em>in his controlling the hearts and actions of men for the accomplish; meat of his purposes in relation to his people. And goodness <\/em>in dealing with them so graciously, notwithstanding their ill desert. Thus would the Lord God be sanctified in them in the sight of the nations; And still he speedily removes the chastisements of his people when they have effected the purpose for which they were inflicted.<\/p>\n

“Praise him still the same forever,
Slow to chide, and swift to bless.” <\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> IN<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> RESTORATION<\/strong> OF<\/strong> PEACE<\/strong> AND<\/strong> PROSPERITY<\/strong> TO<\/strong> THEM<\/strong>. “And they shall dwell securely therein; yea, they shall build houses, and plant vineyards,” etc. (Verse 26). “As we have seen that the prophecies against the heathen reached, not merely to the particular nations, but to the world-power which they represented; as the same predictions are directed against Tyre by Ezekiel, against Babylon by Isaiah, and against the Apocalyptic Babylon by St. John; so this prophecy reaches far beyond a mere temporal restoration. It points to times of more permanent security, when from all nations and kingdoms the Church of Christ, the Israel of God, shall be gathered in, when the power of the world shall be for ever broken, and the kingdom of Christ shall be established forever” (‘Speaker’s Commentary’). Two blessings are particularly mentioned by the prophet.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Safety<\/em>. <\/em>“They shall dwell securely.” Israel was not free from enemies and molestations after their return from captivity. Delivered from idolatry, yet their evil hearts broke out into other forms of sin; and distresses followed transgressions. Christian believers are not exempted from either enemies or trials. Yet we may say that “believers always dwell safely under the Divine protection, and may be quiet from the fear of evil.” For “if God is for us, who is against us? In all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that loved us” (Rom 8:31<\/span>, Rom 8:37<\/span>; Heb 13:6<\/span>; 1Pe 3:13<\/span>).<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Prosperity<\/em>. <\/em>“They shall build houses, and plant vineyards, and dwell securely.” These operations denote the return of prosperity to the people. And it is certain that at times they flourished considerably in their condition and circumstances. There is evidence of this in the sumptuous houses which they built for themselves. (cf. Haggai. ). In thus dealing with his people also the Lord would “be sanctified in them in the sight of the nations.” But the text points onward to blessings yet in store for the Israel of God. Seasons of unprecedented power and prosperity await the Church in the future, when men everywhere shall know and acknowledge the Lord God. “All the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord” (Num 14:21<\/span>). “In the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth,” etc. (Php 2:10<\/span>, Php 2:11<\/span>). And in the heavenly Canaan shall be enjoyed the complete triumph, and the undisturbed peace, and the deep, eternal joy.<\/p>\n

“And the temple again shall be built,<\/p>\n

And filled as it was of yore;<\/p>\n

And the burden be lift from the heart of the world,<\/p>\n

And the nations all adore;<\/p>\n

Prayers to the throne of heaven<\/p>\n

Morning and eve shall rise,<\/p>\n

And unto, and not of the Lamb<\/p>\n

Shall be the sacrifice.”
(P. J. Bailey.)<\/p>\n

W.J.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

CHAPTER 28<\/p>\n

1And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, 2Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thy heart is high, and thou sayest, I am God, the seat of the gods I occupy in the heart of the seas; and thou art man, and not God, and thou makest thy heart as the heart of the Godhead: 3Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; nothing concealed is dark to 4thee: In thy wisdom and in thy prudence thou hast made for thee wealth, 5and makest [procurest] gold and silver in thy treasures: In the fulness of thy wisdom in thy traffic thou didst increase thy wealth, and thy heart was high in thy wealth: 6Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thou makest 7thy heart as the heart of the Godhead; Therefore, behold, I bring strangers upon thee, the violent of the heathen; and they draw their swords upon the 8beauty of thy wisdom, and they dishonour thy shining beauty. To the grave they will bring thee down, and thou diest the death of the pierced through 9in the heart of the seas. Wilt thou say and [still] say, I am God, in the presence of him that slayeth thee? and thou art man, and not God, in the 10hand of him that pierceth thee through! Deaths of the uncircumcised shalt thou die in the hand of strangers: for I have spoken: sentence of the Lord 11Jehovah. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, 12Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Thou confirmedst the measure, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty! 13In Eden, the garden of God, wast thou; every precious stone was thy covering, Sardine, topaz, and diamond, Tarshish-stone, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald, and gold: the work of thy kettledrums and of thy pipes was with thee; in the day that thou wast made they were prepared. 14Thou cherub of the anointing, that covered; and I have given thee [therefor, thereto]; upon the holy mountain of God wast thou, in the midst of fiery stones 15thou didst walk. Blameless wast thou in thy ways from the day that thou 16wast made, till perverseness was found in thee. In the abundance of thy merchandise they filled thy midst with mischief, and thou sinnedst; and I will profane thee from off the mountain of Godhead; and I will destroy thee, 17covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thy heart was high in thy beauty; thou didst corrupt thy wisdom on account of thy shining beauty; to the earth will I throw thee down; I give thee before kings, that 18they may look upon thee. From the multitude of thy iniquities, in the corruptness of thy traffic, thou hast profaned thy sanctuaries; and I will make fire go forth from the midst of thee, which burns thee up; and I will give thee 19to ashes upon the earth in the eyes of all who see thee. All who know thee among the people are amazed at thee; for terrors thou art become, and thou art no more even to eternity.<\/p>\n

20And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, 21Son of man, direct thy face toward Zidon, and prophesy upon it, 22And say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah; Behold, I [come] upon thee, Zidon, and glorify Myself in the midst of thee: and they know that I am Jehovah, when I do judgments in [oh] her, 23and sanctify Myself in her. And I send pestilence into her, and blood into her streets; and the pierced-through fall in the midst of her by the sword upon her round about; and they know that I am Jehovah. 24And there shall no more be to the house of Israel a pricking thorn and a smarting sting from all round about them, who despised them; and they know that I am the Lord Jehovah. 25Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they have been scattered, then I sanctify Myself in them before the eyes of the heathen, and they dwell upon their 26ground which I have given to My servant Jacob. And they dwell upon it in security, and build houses, and plant vineyards, and dwell in security, when I do judgments on all who despised them of those round about them; and they know that I, Jehovah, am their God.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:3<\/span>. Sept.: ; ;<\/p>\n

Eze 28:4<\/span>. ; <\/p>\n

Eze 28:5<\/span>. ; <\/p>\n

Eze 28:7<\/span>. Sept.: . .<\/p>\n

Eze 28:8<\/span>. ,<\/p>\n

Eze 28:9<\/span>. Sept., Vulg., Syr., Ar. read: and .<\/p>\n

Eze 28:12<\/span>. Sept.: … . , or in stat. const.For some codices read .<\/p>\n

Eze 28:13<\/span>. Another reading: = quasi Eden.<\/em> Sept.: . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . Vulg.: In deliciis parodisi aurum opus decoris tui; et foramina tua in die<\/em><\/p>\n

Eze 28:14<\/span>. Sept.: , .Vulg.: Tu Cherub extentus et protegens<\/em>,<\/p>\n

Eze 28:15<\/span>. () <\/p>\n

Eze 28:16<\/span>. . . . . Vulg.: repleta sunt interiora tua<\/em><\/p>\n

Eze 28:17<\/span>. Sept.: … . . . <\/p>\n

Eze 28:18<\/span>. . . Vulg.: polluisti sanctificationem tuam<\/em>(Some codd. read.: sing. and .)<\/p>\n

Eze 28:19<\/span>. … nihili factus es<\/em><\/p>\n

Eze 28:22<\/span>. … Sept. for read twice ; Chal., Ar., a few, .<\/p>\n

Eze 28:23<\/span>. Sept.: … <\/p>\n

Eze 28:24<\/span>. . <\/p>\n

Eze 28:25<\/span>. . . . Sept. read: .<\/p>\n

Eze 28:26<\/span>. , . . .<\/p>\n

EXEGETICAL REMARKS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eze 28:1-10<\/span>. The Prophecy on the Prince of Tyre<\/em><\/p>\n

Eze 28:1<\/span>. There is first, therefore, a prophecy of judgment, as in Ezekiel 26<\/span>, with reference to Tyre.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:2<\/span>. ; Meier: one who holds together, a governor, director. In Ethiopic, Ngus<\/em> is king, Gesen.: he who goes before, duke, doge. The special prominence given to this person, designated king in Eze 28:12<\/span>, was natural from the marked parallel with Jerusalem; comp. Eze 17:19<\/span>. But there was expressed in the kingdom, and especially in the case of Tyre, also a characteristic state-constitution. Small as many of the Phnician cities were, each still had its king, and Tyre, in particular, kept by a hereditary kingdom, so that even in the latest times only those related to the old royal house were admitted to the throne. This kingdom combined with a rich and powerful aristocracy the mercantile interest, the gains of commerce, which founded it (Eze 28:16<\/span>). After the analogy of Carthage, a senate stood by the side of the king, of the old families, which must in many respects have limited him, so that the Oriental despotism could not develope itself here. According to Josephus, it was Ethbaal II.; but not the person, only the position comes into consideration, and especially as in him the mercantile power of Tyre had its proud, secure representative.As elsewhere also (Ezekiel 25<\/span>), so here the sinning goes first on to Eze 28:6<\/span>.The self-exaltation which is ascribed to him has respect, on one side, to the high opinion entertained of himself; on the other, to the same in connection with his dwelling-place. What is to be made account of in the latter respect is plain from the assertion, I am God<\/strong>,to be distinguished from the likeness of the Most High<\/strong> ( ) in Isa 14:14<\/span>, also from Act 12:22<\/span>; it expresses the heathenish-mythological consciousness. The rock on which Tyre was built is at the same time to be viewed in its connection with the oft-mentioned temple. The Phnician myth represented the two islands as moving about in the sea, until an eagle was sacrificed as an atonement. Down to the third century Tyrian coins exhibit the two islands, with the inscription, (immortal rock). According to Sanchoniathon, Astarte, when wandering through the world, consecrated a star that fell down before her eyes to the island Tyre. The foundation of the temple to Melkarth was represented by its priests as contemporaneous with that of the cityabout 2750 b. c. So Herodotus relates; and Arrian calls it the oldest sanctuary known in the annals of mankind. Thus is sufficiently explained; while Hengst. still thinks of an absolute inaccessibleness, and Hitzig of the circumstance that this kingly residence sprang up out of the water, as the palace of God out of the heavenly ocean. [Sanchoniathon expressly calls it the holy island; and it is known that the Tyrian colonies all reverenced it as the mother-city of their religion, not less than the original source of their political existence. It was only in the spirit of ancient heathenism to conclude, that a state which was not only strong by natural position, and by immense maritime resources, but also stood in such close connection with the divine, might be warranted in claiming, through its head, something like supernatural strength and absolute perpetuity of being.P. F.]In the heart of the seas<\/strong> is an echo from Eze 27:4<\/span>; Eze 27:25-26<\/span>.The rejoinder, and thou art man<\/strong>, etc., is sharp, yet at the same time soberthe simple contrast between man<\/strong> and God<\/strong> (El).And thou makest thy heart<\/strong>, etc., continues the thou sayest<\/strong>, as well explaining , as giving forth the speech that naturally flowed from it, the thoughts, the ebullitions of a heart which was the heart of Godhead<\/strong>.Hitzig: indicates what is made.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:3<\/span> begins an interlude, which, however, does not picture forth the imagination of his being God, to which the mention of Daniel would as little suit as what thereafter follows; but rather proceeds on the ground of the admitted manhood, and so does only the more feelingly censure the loftiness of spirit. It needs not be understood either as a question, or as spoken ironically. Behold<\/strong>, what exists, according to thy mistaken notion; it shows the being wiser than Daniel<\/strong> to be merely an imagination. There hence arises, at the same time, a clear confirmation of the book of Daniel (comp. Hengst. here), since Daniels wisdom was at any rate well known in the circle of Ezekiel, one also recognised at the Chaldean court, and therefore to be held up against the Tyrian sovereign. On the , that to him nothing concealed, secret, was unknown, comp. Dan 2:10-11<\/span>; Dan 2:19<\/span>; Dan 4:6<\/span>. Here also, indeed, is only a man, but with a generally admitted superhuman, truly divine wisdom, which God had in reality given (that is the main element in the comparison with Daniel), which he has not, as thou hast done, in his imagination appropriated to himself. Hengst. lays stress also upon the statesmanlike, the really princely position of Daniel, which so excellently grounded the kind of counter-position assigned him in relation to the king of Tyre.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:4<\/span> goes a step deeper still, namely, to the real standpoint of the Tyrian prince,his wisdom and prudence in the matter of worldly riches (1Ki 4:29<\/span>). In connection therewith, one naturally thinks of the traditions according to which an ancestor of the royal house was the first sailor, who was borne to the island in the hollow trunk of a tree, and there erected pillars to the wind and fire; that the forefathers of the Tyrian kings alleged they had found purple on the island (the Tyrian colour, scarlet, the lack-dye of Sor). is presently specified in the gold and silver.<\/strong> is: provisions, treasure, treasury (Zec 9:2-3<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Eze 28:5<\/span>. However great this wisdom might be, however much and varied its manifestations, it centred in the merchandise; and with the growth which accrued to the wealth, the heart also became swollen, as its self-elation found in that wealth its proper element.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:6<\/span> connects itself in a summary way with Eze 28:2<\/span>, and prepares for the conclusion in Eze 28:7<\/span>, which joins the punishment to the course of sin that had just been described., terrible, powerful and violent: those who are so pre-eminently above othersthe Chaldeans (Eze 26:7<\/span>). Hitzig: Against (why not upon<\/strong>?) the beauty of thy wisdom.<\/strong> What is meant is: that the beauty of the mercantile state of things in Tyre was the offspring of the wisdom which distinguished its king, and are almost the same, the latter, however, indicating more the shine or glitter of the beauty. The shine of the beauty may be referred. especially to the princehood of Tyre. [Ewald: they draw their swords upon thy most beautiful wisdom.] , to pierce through, Pi. to dishonour, to make common.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:8<\/span>. =, Eze 26:20<\/span>.The plural , deaths<\/strong>, admits of explanation partly from the representative character of the Tyrian princehood, partly from the feeling therewith connected, of his dying in the death of every Tyrian that was slain. Hengst. compares Eze 29:5<\/span>; Gen 14:10<\/span>. Others: as the pierced through dies of many death-wounds (Eze 21:30<\/span>; Eze 21:19<\/span> [25]). Even without rendering , profane, there is a pointing back to in Eze 28:7<\/span> in this way, namely, that the princehood should at last share the fate of every one who was pierced through, and, stripped of all splendour, should be cast into the grave.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:9<\/span>. The word here goes still farther back than in Eze 28:8<\/span>, and transfers the scene to the very moment of being killed, and confronts the vaunting discourse (in Eze 28:2<\/span>). , Eze 21:16<\/span> [11].The extremely cutting argumentation, and thou art man<\/strong>, etc., Pi. =, Poel (Isa 51:9<\/span>)<\/p>\n

Eze 28:10<\/span>. , plur. from , comp. at Eze 28:8<\/span>. is uncircumcised<\/strong> (comp. Eze 44:9<\/span>; Isa 52:1<\/span>); for Jews, on account of the sacramental import of circumcision, it designates the heathen world as outside the covenant of God (1Sa 17:36<\/span>; 1Sa 31:4<\/span>, barbari?<\/em>). The opposite in Num 23:10<\/span> : the death of the righteous. Also for the Tyrian, as here, it is hardly to be understood without the circumcision reported by Herodotus of the Phnicians (II. 104). Earlier, in Eze 28:8<\/span> : as every one that is pierced through; here there is an ascension: as a non-Tyrian through strangers.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:11-19<\/span>. Lamentation over the Prince of Tyre<\/em><\/p>\n

Now Eze 28:11<\/span>, as Ezekiel 27<\/span><\/p>\n

Eze 28:12<\/span>. The lamentation is in fitting adaptation to the person who was just killed. Comp. at Eze 27:2<\/span>.In the connection with and , which in themselves, and after what has preceded, are quite clear, cannot possibly be rendered, with Hitzig: thou art a curiously wrought seal-ring. Ewald has: O thou seal of the completion. means: to cut in, to impress with a seal, to seal; therefore partic.: thou wast sealing. Also , the seal-ring, is properly the impressor. The transferred signification: to seal, that is: to attest, to confirm, to verify, recommends itself through (from , to determine exactly, to weigh), the measure, the determinate, that which must have a certain amount (Eze 43:10<\/span>); accordingly: thou confirmedst the measure<\/strong>, thou fulfilledst, madest the right measure good; therefore a threefold thing is boasted of the Tyrian kingdom: measure, wisdom<\/strong>, and beauty.<\/strong> The first of these may be said against despotism; comp. at Eze 28:2<\/span>. [According to the present text and punctuation, the expression plainly means: thou art the one sealing exactness (the noun denoting anything that is of an exact or perfect nature). To say of the king of Tyre that he sealed up this, was in other words to declare him every way complete: he gave, as it were, the finishing stroke, the seal, to all that constitutes completeness; or, as we would now say it, he was a normal manone formed after rule and pattern. Hence it is immediately explained by what follows: full of wisdom and perfect in beauty in this stood his sealing completeness.P. F.]<\/p>\n

Eze 28:13<\/span>. In Eden<\/strong>; comp. Eze 36:35<\/span>; Isa 51:3<\/span>. And the delightsome land, wherein the garden for primeval man lay, brings up the garden of God (El, not Jehovah); Eze 31:8-9<\/span>; Gen 13:10<\/span>. As the Tyrian king himself was certainly not God, but what was said of him in Eze 28:12<\/span>, so his dwelling was unquestionably not , the habitation of God; it might, however, be named paradisiacal, since all fulness of what was pleasant, and all possible magnificence, surrounded the same, covered it (). Hitzig freely: every precious stone was thy figure-work; because out of the stones the figuration of the ring must be composed! The transition to every precious stone<\/strong> brings to remembrance Gen 2:11-12<\/span>. The distribution of the particulars forms three groups, each having three precious stones, rounded oil by the gold, which makes ten (the symbolical number of completeness). This emblematic representation of kingly greatness and glory, therefore, carries no respect to the breastplate of the high priest and its twelve stones, where also they are ranged in a different order; comp. however, on the signification of the particular names, at Exo 28:17<\/span> sq., 39:10 sq. Comp. also here at Eze 1:16<\/span>; Eze 1:26<\/span>; Eze 27:16<\/span>. may signify business, performance, work, also goods. Manifestly music<\/em> is meant by it here, as the older expositors have rendered, an ordinary accompaniment of the pomp of royalty (comp. Pan. 3:5<\/span>)! is therefore the (hand) kettledrum, as a specimen of all instruments that were struck (); and will be the pipe (from , to push through, bore through), for the wind instruments as they were then constructed. [Ges. takes for the socket in which the gem is put, and as ring-socket. Ewald: were appointed for thy oracle and soothsaying work on the day of thy creation. He would take it ironically: the manwho might be called the seal, that is, the consummation, etc., was once certainly as the first of all men in paradise (Job 15:7<\/span>), so that he has a completeness beyond any other persontook, doubtless, for his holy ornament, which covered him from the first day of his life, all the twelve stones of the high priests oracle-sign, and was doubtless made by God a cherub upon the mountain of the gods, and was also, doubtless, unblameable from his birthonly, alas! till his guilt was discovered! Others thought of , the female (woman). So Hv.: the service of thy kettledrums and of thy women was ready for thee on the day of thy creation, which (by a reference to Gen 1:27<\/span>) must indicate the kings entrance on his government, and the ladies of his harem, who surrounded him with dance and song.]On the , comp. Ezekiel 21:35 [Eze 21:30<\/span>]. With the creation of this princedom, as it took in Tyre precedence of the still older Zidon, there forthwith existed all sorts of parade and glory, such as could be found only in kings courts. (, Pual from ?). Firm and well prepared did this kingdom start into being.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:14<\/span>. As the colour given to the representation has already, with its kettledrums and its pipes, forsaken Eden and paradise, and the day of creation does not quite constitute the Tyrian king a second Adamas the whole representation generally appears to take into account only the very ancient origin on which this kingdom prided itself, perhaps also not without some touch of ironyso certainly the cherub<\/strong> here has little or nothing at all to do with paradise (comp. at Ezekiel 1<\/span>; Eze 9:3<\/span>; Ezekiel 10<\/span>); for it is unnecessary for the following context to think of the history of the Tyrian kingdom after the analogy of the history of the fall. Rather may we suppose that the designation of cherub points simply to the temple at Jerusalem, and especially to the most holy place there. There is thereby symbolized out of the history of this kingdom that historical epoch when it came through Hiram II. into connection with David and with Solomon, so important, in particular, for the design of the temple-building, and important also for the commerce of Tyre. Already, as architect of the temple of Solomon (and that Hiram was a connoisseur as well as a promoter of the building art is testified by Josephus, in addition to what is said in the Bible, from the fragments of Dius and Menander in his possession), the king of Tyre takes beside Solomon in this respect a position which makes his appearance under a name borrowed from the architecture of the holy of holies, the cherub, not unsuitable. That cherub is applied to him only symbolically is rendered plain by the otherwise incomprehensible addition of , that is, of the anointing, which imports as much as: anointed cherub, therefore: who is king. What Hengst. concludes from Exo 30:22<\/span> sq., that anointed = holy, because all the vessels of the temple were anointed, to impress on them the character of holiness, runs out to this result, that the king of Tyre, as king, was res sacra<\/em>, because God had communicated to him of His greatnesstherefore, that he is said to be anointed because he was king. Since , the covering, repeated in Eze 28:16<\/span>, refers to Exo 25:20<\/span>, and we know (comp. Doctrinal Reflections<\/strong> on Ezekiel 9<\/span>) that the cherubim, screening with their wings the ark of the covenant, symbolized the life of creation, confessing, as it actually does, the heavenly King, the Holy One in Israel, the Most High over all, so it is not out of the way if the king of Tyre, who has shown himself to be, along with Solomon, the protector of the temple,a building which unquestionably culminated in the most holy place,should, agreeably to this testimony, be honoured as the anointed cherub that covereth. Yea, as the whole creation serves the eternal King of Israel, so also has the Tyrian kingdom served Him in His house at Jerusalem (on which also Isa 23:18<\/span> leans), and thus a proper contrast to the self-elevation in Eze 28:2<\/span>; Eze 28:5<\/span> is brought out, as is expressly said through the immediately following , I have given thee. Upon the holy mountain of God<\/strong> is here, therefore, as always, to be understood of the temple-mount at Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 3<\/span>.), where He right truly was<\/strong>, as architect of the temple. And because there the sanctuary for the ministrations of the priestly service in Israel was executed through him, and in the high priest of Israel the whole Israelitish priesthood culminated, it might be said, with reference to the high-priestly Urim and Thummim, of the Tyrian king, that he walked in the midst of stones of fire.<\/p>\n

