Ezekiel 28:1-10
English Standard Version

Prophecy Against the Prince of Tyre
28 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord GOD:

“Because your heart is proud,
    and you have said, ‘I am a god,
I sit in the seat of the gods,
    in the heart of the seas,’
yet you are but a man, and no god,
    though you make your heart like the heart of a god--
3 you are indeed wiser than Daniel;
    no secret is hidden from you;
4 by your wisdom and your understanding
    you have made wealth for yourself,
and have gathered gold and silver
    into your treasuries;
5 by your great wisdom in your trade
    you have increased your wealth,
    and your heart has become proud in your wealth--
6 therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
Because you make your heart
    like the heart of a god,
7 therefore, behold, I will bring foreigners upon you,
    the most ruthless of the nations;
and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom
    and defile your splendor.
8 They shall thrust you down into the pit,
    and you shall die the death of the slain
    in the heart of the seas.
9 Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’
    in the presence of those who kill you,
though you are but a man, and no god,
    in the hands of those who slay you?
10 You shall die the death of the uncircumcised
    by the hand of foreigners;
    for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.”

The LORD is not finished with His prophecy against Tyre and its king.  We will now start to see the spiritual dimension to this that I mentioned a couple of days ago.  This is not just the judgment of a great and proud people and nation and king, but it is the judgment of the devil and all those who are part of his kingdom who fell because of the sin of pride.  The statements that Lucifer made here seem to be attributed to the people of Tyre and its king.  Did they make similar statements because they were of the same spirit as Lucifer?  Did they believe they would be so great that they would become like God, or is the LORD addressing the spirit that is at work behind their kingdom? Either way, the proud will fall and be humiliated, both in the physical and the spiritual realms.

Ezekiel says the king of Tyre is wiser than Daniel, the chief of the wise men in Babylon, and the LORD's prophet to the kings of Babylonian and Medo-Persian empires.  That is high praise, though perhaps it is tongue-in-cheek to say that this man believes he is more wise in his earthly wisdom than the wisdom that God provides, but he is in error because of his pride.  The goal of the king's wisdom?  To acquire wealth and power for himself!  The king imagines himself as a god (not unusual among the pagan peoples that there would emperor worship of some kind), but the LORD will show this king that he is out of his league.  He cannot contend with the long arm of the LORD.

The LORD will bring ruthless nations to bear against Tyre.  They will destroy what the people of Tyre considered wise and beautiful and leave it in ruins.  Their great wealth will not buy them peace, but it will be taken as spoils of war by these invaders.  All the wise and strong men will be utterly destroyed and defeated.  Those who slay them will not be interested in either their wisdom or their wealth.  Those who worshiped this man as a god will soon see that he was unable to save himself, so he certainly could not save them.  The LORD will do this thing that He has promised and set forth to do.  There will be more words specifically for the king of Tyre in our next section of text.

Ezekiel 27
English Standard Version

A Lament for Tyre
27 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Now you, son of man, raise a lamentation over Tyre, 3 and say to Tyre, who dwells at the entrances to the sea, merchant of the peoples to many coastlands, thus says the Lord GOD:

“O Tyre, you have said,
    ‘I am perfect in beauty.’
4 Your borders are in the heart of the seas;
    your builders made perfect your beauty.
5 They made all your planks
    of fir trees from Senir;
they took a cedar from Lebanon
    to make a mast for you.
6 Of oaks of Bashan
    they made your oars;
they made your deck of pines
    from the coasts of Cyprus,
    inlaid with ivory.
7 Of fine embroidered linen from Egypt
    was your sail,
    serving as your banner;
blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah
    was your awning.
8 The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad
    were your rowers;
your skilled men, O Tyre, were in you;
    they were your pilots.
9 The elders of Gebal and her skilled men were in you,
    caulking your seams;
all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you
    to barter for your wares.

10 “Persia and Lud and Put were in your army as your men of war. They hung the shield and helmet in you; they gave you splendor. 11 Men of Arvad and Helech were on your walls all around, and men of Gamad were in your towers. They hung their shields on your walls all around; they made perfect your beauty.

