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EZEKIEL 28
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Now you are a wrecked ship,
broken at the bottom of the sea.
All your merchandise and crew
have gone down with you.
All who live along the coastlands
are appalled at your terrible fate.
Their kings are filled with horror
and look on with twisted faces.
The merchants among the nations
shake their heads at the sight of you,*
for you have come to a horrible end
and will exist no more.’”
A Message for Tyre’s King
Then this message came to me from the
Lord: 2 “Son of man, give the prince of
Tyre this message from the Sovereign Lord:
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“In your great pride you claim, ‘I am a god!
I sit on a divine throne in the heart of
the sea.’
But you are only a man and not a god,
though you boast that you are a god.
You regard yourself as wiser than Daniel
and think no secret is hidden from you.
With your wisdom and understanding you
have amassed great wealth—
gold and silver for your treasuries.
Yes, your wisdom has made you very rich,
and your riches have made you very
proud.
“Therefore, this is what the Sovereign
Lord says:
Because you think you are as wise
as a god,
I will now bring against you a foreign
army,
the terror of the nations.
They will draw their swords against your
marvelous wisdom
and defile your splendor!
They will bring you down to the pit,
and you will die in the heart of the sea,
pierced with many wounds.
Will you then boast, ‘I am a god!’
to those who kill you?
To them you will be no god
but merely a man!
You will die like an outcast*
at the hands of foreigners.
I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”
11 Then this further message came to me from
the Lord: 12 “Son of man, sing this funeral song
for the king of Tyre. Give him this message from
the Sovereign Lord:
“You were the model of perfection,
full of wisdom and exquisite in beauty.
27:36 Hebrew hiss at you. 28:10 Hebrew will die the death of
the uncircumcised. 28:13 The identification of some of these
gemstones is uncertain. 28:14 Hebrew guardian cherub;
similarly in 28:16.
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You were in Eden,
the garden of God.
Your clothing was adorned with every
precious stone*—
red carnelian, pale-green peridot, white
moonstone,
blue-green beryl, onyx, green jasper,
blue lapis lazuli, turquoise, and
emerald—
all beautifully crafted for you
and set in the finest gold.
They were given to you
on the day you were created.
I ordained and anointed you
as the mighty angelic guardian.*
You had access to the holy mountain of God
and walked among the stones of fire.
“You were blameless in all you did
from the day you were created
until the day evil was found in you.
Your rich commerce led you to violence,
and you sinned.
So I banished you in disgrace
from the mountain of God.
I expelled you, O mighty guardian,
from your place among the stones of fire.
Your heart was filled with pride
because of all your beauty.
Your wisdom was corrupted
• Pride
E ZE K I E L 28:11-19
Many scholars think that, in addition to
prophesying against the king of Tyre,
Ezekiel was using the king as a picture
of Satan. Tyre was a magnificent, prosperous seaport. It was known for its stunning beauty. Likewise, Satan is depicted
as beautiful. In fact, Satan often uses
beauty to make his schemes attractive
to us.
But beauty can lead to pride, which was
Satan’s (and Tyre’s) downfall. A stunning
physical appearance, an ornate home, an
attractive car, a new set of clothes—these
are all examples of beautiful things that
in themselves are wonderful gifts to us.
But they can also make us feel superior
to others. This kind of pride is one of
Satan’s greatest weapons because it
takes our focus away from who we really
are and places it upon mere appearances.
It is unwise to be captivated by our own
beauty, for the pride that results makes
us unattractive to God as well as other
people. Use the beautiful things in your life
to welcome people in, not alienate them.