[Other Explanations<\/em>.Hv. thinks that the king of Tyre was named cherub as the ideal of a creature (so, too, Bhr previously in his Symbolik<\/em>); is with him to be distinguished from , an anointed object (Exo 30:26<\/span>), and is as much as: a reflection of the divine glory. He thinks of a holy gods-mountain (Isa 14:13<\/span>), wherein the king of Tyre, as one of those mighty mountain-gods (1Ki 20:23<\/span>) whom the Tyrians honoured, was located; and the fiery stones were, according to Hv., those in the temple of Herculus as the fire-god, which may have been illuminated. Hengst. takes the cherub, with Hv., as a representation of the earthly creature-life in its highest grade, and in its highest perfection; which, however, cannot be conceived of as proper to the Tyrian king. As covering, he covered Tyre so long as Gods favour was with him and his people. The mountain of God must be his elevation to the holy mount of God, a participation in the divine greatness (Psa 30:8<\/span>); and the fiery stones correspond to the walls of fire, which indicate the divine protection (Zec 2:9<\/span>). Ewald: thouinto the wide-covering cherub, into that I make thee; and from the holy mountain of the gods rush down the sparkling stones of fire, namely, thunderbolts against the wicked (!). Hitzig, like the Sept., takes as , with<\/strong>: beside the cherub, etc., so have I set thee; then: cherub of the width of the covering. But he is in some doubt; he thinks by the mountain of God might be meant Horeb; but it might be the Albordsch of Asiatic mythology, and in the stones of fire there lies at bottom the idea of a Vulcan. One sees the despair which attaches to every rationalistic exposition.]<\/p>\n

[The rationalistic explanations of this singular passage are certainly bold and unsatisfactory enough; but our authors own appears to make greatly too much account of the historical relation of Hiram to the temple at Jerusalem, and too little of the poetical element which pervades the representation. It is one of the most highly figurative representations of prophecy, and is only to be compared with Isaiahs lamentation, Ezekiel 16<\/span>, over the downfall of the king of Babylon, It characteristically differs from this, however, in that, while it moves with equal boldness and freedom in an ideal world, it clothes the ideal, according to the usage of our prophet, in a historical drapery, and beholds the past revived again in the personified existence of which it treats. It is a historical parable. The kings of Tyre are first personified as one individual, an ideal manone complete in all material excellence, perfect manhood. And then this ideal man, the representative of whatever there was of greatness and glory in Tyre, and in whom the Tyrian spirit of self-elation and pride appear in full efflorescence, is ironically viewed by the prophet as the type of humanity in its highest states of existence upon earth. All that is best and noblest in the history of the past he sees in imagination meeting in this new beau-ideal<\/em> of humanity. It was he who in primeval time trod the hallowed walks of paradise, and used at will its manifold treasures, and regaled himself with its corporeal delights. It was he who afterwards appeared in the form of a cherubideal compound of the highest forms of animal existencetype of humanity in its predestined state of ultimate completeness and glory; and, as such, had a place assigned him among the consecrated symbols of Gods sanctuary in the holy mount, and the immediate presence of the Most High. Thus, occupying the highest spheres of created life, and familiar even with the sight of the divine glory, he knew what it was to dwell amidst the consuming fire, and to walk as on burning stones of sapphire (Exo 24:10<\/span>). So thou thinkest, thou ideal man, thou quintessence of human greatness and pridethou thinkest that manhoods divinest qualities, and most honourable conditions of being, belong peculiarly to thyself, since thou dost nobly peer above all, and standest alone in thy glory. Let it be so. But thou art still a man, and, like humanity itself in its most favoured conditions, thou hast not been perfect before God: thou hast yielded thyself a servant to corruption, therefore thou must be cast down from thine excellency, thou must lose thy cherubic nearness to God, etc. So that the cry which the prophet would utter through this parabolical history in the ears of all is, that man in his best estatewith everything that art or nature can bring to his aidis still corruption and vanity. The flesh can win for itself nothing that is really and permanently good; and the more that it can surround itself with the comforts and luxuries of life, the more only does it pamper the godless pride of nature, and draw down upon itself calamity and destruction.P. F.]<\/p>\n

Eze 28:15<\/span>. To wish to bring into connection with Adams sinless constitution, has against it the expression , in thy ways<\/strong>. It is simply the contrast to the expression: perverseness was found in thee;<\/strong> therefore: blameless in thy walk. One might suppose, after the exposition given of the walking in the midst of the fiery stones in Eze 28:14<\/span>, an allusion to the ! The earlier procedure of the kingdom of Tyre, as seen in the fellowship it then maintained with the David and Solomon of Israel, must be viewed as set over against the corruption into which it latterly fell (Eze 26:2<\/span>; Eze 27:3<\/span>; Eze 28:2<\/span> sq.). A dogmatic antithesis, such as Hengst. supposes, is not to be imagined.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:16<\/span>. Here now follows the origin of the perverseness that was found in him, namely, in his vast commerce (Eze 28:5<\/span>); and so one has to think of the Tyrian kingdom as carrying on and plying merchandise, and that in all sorts of ways, by which it fell into pernicious and sinful courses., indeterminate as to its subject, or (Hengst.): thy inhabitants (?); more properly: fellow-citizens, subjects, if they are not to be regarded as the merchants from all countries. Rosenm. preferred the intransitive signification of the verb: through the multitude, etc., was thy interior filled. [Hitzig: =, the filling of thy interior was injustice.] Thus, in place of the former blamelessness, there has come to be a ground for punishment. Hence for the punishment there must now, through God, be a withdrawal from the relations once held to Israel, the most elevated reminiscences of its history, as through God it had been introduced to these. This lies in ; and that it is contemplated as a holy downfall, with a view to the building up of the sanctuary in Israel at the time, we perceive from the ch. 7:21, 22. [Hitzig: and thou, covering cherub, art quite rooted out!!]For the rest, comp. at Eze 28:14<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:17<\/span>. The discourse here, with , again reverts to the subject announced at the very beginning (Eze 28:2<\/span>), the corruption of the Tyrian kingdom: the proud self-elation in or on account of his beauty; comp. at Eze 28:7<\/span>. The higher man raises himself, so much the poorer does he become as to his wisdom. A proud man, a fool; so it is said in common life, for this special reason, that the splendour of wealth, the whole attractive display of its outward position, so apt to bewitch strangers even and to beget envy, brings the possessor so much the sooner and the more to a self-pleasing condition. This is distinctly involved in the , on account of<\/strong>, which does not need to be taken as = with, together with. Ewald: thou hast lost thy wisdom upon thy splendour.The self-destruction and annihilation () of such self-elation corresponds, as to time, with the casting down effected by God (), and, with respect to the preceding glory, with the abandonment to the astounded and at the same time malicious gaze of those who were companions as to rank and position. Hengst. remarks that , with , marks the affecting contemplation, especially with a joyful participation. , the infinitive form, like , .<\/p>\n

Eze 28:18<\/span>. is parallel with in Eze 28:16<\/span>, and throws light on .The profanation proceeded from the moral offence; the unrighteous mammon in commerce brought along with it sin and guilt. After what is said in Eze 28:16<\/span> in reference to God as to the profaning<\/strong>, the words can occasion no difficulty. The sanctuaries<\/strong> of the Tyrian kingdom are those holy reminiscences regarding the mountain of God and the sanctuary of the Lord, and of Israels high-priesthood. One cannot possibly serve God and mammon. (Others have thought of the temple, which Tyre made on his holy island (?!). With Hengst. every sort of greatness ordained by God, or of glory distributed by Him, is a sanctuary.)The fire<\/strong>, according to Hitzig, must be the perverseness with which his interior was penetrated, as fire bound up in him (!!). Some, too, have under it thought of a traitor, who would pass over to Nebuchadnezzar. Vatke has also mentioned the phnix, giving itself to be burnt. It is a biblical form of speech, frequently used, for the punishment of divine wrath which comes from sin, and which, as is evident from the term ashes<\/strong>, was to annihilate the kingdom of Tyre (Eze 19:12<\/span>)., contrast to in Eze 28:14<\/span>.The seeing<\/strong> once more emphasizes the spectacle, which will be presented to every one in the subject so judged.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:19<\/span>. Here at last is the conclusion. With the seeing with the eyes there is conjoined the knowing, the understanding with the spirit.Comp. Eze 26:16<\/span>. They are prophetic preterites.Eze 27:36<\/span>; Eze 26:21<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:20-26<\/span>. The Prophecy on Zidon<\/em><\/p>\n

Eze 28:20-21<\/span>. The brief and supplementary manner in which this prophecy respecting Zidon is introduced arose from the backgoing character of this city, though it was more ancient than Tyre (hence sung of by Homer, while Tyre is not), and, according to such tradition, still very commonly represented the Phnician state (for example, Isa 23:4<\/span>; Isa 23:12<\/span>); comp. Gen 10:15<\/span>; Gen 49:13<\/span>. On coins, as among the Greeks, Zidon is called the metropolis of Tyre. On account of its still always preserved independence, whence it took part in the coalition against Babylon (Jeremiah 27<\/span>),one may say, the Genoa of the old world,there was due to it a word, however short, especially since, as a representative of Canaan, with which no such relations were maintained as between Tyre and Israel under Hiram and Solomon, it formed most fitly the contrast for the promise which bore respect to the people of God. Comp. Jdg 10:12<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:21<\/span>. , that is, fishing, which indicates the earliest employment of its inhabitants, lay in a plain, which resembled an orchard, several hours walk along the sea, and had a summer and a winter harbour; at present a small, insignificant place. Of the old fortress there still remains a square tower. Fishing and traffic in fish are still practised there.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:22<\/span>. , as at Eze 26:3<\/span>.; comp. Exo 14:4<\/span>; Exo 14:17-18<\/span>. May a preparation have been intended, through this reference to Egypt, for what follows in Ezekiel 29<\/span>.? In such a being sanctified, or in God sanctifying Himself, as is done by means of a judicial punishment, there is presupposed the certainty that Zidon would not have sanctified Him. The impressive transition from the second to the third person makes the fact appear, in a manner, as already accomplished, so that one speaks of Zidon as of such a person.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:23<\/span>. For which sort of judgments see Eze 5:17<\/span>. Pestilence in connection with war,that in the houses; this as the shedding of blood in the streets, as is presently brought vividly out., Pil. equivalent to Kal, but strengthening, enhancing, as also alliterating; producing a resemblance of sound which has in it something graphic (Hv.). Continually, as it were, the pierced-through fall.The sword<\/strong>, through which God will act upon them, comes upon Zidon from round about<\/strong>, so that there is no escape.The representation of the predicted judgment is kept general. With Zidon the analogous prophecies respecting judgment first reach their end. And thus also can the following be joined to it the more fitly.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:24<\/span>. The point of contrast is presented by the idea of neighbourhoodthe nearer (Ezekiel 25<\/span>), or the more remote, as was the case with Tyre and Zidon; it is said expressly: from all round about them.<\/strong> On , comp. at Eze 2:6<\/span>. Ges.: like the young shoots and twigs of the palm., partic. Hiph. from , to thrust; intransitive: to be sharp, bitter. Ges.: raising bitter pain. is something cutting, stinging., to bend oneself for pain, hence Hiph.: to cause pain.The Promise, accordingly, amounts to this, that the sensible pain which the people of Israel must have experienced through the contempt of their neighbours shall cease in the future. The figurative representation is a marked repetition of Num 33:55<\/span>; the pain experienced was punishment; comp. Gen 15:18<\/span> sq.; Jos 13:19<\/span>; Jdg 1:31-32<\/span>; Jdg 3:3<\/span>. But now the Lord accomplishes what His people had slightingly neglected. Comp. also Eze 16:57<\/span>.The negative side is followed by the positive in Eze 28:25<\/span>; the scornful heathen go down, but the people in whom the Lord sanctifies Himself, in contrast to them, come gloriously up. Comp. Eze 11:17<\/span>; Eze 20:41<\/span>.The change, also, from Israel<\/strong> to Jacob<\/strong>, is to be noticed, and the relation of house of Israel<\/strong> to My servant Jacob.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eze 28:26<\/span>. In consequence of the added definition , in security, it is repeated that they should dwell upon their home-soil. , according to Meier: to stretch forth oneself, i.e.<\/em> give away oneself, confide; hence: to be careless, secure. Ges.: the same derived from a primary meaning, to be void, empty.But also the secure possession in the confidence of faith is in this comforting promise repeated, and finally, such grace of God is again, and still more expressly than before, set over against the divine judgments. Comp. besides, Isa 65:21<\/span>. Hitzig: the first preceding the building and planting is inchoative: they settle down; the second: they are established, dwell, or abide. Hengst. remarks: It is designed to meet the despair which, after the opening of the siege of Jerusalem, had become the most formidable enemy. So that here, in the onesidedness which so commonly adheres to prophecy, because everywhere connecting itself with definite temporal relations and issues, only the light side of the future of the covenant-people is brought into view. Along with that there was also a shady side, which is supplied by the successors of Ezekiel, Zechariah and Malachi. A great national judgment was destined to follow the Chaldean. Hv.: This is the eternal blessing which rests upon Israel, that it shall one time attain to a blessed peace, while the heathen powers shall lie under the penal judgment of God. He calls to mind the gathering through the gospel. That here, as in Eze 26:20<\/span>, in the shape of a brief glance into the future, there are traits of Messianic colouring, is manifest. Comp. also at Amo 9:14<\/span>.<\/p>\n

DOCTRINAL REFLECTIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. The time for the fulfilment of these prophecies against the aliens, where no dates of a definite nature are to be found in the prophecies themselves, depends on the kind of realization applied to them. Tholuck admits of a wide interval in the relation between truth and reality in the prophecies. But when he presently, again, limits the principle, that the mode of realization may be to us a matter of indifference, since the simply religious spirits are to be distinguished from divine seers, nothing is gained but the arbitrary definition that the prophets, though not uniformly, yet in great part, saw the truth of the future not merely in abstracto<\/em>, but under the concrete veil of their historical realization. And what is meant by seeing the truth in abstracto<\/em>? Is there not a self-contradiction in this as applied to the prophets, to whom the ideas presented themselves as matters of fact, and these facts in this or that actual form? There must, first of all, be admittedly something of human weakness, especially in the subsequent reproduction of the previously received divine communications and visions. Many an intermediate link in this way was lost; but thereby the end came so much nearer to the beginning, the ultimate background to the foreground. In this and other respects there is the dust of finiteness on these prophetic paintings, which but so much the more furnishes a pledge of their divine origin. With this agrees what is said in 1Pe 1:10-12<\/span>,said, indeed, with reference to the time of the Christian salvation, yet admitting also of a more general application,where there is ascribed to the prophets an inquiring and searching into,a matter of study, therefore, also for them, since, when the meaning had not been expressly made manifest to them, they sought for traces [of the fulfilment], and made trial of them in regard to the times which lay near at hand. If their prophecies had been the product of their own spirit, such want of knowledge in regard to the cases in question, and their procedure in consequence thereof, must have been strange; but in this way we have, with their searching concerning their prophecies, perhaps the proper soul of their so-called literary activity.<\/p>\n

2. In the prophecies of judgment contained in the earlier chapter [i.e.<\/em> Ezekiel 25<\/span>], the execution of the judgment rests wholly in the hand of God. So upon Ammon, upon Moab, upon the Philistines; only in respect to Edom was it said that the accomplishment would be made specially through Israel. The divine sentence speaks throughout of the extirpation of the very name. As regards place and time, no other fulfilment could lie nearer to the prophet and his contemporaries than that through Nebuchadnezzar. That this was only the beginning of the end could not be concluded without some insight into the divine patience, and the manifestation of Christ in the flesh. Still more clearly do these relations discover themselves in the case of Tyre.<\/p>\n

3. The transition to Tyre is made by our prophet through the Philistines. Considered generally, this has its ground in the heathenish character of the race. More specially, for their appearance in this connection, account has been made of a notice (see Movers, Phn<\/em>. ii. 313), according to which the Zidonians, after they had (b. c. 1209) been brought into subjection by the Philistines, laid the foundation of the island-city of Tyre. Lenormant (Manuel d Hist. Anc. de lOrient<\/em>), and, leaning upon him, M. Busch, have woven thence the story, that a Philistine fleet, sailing from Askalon, had surprised Zidon, and put an end to the hitherto Zidonian supremacy. Thus would the Philistines, as having furnished the occasion for the origination of Tyre, have had their proper place assigned them, in a historical-genetical respect, at the close of Ezekiel 25<\/span> and before the beginning of Ezekiel 26<\/span> of Ezekiel. M. Duncker (Hist. of Antiq<\/em>. i. 519) merely says: In the year b. c. 1254, a number of the Zidonian race emigrated from Zidon, and over against Old Tyre, upon an island-rock, beside the temple of Melkarth, founded New Tyre. This New Tyre grew into a commonwealth with the old city on the land. The strengthening which Tyre hereby received put it in the position of setting up a rivalry with the commerce and the colonization of Zidon. From b. c. 1100 Tyre saw herself at the head of the Phnician cities.<\/p>\n

4. Tyre, as very commonly happens with commercial states, and still more with commercial cities, presents, in the few and disconnected things that we know of its history, an image of ups and downs, and inversely. Commonly it is said, in connection with our chapter, that Tyre was then at the summit of its power. But this might rather be said of the times of David and Solomon (Duncker, p. 520). For the period under consideration it comes nearer to the truth to say, that Tyre had again revived, and continued to maintain a certain precedence among the Phnician cities. For though the revolt of Kition in Cyprus had been suppressed, and the island stronghold of Tyre had under King Elulos successfully withstood the Assyrians (Salmanassar), yet the dependent relationship of the Phnician cities toward Assyria from the year b. c. 900 became more and more marked, and Tyre had to stretch all her powers to preserve her position, or again to make it good. During the Assyrian siege it lost its last colony in the Thracian seas, namely, Thasos; and an Assyrian fleet ere long robbed it anew of the island of Cyprus, which it had again reconquered. A memorial stone in the Berlin Museum commemorates this success of Salmanassar against Tyre. According to Lenormants representation (ii. p. 313; Busch, p. 247 sq.), while Salmanassar, b. c. 72015, had been successfully resisted, there were, about b. c. 700, decided failures against Sennacherib, who conquered the island Tyre, and set up there a vassal (Toubaal) as king. The bas-reliefs in the rocks of Nahr el Kelb, around Beirt, even to the present time, according to Lenormant, bear witness to the complete subjection of Phnicia by Sennacherib (? Sargana-Salmanassar!), and the overthrow of the Tyrian supremacy. (If this French representation were to be trusted, the prophecy of Isaiah in Ezekiel 23<\/span> would have to be applied to it, though the Chaldeans were already to be descried in the distance; and Ezekiel would connect with the restoration which intervened (Isa 23:15<\/span> sq.) the prophecy of a new judgment upon Tyre by the hand of the Chaldeans, as generally the judgment upon Tyre. But also in the otherwise general representation, which knows only of the unsuccessful siege of the island-city by Salmanassar, is the reference thereto of the prophecy of Isaiah in its first aspect to be held fast. What Isaiah predicts in Ezekiel 23<\/span> accords quite well with the Assyrian issue of things. For Salmanassar did subject the Phnicians to himself, and also Old Tyre (Joseph. Antiq<\/em>. ix. 4. 2), so that Salmanassar could cause himself to be glorified at Lykos beside the monuments of the Egyptian Ramses. The five years siege assuredly did not pass without inflicting serious injuries; and it is anyhow matter of fact, that King Elulos recognised the sovereignty of Assyria, for he henceforth took the title of Pha (), that is, governor, vassal. As the Chaldeans and the siege, through Nebuchadnezzar, emerge behind the Assyrian, the prophecy of Isaiah certainly has a much more distant background, precisely as is the case also with Ezekiel.) That the catastrophe at Jerusalem should have inspired new courage into Tyre, called forth words that were expressive of new hopes (Eze 26:2<\/span>), is sufficiently explained not through any position she occupied on the height of power, but rather through the relations which arose out of events in connection with Assyria. (As Lenormant mentions (ii. p. 314), if the Tyrian ascendency had been ill borne by the other Phnician cities, since Tyre in many ways abused her position (comp. at Eze 27:8<\/span> sq.), there would hence, on this side, have been no farther interest for Tyre; also, at the end of the Assyrian period, it is rather Zidon which appears at the head of an insurrectionary movement against the son of Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, as is testified by an inscription. That Zidon was worsted in the affair is shown by an inscription found in the British Museum, which represents Tyre, indeed, as among the tributaries of Assyria, but takes no notice whatever of Zidon.) In consequence of the decay of the Assyrian power, Egypt also, through Pharaoh Nechoh, attained to the position of making the Phnician states subject to it. This took place at the period to which belongs the circumnavigation of Africa, through Tyrian mariners in the employ of the king of Egypt. During this whole time, however, and in spite of the Assyrian supremacy, the merchandise of Tyre flourished, and there was no diminution of the resources and wealth which it brought to the hand of Tyre. The place, so favourably situated, always raised itself anew; its walls were rebuilt, so that, in its re-established condition, it was able to offer resistance to Nebuchadnezzar.<\/p>\n