12 “Tarshish did business with you because of your great wealth of every kind; silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your wares. 13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech traded with you; they exchanged human beings and vessels of bronze for your merchandise. 14 From Beth-togarmah they exchanged horses, war horses, and mules for your wares. 15 The men of Dedan traded with you. Many coastlands were your own special markets; they brought you in payment ivory tusks and ebony. 16 Syria did business with you because of your abundant goods; they exchanged for your wares emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and ruby. 17 Judah and the land of Israel traded with you; they exchanged for your merchandise wheat of Minnith, meal, honey, oil, and balm. 18 Damascus did business with you for your abundant goods, because of your great wealth of every kind; wine of Helbon and wool of Sahar 19 and casks of wine from Uzal they exchanged for your wares; wrought iron, cassia, and calamus were bartered for your merchandise. 20 Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding. 21 Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your favored dealers in lambs, rams, and goats; in these they did business with you. 22 The traders of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; they exchanged for your wares the best of all kinds of spices and all precious stones and gold. 23 Haran, Canneh, Eden, traders of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad traded with you. 24 In your market these traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of blue and embroidered work, and in carpets of colored material, bound with cords and made secure. 25 The ships of Tarshish traveled for you with your merchandise. So you were filled and heavily laden in the heart of the seas.

26 “Your rowers have brought you out
    into the high seas.
The east wind has wrecked you
    in the heart of the seas.
27 Your riches, your wares, your merchandise,
    your mariners and your pilots,
your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise,
    and all your men of war who are in you,
with all your crew
    that is in your midst,
sink into the heart of the seas
    on the day of your fall.
28 At the sound of the cry of your pilots
    the countryside shakes,
29 and down from their ships
    come all who handle the oar.
The mariners and all the pilots of the sea
    stand on the land
30 and shout aloud over you
    and cry out bitterly.
They cast dust on their heads
    and wallow in ashes;
31 they make themselves bald for you
    and put sackcloth on their waist,
and they weep over you in bitterness of soul,
    with bitter mourning.
32 In their wailing they raise a lamentation for you
    and lament over you:
‘Who is like Tyre,
    like one destroyed in the midst of the sea?
33 When your wares came from the seas,
    you satisfied many peoples;
with your abundant wealth and merchandise
    you enriched the kings of the earth.
34 Now you are wrecked by the seas,
    in the depths of the waters;
your merchandise and all your crew in your midst
    have sunk with you.
35 All the inhabitants of the coastlands
    are appalled at you,
and the hair of their kings bristles with horror;
    their faces are convulsed.
36 The merchants among the peoples hiss at you;
    you have come to a dreadful end
    and shall be no more forever.’”

Though the LORD just condemned Tyre, He now commands Ezekiel to lament for them.  The ships of Tyre were beautiful indeed, as was the architecture of the city.  No cost was spared when getting the best materials, even when they needed to be imported from far away.  They hired the best oarsman, even those from far away and they produced excellent pilots for their ships (and everyone else's ships).  They secured the best craftsmen and tradesmen from all around.  Everyone wanted to do business with them.

Other nations swore they would give military aid to Tyre, but in the day of their need, non of these allies was to be found.  People from as far away as the Iberian peninsula came to do business with them.  When people did not have resources of other kinds valuable enough to trade for the wares that Tyre had to offer, they paid in men to become laborers (slaves) for the kingdom of Tyre.  Syria gave them all kinds of gemstones and purple cloth in exchange for their goods.  Israel and Judah traded vast amounts of food for their goods so that they did not have their own fields or herds.  They relied completely on their trade with other nations to supply their every need.  Others traded them livestock, spices, gold, or precious stones.  Others traded clothing and works of embroidery.  There didn't seem to be any nation of renown that didn't trade with Tyre.

All of their ships with their cargo and crew sank and were destroyed.  They are now in the heart of the sea, never to be seen or heard from again.  Their entire fleet and economy was destroyed in a single catastrophic event.  Other nations that had relied on the ships of Tyre to trade what they had for what they wanted were also devastated and they mourned the loss of these merchants (though sometimes it seemed that they may also have acted like pirates that terrorized other ships on the high seas so that everyone had to do business with them).  They no longer have any beauty left--they are now horrifying to look at and what happened to them strikes fear in the heart of the kings that they used to enrich.  They are now derided and cursed by the people that used to fear them and love them.  They were once great, beautiful and powerful, but all that had come to dreadful end. 