5. The determination respecting the issue of the thirteen years siege of the island Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar has been, on one side, made dependent on Eze 29:17<\/span> sq., while on another, Gesenius, Winer, Hitzig have turned to a wrong account the silence which is observed upon the consequence of the siege in question, in the passages quoted by Josephus regarding it (Antiq<\/em>. x. 11, con. Ap<\/em>. i. 21).1<\/span> They thence draw the conclusion that the Chaldeans did not get the city into their power, nor inflict any damage upon it. The silence, however, observed in this respect, especially when it is practised by Phnician historiographers, speaks rather for the opposite view. For if the siege had really been without any result, how should it have made for the side in question, that no notice was taken of Nebuchadnezzars leaving his affair with Tyre in an unfinished state ? The very honourable report for Tyre, of its having withstood a thirteen years siege, which is given by Josephus from the original sources, does not exclude the supposition that the siege ended in a capitulation (in 573), but involves the assumption of a corresponding pressure through Nebuchadnezzar; although in this Chaldaic siege of Tyre, as in the Assyrian, a much wider and more comprehensive view must be taken (as already said) of the prophetic announcements pointing in that direction. The evidence for the subjection of Tyre to the sovereignty of Babylon may be seen in Movers, ii. 1, p. 448 sq., 461 sq.; comp. Hv. Comm<\/em>. p. 429 sq. On King Ethbaal being obliged to abdicate, or however the act may be designated, Nebuchadnezzar brought in Baal in his place. The royal family was carried away to Babylon. Berosus says that all Phnicia became subject to Nebuchadnezzar. At all events, we see the Tyrians, and Phnicians generally, in a still more marked state of dependence upon Babylon than formerly on Assyria. Twice, as we learn from Assyrian sources, did the people of Tyre receive their king from Babylonwith which Hitzig compares 1Ki 12:2<\/span> sq.; but Delitzsch rightly judges 2Ki 24:12; 2Ki 24:14<\/span>, Dan 1:3<\/span>, more worthy of comparison, for the quite undoubted supremacy of the Persians over all Phnicia appears plainly as the taking over of a subject-relationship which had already existed under the Chaldeans. How also should princes have been brought back by the Tyrians, who had not long before sought refuge in a court so hostile to Tyre as Babylon was? (Hv.) As Lenormant represents the matter (ii. p. 318 sq.), the city on the mainland was first attacked by Nebuchadnezzar, taken, and wholly destroyed. There upon came Nebuchadnezzar in person (b. c. 574), to press forward the slumbering work; and now the island-city was taken by storm, sacked, and partly destroyed. A number of the people had previously escaped by sea to Carthage. Tyre henceforth merely vegetated; Carthage was her heiress.<\/p>\n

6. Tyre, in the prophets, comes into consideration not in a political respect, but as the representative, the might, of the worlds commerce. Jehovah and Mammon is the counterpart to Jerusalem and Tyre. This last (says Delitzsch) gained as peacefully as possible the treasures of the nations, and secures for itself the advantage it won by means of colonies and factories.<\/p>\n

7. The judgment upon Tyre is historyan entire development of judgment even to utter extinction, as is now most clearly manifest. Assyria is in this judgment-history one chapter, Nebuchadnezzar also one, and Alexander the Great still another: Assyria the type of the Chaldeans, the Chaldeans the type of the Macedonianseach one surpassing the other in the power of inflicting judgment, like wave upon wave of the sea, till the flood had overwhelmed all (comp. Eze 26:3<\/span>; Eze 26:19<\/span>). The deeds of Nebuchadnezzar rank with the prophet for more than an isolated fact. In the conquest by that monarch, he beholds from the historical ground of the present the whole mass of destruction concentrated, which links itself in history thereto as a closely connected chain of events. The might of Tyre, broken by Nebuchadnezzar, coincides in his view with the entire annihilation of the same. This was demanded by the internal theocratic significance of that fact in relation to the destruction of Jerusalem. The conquest of Tyre by the same hand which struck the city of God has the counter signification of a future glory (Eze 29:21<\/span>; Eze 28:25-26<\/span>). Nebuchadnezzar inflicts on Tyre the death-wound, and its whole subsequent existence is a struggle with death (Hv.). The Macedonian conqueror first destroyed Old Tyre; then out of the ruins he constructed a mound to the islandthe idea having been suggested to him, it is said, by Hercules appearing in a dream, and from the temple in the island stretching out the hand to him; and at last, by means of treachery, he conquered the island-city in the seventh month, and dealt with it so severely, that what remained of it was but the ashes of the Tyre which had formerly existed (comp. Eze 28:18<\/span>). After this manner is prophecy and fulfilment to be made out. That Tyre still, even in Jeromes time, was an active place of trade, he had no difficulty in understanding, because he took into account, on the other side, the ancient world-wide ascendency of the Tyrian state. From the time of Alexander the island Tyre continued to be united to the mainland: its sacred position in the sea had reached its end. A pathway conducted every one quietly over to the once splendid harbour of ships, and the alluvial deposits from the sea continually added to this connecting mound, while on the other hand the waves wasted the rock (Plin. Hist. Nat<\/em>. v. 17; Pomp. Mela. i. 12; Ptol. v. 15). Alexandria became the centre of the worlds commerce. From the hands of the Seleucid the city passed under the sway of the Romans; and it is known as still existing in the Gospels, and in the book of Acts (Act 21:3<\/span> sq.). In the early times of Mahommedanism it fell into the hands of the Arabians. The crusades in the 12th century again lent to it a sort of poetic glimmer; but at the end of the 13th century it was brought to desolation by the Saracens. Where once waved the forest of the ships of Tarshish (says Sepp, Jerusalem and the Holy Land<\/em>, ii. p. 409), there scarcely now rise out of the water two well-rigged keels of English merchants; commerce has found another centre. The lucrative trade in purple cloth passed over to the Jews, who as merchants and dyers pervaded the Lebanon, and in the Greek cities, as at Thebes, founded purple-dyeing establishments. Venice transplanted to itself from Tyre the manufacture of glass. The rocky part of the old island actually serves, according to the prophetic word, as a place merely for the spreading of fishing-nets. Under the sand of the old island there are still discovered traces of streets, etc. Thus has the pride of the old sea-princess been humbled, and she wears now none but a beggars attire. From the time of Abulfeda onwards into the 17th century, all travellers represent Tyre as a heap of ruins, with broken up arches and vaults, towers cast down, and shaky walls, so that the inhabitants had to shelter themselves in the hollow places that remained between portions of the rubbish. Maundrell did not find a single dwelling-house in good preservation, but only a couple of fishermen occupying a sort of vaults. To the present time it is not frequented by Jews, so little is there now of chaffering and trading in the old merchant-city. Something is done in corn and tobacco, which grows upon the western side of the place. The earthquake of 1837 drove into flight those who were not destroyed by it. Only the knowledge of ancient times and a number of waving palms lend an interest to the Tyre of the present day. Comp. Hengst. de Rebus Tyriorum<\/em>, p. 88 sq.<\/p>\n

8. Cocceius makes application of Tyre spiritually to the great city which commits fornication with all nations, and desires to install herself in the place of Jerusalem, and interprets the prince of Tyre as a hieroglyph of the Pope. He does not deny the historical basis, but it is to him an allegory.<\/p>\n

9. The special prophecy upon the Tyrian kingdom, and the lamentation in Ezekiel 28<\/span>, receive also a light from particular points in the history of Tyrenot so much through the revolt which, in the twenty-sixth year after the death of Hiram II., drove the legitimate dynasty from the throne, and the horrors which led a part of the old Tyrian race to emigrate with Elissa (Dido), and found Carthageas rather through the translation of the government, after the death of the king introduced by Nebuchadnezzar,2<\/span> to judges, who were chosen from among the priests and considerable men of Tyre. Hvernick is of opinion that the appearance of judges in the midst of a regular succession of Tyrian kings might only be regarded as a Chaldaic arrangement for the punishment of insubordination or the like; just as Tyre was deprived by Alexander of its ancient constitution, in the way of punishment. For, as Ezekiel 28<\/span> shows, the kingdom belonged to the pride of Tyre, as generally, according to the Oriental mode of contemplation, and especially would it do so with a race of such old renown as the Tyrian. Internal factions might readily enough have called into existence rival kings, but never the removal of the kingly state altogether.<\/p>\n

10. The prophetic collocation, Tyre and Zidon (Joel 4. [3.] 4; Zec 9:2<\/span>; Isaiah 28<\/span>.; Jer 25:22<\/span>; Jer 27:3<\/span>; Jer 47:4<\/span>; here in Ezek.; comp. on the other hand, 1Ch 22:4<\/span>; Ezr 3:7<\/span>),not a geographical or political point of view,determines the New Testament allusion to both in this order. From its antiquity alone the mention of Zidon would admit of explanation. In the Pentateuch, as in Homer, notice is taken only of it; its name stands for Phnicia at large. The ups and downs, also, experienced by Tyre occasionally brought Zidon to the summit, or, at least, placed Tyre at her side; so, too, it is in the highest degree probable, that the governors of Syria and Phnicia, who succeeded one another, would probably in their own interest not allow the old rivalry between Zidon and Tyre to remain untouched. While the Chaldean conquest humbled Tyre, Zidon appears to have from the first bowed to the conqueror, and still more so afterwards. But anyhow, under the Persian rule, Zidon appears as the first city of Phnicia, and its kings take precedence of those of Tyre, and of the other states (Duncker, ii. p. 738; Herzog, Realencyc<\/em>. 11. p. 626). About the middle of the 4th century, when, in the self-consciousness of its position as at the head of the Phnician States, it had revolted under Artaxerxes Ochus (b. c. 351), it was again destroyed by the Persians, and required to be built anewwhereupon it readily submitted to Alexander the Great. We learn from Diodorus, that at the fall of the city 40,000 perished; and Artaxerxes also sold the burnt ruins for the sake of the gold and silver they contained. Under the Macedonians and Romans, Zidon was nothing but a provincial city; at the time of Csar pre-eminently a Jewish city. After coming into view in the time of the crusades,being destroyed again and again by the Saracens, Crusaders, Mongols,it still exists, and has some exports of silk, cotton, and gall-nuts. This survey of Zidon also confirms with reference to Ezekiel the far-reaching view of his prophetic word.<\/p>\n

11. Neteler remarks on our chapter: Through the most extraordinary wonders God placed His covenant-people on such a height, that all the Chaldeans must bow before the giant spirit of Daniel, and Nebuchadnezzar himself proclaim to the whole world that there is no god who can deliver as the God of Israel. Nebuchadnezzar and his Chaldeans consequently had the calling, as heroes standing in the service of God, to overthrow the Hamitic worldly power, and to prepare the way for the kingdom of God.<\/p>\n

12. Schmieder says, that the threatening of the Lord against the historical Tyre was as little accomplished to the full through Nebuchadnezzar as the similar one against Babylon (Isa 13:20<\/span>), and many other threatenings, which were proclaimed for the very purpose that they might not need to be executed. Certainly God promises only to conversion the removal of the threatened punishment (Jer 18:7-8<\/span>); but He sometimes also mitigates the punishment, where the measure of sin has not been so full, or the means for conversion may have been exhausted (Mat 11:21-22<\/span>). The historical Tyre is only an imperfect type of the spiritual Tyre, on which account the severest threatening was uttered against it, though still not in its entire severity was it executed. This early denunciation of judgment, this sparing alleviation as to the execution, begins already at Gen 2:17<\/span>, etc. In Ezekiel 28<\/span> the prophet exhibits, first, the highest glory of the true king, who has been set up by God, as it can alone perfectly appear in Christ (Eze 28:12-15<\/span>); and second, the deep fall of the king, who would make himself a god, as such fall shall only be completely manifested in the Man of Sin, and in the Prince of this world. The king of Tyre is a type of both,of the King of the kingdom of heaven by his office, of the prince of darkness by his misuse of the dignity, his pride and fall. Thus does Ezekiel teach us to understand and explain the history of the world.<\/p>\n

Footnotes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

[1]<\/span>The point which Josephus, in the first passage, confirms from different authors is, that Nebuchadnezzar had been a more energetic, more enterprising, and more prosperous man than the kings who had been before him. Thus Berosus, in the third book of his Chaldean History, writes of his deedsthat with a part only of his fathers host, and while himself but a stripling, he had vanquished those who were in a State of revolt , . On the report of the death of his father, . , and after entrusting the Jewish, Phnician, and Syrian prisoners to certain of his friends, to convey them to Babylon, together with the heavy-armed soldiers and baggage, he himself went thither and assumed the government. Megasthenes, also (Book 2. of his Indian History), is cited by Josephus, and Diokles (Book II. of his Persian History); finally, Philostratus, by whom it is said, as well in his Indian as his Phnician History, that Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre thirteen years. If this long siege was to serve as a proof of Nebuchadnezzars practical energy, and, in particular, of his extraordinary prosperity. Josephus could not have been of opinion that Nebuchadnezzar had been obliged to withdraw from Tyre without result. That Josephus was convinced of the agreement of the profane writers with the historical accounts of his own people in the point under consideration, is still more clear from his work against Apion. He there repeats from Berosus. what, he had elsewhere said upon Nebuchadnezzar, that the latter, after the revolt of Egypt and Judea, obtained the mastery over allEgypt, Syria. Phnicia, Arabia; and that he surpassed all the Chaldean and Babylonian kings who had been before him by his deeds, for which he again quotes the words of Berosus, and in the following section (20) adds, that in such things the Chaldean history must be deemed trust worthy,. , , . With this, also, he says, Philostratus agrees, in the place where he makes mention of the siege of Tyre, and Megasthenes; so that that siege is throughout to be understood in the light of the result stated, that he overthrew all Syria and Phnicia.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/span>This person, called in the Phnician sources from which Josephus draws in his con. Apion<\/em>. 21 (where he mentions for the third time the siege of Tyre), Baalsucceeding, and in connection with the siege, Ithobal, was most probably made, or at least confirmed as king by Nebuchadnezzar; whereupon, after ten years, judges were appointed, who judged the people; after them reigned Balatorus; and after his death they sent and brought Merbalus from Babylon, who reigned; lastly, after his death they sent for his brother Hirom.<\/p>\n

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

HOMILETICAL HINTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Ch. 28<\/p>\n

Eze 28:2-11<\/span>. The prophet had the more reason to bring forward the king of Tyre in his fall, as he thus obtains a counterpart to the glorious rise of the kingdom of Israel in Christ (Hengst.).God resisteth the proud, 1Pe 5:5<\/span>. Whoever, therefore, is proud has God for his enemy (Stck.). I am Godmany, indeed, will not speak plainly out; but they bear themselves so as if no one had the right to say anything to them. God may well enough call governors gods, but they are not themselves to assume anything on that account, else their divinity will soon come to a disgraceful end with Dagon, 1. Sam. 5:3<\/span>, 4<\/span> (B. B.).The new wisdom teaches, man is God, and there is no God except in manwhich points to the man of sin, 2Th 2:4<\/span>, whose typical foreshadowing the king of Tyre was (Schmieder).It belongs to the nature of God to be and have everything out of Himself; to the nature of man, to derive all from the fulness of God (Hengst.).Nothing is more foolish than when a man forgets his human condition (Stck.).Thou sayest, I am rich, etc., see Rev 3:17<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:3<\/span>. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of true wisdom.Our wisdom puffs us up, when love fails (H. H.).Imaginary wisdom hinders prayer for the true wisdom (St.).The worldly wisdom of Daniel, as compared with that of the prince of Tyre.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:4<\/span>. The husbandman, also, gathered much into his granary; yet he was a fool, whose soul was that night to be required of him, Luke 12<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:5<\/span>. God demands the heart; mammon lifts it up, that it may not betake itself to God.No one can become happy by means of riches.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:6<\/span>. The king of Tyre and the king of Babylon, Dan 4:27<\/span>.The punishment for pride is humiliation (H. H.).To come from a pit to a high position is an agreeable change, as with Joseph and David; but the coming for the ungodly is in the opposite direction (Stck.).God must bring us to the height, and keep us in the height, if we are not to fall from all real and imaginary heights into the depths of the abyss.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:9<\/span>. In the day of trouble men employ quite another language than in prosperity, nay, learn then what they would not learn throughout their whole life (Stck.).<\/p>\n

Eze 28:10<\/span>. Balaam desired to die the death of the righteous (Stck.).The death of the ungodly is death manifoldbodily, spiritual, eternal.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:11-19<\/span>. Even this lamentation shows that God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked.Impress of the original, therefore the image of God, Heb 1:2<\/span>. More exactly: he who not only in himself, but also in all his works, expresses the prototype. This Jesus testifies of Himself, John v.19, 36 (Schmieder).<\/p>\n

Eze 28:13<\/span> sq. To whom much is given, of him also shall much be required.The great spirits, who think the law was not given for them, in the judgment.So also we must regard as precious stones Christ and His name, the Holy Spirit, faith, the prophets, Gods word, the sacraments, the virtues, the patience of the saints, the forgiveness of sins, etc.with which a false Christ seeks to bedeck and to adorn himself, Rev 17:4<\/span> (B. B.).Ungodly people have their Eden in this world, but believers seek it in heaven (St.).<\/p>\n

Eze 28:15<\/span>. On the common ground of hereditary corruption, there still are in the life of individuals and of whole nations differences, times of comparative innocence as well as of deep declension, provoking the judgments of God. As a rule, youth is the better time; the older the worse. Sin, when not combated, is continually on the increase, etc. (Hengst.)It does not always happen that they who promise well in youth shall be the same in advanced life, for many change their habits (St.).Every man flatters himself, and every king is flattered by his Tyre (Schmieder).<\/p>\n

Eze 28:16<\/span>. The perils of merchandise for entire peoples, and for individuals.They who aim at being rich fall into dangerous snares (Stck.).<\/p>\n

Eze 28:17<\/span>. The foundation of wisdom is humility, which sees things as they are, has an open eye for ones own weaknesses and the excellences of others, and is on its guard against dangerous undertakings, Psa 131:1<\/span>. The brightness received into the heart blinds the eye, so that one regards himself alone as great, everything else as little, and rushes wantonly into dangers for which he is not prepared, adventures upon paths which lead to perditionas the combat (of Tyre) with the flourishing Chaldean monarchy. But haughtiness itself works its own ruin. This is the rock on which all the heathen powers of the old world were wrecked (Hengst.).But God-fearing kings will thence derive the instruction that the king, not less than the meanest subject, has to pray daily to God on his knees for a wise and humble heart (Schmieder).The dust of kings appears and is treated exactly as the dust of the very poorest. Sursum corda<\/em>, but in the right sense!Our heart should be a sanctuary of God.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:18-19<\/span>. The fire of lust and covetous desire draws after it the other fire of judgment B. B.).A destruction like that of Sodom in the olden time, in which the sin-root of Canaan first came to full development, while the judgment upon Tyre forms the close of the long series of judgments upon the Canaanites (Hengst.).On the other hand, he who does the will of God abides for ever, 1Jn 2:17<\/span> (Stck.).Where thou wilt not be for ever, there seek for thyself no fixed abode (B. B.).<\/p>\n

Eze 28:20<\/span>. In the judgments of God shines forth His glory, so that men are obliged to confess that He is righteous, and that His judgments are righteous (Stck.).<\/p>\n

Eze 28:24<\/span>. Gods judgment on the ungodly tends to the good of His church (Cr.).God sets His own free at length.How easily is a thorn drawn out! (Stck.)How well is it to be under the protection of the Lord Messiah, and under His gracious wings to dwell securely! (Tb. B.)Hence has it been fully made good through Christ, as Zacharias says (Luk 1:74<\/span> sq.), that we are redeemed from the hand of our enemies to serve Him without fear, etc. (H. H.)Then do believers first come to their true and perfect rest, when all their bodily and spiritual enemies have been rooted out (O.).This prophecy is fulfilled in the Christian Church, which is the true seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Those born under the Old Covenant were in bondage, while believers under the New Testament are free (Cocceius).<\/p>\n

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

CONTENTS<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The same subject, concerning the Lord’s judgment upon Tyrus is prosecuted in this chapter, until, towards the end, Zidon also is arraigned at God’s tribunal.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

We have here the continuation of the sad overthrow of Tyre. The Prince of Tyre is particularly noticed, and his daring impiety pointed at. There are no leading characters to discover to whom, or to what period of the Church, this history of Tyrus and her prince refers, if we look for an explanation beyond the period of the Babylonish captivity. Indeed, as the Lord in this and the preceding chapters, as well as in several that follow, is pronouncing judgment upon many of the kingdoms of the earth, there can be no reason for singling out one more than another, to suppose it hath a reference to some nation in particular. It is sufficient for our purpose of improvement to learn from hence, that the Lord will reckon, sooner or later, with all nations, and especially with those that oppress his people.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Eze 28:5<\/span><\/p>\n

Riches in a cultured community are the strongest of things; a power all-moving, yet which only the most powerless and skilless can put<\/em> in motion; they are the readiest<\/em> of possibilities; the readiest to become a great blessing or a great curse. ‘Beneath gold thrones and mountains,’ says Jean Paul, ‘who knows how many giant spirits lie entombed?’<\/p>\n

Carlyle, Essay on Goethe’s Works.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

Reference. XXVIII. 13, 14. J. M. Neale, Sermons for Some Feast Days in the Christian Year,<\/em> p. 258. XXIX. 6. J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Prophets,<\/em> vol. ii. p. 35.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

The Fate of Tyre<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ezekiel 26-28<\/p>\n

These chapters are superb reading. There is nothing to equal them out of Isaiah and the Apocalypse. Read them verse by verse privately; they grow as they are read. Was ever such a picture of a city drawn as is here drawn of the now all-but-forgotten Tyre and the adjacent city, Phoenician Sidon? How could Sidon escape when the great wind of God fell upon Tyre? It is dangerous to live near some cities, some people, some institutions. The twenty-seventh chapter more particularly describes in detailed specification the grandeur, the royalty of Tyrus. Everything about the city was beautiful. Where are all the beautiful cities of antiquity? God must needs pull down every city after a certain point. Cities forget themselves. They are apt to think they are the centre of power, the origin of sovereignty, the limit of deity. What is that wondrous ghostly power that has pulled all the cities down? We need not be theologians to entertain a question like this; we may be mere historians or geographers or inquirers. What has become of the pride, the pomp, the majesty of antiquity? Men have to dig for chiselled marble; they have to explore in order to get at the old streets that once were full of fashion and grandeur and pomp and ostentation. How is this? The earth can only stand a certain measure of sunshine; she must let the rest run off into any other worlds that are about. Churches, too, have been hewn to pieces in the same way. Where are the Seven Churches of Asia? Gone. Was it not a pity to take down the Seven Churches of Asia? No; it was educational, disciplinary. It takes, it may be, millions of years to scatter a pinch of dust upon the surface of the earth: it takes ages to humble man, to chasten him; to rebuke churches, and dogmatisms, and prejudices, and sectarianisms. The Lord hath weary work! He has been toiling some fifty years with you, and you are not perceptibly better today than you were when he began. Yet you are better if you have been in earnest all the time. Astronomers tell us that the earth is getting larger there is a kind of fine powdered dust that comes from some place high away and that the surface of the earth is being increased. Have you seen the accretion? No man has seen it in its process. It is so that God is working, little by little, one prejudice more killed, another ray of light admitted, another folly struck down at the root; and thus in ages hence the world may be a trifle better than it is today. Great cities must be cut down in the meantime, like great forests, to let the light in, and to let God walk abroad upon the face of his own earth. We have been building him out; the question now is quite a serious one whether civilisation has not been a failure. All our plans, ambitions, and stupendous schemes must be withered every seven years more or less, that we may be taught something. Some lessons are only to be learned at the grave’s mouth. They cannot be read in any other light; they can be read best in shadow. How comes it that a city gets up to a certain point, and we say, Now nothing can hinder that city building right into the stars, and lo! in the dawn of tomorrow the city is gone, yea, I sought it, but it could not be found, saith the man of wisdom and of honest and large research. What is it that checks everything at a given point? What is it that prevents one man more coming into the Church? What is it that says to you in your business, No further: here shalt thy proud waves be stayed? If this were not a fact we should not regard it religiously or care to inquire into it metaphysically or economically, but there it is. We are permitted to build on and up, and actually to call for the capital to be raised, and while the capital that was to crown the pillar is in mid-air the pillar itself is struck off in the middle, the whole scaffolding comes down, and the builders along with it. It is thus that God trains the world, trains the individual. If we could accept this providence we should know that the bounds of our habitation are fixed, that every faculty is measured out to us, that there is a man, an angel-man, going up and down the earth with a measuring rod in his hand, measuring off all things, and returning in decades or in centuries to ask how the inheritances have been treated, to turn out evil husbandmen and replace them, and to carry on the economy of providence. Thus rebuked, humbled, trodden in the dust, men may either be destroyed or they may there learn to pray, and learning to pray they shall stand up again princes elect and crowned of God.<\/p>\n

Why was Tyrus rebuked and stripped and humbled? Because it came to pass in the case of Tyrus, as it comes to pass in our case, that too much prosperity begets a spirit of sneering. And God will not have any sneering in his school. Argumentative opposition as much as you please; such intellectual friction is educational, healthy, and helpful: but no sneering. When you sneer you are going down; when you sneer God is raising up a wind against you from the east, and it will blow you away. How did Tyrus sneer? She sneered religiously, which is the worst kind of sneering. Keep sneering to the tavern, to the racecourse, to the place where evil men do congregate; but sneering has no right, title, or status in God’s Church. Why was Tyrus rebuked? Why was all the ivory taken away? Why were the crowns taken up and dashed together, and thrown away, and broken like a potter’s vessel? For this reason: “Because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha.” That “Aha” cost Tyrus her life. No mockery, no taunting of man against man on religious or solemn subjects! Controversy if you will; sneering none. We were not made to sneer. Sneer at no man’s prayers. They may be very imperfect as compared with ours, but they are not to be sneered at. Do not sneer at the idolater in the jungle. He is worshipping a fetich, some poor stone or branch of wood; or mayhap he is a little higher, and is worshipping the dawn and paying homage to the evening star. Do not laugh at him; any man who can fall down on his knees worshipfully before any object is not far from the kingdom of God. Your business is not to sneer at him, but to show him a more excellent way, and to show that way by walking it.<\/p>\n

Is the Lord then interested in religious citizenship, and fellowship, and brotherhood? It would so appear from all history: “Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus.” He who sneers at Jerusalem challenges God; he who mocks the humble poor defies high Heaven. Tyrus versus<\/em> Jerusalem, the case so limited, Jerusalem might go down; but so long as Jerusalem stands for godliness, the true worship, the right conception of things, he who offends Jerusalem has to fight Omnipotence. Are we good? not really and absolutely, no man is good in that sense, but good and honest in purpose, in thought? Do we keep a clean and lovely conscience? Are our aspirations all lofty, unselfish, noble? Do we want to be good? Then they that be for us are more than all them that be against us. Momentary defeat foreruns abiding victory. It is not we who are being opposed, it is God, in the degree in which we ourselves are godly. Do not fight your own battles, spitefully, resentfully. Do not say, I must draw my sword, and settle this by the arbitrament of steel. Give God some room in your life. When you need him most he will be most present. Your prayers that have lain all these years without God’s Amen shall all be answered in a moment The prayers shall be so many replies to the enemy. Oh rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him, and though Tyrus be thine opponent she shall be stripped, driven away by the east wind into the inhospitable desert.<\/p>\n

Can Tyrus fail? When Tyrus fails all the islands of the sea know of it: “Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments.” Behold them all! princes of Polynesia coming down from their thrones, stripping themselves, themselves folding up the garments and putting them away, and then replacing the garments embroidered and golden with garments of trembling. Why? Because famed Tyrus has fallen. Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen. We should learn thus from history. Can the greatest banks of the city come to nothing? Are there not some financial institutions that cannot be touched? Not one. The smallest bank in a country town may be as solvent as the Bank of England; but the Bank of England could be ruined tomorrow. There is no security out of heaven. He builds too low who builds beneath the skies. All other security is partial, relative, good as far as it goes; but so long as old Tyre lies in ruins, a rock on which fishermen dry their nets, let us believe that the proudest gold store may be a barren place and the very city of poverty and chagrin in the working out of the evolution of providence. We should learn from ruins. O vain man, poor boaster, you shall beg tomorrow! You that steep your arms to the elbows in gold shall write a begging letter ere the year closes. Riches make to themselves wings and fly away, and the great Babylon which you have builded is but a bubble in the air. Lay not up for yourselves riches where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: have riches in heaven; have riches in the word of God. Then you can never be poor; yea, though there be not one penny-piece in all your fortune, you may be richer than you ever were. There is a poverty that is unconscious of need; there is a poverty that can pray and hope.<\/p>\n

See the uselessness of what is called environment. Tyrus had environment enough: her shipboards, trees of cedar; her masts made of the cedars of Lebanon; her oars of the oaks of Bashan; fine linen with broidered work from Egypt, blue and purple from the isles of Elishah; treasure upon treasure. So much for environment! We think if we had more pictures on the walls we should pray more; if we had a larger garden behind the house we should be more spiritually minded. It is not so. A man’s heaven is in his heart; a man’s hell is within. Moreover, what is environment? What you think a beautiful and educational environment another man may regard with horror. I know of a house whose dilapidation no words can describe; hardly such a place can be imagined for darkness and filth and vermin and everything that is hideous. The poor man who was dying there was entreated to permit himself to be carried to an asylum, a hospital, a place of comfort; “Nay,” said he, “let me die comfortably in my own bed.” What different views are taken by different men! We staggered out of the room we thought that corruption itself could go no further; yet the poor man’s only desire was to die in comfort in his own environment I know of another case in which a man was besought to give himself over to friendly hands that something might be done for his recovery and for his renewal of strength, and when it was proposed that he should be taken to the hospital, he said, “No.” Why not? “Because they will wash me to death in that place.” We talk about environment We are told on the best authority that the bath is as great a terror to some people as is the prison itself, nay, in some instances it has been found to suggest a deadlier terror. Who are we that we should define environment and say, Under such and such circumstances such and such moral issues would take place? Never I unless there be something more. Only the Spirit can make man right, and only Christ, according to the faith, to the Christianity which I solemnly accept, can get at the spirit with renewing and sanctifying energy. All other teachers are reformers: Christ is a Saviour. What is the difference between Saviour and reformer? The difference is the distance between the east and the west. Has any line been laid upon that measure? It is the unmeasured immensity. When Christ gets into a man’s heart, all the rest follows all the cleanliness comes the same day, and on the morrow comes music, and on the third day comes the dawn of heaven.<\/p>\n

Prayer<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Almighty God, thou searchest the heart and triest the reins of the children of men: all things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do: thou God seest us. We have heard that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; and now we are here at the altar of grace to testify that this witness is true. We know not the depth of our own heart, we cannot tell all that is within us; we suppose that the enemy is dead when he is only asleep; we say, Surely now he has gone and will return no more, for we are new creatures in Christ Jesus, when suddenly he returns and reasserts his mastery, and we feel that we are still his bondmen. The Lord grant unto us such self-searching of heart as shall lead to the expulsion of every evil thing. Search us and try us, and see if there be any wicked way in us, and lead us in the way everlasting. Come not with the candle of judgment with which to search us, or we shall be consumed, but show us unto ourselves, until we are humble and conscious of helplessness, and are made to cry out for the living God, even our Saviour Jesus Christ, the only hope of the soul. Save us from self-delusion, from self-deceit; may we understand ourselves thoroughly, knowing what strength we have, and by what weakness we are enfeebled, clearly apprehending how inflammable we are, and understanding also how near thou art to extinguish the baleful fire. If our hands be clean, what if our heart be unclean? Can cleanness of hands save a man? Is there not a voice which comes down from heaven and from eternity, saying, Ye must be born again? Enable us to realise the necessity of the second birth, and if there is aught in us which thy Spirit can move into prayer may our cry day and night be, Oh that we might be born again! We bless thee for the prospect of a new beginning, a new birth, a new starting-point in life. Thou art always giving us new opportunities, beginnings of years and weeks and months, times of renewal, times which have upon them the sacredness of opportunities: may we understand these beginnings, and see how possible it is by the might of the Holy Ghost to begin again, to be new men in Christ Jesus. Save us from making a fair show in the flesh; save us from the dominion of all ceremony and form and calculated piety; bring us into penitence, contrition, broken-heartedness, self-abhorrence; then lead us to the fountain filled with blood, to the Cross of Christ; and to thy name, thou Three-One, shall be the praise.<\/p>\n

Now unto him that is able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

XVII<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

PROPHECIES AGAINST THE FOREIGN NATIONS<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 25-32<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ezekiel has grouped his prophecies in regard to the foreign nations that came in contact with Israel, as Jeremiah also groups his prophecies in Ezekiel 46-51. Isaiah also groups his, in reference to the foreign nations, in Ezekiel 13-23. These three greatest of the prophets had oracles on the nations with whom Israel came in contact during that period of their history. Amos also devotes the earlier part of his prophecies to utterances regarding these same nations. Nahum devotes his prophecy to predicting the downfall of Nineveh and the Assyrian Kingdom. Obadiah’s entire prophecy relates to the downfall of Edom.<\/p>\n

Some may ask the question, Why these prophecies against the foreign nations? Let us endeavor to find some reasons why Ezekiel should give these oracles against the foreign powers. They were written during the siege of Jerusalem, at a time when Ezekiel was perfectly sure that the city would fall, as he had been preaching for many years that doctrine to the exiles. Jeremiah had been preaching the same thing to the people in Jerusalem and Judah. The fall of Jerusalem at the hands of foreign and heathen powers would seem to establish the triumph of heathenism. The nations would conclude from this fact that because Jehovah’s kingdom, city, and Temple had fallen and the great heathen powers had triumphed, therefore Jehovah was inferior to the heathen gods.<\/p>\n

On this point the prophets of Jehovah had something to say, and such was apparently the occasion for these prophecies. They would serve to confirm the sentence of God upon Israel in showing that God dealt with the foreign nations as he did with Israel; that he punishes sin as surely and as severely among the heathen as he does in Israel, and although the heathen nations seem to survive for awhile, they are no exception to the rule of righteousness with Jehovah. Again, the downfall of these nations at the hand of Jehovah and the prophecies regarding them, would have their influence upon Israel for the future. With the heathen nations out of the way, Israel would be free to return to her land and set up the everlasting kingdom that Jeremiah and Isaiah and Ezekiel had prophesied. The enemies, the old hereditary enemies of Israel, shall be destroyed utterly and absolutely, therefore the kingdom of God shall have free course to be glorified.<\/p>\n

Ezekiel speaks of seven nations; five of them are small, but two of them are large nations. He says nothing of Babylon except by way of inference. He is living in Babylon and doubtless that was sufficient reason for refraining from speaking against that great empire.<\/p>\n

The prophecy against Ammon is found in Eze 25:1-7<\/span> . Ammon bordered on the tribe of Reuben, and when that tribe was deported by Tiglath-pileser, Ammon seized the territory of Reuben contrary to what was right. Ammon had suffered at the hands of Jephthah, and also David through his general, Joab. Ammon bore hatred against Israel, but along with Judah he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, out of no friendship to Judah, but with the possible hope of freedom for himself. When Judah was destroyed, Ammon rejoiced and because of that Ezekiel hurls his denunciation against him: “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was made desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity; therefore, behold, I will deliver thee into captivity; thou shalt be utterly destroyed and thy capital, Rabbah, shall be a stable for camels and thy territory shall be possessed by the roving Bedouin Arabs of the desert.” He holds out no hope for the future whatever. Jeremiah did prophesy a future for Ammon, but Ezekiel does not.<\/p>\n

Ezekiel’s prophecy against Moab is recorded in Eze 25:8-11<\/span> . Isaiah and Jeremiah also have oracles against Moab. Moab had, like Ammon, seized a part of the territory of Reuben and was famous for her pride, an inordinate, selfish pride. When Jerusalem fell Moab also scorned her and rejoiced over her fall and said, “Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the nations.” Because Moab said that Jehovah’s people, with their king, was just like other nations, “therefore,” says Ezekiel, “Moab shall be overwhelmed and destroyed forevermore.” No hope for the future is held out for Moab by Ezekiel. Jeremiah did give some hope to Moab, but none is given by Ezekiel.<\/p>\n

Then follows the prophecy against Edom (Eze 25:12-14<\/span> ). The country of Edom lies south of the Dead Sea and north of the Gulf of Akabah. Edom had borne hatred against Israel since the days of Esau. It was born in her, and she was nourished in animosity toward her neighbor. David almost exterminated the Edomites, and they were brought into subjection time and time again. They never forgave Israel, and when Judah and Jerusalem were overwhelmed, Edom also rejoiced and took captive all the fleeing Israelites she could and sold them into slavery. Because of that Ezekiel pronounces an irretrievable doom: “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, I will stretch out my hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; even unto Dedan shall they fall by the sword.”<\/p>\n

The prophecy against Philistia (Eze 25:15-17<\/span> ): These were likewise the old, hereditary foes of Israel. They were very much like the Edomites in their feelings against her. They were revengeful, filled with an everlasting enmity, and rejoiced when Jerusalem went up in smoke. Because of that Ezekiel hurls his denunciations against the Philistines: they were to be crushed by the yoke Nebuchadnezzar. They had already been almost wiped out by the Assyrians. They were destroyed as a nation by the Babylonians, and at the time of the Maccabees they were completely exterminated as a nation.<\/p>\n

Tyre was one of the greatest commercial nations of the old world, corresponding to the English nation in the modern world. The date of this prophecy is 586 B.C., the first day of the first month of the siege of Jerusalem. The prophet devotes three chapters to his oracles against Tyre. That city had achieved great commercial importance. She traded with every known nation in the world; she had lent her influence to every nation; she was the envy of almost every nation. She was the most active, the most aggressive, had the greatest commercial power, in some respects the greatest wisdom and the greatest skill, as well as the greatest colonizing power, of any nation at that period. From the thirteenth century Tyre was the commercial center. She had been friendly to Judah and Jerusalem under David and Solomon and some later kings, but for a century or two her relations to Judah had been changed; she had grown jealous of Judah’s commercial advantages, and was now exhibiting the same hatred and jealousy toward Judah that all the other nations were manifesting. She rejoiced over the fall of Jerusalem the same as the other nations. Her business rival was now destroyed; her own chances were enhanced and, with the true spirit of commercial greed, she was glad that her sister nation had perished.<\/p>\n

The destruction of the city of Tyre is described in Eze 26<\/span> . In Eze 26:2<\/span> the prophet gives his reason for hurling this denunciation and prophecy of destruction against Tyre: “Son of man, because that Tyre hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gate of the people; she is turned unto me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste.” Therefore, he denounced her and predicted her fate.<\/p>\n

It was by Nebuchadnezzar, and in predicting her fall and end, Eze 26:5<\/span> says, “She shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God; and she shall become a spoil to the nations.” He would scrape the great rock, the island upon which Tyre was built, so that the very dust itself would be taken off and there would be nothing there but a bare rock for spreading and drying the nets of the fishermen. That is almost literally true today and has been for centuries.<\/p>\n

From that verse on, he predicts the siege of the city by Nebuchadnezzar. Tyre was built upon an island rock a short distance from the shore and was one of the strongest forts of the world. Nebuchadnezzar had to build a causeway from the mainland to reach the city. Ezekiel describes his mode of attacking the city in verse Eze 26:9<\/span> : “And he shall set his battering engines against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers,” and he continues with a full description of the rushing of the chariots over the streets and the indiscriminate slaughter of the inhabitants, with a sack of the great city.<\/p>\n

From Eze 26:15-19<\/span> we have the consternation of the various nations over the fall of this great commercial center. If New York, that center of commercial life, were to be destroyed, it would not send a greater thrill of consternation throughout the civilized world and would not more seriously affect the industrial life of America than did the fall of Tyre shock every nation and affect the commerce of every people of the world. They are represented as being in a state of consternation and it says in Eze 26:17<\/span> , “They shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited by seafaring men, the renowned city, that was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, that caused their terror to be on all that dwelt there.” In the last two verses of that chapter he describes the inhabitants of Tyre as sinking down into Sheol, the pit, or abyss, the abode of the dead, and there abiding in darkness forever.<\/p>\n