Ezekiel 26
English Standard Version

Prophecy Against Tyre
26 In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, ‘Aha, the gate of the peoples is broken; it has swung open to me. I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste,’ 3 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. 4 They shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers, and I will scrape her soil from her and make her a bare rock. 5 She shall be in the midst of the sea a place for the spreading of nets, for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD. And she shall become plunder for the nations, 6 and her daughters on the mainland shall be killed by the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

7 “For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, and with horsemen and a host of many soldiers. 8 He will kill with the sword your daughters on the mainland. He will set up a siege wall against you and throw up a mound against you, and raise a roof of shields against you. 9 He will direct the shock of his battering rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers. 10 His horses will be so many that their dust will cover you. Your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen and wagons and chariots, when he enters your gates as men enter a city that has been breached. 11 With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground. 12 They will plunder your riches and loot your merchandise. They will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses. Your stones and timber and soil they will cast into the midst of the waters. 13 And I will stop the music of your songs, and the sound of your lyres shall be heard no more. 14 I will make you a bare rock. You shall be a place for the spreading of nets. You shall never be rebuilt, for I am the LORD; I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.

15 “Thus says the Lord GOD to Tyre: Will not the coastlands shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when slaughter is made in your midst? 16 Then all the princes of the sea will step down from their thrones and remove their robes and strip off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit on the ground and tremble every moment and be appalled at you. 17 And they will raise a lamentation over you and say to you,

“‘How you have perished,
    you who were inhabited from the seas,
O city renowned,
    who was mighty on the sea;
she and her inhabitants imposed their terror
    on all her inhabitants!
18 Now the coastlands tremble
    on the day of your fall,
and the coastlands that are on the sea
    are dismayed at your passing.’

19 “For thus says the Lord GOD: When I make you a city laid waste, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I bring up the deep over you, and the great waters cover you, 20 then I will make you go down with those who go down to the pit, to the people of old, and I will make you to dwell in the world below, among ruins from of old, with those who go down to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited; but I will set beauty in the land of the living. 21 I will bring you to a dreadful end, and you shall be no more. Though you be sought for, you will never be found again, declares the Lord GOD.”

Outside of the Bible, we don't hear much of Tyre or its neighboring city-state of Sidon that it usually mentioned with it.  Tyre saw the destruction of the walls and gates of Jerusalem (its defenses were broken) and thought that it was the perfect time for a raid to resupply themselves.  Because of this action, the LORD would bring many nations against Tyre-nations that would come from the sea and destroy its defenses.

No longer would the ground of Tyre be fertile, but the LORD would wash all the soil away so that the ground is nothing but bare rock.  Nothing would be able to take root there.  The once great and sprawling city-state would be reduced to a mere fishing village, and would never become anything greater.  The LORD would not destroy all the people of Tyre, but their spirit would be crushed and they would be insignificant for the rest of their days.  All those who lived on the mainland would be killed by the sword.  Only a few fishermen would survive.

The LORD would bring Babylon against them from the north.  He would do to them what he had done to Jerusalem.  He will overwhelm them with the number of chariots and horses that he brings to battle against them and he will bring siegeworks to destroy their walls and many men with axes to cut down and destroy their towers.  The pillars mentioned in verse 11 are almost certainly religious in nature, possibly the pillars in the temple of Baal.  The Babylonians would destroy these symbols of strength and power as well as the actual strength and power of their empire.  No one would be able to save them--not their army or navy, nor the other nations they honored and made peace with (probably making treaties to encourage trade through their ports), nor any of the false gods of theirs or these other nations that they build idols and temples to.  The once proud and strong people of Tyre would be brought down to the dust and utterly decimated.