We have a magnificent description of Tyre by Ezekiel under the figure of a great ship in Eze 27<\/span> . In this chapter we have one of the finest passages in the Old Testament and one of the best opportunities for the study of ancient commerce to be found anywhere. Tyre is pictured as a gallant ship, a splendid big ship, one of the great merchantmen of that age: “They have made all thy planks of fir trees from Senir [Hermon]; they have taken a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for thee. Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; they have made thy benches of ivory inlaid in boxwood, from the isles of Kittim [Cyprus.”] Her sail was made of fine linen from Egypt, and it was an ensign. Ships did not carry flags in that age, but they had colored sails and figures marked upon them which served the purpose of a flag. Thus the purple of Egypt served as an ensign, or flag. Blue and purple linen of Elishah [which refers to Peloponnesus] furnished the awning for the ship.<\/p>\n

The men of Sidon, a town about twenty miles north, and the men of Arvad, a town still farther north on the Mediterranean coast, were its mariners, or rowers. Ships in that age had one or two sets of rowers. The ship in which Paul sailed had rowers, and the mariners in Jonah’s ship rowed hard. The men of Tyre, the wisest of the world, as they thought, and the best seamen and navigators of the world, were their pilots. The elders of Gebal, the best carpenters, were their calkers, literally, the leak-stoppers. Look at the army on board to guard this magnificent ship: They were men of Arvad; “Persia and Lud, and Phut were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness . . . and valorous men were in thy towers.”<\/p>\n

Then he goes on in (Eze 27:12-14<\/span> ) to describe the sea commerce of the great city of Tyre. To Tarshish, away on the western coast of Spain, the Strait of Gibraltar on the Atlantic Ocean her trade extended. “Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded for thy wares.” From Javan, Tubal, (south of the Black Sea) and Meshech, they brought vessels of brass and slaves. Togarmah is supposed to be modern Armenia, probably bordering on the Black Sea also. They reached this country by ships through the Black Sea and the straits. What did they get there? Horses and mules. So much for the sea commerce.<\/p>\n

Now he gives the land commerce (Eze 27:15-25<\/span> ). Dedan was the Arab tribe bordering on the southern and eastern boundary of Palestine and Edom. Here they got horns of ivory and ebony which indicates that these merchants either went into Africa and made use of the elephant tusks, or went into India and obtained the ivory and ebony there.<\/p>\n

Syria, round about Damascus, supplied them with emeralds, purple and broidered work, fine linen, coral and rubies.<\/p>\n

Judah supplied them with wheat of Minnith, and Pannag (perhaps a kind of confection), honey, oil, and balm.<\/p>\n

Damascus supplied them with the wine of Helbon, the finest and best wine of the world at that time; also with white wool.<\/p>\n

Vedan and Javan supplied them with bright iron, cassia, and calamus.<\/p>\n

Dedan supplied them with precious clothes for riding. When the ladies would go out riding, the fine clothes they wore came all the way from Dedan, probably located in southeastern Arabia.<\/p>\n

Arabia and the princes of Kedar supplied them with lambs, rams, and goats.<\/p>\n

Sheba and Raamah supplied them with all kinds of spices, precious stones, and gold.<\/p>\n

Haran, Canneh, Eden, Asshur, and Chilmad supplied them with blue cloth and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords and made of cedar.<\/p>\n

Now that is a magnificent description of the commerce of Tyre. It is the analogue of that marvelous description which we find in Rev 18:1-20<\/span> , where John pictures all the merchants of the earth mourning over the fall of the great city, Babylon. Many things there are identical with the articles of commerce here.<\/p>\n

Next we have the fate of this magnificent ship (Eze 27:26-36<\/span> ): “Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the heart of the seas. Thy riches, and thy wares, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the dealers in thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, with all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the heart of the seas in the day of thy ruin.” Her rowers had rowed into dangerous waters, and the divine powers broke upon her. The east wind, or divine judgment, produced the fall of the great city of Tyre. In Eze 27:28-36<\/span> there is the lamentation of the nations over the fall of this great city, just as John pictures all the merchants of the world lamenting over the fall of the great mystical Babylon, Rome.<\/p>\n

The pride and fall of Tyre are represented in Eze 28:1-19<\/span> . This is a representation of what he had already said, only here he takes the prince of Tyre as a personified spirit of the city, the prince, representing the people, and gathering up in himself, as it were, the spirit of the people. He directs his lamentation against the prince. He represents the prince of Tyre as saying, “I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas.” That was the spirit of Tyre and is the spirit of every great commercial center where the commercial spirit rules and reigns.<\/p>\n

Babylon said, “I am, and there is none else beside me.” Self-glorification, self-deification, idolizing self, is the besetting sin of every great commercial city. It has been and is today, and because of this great commercialism and inordinate pride, the prince of Tyre was doomed to destruction. They had great wisdom, worldly wisdom; they had great power, great wealth, great glory, but they were great idolaters and as such they perished. In Eze 28:11-19<\/span> he pictures the prince of Tyre as a cherub in the garden of God, or on the mountain of God, clothed in all the magnificence of the finest and most precious and costliest stones that could be found. This cherub, this angelic being, fell prey to sin and was destroyed.<\/p>\n

There is also a prophecy against Sidon in Eze 28:20-24<\/span> . (For the prophecies of this passage see the text.) Sidon was an important city a few miles north of Tyre and her fate was involved in the fate of Tyre. When Nebuchadnezzar destroyed one he destroyed the other, with all the villages and towns adjacent to it.<\/p>\n

Then follows another wonderful prophecy of the restoration of Israel and the blessings upon her after her return (Eze 28:25-26<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

Egypt was a great nation, one of the greatest nations of the world, and Ezekiel devotes four chapters to her fall. The date of it was during the siege of Jerusalem, 587 B.C. The following is a summary of the prophecy against her:<\/p>\n

1. A general statement of the fall of Egypt (Eze 29:1-16<\/span> ). Egypt is compared to a dragon, a crocodile, a huge alligator floundering around in the river Nile and boasting, as he says in the latter part of verse Eze 29:3<\/span> : “My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.” That was the spirit of Egypt. That great dragon-crocodile shall be taken with hooks in his mouth and Jehovah will pull him up and drag him forth and all the little fishes that belong to him will hang onto his scales, and he will be taken out into the wilderness and there he will be meat for the beasts and fowls of the air. This means that Egypt shall be destroyed from one end to the other, from the tower of Seveneh unto the border of Ethiopia. “Yet thus saith the Lord God: At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the peoples whither they were scattered; and I will bring back the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their birth; and they shall be there a base kingdom.” After that Egypt shall be the basest of the kingdoms; “neither shall it any more lift itself up above the nations: and I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.” From that time until this, Egypt has been a poor, weak, and worthless power.<\/p>\n

2. The reward of Nebuchadnezzar for failure to get booty at Tyre (Eze 29:17-21<\/span> ). The prophecy against Tyre that we have been studying was uttered in the year 586 B.C. Shortly after the fall of Jerusalem Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre and continued the siege for thirteen years. We are not told whether he succeeded in capturing and destroying the city or not. Now, this prophecy came from Ezekiel in the year 570 B.C., the first month, first day of the month, sixteen years after he had written the previous prophecy. During those sixteen years Nebuchadnezzar had been besieging Tyre for thirteen years and had apparently destroyed the city as Ezekiel had prophesied, but had taken no spoil. Ezekiel had definitely prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar would utterly and completely overwhelm Tyre, and he had seemingly done it. This prophecy throws some light upon the situation. Eze 29:18<\/span> says, “Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre; every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet had he no wages, nor his army, from Tyre, for the service he had served against it.” How extremely hard was this thirteen years of toil I Now that plainly indicates that Nebuchadnezzar did not succeed in securing the wealth of the Tyre.<\/p>\n

The truth seems to be that the people of Tyre spirited away by ships all their wealth and most of their inhabitants, and capitulated to Nebuchadnezzar at the end of about thirteen years, and when he entered the city he had nothing to destroy nor any wealth to take. Such seems probable, though we have no history that would justify the statement.<\/p>\n

Now, because Nebuchadnezzar had performed this service for Jehovah against Tyre and had received no wages (Eze 29:19-20<\/span> ), God says, “Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon; and he shall carry off her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for which he served, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord God.”<\/p>\n

3. The terror and dismay of the surrounding nations (Eze 30:1-19<\/span> ). The fall of a nation sends a thrill of horror and dismay through the world, and the fall of a great nation like Egypt struck terror into the hearts of all the surrounding nations, Arabia, Ethiopia, Crete, etc.<\/p>\n

4. The broken arm of Egypt (Eze 30:20-26<\/span> ). Egypt had had one arm broken, probably by Nebuchadnezzar. Now Ezekiel prophesies that Egypt shall have both arms broken, and her power shall be destroyed.<\/p>\n

5. Pharaoh represented as a lordly cedar cut down (Eze 31:3<\/span> ), “Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon.” He is using Assyria as an example for Egypt. He goes on with his magnificent description of the cedar. It is cut down. The Babylonians and Medes lay the ax at the roots and the cedar falls, crashing among the nations. In Eze 31:16<\/span> he pictures them as going down into the nethermost part of the earth into the pit of Sheol to abide forever.<\/p>\n

6. Lamentation over the fall of Egypt (Eze 32:1-16<\/span> ). Here we have the picture of the dragon again, destroyed and left for a prey of the birds and beasts.<\/p>\n

7. The welcome to Sheol, or Hades, by the nations (Eze 32:17-32<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

This has been said to be the most weird piece of literature in all the world. All the people of Egypt, the princes, the mighty men, the soldiers, who were slain in these wars, go down into Sheol, the underworld, the place of the departed, and there existing in their shadowy and weak existence, grouped together and with them is Assyria and all her hosts that were slain with the sword: grouped together also and with them, Elam and all her hosts; grouped around them Mesheck, Tubal, and all her multitude; Edom, her kings, and all her princes, and all the Sidonians grouped together in Sheol. These are all in the shadowy world below, surrounding Egypt. In Eze 32:31<\/span> , Pharaoh and his hosts and all these foreign countries and their hosts, are said to be in Sheol where light is as darkness, and are gathered together in groups and Pharaoh shall see them and shall be comforted over all this multitude of slain ones. It is a picture of their conception of the underworld, Sheol, which is the place of the dead who have passed through what we know to be the grave, down into the spirit world. Thus Ezekiel leaves these nations in Sheol, the place where there is no light.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

QUESTIONS<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. What prophets prophesied against foreign nations and what can you say of the grouping of their prophecies?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

2. Why these prophecies against foreign nations?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

3. What and why the prophecy against Ammon? (Eze 25:1-7<\/span> .)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

4. What and why the prophecy against Moab? (Eze 25:8-11<\/span> .)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

5. What and why the prophecy against Edom? (Eze 25:12-14<\/span> .)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

6. What and why the prophecy against Philistia? (Eze 25:15-17<\/span> .)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

7. What can you say of Tyre’s commercial importance and her attitude toward Judah and Jerusalem?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

8. How is the destruction of the city of Tyre described in chapter 26?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

9. Give the magnificent description of Tyre by Ezekiel under the figure of a great ship (27).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

10. How is the pride and fall of Tyre represented in Eze 28:1-19<\/span> ?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

11. What is the prophecy against Sidon in Eze 28:20-24<\/span> , when fulfilled and what prophecy relative to the children of Israel?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

12. Summarize the prophecy against Egypt (Ezekiel 29-32).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

13. What is the added prophecy concerning Tyre in Eze 28:17-21<\/span> ?<\/p>\n

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Eze 28:1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,<\/p>\n

Ver. 1. The word of the Lord.<\/strong> ] See on Eze 18:1<\/span> .<\/p>\n

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Ezekiel Chapter 28<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

This, the third chapter of the series, closes the burden of Tyre, adding a brief denunciation against Zidon, its mother city, but generally inferior in power and splendour to the daughter, not more than twenty miles apart. Each had its distinctive points: as the first brought out the shortlived pleasure of the great city of ancient commerce at Jerusalem’s fall, and the second its all-concentrating traffic suddenly come to nought amidst the general consternation of men, so here “the prince of Tyrus” comes into relief, and the irremediable downfall of his pride.<\/p>\n

“The word of Jehovah came again unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, 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. Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel: there is no secret that they can hide from thee: with thy wisdom and with thy understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: by thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches.” (Ver. 1-5) It would appear that Ithobalus, as Josephus calls him (c. Rev 21<\/span> ), or Ithbal the second, according to the Phoenician annals, ruled in the time of the prophet: probably he may have given occasion to this stirring and severe, yet withal sublime, sketch. It is the typical prince of the world in that day; and many of the expressions are borrowed for the after predictions about the Antichrist or man of sin yet to come. The prince was the head and centre and personification of that pride and wealth found in Tyre as a whole. Nor is there any character of pride baser, more blinding, more corrupting. It lives in selfishness, appeals to it and is exalted by it in its grossest form. No wonder that the New Testament brands covetousness as idolatry, and characterizes the love of money as a root of all evil. The haughtiest station marked this prince. Did he say he was God, and sit in His seat (or throne) in the heart of the seas? He was man, not God, and must soon leave it, however impiously he set his heart as that of God. It is common to all who amass wealth to give themselves credit for wisdom. So did the prince: wiser than Daniel, he discerned what was hidden from others. Alas! what folly and poverty. Was he rich toward God? nay, he had amassed riches, and gold and silver had crowded into his exchequer. This was the aim of his wisdom, this its triumph, for it was his own doing. Self, not God, was in all his thoughts.<\/p>\n

Had the prince of Tyre then only thus perverted all he knew from his proximity to Israel? God would teach him that his responsibility was according to what should have been his profit, not pride, his doom only the more stern and sure and speedy. ‘Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; 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. 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. 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. Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah.” (Ver. 6-10) If he aspired to be God in pretension, he should feel what it is to be man in weakness when the sword of the terrible stranger should defile his brightness, and he should die the deaths of such as are slain in the heart of the seas, for it should prove then no impregnable shelter but his most ignominious grave. He should die the deaths of the uncircumcised, of men farthest from God.<\/p>\n

There is more difficulty as to verses 11-19. Is it the same personage or a different one? I am disposed to think it the same historically, but with a deeper reference to Satan’s fall incorporated into it; and this may be one reason why the Spirit of God changes “prince” into “king.” The picture is beyond comparison more elaborate than the former sketch, yet not without links that connect both together. “Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 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.” (Ver. 11-14) Creature beauty and conferred if not acquired advantage to the uttermost, inwardly as well as outwardly, were there; the highest and most delightful position in nature; the variegated lights of Him who is light in His own nature were there, though of course not in the fulness of grace or glory; the suited expression of joy and gladness was not wanting from the first. “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.” (Ver. 14) There was intelligence in judicial action and protection in him by God’s ordinance; and this too in no distant sphere but where God displayed His authority; there was familiarity with His searching judgments. Nor was there a gradual slip or yielding to temptation from without: “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.” (Ver. 15)<\/p>\n

Now we return to that which we have seen in the previous description of the prince. “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. 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. 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. 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.” (Ver. 16-19 ) Can it be doubted however that in this denunciation God had before Him the fall and ruin of His arch-enemy? The want of seeing such allusions, past or future, above all of seeing Christ in the prophecies, often exposes souls little established in the truth to charge God’s word foolishly. They conceive oriental exaggerations, where such as know the truth find the deepest ground for thankfulness of heart for God’s grace in thus binding all His revelations in one harmonious whole.<\/p>\n

The concluding section is the prophecy against Zidon. “Again the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it. And say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her. 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 Jehovah. And there shall be no more a pricking briar unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despise them; and they shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah.” (Ver. 20-24) God is now known in and by His grace in Christ Jesus our Lord. As before the gospel it was by His judgments, so will it be again when the acceptable year of Jehovah opens with the day of vengeance of our God. And how solemn the difference of the lines measured out to Zidon and Israel! The Zidonians should know He is Jehovah by the judgments by which He would be sanctified in their city; Israel should know Him Jehovah their God when He has gathered them in from the nations where they are still scattered and is sanctified in them in the sight of the Gentiles. “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, 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. 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 Jehovah their God.” (Ver. 25, 26)<\/p>\n

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Eze 28:1-10<\/p>\n

1The word of the LORD came again to me, saying, 2Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,<\/p>\n

Because your heart is lifted up<\/p>\n

And you have said, ‘I am a god,<\/p>\n

I sit in the seat of gods In the heart of the seas’;<\/p>\n

Yet you are a man and not God,<\/p>\n

Although you make your heart like the heart of God <\/p>\n

3Behold, you are wiser than Daniel;<\/p>\n

There is no secret that is a match for you.<\/p>\n

4By your wisdom and understanding<\/p>\n

You have acquired riches for yourself<\/p>\n

And have acquired gold and silver for your treasuries.<\/p>\n

5By your great wisdom, by your trade<\/p>\n

You have increased your riches<\/p>\n

And your heart is lifted up because of your riches <\/p>\n

6Therefore thus says the Lord GOD,<\/p>\n

‘Because you have made your heart<\/p>\n

Like the heart of God,<\/p>\n

7Therefore, behold, I will bring strangers upon you,<\/p>\n

The most ruthless of the nations.<\/p>\n

And they will draw their swords<\/p>\n

Against the beauty of your wisdom<\/p>\n

And defile your splendor.<\/p>\n

8They will bring you down to the pit,<\/p>\n

And you will die the death of those who are slain<\/p>\n

In the heart of the seas.<\/p>\n

9Will you still say, I am a god,<\/p>\n

In the presence of your slayer,<\/p>\n

Though you are a man and not God,<\/p>\n

In the hands of those who wound you?<\/p>\n

10You will die the death of the uncircumcised<\/p>\n

By the hand of strangers,<\/p>\n

For I have spoken!’ declares the Lord GOD!’<\/p>\n

Eze 28:1 say to the leader of Tyre At this time the leader of Tyre was Ittobaal, who had been the High Priest of Astarte and who assassinated the heir of Hiram I. Hiram’s daughter was Jezebel, who was married to Ahab, king of Israel. Sennacherib appointed a later descendant, Ittobaal II (also known as Ethbaal II and Ithobalus II), king of Tyre (590-543 B.C.).<\/p>\n

Tyre was the capital of the Phoenician empire. Tyrians were extremely arrogant because of their commercial prowess and their kings claimed to be descendants of the gods. This was also the claim of the Pharaohs of Egypt.<\/p>\n

This section has caused great consternation to commentators. It seems to refer to a human king, but is described in supernatural terms (cf. Isa 14:12-20). It is possible that Isaiah 14 refers to a military power that has gone beyond the bounds of pride and Ezekiel 28 refers to a commercial power that has gone beyond the bounds of pride (cf. Eze 28:2; Eze 28:9; Eze 28:16).<\/p>\n

Because your heart is lifted up See Special Topic at Eze 11:19.<\/p>\n

is lifted up This VERB (BDB 146, KB 170, Qal PERFECT) can have two senses.<\/p>\n

1. positive<\/p>\n

a. God, Isa 5:16<\/p>\n

b. Messiah, Isa 52:13<\/p>\n

c. God’s ways, Isa 55:9<\/p>\n

d. God’s true followers, 2Ch 17:6<\/p>\n

2. negative<\/p>\n

a. 2Ch 26:16; 2Ch 32:25<\/p>\n

b. Psa 131:1 (the psalmist asserts he is not)<\/p>\n

c. Pro 18:12<\/p>\n

d. Isa 3:16<\/p>\n

e. Jer 13:15<\/p>\n

f. Eze 16:50; Eze 28:2; Eze 28:5; Eze 28:17<\/p>\n

g. Zep 3:11<\/p>\n

3. the NOUN is also used of haughty people<\/p>\n

a. 2Ch 32:26<\/p>\n

b. Psa 10:4<\/p>\n

c. Pro 16:18<\/p>\n

d. Jer 48:29<\/p>\n

4. as is the ADJECTIVE<\/p>\n

a. 1Sa 2:3<\/p>\n

b. Psa 101:5; Psa 138:6<\/p>\n

c. Pro 16:5<\/p>\n

d. Ecc 7:8<\/p>\n

e. Isa 5:15<\/p>\n

The major problem of mankind (and some angels) is pride (cf. Eze 16:49; Eze 24:21; Eze 27:3; Eze 28:2-6; Eze 28:9; Eze 28:17; Gen 3:5; Isa 10:12; Isa 14:13-14; Isa 23:8-12; Isa 25:11-12; Jer 48:29-30; Daniel 2-4, esp. Dan 4:29-30; Zep 2:8-11; Zep 3:11; 1Ti 3:6). Notice the Proverbs that deal with this sin: Eze 11:2; Eze 13:10; Eze 16:18; Eze. 29:23.<\/p>\n

I think pride, arrogance, and self-centeredness are the epitome of the attitude of independence and self-achievement, which characterizes the fall of Genesis 3. Salvation is a restoration of the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26-27) from the original creation. Intimate fellowship with God, for which humans were created, is possible again, even now in a fallen world. The evidence that salvation\/conversion has occurred is that the new creation is selfless, not self-centered. Selflessness is analogous to Christlikeness, which is God’s irreducible will for every Christian!<\/p>\n

I am a god Also see Eze 28:6; Eze 28:9. This possibly reflects the kings of Tyre’s (esp. Ittbaal II) claims that they were part god, like Hercules. Tyre’s chief deity, Melqart (i.e., king of the city) was called the Tyrian Hercules.<\/p>\n

I sit in the seats of the gods This phrase is parallel with the next one. It is possibly a reference to Poseidon or Neptune.<\/p>\n

In the heart of the seas Tyre’s unique physical location was a source of security and pride.<\/p>\n

Yet you are a man and not God Because of this phrase, repeated three times for emphasis in Eze 28:4; Eze 28:8-9, it is obvious that this refers to the political leader of Tyre as representative of the whole nation. This would not fit Satan at all! But it might fit the political leader of 1Th 2:4 (i.e., the Man of Lawlessness or the Antichrist).<\/p>\n

Eze 28:3 you are wiser than Daniel To whom does this refer? Daniel, who was a contemporary of Ezekiel in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, or to the famous Ugarit Danel of the Ugaritic Rash Shamra texts. See note at Eze 14:14. When all is said and done, I still must go with Daniel of the Bible, but it is not an easy choice. The name Daniel here is spelled differently than the name Daniel in the biblical book. See note at BDB 193, #3 and #4.<\/p>\n

There is an obvious purposeful literary allusion to Genesis 1-3 in this chapter. The wisdom of the tree of knowledge (cf. Gen 2:9; Gen 2:17; Gen 3:3; Gen 3:11) here denotes commercial skills (cf. Eze 28:3-5). It was a wisdom that destroyed!<\/p>\n

Notice all the different terms used in Eze 28:3-10.<\/p>\n

1. wiser than Daniel, ADJECTIVE, BDB 314<\/p>\n

2. no secret hidden (cf. Dan 8:26; Dan 12:4; Dan 12:9)<\/p>\n

3. wisdom, BDB 315<\/p>\n

4. understanding, BDB 108<\/p>\n

5. great wisdom, BDB 913, 315<\/p>\n

6. the beauty of your wisdom, BDB 421, 315<\/p>\n

7. possibly splendor (BDB 422) is parallel to wisdom in Eze 28:7<\/p>\n

Number 2 is obviously sarcasm (cf. E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech in the Bible, p. 810) or all are a series of self-descriptions.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:4 wisdom. . .acquired riches There seem to be three sources of the arrogance of the Tyrian people: (1) wisdom; (2) power and wealth; and (3) beauty (cf. Eze 28:5; Eze 28:17; Eze 27:3-4; Eze 27:10-11; Eze 27:25).<\/p>\n

Eze 28:7 strangers The term (BDB 266, KB 267, Qal PARTICIPLE) refers to foreign invaders (cf. Isa 1:7; Isa 25:2; Isa 25:5; Isa 29:5; Isa 61:5; Jer 5:19; Jer 30:8; Jer 51:2; Jer 51:51; Lam 5:2; Eze 7:21; Eze 11:9; Eze 16:32; Eze 28:7; Eze 28:10; Eze 30:12; Eze 31:12) who worship foreign (i.e., strange) gods (cf. Deu 32:16; Isa 17:10; Jer 2:25; Jer 3:13; Jer 5:19).<\/p>\n

most ruthless of nations Here this (BDB 792, lit. terror-striking) refers to the Babylonians (cf. Eze 30:11; Eze 31:12; Eze 32:12; Isa 13:11). Nebuchadnezzar besieged the island fortress for over a decade and destroyed the city on the mainland (cf. Eze 26:3-14; Hab 1:6-8). Apparently the island fortress finally surrendered.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:8 the pit See Special Topic: The Dead, Where Are They? (Sheol\/Hades, Gehenna, Tartarus) .<\/p>\n

you will die the death of This verse is referring to drowning (cf. Eze 27:27; Eze 27:34). Remember Tyre is depicted as a beautiful, expensive cargo ship in chapter 27, which is destroyed by God’s east wind and sinks with all cargo and all hands.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:9 Will you still say The shocking claim to deity is emphasized in the Hebrew by a repetition of the Qal INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and the IMPERFECT VERB of the same root, say (BDB 55, KB 65).<\/p>\n

Eze 28:10 the death of the uncircumcised Since all peoples of Canaan practiced circumcision, mostly at puberty, this must refer to something else (cf. Eze 31:18; Eze 32:19; Eze 32:21).<\/p>\n

1. uncircumcised people were thought to be residents of the lowest part of the underworld<\/p>\n

2. a special category of the dead, like the unburied, possibly referring to children who died before puberty<\/p>\n

The term death is PLURAL, which denotes an awful death.<\/p>\n

For I have spoken!’ declares the Lord GOD God’s word is sure (cf. Eze 5:17; Eze 6:10; Eze 12:25; Eze 12:28; Eze 17:24; Eze 21:32; Eze 22:14; Eze 24:14; Eze 26:5; Eze 26:14; Eze 30:12; Eze 34:24; Eze 36:36; Eze 37:14; Eze 39:5; Eze 39:8)!<\/p>\n

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

the LORD. ‘ Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Chapter 28<\/p>\n

Now as we get into chapter 28, the attention now is directed against the king of Tyre. Chapter 26 against the city of Tyre, chapter 27 against the merchandising of Tyre, chapter 28 now is directed against the king or the prince of Tyre. And as we get into this, suddenly there is a transition and he begins to address himself unto Satan, the power behind the earthly kingdom. Now the Bible says that Satan is the prince of this world. And unless a nation is really dedicated to God and its leaders dedicated to God, then Satan is controlling and seeks to control the leadership of the world. Hitler was a man who was controlled by the white masters, these men who after the fall of the Third Reich moved down into Peru, and still many of them are living in Peru today. Men who are into all kinds of spiritism. They controlled Hitler during the period of the Third Reich. And he was a man who was controlled by these demonic forces, guided by these men who were high in the area of white magic.<\/p>\n

The rebuke of the king of Tyre in chapter 28:<\/p>\n

The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a god, I sit in the throne of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thy heart as the heart of God ( Eze 28:1-2 ):<\/p>\n

Now immediately this causes us to think of Second Thessalonians, chapter 2, where it declares that the antichrist is going to come and stand in the temple of God and declare that he is God and demand to be worshipped as God in the last days. So the prince of Tyrus becomes an interesting type of the antichrist, declaring himself to be God and setting himself up as a god. Now this indeed did happen. The king of Tyrus assumed the god role and proclaimed himself to be God and began to demand the worship of the people.<\/p>\n

Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel ( Eze 28:3 );<\/p>\n

That is what he was saying of himself, that he was wiser than Daniel. Of course, it is interesting that again Daniel is mentioned who was a contemporary to Ezekiel. And already Daniel’s fame was no doubt being spread abroad, and probably because of his interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. That probably brought Daniel to instant fame and recognition, because after he had interpreted the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar made him one of the chief counselors for the Babylonian kingdom. And so Daniel’s fame, especially, of course, among the children of Israel, had spread abroad.<\/p>\n

So Ezekiel, who was a contemporary to Daniel, lived at the same time in Babylonian captivity, makes mention of Daniel, not only here but in other passages. And here the wisdom of Daniel is referred to.<\/p>\n

With thy wisdom and with thy understanding you have gotten riches, you’ve gotten gold and silver into your treasury: And by thy great wisdom and by your trafficking [that is, the merchandising] you have increased your riches and your heart is lifted up because of your riches ( Eze 28:4-5 ):<\/p>\n

The Bible tells us that it’s hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Then it qualifies it and says, “How hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus said, “It’s easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven” ( Mat 19:24 ). The Bible says that they that will be rich will fall into divers temptations or lust which drown men’s souls in perdition. But again the Bible says, “If riches increase, just don’t set your heart upon them.”<\/p>\n

Now that was the problem with the king of Tyrus, his heart was set upon his riches. He was increased with riches and his heart was lifted up because of his riches.<\/p>\n

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because you have set your heart as the heart of God; Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, and the awesome of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. 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. Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am a god? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee. Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD ( Eze 28:6-10 ).<\/p>\n

And so his destruction is predicted. And though he declares himself to be God, when the enemy comes over the wall, you’re not going to move him to thinking that you are God. You’ll die like a man.<\/p>\n

Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD ( Eze 28:11-12 );<\/p>\n

Now, at this point there is a switch and we go behind the scenes and God is now addressing Himself unto Satan. And this is probably one of the most graphic descriptions of Satan that exists in the Bible. And he isn’t, contrary to popular notion, wearing a red suit, holding a pitchfork and having a forked tail. And some evil sinister-looking creature with pointed ears and a goatee.<\/p>\n

Thou sealest up the sum ( Eze 28:12 ),<\/p>\n

It means you are the sum total. You’ve got it altogether. You are the sum total.<\/p>\n

you are full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. You have been in Eden the garden of God ( Eze 28:12-13 );<\/p>\n

Yes, he was there and was talking to Eve and tempting her to eat of that fruit that God had forbidden.<\/p>\n

every precious stone was your covering, the sardius, topaz, diamond, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire, emerald, carbuncle, gold: and the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that you were created ( Eze 28:13 ).<\/p>\n

So here is a description of Satan prior to his… of course, prior to his fall, after his fall, he had been in Eden, but every precious stone is covering and all.<\/p>\n

And there are some who say that Satan is the author of music because of “the workmanship of your tabrets and of your pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.” And so that Satan is the author of music. I think that that is just stretching the point beyond breaking. I can’t stand that type of biblical exposition that takes a verse like this and then builds an entire case from it. And how that music is evil because Satan was the originator of music because he was the one with the tabrets and pipes and so forth. And so that music is satanic in its origin and all and that he is the master over music. That’s stretching scripture; it’s taking it out of context. It is taking one verse and just blowing it beyond its intent and beyond what it declares. And yet, there are those foolish and ignorant men who will take some kind of a passage like this and try to make a big discourse out of it and a big theory and come down on all kinds of musical instruments and everything else. Of course, some book has been written lately against rock music and saying it’s of Satan and this is the scripture that proves it. If they can find proof of that in this scripture then they have done phenomenal bit of scriptural jugglery.<\/p>\n

Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth ( Eze 28:14 );<\/p>\n

Now he was an anointed cherub. A cherub, of course, is an angel. Cherub is singular; cherubim is plural. Now we find in the scriptures that there are the four cherubim that are about the throne of God, plural, of cherubs. Satan once, no doubt, dwelt there near God in the heavenly scene. In fact, he would seem to have had a very high standing at one time. So high that when Michael was contending against, having respect for the position that Satan once held in high authority in the heavenly scene, Michael did not bring any railing accusation against him when they were disputing over the body of Moses, but Michael just said, “The Lord rebuke you.” Satan did have an extremely high position prior to his fall in the heavenly kingdom. “The anointed cherub that covereth.”<\/p>\n

I have set thee so: you were upon the holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. And you were perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee ( Eze 28:14-15 ).<\/p>\n

Now, here is what makes Satan not the opposite of God. “You were perfect in all of your ways from the day that you were created.” But Satan was a created being. God is self-existent. He has always been. Satan was created. So that it is wrong for us in our minds to think of Satan as the opposite of God. He opposes God, but he in no wise is the opposite of God. And we ascribe to Satan much more power and much more than what he actually is if you think of him as the opposite of God. And thus, we should never consider or think of Satan in the terms of the opposite of God. God stands alone in the universe. The infinite, eternal God. There is nothing to compare with in likenesses or opposites. He is alone. The eternal God.<\/p>\n

Satan was a created being, an anointed cherub. If he is the opposite, or to be thought of as the opposite, it might be of Michael or of Gabriel, these two angels that seem to have much authority and power in heaven, who remain true unto God. But never think of Satan as the opposite of God. You’re ascribing much more to him than what actually is. And that is dangerous.<\/p>\n

He was perfect until the day that iniquity was found in him. What is the iniquity that was found in him? If you turn back to Isaiah chapter 14, Isaiah gives us a little insight into this iniquity that was found in Satan. Verse Eze 28:12 , chapter 14 Isaiah, “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 thy heart,” here is the iniquity, “In your heart you said, ‘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.'”<\/p>\n

The five “I wills.” And that is the exercise of my will against the authority of God. “I will exalt myself. I will sit in the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the stars. I will be like the Most High.” In one of Shakespeare’s plays there is that phrase, “Flee ambition, for by this sin the angels fell.” Satan’s ambitious plans against God’s authority, “I will, I will.”<\/p>\n

So up until that point, he had been a model, perfect in all of his ways. “Until iniquity was found in thee.”<\/p>\n

And 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. For thy 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 the kings, that they may behold thee ( Eze 28:16-17 ).<\/p>\n

Now going back again to Isa 14:1-32 , it’s an interesting thing that when we look upon Satan, and one day you will have a chance to look at him, and when you do, you’ll be astonished. Verse Eze 28:15 of chapter 14 Isaiah, “Yet,” you said I’m going to be like the Most High, “yet, thou shalt be brought down to hell to the sides of the pit and they that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee and consider thee saying, ‘Is this the man that made the earth to tremble and did shake kingdoms?'” Wow, is that the one that gave me such a bad time? Wow! “So I will lay thee before kings that they may behold thee.” It’s gonna be an awesome experience, an awesome sight when that day comes.<\/p>\n

Now the question, of course, does remain: when did God create Satan? And when did Satan fall? Now his fall, no doubt, came before his coming into the Garden of Eden to tempt Eve. Therefore, I would have to conclude that his fall came before Genesis chapter 1, verse Eze 28:3 , which speaks of God beginning the re-creative processes saying, “Let there be light.” And the fact that darkness covered the face of the deep. God is light; in Him is no darkness at all. That darkness that enshrouded the world must have been satanic in its origin, as he is the prince of darkness.<\/p>\n

Now, there is what is known as a gap theory. Of late there has been an endeavor to more or less discredit the gap theory. But I still hold it open in my own mind as a very viable option. One of the chief verses that they use to destroy the gap theory is when God gave the law. He said, “For six days shalt thou do thy labor and the seventh day thou shalt rest. For in six days God created the heaven and the earth, and all that is in them, and on the seventh day God rested.” And taking that in a very literal, narrow sense, it would mean that the creation days did take place somewhere around six thousand years ago or six to ten thousand years ago. And thus, the whole universe is only six to ten thousand years old, and we can’t really prove that this position is wrong. It is quite possible it is.<\/p>\n

You say, “Well, how do you explain then the fossils? And the dating processes that show that the earth is millions of years, or whatever.” And of course, there is, number one, the challenging of the dating methods, which is a legitimate challenge, because a part of that lava flow from Kilauea in Hawaii that big flow in 1973 was taken to three different laboratories that have their specialty of dating processes through the carbon argon and so forth. And the three laboratories taking these samples from the 1973 flow of Kilauea came up with age dates of anywhere from 180 million years to 250 million years old. And yet, it was chipped right out of the flow of 1973. So there is reason to question and challenge the accuracy of the dating methods, because in dating, you have to assume that there was so much argon in the beginning. And this assumption is made, and so much lead in the beginning an all, and those are assumptions that we really don’t know.<\/p>\n

The second argument is how old was Adam the day God created him? You say, “Well, he was a day old.” Well, then did he have teeth? How big was he? So that when God created Adam, there were, no doubt, what we would call age-dating factors built in. So that if you looked at Adam the day that God created him, you’d probably say, “Well, he must be thirty years old at least. Look at the skeleton development, the muscular development, look at the teeth and all. Well, he must be thirty years old.” So that God created him not as an infant, but as a man with age-dating factors. Now, of course, we know God could do anything, so that God could have created the earth with fossils already in its structure. With age-dating factors there, if He so chose to do so. Now, the problem that I see with this using… for in six days, God created the heaven and the earth and all that is in them, the problem I see with that is that that would have to then include Satan and when did God then create Satan in this six-day creation period, you see. And then when did Satan fall? And how is it that he got into the Garden of Eden so early.<\/p>\n

Now, the gap theory, which I do feel has a great deal of credence and is probably best set out by Pember in his book Earth’s Earliest Ages. Take Gen 1:1-31 as an account of original creation. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” In the beginning, whenever that was. How many billion years ago, there is no date. No estimate. And that the earth perhaps was a part of Satan’s kingdom as the anointed cherub that covered. And in a beautiful mineral kingdom upon the earth, until the day that iniquity was found in him and he was destroyed and cast out. And at that time, the earth became wasted and desolate and darkness covered the face of the deep. And that what you have then in Genesis from verse Eze 28:3 on is the re-creation of the earth, in order that man might inhabit it in his present form. But what types of animals, creatures that are all there in the fossil record could have existed in the billions of years prior to Genesis verse Eze 28:3 , chapter 1. And thus, all of the ages would be all accounted for, because we don’t know when the original creation took place. And there are viable arguments, and of course, the fact that Satan came along so early; he had already fallen to tempt Eve, and that there was darkness over the face of the deep and all. All tend to give credence to this gap theory and that the earth was somehow disheveled and destroyed at Satan’s rebellion in sin against God.<\/p>\n

And a literal reading of verse Eze 28:2 can read, “but the earth became wasted and desolate.” And it is not consistent with God’s creative acts to create something wasted and desolate. When God creates it, He creates it perfect. God saw the light that it was good. God saw the land that it was good. God saw the animals; they were good. It isn’t consistent with God to create something wasted and desolate, without form and void. So there are some arguments, very powerful arguments for the gap theory, and I have not in my own mind totally set it aside as not worthy of consideration. I think that it has some very worthy points, and thus I have no firm set in my own mind as far as creation is concerned. It’s still an open chapter, an open file, and I await further information.<\/p>\n

I know that God could have created the whole thing just ten thousand years ago, six thousand; I have no problem with that. But I also realize it could have been billions of years ago, and that between Gen 1:1-31; Gen 2:1-25 you have a long gap, at which time somewhere in there Satan was created and Satan fell and rebelled against God, and the whole system was brought into a chaotic state. The earth became wasted and desolate, with form and void and all. So, you can’t be dogmatic in my mind on these things, though I know many people are dogmatic on it.<\/p>\n

Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of the 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 28:18 ).<\/p>\n

Satan will ultimately be cast into the lake that is burning with fire, and this is the reference to it here. Right now Satan has great liberties. God has allowed him these liberties. They are liberties within boundaries. Satan works within prescribed boundaries that God has placed upon him.<\/p>\n

When he came to God concerning Job, he said, “You’ve put a hedge around him. I can’t touch him.” God put the boundaries upon Satan, the perimeters in which he can work. As far as I’m concerned, he still has too much liberty. When Jesus comes again and establishes the kingdom of God upon the earth, Satan will at that point be bound and placed into the abusso, the bottomless pit, where he will stay for almost a thousand years. Right out towards the end of that thousand-year period, he’ll be released again for a short season to deceive people and to create a rebellion against the Lord, that the Lord might be righteous when He makes the final judgment. For there will be those who will have been born during the Kingdom Age or those who have lived into the Kingdom Age who have never really made a real commitment of the their lives to Jesus Christ, will have to live righteously by force during the Kingdom Age. But towards the end, they’ll be given their opportunity to express what has been in their heart the whole time–the rebellion against God that is there. And then at the culmination of this final rebellion, Satan will be cast into the Gehenna, the lake burning with fire, and there the final judgment of God upon him as is expressed here.<\/p>\n

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 ( Eze 28:19 ).<\/p>\n

No more freedom, liberty, anything else.<\/p>\n

The judgment of Sidon now. He turns from Tyre, from the prince of Tyre, to this sister city of Sidon up the coast.<\/p>\n

And again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it, 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. 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. And they 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 ( Eze 28:20-24 ).<\/p>\n

Notice there is nothing said about ultimate destruction or complete destruction or never be rebuilt. Sidon still exists on the ancient site of the city of Sidon, and it’s still a city there to the present day.<\/p>\n

Verse Eze 28:25 , God speaks now of the regathering of His people Israel.<\/p>\n

Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel [speaking of the present day] from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen ( Eze 28:25 ),<\/p>\n

Now that is not yet come. That will take place when the invading Russian army is destroyed.<\/p>\n

Then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. 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 ( Eze 28:25-26 ).<\/p>\n

That’s, of course, going on into the Kingdom Age when God has finally brought His judgment upon all of the nations for the treatment that they have given to the Jews. “<\/p>\n

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Eze 28:1-5<\/p>\n

PROPHECY AGAINST TYRE CONCLUDED;<\/p>\n

AGAINST TYRE’S RULER;<\/p>\n

AGAINST TYRE’S KING;<\/p>\n

AGAINST SIDON;<\/p>\n

AGAINST THE PRINCE OF TYRE<\/p>\n

(Eze 28:1-10)<\/p>\n

Eze 28:1-5<\/p>\n

“The word of Jehovah came again unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyre, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: because thy 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 man and not God, though thou didst set thy heart as the heart of God; – behold thou art wiser than Daniel, there is no secret that is hidden from thee; by thy wisdom and by thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches; and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures; by thy great wisdom and by thy traffic hast thou increased thy riches, and thy heart is lifted up because of thy riches.”<\/p>\n

“Say unto the prince of Tyre …” (Eze 28:2). This paragraph contrasts with the paragraph beginning in Eze 5:11, which is addressed to “the king of Tyre.” Cooke noted that the words “prince of Tyre” refer to the actual “ruler of Tyre,” namely, Ithbaal I; and from this the conclusion is mandatory that the “king of Tyre” is a different person from Ithbaal. Those scholars are therefore in error who treat this whole chapter as a prophecy against “the king of Tyre.” Two different persons are most surely addressed in this chapter.<\/p>\n