It does not escape me that Satan himself was compared to the king of Tyre and his fate too is utter destruction.  One day, his kingdom will come to nothing and all of his monuments and strongholds will be destroyed by a stronger king who is truly The King of Kings (a title that they king of Babylon took upon himself when he was set on world domination, but Jesus wears rightly because the whole world belongs to Him).  The people of Tyre wanted to plunder Jerusalem and take the riches and blessings that belonged to the people of God, but now it would be their kingdom that would be plundered by others.  Each and every day, citizens of the kingdom of darkness are taken away to be made citizens of the kingdom of His marvelous light.  In this way the spiritual kingdom of Tyre is also plundered and ransacked, but not for physical riches, but that many might be saved and brought to eternal life.  The prince of darkness is proud and imagines that somehow, someway, he will be able to stop God's plan and defeat Him, but Satan's destruction and t he destruction of his kingdom is sure--just as sure as the destruction of the king of Tyre and his kingdom.

All the sea-faring peoples will be shaken by the news.  No harbor is safe harbor any longer.  The powerful leaders of these coastal cities and these island nations will step down and remove their royal robes in surrender to the nations that the LORD is causing to rise up in power.  They will cower in fear and trembling wondering if they and their people and their place of dominion are next.  If the mighty king and kingdom of Tyre were defeated, what hope would the "little people" have against an enemy so great and powerful?  Certainly surrender is the only option.  Hopefully, this is the response of many in the world when they see the kingdom of Satan falling.  Hopefully they respond in fear and trembling and surrender themselves to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  Maybe they choose this out of a fear of destruction, but many will choose it as history will repeat itself..

The sea was a prophetic picture of the Gentile nations and Tyre brought fear to the hearts of anyone on the sea when they saw her ships approaching, for she was ruthless.  Now they see another king and kingdom more powerful, and they fear that king and his kingdom (Babylon now, and the kingdom of heaven later).  The people of Tyre would be accursed.  They would go down to The Pit (the place where those who were to face eternal condemnation and judgment were temporarily held in "jail" awaiting their "prison" sentence on Judgment Day).  Their barren land would be an image of that death and judgment that awaited all those who rose up in rebellion against the LORD.  The LORD can destroy a strong man and strong city so that it is never to rise up again because He is stronger than all the kings and kingdoms of the earth combined.  He speaks and things are either created or destroyed according to His will and power.  He will bring to ruin all kingdoms and all peoples (even the mighty ones) who living in rebellion to Him.  They will be brought to a dreadful end, and then, they will be no more and will be quickly forgotten.  Those who do go looking for that kingdom will never again find it.  So it is with the kingdom of darkness and of this world.  They may think they are rich and powerful enough to stand against the Almighty, but they will not stand in the judgment.  Their kingdom will perish and will be forgotten if not for the ruins that the LORD leaves to remind people to never emulate them lest we come to the same tragic end.  There is another path that we can choose--the wisdom of the other sea-faring people that saw the power of the one called the king of kings and quickly and unconditionally surrendered in hopes of peace, even if it meant a life of servitude to the mighty king.  The king of Babylon was by no means a righteous man at this time (though I believe the LORD saved him through the ministry of the prophet Daniel and his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah).  We can look to this passage to see that we too should unconditionally surrender to the Almighty King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  His kingdom and dominion are without end, bound, or measure (neither space nor time can contain them).  His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and He will have dominion over heaven and earth and all that is in them.  Even those that are now his enemies will one day bow before Him and confess that "Jesus Christ is Lord" to the glory of God the Father.  Will you choose to surrender yourself today and willingly bow before Him, or will you be forced to admit He has won and you have lost on the day of judgment when it is too late?  Choose wisely!  Choose life, even if it means the death of your pride and perceived power.

Ezekiel 25:15-17
English Standard Version

Prophecy Against Philistia
15 “Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the Philistines acted revengefully and took vengeance with malice of soul to destroy in never-ending enmity, 16 therefore thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the rest of the seacoast. 17 I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I lay my vengeance upon them.”

The Philistines always wanted to take the Promised Land from the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Whether that was at first by cultural assimilation by asking Abraham to reside with them and become one of them or later by direct military conflict during the days of the Judges and Kings.  Philistia would be utterly destroyed so that none of them would remain.  In their destruction, they would know from their place of punishment and torture that the LORD alone is God and He and His people and His prophets were right, and they were wrong.