“Eichrodt noted that these first ten verses directed against Ithbaal do not reveal any personal details either about his character or his political activity that betray any exceptional wickedness. The things mentioned are in such general terms that any Tyrian king might have qualified as the target. Therefore, it is the kingship per se that is being prosecuted and sentenced here in the person of Ithbaal its representative.<\/p>\n

This horribly wicked self-deification of Tyre was directly related to the satanically induced rebellion of mankind in the matter of the construction of the Tower of Babel, where such humanistic self-deification began; and Tyre, being an outstanding representative of the same thing, in all likelihood prompted the special attention God gave to the disaster that happened to Satan in Eze 28:11-19. The great deduction being required from this is that, “If Satan himself failed to get away with it, who are mortal men that they should follow his shameful example into certain disaster.”<\/p>\n

“I am a god …” (Eze 28:2), This arrogant and conceited boast was repeated in Eze 28:6; Eze 28:9. It was the type of atheism which God was certain to punish. Herod Agrippa I had himself installed as a god down at Caesarea; but an angel of God executed him within the same hour (Acts 12).<\/p>\n

God’s reply to the conceited boast of godhead on the part of Tyre’s ruler was simple enough. “Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am god? but thou art man, and not God; I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah.” (Eze 28:9-10). As Thompson stated it, “God always has the last word!<\/p>\n

“Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel …” (Eze 28:3). “This Daniel is not the Biblical Daniel, but may have been the Daniel mentioned in the pagan literature of Ugarit, who lived about 1400 B.C. A comment like this is totally untrue, there being no evidence whatever to sustain it. It resulted only from the evil prejudice of radical scholars against the Book of Daniel, which was so vigorously endorsed and approved by the Son of God Himself. The current crop of commentators who parrot this old shibboleth of the radical critics are simply not doing any thinking at all for themselves. As Thompson noted, “It is quite impossible to say dogmatically that the Daniel here is the same as the Daniel in the Ugaritic Daniel.<\/p>\n

In the year 588 when Ezekiel wrote this, Daniel had already been hailed by no less an authority than the king of Babylon as “the wisest man on earth.” Nebuchadnezzar actually fell upon his face and worshipped Daniel, and stated before the whole world that, “I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and that no secret troubleth thee” (Dan 2:46; Dan 4:9). Daniel was, in fact the deputy king of Babylon; he sat in the king’s gate; he was the second ruler in the kingdom; and all of this had already been known throughout the whole world of that period for fourteen years at the time Ezekiel wrote.<\/p>\n

Notice that Ezekiel here used almost the same words of these passages in Daniel, such as, “no secret is hidden from thee,” almost identical with the words of Nebuchadnezzar, “no secret troubleth thee.” In the light of these stubborn facts, what thoughtful person can possibly imagine that the name “Daniel” could possibly have called to mind any person who ever lived upon the earth, other than the mighty Daniel at the fight hand of Nebuchadnezzar. Of all the foolish canards the radicals ever came up with, we shall nominate this one as one of the worst. (See my commentary on Daniel, Vol. IV of our Major Prophets Series, regarding the integrity and authenticity of the Book of Daniel.)<\/p>\n

“Thy heart is lifted up …” (Eze 28:5). This was no light offense. “Man had here gone beyond the limits set by God Himself for man’s self-glorification.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

The prophecy concerning Tyre ended with a message to its prince and a lamentation for its king. A distinction must be drawn between these two. Most evidently the prince was the then reigning king, Ithobal. Great difficulty has been felt with regard to the remarkable description of the king which follows. It is most likely that from his height of inspired vision the prophet saw behind the actually reigning prince the awful personality of Satan, whose instrument Ithobal was. All the language used in reference to the king perfectly falls in with this interpretation of the prophet’s meaning. Ezekiel declared that the sin of the prince was pride of heart, expressing itself finally in that he thought of himself as a god, and boasted accordingly. That he was a remarkable person is revealed by Ezekiel’s declaration that he was wiser than Daniel. By this wisdom he had achieved the successes already described, and on account of it his heart had become lifted up. His judgment was to be that by humiliation and destruction, even to the pit, he would learn that he was a “man, and not God.”<\/p>\n

The prophet then took up his lamentation over the king of Tyre, of whom he declared that he sealed up the sum, being full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. He described his original appointment by God in poetic language full of suggestiveness. He then declared that his sin began in the day when unrighteousness was found in him, and violence became his method. On account of this unrighteousness he was cast out of the mountain of God. Because of his pride he was cast down in the presence of kings. For the multitude of his iniquities a fire devoured him, and he was burnt to ashes.<\/p>\n

In this passage we have the prophet’s message to Satan, and a brief parenthesis in which he declared the ultimate restoration of Israel. Satan would be involved in the overthrow of Tyre, and in the midst of her Jehovah would be glorified. All this was in order that there should be no more “a pricking brier*’ to the house of Israel.<\/p>\n

This final declaration led the prophet to utter the brief word concerning the ultimate restoration of Israel. He declared in the name of Jehovah that the scattered ones would be gathered and set apart in the midst of the nations, dwelling securely there, and that in order that the people should know that Jehovah was their God.<\/p>\n

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Chapter Twenty-eight<\/p>\n

The Supernatural Ruler Of Tyre<\/p>\n

As we read this chapter carefully it is very evident that two personalities come into view: first the literal prince of Tyre, the one who actually sat on the throne when Nebuchadnezzars armies besieged and eventually sacked the city. But back of this earthly ruler was a sinister supernatural king who controlled the heart of the Tyrian prince, filling him with pride and self-confidence and leading him to defy the armies that God, as the Creator and Governor of the universe, had sent against him. The same thing comes out in Isa. 14, where we see Lucifer, a fallen angel, dominating the mind and controlling the spirit of the king of Babylon. These chapters throw a great deal of light on the words of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6. He tells us that our conflict as Christians is not with flesh and blood but is a spiritual warfare. We are called upon to put on the whole armour of God in order that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, who works through wicked spirits in the heavenlies, the world rulers of this darkness, as a more literal translation would read.<\/p>\n

The real world rulers of the great earthly powers are not the men who seem to hold the reins of government and dominate the nations. These men are often but puppets under the control of Satans minions, angelic personalities and powers who are doing all that they can to thwart the carrying out of Gods counsels. That their efforts will avail nothing in the end is perfectly clear from Scripture; nevertheless, they are able to cause the saints of God and the peoples of the world a great deal of trouble and distress, while the conflict between righteousness and unrighteousness goes on.<\/p>\n

The tenth chapter of the book of Daniel gives us added light as to this spiritual warfare. There we find a man of God in prayer for three full weeks; and then an amazing declaration is made by the angel Gabriel who comes at last to answer his petition. He tells the prophet that the request was granted from the first day that he began to intercede for his people; but for one-and-twenty days the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood this angel of the Lord. Now this prince was certainly not the man who sat on the throne of Persia but an evil angel seeking to keep that man from carrying out Gods purpose regarding the restoration of His people.<\/p>\n

Another evil prince is mentioned in the closing verses, where Gabriel tells Daniel that he must now go again to fight with the prince of Persia, and later the prince of Grecia would come into the picture; for it was under the great power of Greece that Israel was to come next; and Satan was seeking to control the rulers of that land in order that he might work evil against the people of God.<\/p>\n

With all this in view, history becomes a most interesting study indeed. As we look back over the centuries and note the rise and fall of nations and their attitude toward the things of God, we can almost visualize the conflict going on in the heavenlies. Sometimes it looks as though Satan is about to be victor, then his hosts are driven back in ignominious defeat. Thank God, the day will soon come when Satans last hold upon the heavenlies will come to an end, and Michael the Archangel, with his attendant angels, will participate in the final battle with Satan and his minions, as a result of which the devil and his angels will be cast out of the created heavens into the earth, where he will have great wrath, knowing that his time is short. This will be the event that will precipitate the great tribulation which immediately precedes the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven with His holy angels to execute judgment on all the enemies of God, whether they be men or evil angels.<\/p>\n

With these things before us, this chapter becomes exceedingly instructive. The first ten verses have to do with the prince of Tyre, the earthly ruler.<\/p>\n

The word of Jehovah came again unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyre, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thy 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 man, and not God, though thou didst set thy heart as the heart of God; behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that is hidden from thee; by thy wisdom and by thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures; by thy great wisdom and by thy traffic hast thou increased thy riches, and thy heart is lifted up because of thy riches; therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast set thy heart as the heart of God, therefore, behold, 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. They shall bring thee down to the pit; and thou shalt die the death of them that are slain, in the heart of the seas. Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? But thou art man, and not God, in the hand of him that woundeth thee. Thou shalt die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah-vers. 1-10.<\/p>\n

This monarch is pictured as the very incarnation of pride and self-will. So haughty is he that he pro- claims himself to be a god sitting in the seat of Deity, and one, therefore, whose power no armies can destroy; but he was soon to learn that he was but man and not God, though he had set his heart as the heart of God. He gloried in his wisdom; in his own judgment he was wiser than Daniel and felt that no secret was hidden from him.<\/p>\n

This, in itself, is intensely interesting, for it shows us how widespread was Daniels reputation at this time as a man of probity and sagacity; his fame had gone far beyond the actual kingdom of Babylon, and this Tyrian prince compared himself with Daniel, and in his conceit considered himself wiser than the prophet whom God had raised up even in Babylon in order to make known His mind and will.<\/p>\n

The prince of Tyre gave himself credit for the wealth and commercial standing of the city which he ruled. He was to learn that only by the will of God does any man hold authority, and when that authority is abused God wrests it from him. The army of the strangers whom the Tyrians despised, had come against the city and proven themselves to be the terrible of the nations. God was about to give Tyre into their hands. Its nobles would be brought down to the pit, and its prince was to have an ignominious death, not only unable to protect his city but also unable to save himself. This would be the end of the man who had said, I am God. His doom was predicted by Jehovah and none could turn it aside.<\/p>\n

In verses 11 to 19 the supernatural ruler of Tyre comes before us; though in the latter part of this section we may find it difficult to distinguish between the human and the supernatural, because the one was so completely dominated by the other that his doom was but a picture of that awaiting Satan himself.<\/p>\n

Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou wast in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, the 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 in thee; in the day that thou wast created they were prepared. Thou wast the anointed cherub that covereth: and I set thee, so that thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till unrighteousness was found in thee. By the abundance of thy traffic they filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore have I cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God; and I have destroyed thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I have cast thee to the ground; I have laid thee before kings, that they may behold thee. By the multitude of thine iniquities, in the unrighteousness of thy traffic, thou hast profaned thy sanctuaries; therefore have I brought forth a fire from the midst of thee; it hath devoured thee, and I have turned thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the peoples shall be astonished at thee: thou art become a terror, and thou shalt nevermore have any being-vers.11-19.<\/p>\n

It is very evident that of no earthly ruler could these words be spoken. Undoubtedly we have here the original condition and the fall of Satan himself. It was of him that God could say, Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Men often ask why God created the devil. The answer is He never created the devil; He created a pure spirit-being of great wisdom and glory, but this spirit dared to conspire against the throne of God, and so the greatest of all the angels became the arch-enemy of God and man.<\/p>\n

The prophet says of this spirit leader, Thou wast in Eden, the garden of God. This would seem to suggest that before man himself was created, this glorious being had charge of the lower creation. There is a mystery here that we may not be able to solve, but Jesus Himself says, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven (Luk 10:18). He may have been the one appointed from the beginning to take charge of this world. We do not speak dogmatically, however, as to this, but these verses seem at least to suggest it. Every precious stone was his covering. These precious stones speak of the glories in which Gods saints are yet to stand before Him, as we find in the book of Revelation; and here we see them all combined in the robes of this great angelic leader. It was his to lead the praises of the angelic host. The workmanship of his tabrets and of his pipes suggests this: in the day that he was created he was prepared to lead the heavenly choir. He is described as the anointed cherub that covereth: that is, he was the angel that attended on the throne of God. It was Jehovah Himself who had set him there. He dwelt in the very presence of Deity, walking up and down in the midst of the stones of fire, for we read, Our God is a consuming fire (Heb 12:29). He was created perfect, but how long this condition continued we are not told. The Word simply says, Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till unrighteousness was found in thee.<\/p>\n

Verse 16 links the supernatural ruler very closely with the prince who sat on the throne; but God goes on to speak directly of the covering cherub in the following verse, and gives us the secret of his fall. He says, Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.<\/p>\n

The Lord Jesus shows us that Satan is an apostate; he abode not in the truth (Joh 8:44). The Apostle Paul instructs Timothy not to put undue responsibility upon a novice, or one newly come to the faith, lest he be lifted up with pride and fall into the condemnation of the devil (1Ti 3:6). This passage is the key to both these other scriptures. It was pride that turned an archangel into a devil.<\/p>\n

The closing verses, as we have mentioned, link this great being so intimately with the literal Tyrian ruler that one can hardly be distinguished from the other. Because of the way in which he dominated the heart of the last prince of Tyre, the judgments depicted were to fall.<\/p>\n

The next section deals with the doom of Sidon, a city close to Tyre, which was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, but afterwards rebuilt.<\/p>\n

And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face toward Sidon, and prophesy against it, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, O Sidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her. For I will send pestilence into her, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall fall in the midst of her, with the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am Jehovah. And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor a hurting thorn of any that are round about them, that did despite unto them; and they shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah-vers. 20-24.<\/p>\n

This city is often linked with Tyre in the Scripture. Jesus said, If the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes (Luk 10:13). It was not for them to continue until Messiah came; they fell long before because of their pride and arrogance. While Gods judgment as we have noticed before is His strange work, and He takes no delight in it, yet He is glorified even in the destruction of those cities or nations that dare to oppose themselves to His will. And so upon Sidon was to fall pestilence and bloody warfare; and this city, which had been for so long a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, a thorn in their side, was doomed to destruction. But Gods power and might is not only shown in chastising His people when they would depart from Him, and in visiting judgment upon the wicked, but also in the recovery of those who return to Him; and so in the last verses of the chapter we have a promise of Israels future restoration.<\/p>\n

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the nations, then shall they dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob. And they shall dwell securely therein; yea, they shall build houses, and plant vineyards, and shall dwell securely, when I have executed judgements upon all those that do them despite round about them; and they shall know that I am Jehovah their God-vers. 25, 26.<\/p>\n

These verses are to be taken as literally as the many passages that speak of the desolations of Jerusalem and the scattering of the people of Israel among the nations. The day will come when a repentant remnant will ask the way to Zion, and the Lord will reveal Himself to them and eventually settle them again in their own land where they will dwell securely, building houses and planting vineyards. This is not a picture of the coming glory of the Church in its heavenly inheritance, but is very distinctly a prophecy of blessing upon the earth in the land of Palestine for the restored people of Israel.<\/p>\n

They are going back now to their land in unbelief; going back, little as they realize it, to greater sorrows than they have ever known among the Gentiles, even to the days of the great tribulation. But when all that is passed and the Lord Jesus is revealed to them as the Messiah for whom they have waited so long, they will look upon him whom they have pierced, and bow in contrition at His feet, and thus be restored to Jehovah, and so settled in their land in perfect peace.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Eze 28:1-26. The prince of Tyrus, or, as he is also called, the king, was, according to the Jewish historian Josephus, Ithobalus, known in the Phoenician annals as Ithobaal II. He was the consummation of the pride and wealth of Tyrus; the terrible pride of the city headed up in him. His heart was so lifted up that he claimed to be a god and that he occupied the very seat of God. He boasted of greater wisdom than the wisdom of Daniel. He is a type of the final Antichrist, the man of sin. Behind the wicked prince and king, there is seen another power, Satan.<\/p>\n

Satan was the power behind the throne of the Tyrian king, as Satan is still the god of this age, who controls the kingdoms of the world. Inasmuch, then, as Tyrus is a type of the commercial glory of the world, its wealth and pride, foreshadowing the final great world-city or world-system, Babylon, the ruler of Tyrus, spoken of as prince, foreshadows the Antichrist; while as king, Satan himself stands behind him as the domineering power. The descriptions given of Satan as an unfallen being show that he was originally a marvelous being, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. From Judes Epistle, we learn that even Michael still recognized in him the grandeur of his unfallen past, and did not bring a railing accusation against him (Jud 1:8-10). He was in Eden, the garden of God, and every precious stone was his covering. It is a description of Satans original place and of his great beauty. Furthermore, he was the anointed cherub that covereth; the Lord had set him to be this. As the anointed, divinely chosen cherub he held an exalted position in connection with the government of the throne of God. Everything shows that this majestic creature possessed a place of great dignity, being upon the holy mountain of God, walking up and down in the midst of the stones of fire, he was ever present and moving about in the fiery glory of a holy and righteous God. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created till unrighteousness was found in thee.<\/p>\n

In Eze 28:20-26 the judgment upon Zidon, some twenty miles north of Tyrus, is predicted. For some years Zidon was even more prominent than Tyrus. She was burnt after a revolt against Artaxerxes Ochus in 351 B.C., but later rebuilt.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Reciprocal: Jer 25:22 – Tyrus<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Eze 28:1-2. The prince of Tyrus refers to the king of the city (see verse 12) who was very boastful. His successful dealings with nations and cities over land and sea had filled him with pride. I am a god, is a strong wording for the actual feelings of the king, meaning he regarded himself as a sort of superman. The prophet was directed to declare unto this proud king of Tyrus that he was only a human being.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Eze 28:2. Say unto the prince of Tyrusbecause thou hast said, I am El God, or the strong and mighty One. It is plain from the names of the princes that they bore titles of deity.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:3. Wiser than Daniel. After eclipsing all the wise men of Babylon, his wisdom, conferred of God, became a proverb through all the east. Dan 5:11.<\/p>\n

Eze 28:10. Thou shalt die the death of the uncircumcised. See on chap. 32:25.<\/p>\n

REFLECTIONS.<\/p>\n

Isaiah has called the merchants of Tyre, princes. Their wealth by land and sea was uncounted, their mansions were splendid, their dresses superb. But where was their wisdom in tempting the Chaldean armies to the siege by so much splendour? Is not the Indian in his hut freer from care, and happier in his ranges of liberty?<\/p>\n

When the invaders shall appear under thy walls, wilt thou appear against them as a god in war, or fly as a coward beyond the reach of their arrows? Wilt not thy soul die at the thought of dying; and wilt thou not receive thy death as the sheep dragged to the slaughter?<\/p>\n

When haughty mortals assume titles which belong not to worms of the dust, they justly become exposed to irony, like the wooden gods of the gentiles. Thou sealest up the sum of all knowledge by claims of supreme wisdom, and perfection of regal beauty. Thou dwellest in the Eden of oriental pleasure, thou ridest as a cherub in the full splendour of equipage, thy crown and halls blaze with gems and gold. The greater then shall be thy fall into the pit of the uncircumcised.<\/p>\n

Thou hast defiled all thy temples with the multitude of thy traffic in sorceries and idolatries. Therefore the seas shall not protect thee; for while the invaders scale thy walls, famine shall prevail within, and great shall be the slaughter of thy people. Cursed shall be thy garden for briers and thorns, and fishermen shall dry their nets on thy walls. On Israel the sun shall rise again. God is the rock and hope of Zion; but on Tyre the sun shall rise no more.Oh Lord, instruct us by thy judgments, and acquaint us with thine ancient ways of righteousness and truth. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Ezekiel 28. Tyres Fall from Heaven.In a remarkable passage, Ezekiel now conceives the pride of Tyre as incarnate in her king. The detail is often obscure and difficult, reminiscent of a mythological background similar to Genesis 3. The commercial genius and success of Tyre flushed her with impious pride: she fancied herself divine. But her marvellous wisdom was only commercial wisdom; she had no instinct for the worship of anything but herself and her abounding prosperity: so the terrible Babylonians must come and lay them low in an unhonoured death (Eze 28:1-10). A dirge is then sung over the fallen genius of Tyre, impersonated by her king. Once he had walked in the garden of God, fair, wise, and resplendent, companion of the cherubs who guard the holy abode; but for his pride he was hurled out of Paradisesymbol of the ruin to which Tyres commercial pride will bring her. (In Eze 28:12 the meaning of thou sealest up the sum is quite uncertain, as also tabrets and pipes in Eze 28:13. For the anointed cherub that covereth (Eze 28:14), which is more than obscure, should possibly be read (set) among the cherubs was thy dwelling. The last clause of Eze 28:16 should perhaps be read, the cherubs with whom thou hadst converse, drove thee out, etc. cf. LXX. The fiery stones suggests the supernatural glories of the sacred mountain. [It should perhaps be mentioned that J. G. Frazer (Adonis, Attis, Osiris, i. 114f.) connects the walking in the midst of the stones of fire with the custom of the fire-walk, which may have been an amelioration of an earlier custom of burning alive, or, as is suggested in Balder the Beautiful, ii. 1ff., merely a stringent form of purification.A. S. P.]For sanctuaries in Eze 28:18, perhaps holiness. In Eze 28:16-19 the conduct and fate of the king tend to be merged in that of the city.)<\/p>\n

Zidon shares in the doom of Tyre (Eze 28:20-23), and their destruction is meant to prepare the way for the ultimate restoration of Israel, and the glory and holiness of Yahweh, which the restoration of Israel and the destruction of her enemies will so signally illustrate (Eze 28:24-26). These verses (Eze 28:24-26) really furnish us with the key to the whole section Eze 28:25-26.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

3. A judgment speech against the ruler of Tyre 28:1-10<\/span><\/p>\n

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Ezekiel was to speak an oracle to the contemporary leader (Heb. nagid<\/span>, prince, ruler, king) of Tyre in the Lord’s name, probably King Ethbaal II (also known as Ittobaal II and Ithobalus II, ca. 590-573 B.C.). As usual in political affairs, the king often represents the kingdom he served and even other kings that preceded him who possessed the same characteristics that he did. In this case, a spirit of pride marked the king as well as his nation.<\/p>\n

". . . the attack is not so much a personal criticism of the ruler as a verbal onslaught on the state." [Note: Taylor, p. 195.] <\/span><\/p>\n

While one particular king is in view, we should view him as the representative head of his city-state. Similarly, the President of the United States personifies the policies of this country. We often speak of him when we are referring to the country as a whole. He is uniquely responsible, but he is also a representative figure. The king of Tyre had become very proud because of the prosperity of his seafaring kingdom (cf. 29:3; 2Ki 18:33-35; Dan 3:15; Dan 4:30; Act 12:21-23). He had even thought he was in God’s place of control over his own and Tyre’s affairs. Ancient Near Easterners often viewed their kings as the embodiment of their gods, and this king appears to have concluded that he was a god. [Note: See John Gray, "Canaanite Kingship in Theory and Practice," Vetus Testamentum 2 (1952):193-200.] <\/span> Nevertheless he was only a man.<\/p>\n

"As probably nowhere else in Scripture, pride is set forth in this chapter as the destroying sin." [Note: Feinberg, p. 165.] <\/span><\/p>\n

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

TYRE (CONTINUED): SIDON<\/p>\n

Eze 27:1-36; Eze 28:1-26<\/p>\n

THE remaining oracles on Tyre (chapters 27, Eze 28:1-19) are somewhat different both in subject and mode of treatment from the chapter we have just finished. Chapter 26 is in the main a direct announcement of the fall of Tyre, delivered in the oratorical style which is the usual vehicle of prophetic address. She is regarded as a state occupying a definite place among the other states of the world, and sharing the fate of other peoples who by their conduct towards Israel or their ungodliness and arrogance have incurred the anger of Jehovah. The two great odes which follow are purely ideal delineations of what Tyre is in herself; her destruction is assumed as certain rather than directly predicted, and the prophet gives free play to his imagination in the effort to set forth the conception of the city which was impressed on his mind. In chapter 27, he dwells on the external greatness and magnificence of Tyre, her architectural splendour, her political and military power, and above all her amazing commercial enterprise. chapter 28, on the other hand, is a meditation on the peculiar genius of Tyre, her inner spirit of pride and self-sufficiency, as embodied in the person of her king. From a literary point of view the two chapters are amongst the most beautiful in the whole book. In the twenty-seventh chapter the fiery indignation of the prophet almost disappears, giving place to the play of poetic fancy and a flow of lyric emotion more perfectly rendered than in any other part of Ezekiels writings. The distinctive feature of each passage is the elegy pronounced over the fall of Tyre; and although the elegy seems just on the point of passing into the taunt-song, yet the accent of triumph is never suffered to overwhelm the note of sadness to which these poems owe their special charm.<\/p>\n

I.<\/p>\n

Chapter 27 is described as a dirge over Tyre. In the previous chapter the nations were represented as bewailing her fall, but here the prophet himself takes up a lamentation for her; and, as may have been usual in real funeral dirges, he commences by celebrating the might and riches of the doomed city. The fine image which is maintained throughout the chapter was probably suggested to Ezekiel by the picturesque situation of Tyre on her sea-girt rock at “the entries of the sea.” He compares her to a stately vessel riding at anchor near the shore, taking on board her cargo of precious merchandise, and ready to start on the perilous voyage from which she is destined never to return. Meanwhile the gallant ship sits proudly in the water, tight and seaworthy and sumptuously furnished; and the prophets eye runs rapidly over the chief points of her elaborate construction and equipment (Eze 27:3-11). Her timbers are fashioned of cypress from Hermon, her mast is a cedar of Lebanon, her oars are made of the oak of Bashan, her deck of sherbin-wood (a variety of cedar) inlaid with ivory imported from Cyprus. Her canvas fittings are still more exquisite and costly. The sail is of Egyptian byssus with embroidered work, and the awning over the deck was of cloth resplendent in the two purple dyes procured from the coasts of Elishah. The ship is fitted up for pleasure and luxury as well as for traffic, the fact symbolised being obviously the architectural and other splendours which justified the citys boast that she was “the perfection of beauty.”<\/p>\n

But Tyre was wise and powerful as well as beautiful; and so the prophet, still keeping up the metaphor, proceeds to describe how the great ship is manned. Her steersmen are the experienced statesmen whom she herself has bred and raised to power; her rowers are the men of Sidon and Aradus, who spend their strength in her service. The elders and wise men of Gebal are her shipwrights (literally “stoppers of leaks”); and so great is her influence that all the naval resources of the world are subject to her control. Besides this Tyre employs an army of mercenaries drawn from the remotest quarters of the earth-from Persia and North Africa, as well as the subordinate towns of Phoenicia; and these, represented as hanging their shields and helmets on her sides, make her beauty complete. In these verses the prophet pays a tribute of admiration to the astuteness with which the rulers of Tyre used their resources to strengthen her position as the head of the Phoenician confederacy. Three of the cities mentioned-Sidon, Aradus, and Gebal or Byblus-were the most important in Phoenicia; two of them at least had a longer history than herself, yet they are here truly represented as performing the rough menial labour which brought wealth and renown to Tyre. It required no ordinary statecraft to preserve the balance of so many complex and conflicting interests, and make them all co-operate for the advancement of the glory of Tyre; but hitherto her “wise men” had proved equal to the task.<\/p>\n

The second strophe (Eze 27:12-25) contains the survey of Tyrian commerce, which has already been analysed in another connection. At first sight it appears as if the allegory were here abandoned, and the impression is partly correct. In reality the city, although personified, is regarded as the emporium of the worlds commerce, to which all the nations stream with their produce. But at the end it appears that the various commodities enumerated represent the cargo with which the ship is laden. Ships of Tarshish-i.e., the largest class of merchant vessels then afloat, used for the long Atlantic voyage-wait upon her, and fill her with all sorts of precious things (Eze 27:25). Then in the last strophe (Eze 27:26-36), which speaks of the destruction of Tyre, the figure of the ship is boldly resumed. The heavily freighted vessel is rowed into the open sea; there she is struck by an east wind and founders in deep water. The image suggests two ideas, which must not be pressed, although they may have an element of historic truth in them: one is that Tyre perished under the weight of her own commercial greatness, and the other that her ruin was hastened through the folly of her rulers. But the main idea is that the destruction of the city was wrought by the power of God, which suddenly overwhelmed her at the height of her prosperity and activity. As the waves close over the doomed vessel the cry of anguish that goes up from the drowning mariners and passengers strikes terror into the hearts of all seafaring men. They forsake their ships, and having reached the safety of the shore abandon themselves to frantic demonstrations of grief, joining their voices in a lamentation over the fate of the goodly ship which symbolised the mistress of the sea (Eze 27:32-36):-<\/p>\n

“Who was like Tyre [so glorious]-<\/p>\n

In the midst of the sea? <\/p>\n

When thy wares went forth from the seas-<\/p>\n

Thou filledst the peoples;<\/p>\n

With thy wealth and thy merchandise-<\/p>\n

Thou enrichedst the earth. <\/p>\n

Now art thou broken from the seas-<\/p>\n

In depths of the waters; <\/p>\n

Thy merchandise and all thy multitude-<\/p>\n

Are fallen therein. <\/p>\n

All the inhabitants of the islands-<\/p>\n

Are shocked at thee, <\/p>\n

And their kings shudder greatly-<\/p>\n

With tearful countenances. <\/p>\n

They that trade among the peoples-<\/p>\n

Hiss over thee; Thou art become a terror-<\/p>\n

And art no more for ever.”<\/p>\n

Such is the end of Tyre. She has vanished utterly from the earth; the imposing fabric of her greatness is like an unsubstantial pageant faded; and nothing remains to tell of her former glory but the mourning of the nations who were once enriched by her commerce. Eze 28:1-19 -Here the prophet turns to the prince of Tyre, who is addressed throughout as the impersonation of the consciousness of a great commercial community. We happen to know from Josephus that the name of the reigning king at this time was Ithobaal or Ethbaal II But it is manifest that the terms of Ezekiels message have no reference to the individuality of this or any other prince of Tyre. It is not likely that the king could have exercised any great political influence in a city “whose merchants were all princes”; indeed, we learn from Josephus that the monarchy was abolished in favour of some sort of elective constitution not long after the death of Ithobaal. Nor is there any reason to suppose that Ezekiel has in view any special manifestation of arrogance on the part of the royal house, such as a pretension to be descended from the gods. The king here is simply the representative of the genius of the community, the sins of heart charged against him are the expression of the sinful principle which the prophet detected beneath the refinement and luxury of Tyre, and his shameful death only symbolises the downfall of the city. The prophecy consists of two parts: first, an accusation against the prince of Tyre, ending with a threat of destruction (Eze 27:2-10); and second, a lament over his fall (Eze 27:11-19). The point of view is very different in these two sections. In the first the prince is still conceived as a man, and the language put into his mouth, although extravagant, does not exceed the limits of purely human arrogance. In the second, however, the king appears as an angelic being, an inhabitant of Eden and a companion of the cherub, sinless at first, and falling from his high estate through his own transgression. It almost seems as if the prophet had in his mind the idea of a tutelary spirit or genius of Tyre, like the angelic princes in the book of Daniel who preside over the destinies of different nations. {Dan 10:20-21; Dan 12:1} But in spite of its enhanced idealism, the passage only clothes in forms drawn from Babylonian mythology the boundless self-glorification of Tyre, and the expulsion of the prince from paradise is merely the ideal counterpart of the overthrow of the city which is his earthly abode. The sin of Tyre is an overweening pride, which culminated in an attitude of self-deification on the part of its king. Surrounded on every hand by the evidences of mans mastery over the world, by the achievements of human art and industry and enterprise, the king feels as if his throne on the sea-girt island were a veritable seat of the gods, and as if he himself were a being truly divine. His heart is lifted up; and, forgetful of the limits of his mortality, he “sets his mind like the mind of a god.” The godlike quality on which he specially prides himself is the superhuman wisdom evinced by the extraordinary prosperity of the city with which he identifies himself. Wiser than Daniel! the prophet ironically exclaims; “no secret thing is too dark for thee! By thy wisdom and thine insight thou hast gotten thee wealth, and hast gathered gold and silver into thy treasuries: by thy great wisdom in thy commerce thou hast multiplied thy wealth, and thy heart is lifted up because of thy riches.” The prince sees in the vast accumulation of material resources in Tyre nothing but the reflection of the genius of her inhabitants; and being himself the incarnation of the spirit of the city, he takes the glory of it to himself and esteems himself a god. Such impious self-exaltation must inevitably call down the vengeance of Him who is the only living God; and Ezekiel proceeds to announce the humiliation of the prince by the “most ruthless of the nations”-i.e., the Chaldaeans. He shall then know how much of divinity doth hedge a king. In face of them that seek his life he shall learn that he is man and not God, and that there are forces in the world against which the vaunted wisdom of Tyre is of no avail. An ignominious death at the hand of strangers is the fate reserved for the mortal who so proudly exalted himself against all that is called God.<\/p>\n

The thought thus expressed, when disengaged from its peculiar setting, is one of permanent importance. To Ezekiel, as to the prophets generally, Tyre is the representative of commercial greatness, and the truth which he here seeks to illustrate is that the abnormal development of the mercantile spirit had in her case destroyed the capacity of faith in that which is truly divine. Tyre no doubt, like every other ancient state, still maintained a public religion of the type common to Semitic paganism. She was the sacred seat of a special cult, and the temple of Melkarth was considered the chief glory of the city. But the public and perfunctory worship which was there celebrated had long ceased to express the highest consciousness of the community. The real god of Tyre was not Baal nor Melkarth, but the king, or any other object that might serve as a symbol of her civic greatness. Her religion was one that embodied itself in no outward ritual; it was the enthusiasm which was kindled in the heart of every citizen of Tyre by the magnificence of the imperial city to which he belonged. The state of mind which Ezekiel regards as characteristic of Tyre was perhaps the inevitable outcome of a high civilisation informed by no loftier religious conceptions than those common to heathenism. It is the idea which afterwards found expression in the deification of the Roman emperors-the idea that the state is the only power higher than the individual to which he can look for the furtherance of his material and spiritual interests, the only power, therefore, which rightly claims his homage and his reverence. None the less it is a state of mind which is destructive of all that is essential to living religion; and Tyre in her proud self-sufficiency was perhaps further from a true knowledge of God than the barbarous tribes who in all sincerity worshipped the rude idols which represented the invisible power that ruled their destinies. And in exposing the irreligious spirit which lay at the heart of the Tyrian civilisation the prophet lays his finger on the spiritual danger which attends the successful pursuit of the finite interests of human life. The thought of God, the sense of an immediate relation of the spirit of man to the Eternal and the Infinite, are easily displaced from mens minds by undue admiration for the achievements of a culture based on material progress, and supplying every need of human nature except the very deepest, the need of God. “For that is truly a mans religion, the object of which fills and holds captive his soul and heart and mind, in which he trusts above all things, which above all things he longs for and hopes for.” The commercial spirit is indeed but one of the forms in which men devote themselves to the service of this present world; but in any community where it reigns supreme we may confidently look for the same signs of religious decay which Ezekiel detected in Tyre in his own day. At all events his message is not superfluous in an age and country where energies are well-nigh exhausted in the accumulation of the means of. living, and whose social problems all run up into the great question of the distribution of wealth. It is essentially the same. truth which Ruskin, with something of the power and insight of a Hebrew prophet, has so eloquently enforced on the men who make modern England-that the true religion of a community does not live in the venerable institutions to which it yields a formal and conventional deference, but in the objects which inspire its most eager ambitions, the ideals which govern its standard of worth, in those things wherein it finds the ultimate ground of its confidence and the reward of its work.<\/p>\n

The lamentation over the fall of the prince of Tyre (Eze 28:11-19) reiterates the same lesson with a boldness and freedom of imagination not usual with this prophet. The passage is full of obscurities and difficulties which cannot be adequately discussed here, but the main lines of the conception are easily grasped. It describes the original state of the prince as a semi-divine being, and his fall from that state on account of sin that was found in him. The picture is no doubt ironical; Ezekiel actually means nothing more than that the soaring pride of Tyre enthroned its king or its presiding genius in the seat of the gods, and endowed him with attributes more than mortal. The prophet accepts the idea, and shows that there was sin in Tyre enough to hurl the most radiant of celestial creatures from heaven to hell. The passage presents certain obvious affinities with the account of the Fall in the second and third chapters of Genesis; but it also contains reminiscences of a mythology the key to which is now lost. It can hardly be supposed that the vivid details of the imagery, such as the “mountain of God,” the “stones of fire,” “the precious gems,” are altogether due to the prophets imagination. The mountain of the gods is now known to have been a prominent idea of the Babylonian religion; and there appears to have been a widespread notion that in the abode of the gods were treasures of gold and precious stones, jealously guarded by griffins, of which small quantities found their way into the possession of men. It is possible that fragments of these mythical notions may have reached the knowledge of Ezekiel during his sojourn in Babylon and been used by him to fill up his picture of the glories which surrounded the first estate of the king of Tyre. It should be observed, however, that the prince is not to be identified with the cherub or one of the cherubim. The words “Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth, and I have set thee so” (Eze 28:14) may be translated “With the cherub I set thee”; and similarly the words of Eze 28:16, “I will destroy thee, O covering cherub,” should probably be rendered “And the cherub hath destroyed thee.” The whole conception, is greatly simplified by these changes, and the principal features of it, so far as they can be made out with clearness, are as follows: The cherub is the warden of the “holy mountain of God,” and no doubt also (as in chapter 1) the symbol and bearer of the divine glory. When it is said that the prince of Tyre was placed with the cherub, the meaning is that he had his place in the abode of God, or was admitted to the presence of God, so long as he preserved the perfection in which he was created (Eze 28:15). The other allusions to his original glory, such as the “covering” of precious stones and the “walking amidst fiery stones,” cannot be explained with any degree of certainty. When iniquity is found in him so that he must be banished from the presence of God, the cherub is said to destroy him from the midst of the stones of fire-i.e., is the agent of the divine judgment which descends on the prince. It is thus doubtful whether the prince is conceived as a perfect human being, like Adam before his fall, or as an angelic, superhuman creature; but the point is of little importance in ideal delineation such as we have here. It will be seen that even on the first supposition there is no very close correspondence with the story of Eden in the book of Genesis, for there the cherubim are placed to guard the way of the tree of life only after man has been expelled from the garden.<\/p>\n

But what is the sin that tarnished the sanctity of this exalted personage and cost him his place among the immortals? Ideally, it was an access of pride that caused his ruin, a spiritual sin, such as might originate in the heart of an angelic being.<\/p>\n

“By that sin fell the angels: how can man, then <\/p>\n

The image of his Maker, hope to win by it?”<\/p>\n

His heart was lifted up because of his beauty, and he forfeited his godlike wisdom over his brilliance (Eze 28:17). But really, this change passing over the spirit of the prince in the seat of God is only the reflection of what is done on earth in Tyre. As her commerce increased, the proofs of her unjust and unscrupulous use of wealth were accumulated against her, and her midst was filled with violence (Eze 27:16). This is the only allusion in the three chapters to the wrong and oppression and the outrages on humanity which were the inevitable accompaniments of that greed of gain which had taken possession of the Tyrian community. And these sins are regarded as a demoralisation taking place in the nature of the prince, who is the representative of the city; by the “iniquity of his traffic he has profaned his holiness,” and is cast down from his lofty seat to the earth, a spectacle of abject humiliation for kings to gloat over. By a sudden change of metaphor the destruction of the city is also represented as a fire breaking out in the vitals of the prince, and reducing his body to ashes-a conception which has not unnaturally suggested to some commentators the fable of the phoenix which was supposed periodically to immolate herself in a fire of her own kindling.<\/p>\n

III.<\/p>\n

A short oracle on Sidon completes the series of prophecies dealing with the future of Israels immediate neighbours (Eze 28:20-23). Sidon lay about twenty miles farther north than Tyre, and was, as we have seen, at this time subject to the authority of the younger and more vigorous city. From the book of Jeremiah, {Jer 25:22; Jer 27:3} however, we see that Sidon was an autonomous state, and preserved a measure of independence even in matters of foreign policy. There is therefore nothing arbitrary in assigning a separate oracle to this most northerly of the states in immediate contact with the people of Israel, although it must be admitted that Ezekiel has nothing distinctive to say of Sidon. Phoenicia was in truth so overshadowed by Tyre that all the characteristics of the people have been amply illustrated in the chapters that have dealt with the latter city. The prophecy is accordingly delivered in the most general terms, and indicates rather the purpose and effect of the judgment than the manner in which it is to come or the character of the people against whom it is directed. It passes insensibly into a prediction of the glorious future of Israel, which is important as revealing the underlying motive of all the preceding utterances against the heathen nations. The restoration of Israel and the destruction of her old neighbours are both parts of one comprehensive scheme of divine providence, the ultimate object of which is a demonstration before the eyes of the world of the holiness of Jehovah. That men might know that He is Jehovah, God alone, is the end alike of His dealings with the heathen and with His own people. And the two parts of Gods plan are in the mind of Ezekiel intimately related to each other; the one is merely a condition of the realisation of the other. The crowning proof of Jehovahs holiness will be seen in His faithfulness to the promise made to the patriarchs of the possession of the land of Canaan, and in the security and prosperity enjoyed by Israel when brought back to their land a purified nation. Now in the past Israel had been constantly interfered with, crippled, humiliated, and seduced by the petty heathen powers around her borders. These had been a pricking brier and a stinging thorn (Eze 28:24), constantly annoying and harassing her and impeding the free development of her national life. Hence the judgments here denounced against them are no doubt in the first instance a punishment for what they had been and done in the past; but they are also a clearing of the stage that Israel might be isolated from the rest of the world, and be free to mould her national life and her religious institutions in accordance with the will of her God. That is the substance of the last three verses of the chapter; and while they exhibit the peculiar limitations of the prophets thinking, they enable us at the same time to do justice to the singular unity and consistency of aim which guided him in his great forecast of the future of the kingdom of God. There remains now the case of Egypt to be dealt with; but Egypts relations to Israel and her position in the world were so unique that Ezekiel reserves consideration of her future for a separate group of oracles longer than those on all the other nations put together.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 1 10. The sin of the prince of Tyre ( Eze 28:1-5), and his destruction ( Eze 28:6-10) The prince of Tyre of the time was probably Ithobal II. It is not, however, any individual prince that the prophet threatens, but the ruler of Tyre, … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 28:1”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21169\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}