Side note that the word Palestine and Palestinian come from a Romanized version of the name Philistia, but all of the Philistines were destroyed already.  The Palestinians have no ancient claim to Gaza or any of the other areas controlled by the Philistines because all of the Philistines were killed.   It's also interesting that this group would want to associate with this condemned and destroyed people and want to pick up where the Philistines left off.  Why not try to connect with one of the other children of Abraham that were promised land and blessings outside the Promised Land?  It is because there is a spirit still at work today that was at work within the enemies of God and God's people in the days of Ezekiel.  It is a spiritual battle that is less about land disputes than it is about covenant promises.

Ezekiel 25:12-14
English Standard Version

Prophecy Against Edom
12 “Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and has grievously offended in taking vengeance on them, 13 therefore thus says the Lord GOD, I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it man and beast. And I will make it desolate; from Teman even to Dedan they shall fall by the sword. 14 And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath, and they shall know my vengeance, declares the Lord GOD.

We talked a little bit about the reasons for the judgment of Edom last time, but there's some more prophecy dedicated specifically to Edom in this text.  They specifically acted with revenge against Judah and provoked the LORD to make their land into a desolate wasteland.  It would be devoid of all life--no man or beast would be found there.  The LORD would even use Israel to accomplish this judgment against Edom.  Israel would do to Edom what Edom intended for Israel.  The LORD desires for those that would make themselves enemies of His people to know that they have made themselves enemies of Him.  It matters not that His people didn't deserve the respect of the other nations at this moment in time--that is between them and the LORD.  The LORD demanded that His people be respected whether the other nations felt they deserved that respect or not.  Many would make poor choices and try to take land and blessings that didn't belong to them or, worse, would try to join in the extermination of the Jewish people--some even doing so because they were trying to keep the LORD's plan from moving forward.  There would be a high price to pay for all those who stood opposed to the LORD and His covenant plan.

Ezekiel 25:8-11
English Standard Version

Prophecy Against Moab and Seir
8 “Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Moab and Seir said, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the other nations,’ 9 therefore I will lay open the flank of Moab from the cities, from its cities on its frontier, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim. 10 I will give it along with the Ammonites to the people of the East as a possession, that the Ammonites may be remembered no more among the nations, 11 and I will execute judgments upon Moab. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

Moab and Seir (Edom) round out the "close relatives" of Israel and Judah who will be destroyed by the peoples of the East (probably the Chaldeans).  These people will celebrate when Israel and Judah are attacked and go into Exile.  They will say among themselves that Israel and Judah are just like the other nations and God no longer loves them with His eternal covenant love that is unbreakable.  They will say in a sense that they became too bad for God to love them, and they will be destroyed like all the other wicked nations.  The LORD says that Moab and Edom should know better though.  They should know that the Twelve Tribes of Israel were special, and the tribe of Judah was extra-special because the Messiah was to come from the tribe of Judah.  They should not have been celebrating the thought that Messiah would not come.  Yet, they imagined that somehow they might take possession of the Land and everything that belonged to the LORD's people.  Many of them even helped capture those who were trying to avoid capture and they turned them over to the Babylonians for bounties.  They chose not to offer aid, comfort or refuge to those who were fleeing.  They killed or sold into slavery their own close relatives.

Therefore, the LORD will bring onto them what they wished brought onto Judah.  They will become like the Ammonites who were utterly destroyed (with the exception of King Herod the Great who was an Edomite).  Edom will become a place of darkness and uncleanliness that represents hell in Old Testament prophecy.  That is not to say that no one from any of these peoples were saved (I already mentioned Ruth), but there is something especially wicked about Edom that was opposed to the Jewish people and the Messiah as one of the last Edomites that we know about was King Herod the Great who tired to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and the surrounding area to try to stop the Messianic prophecies from being fulfilled.  Truly, the spirit of antichrist was at work among the people of Moab and Edom throughout their whole existence, and from the very beginning of these peoples, they were opposed to the people of God and were jealous to try to take the blessing and birthright that belonged to the LORD's people of Israel and especially Judah. 

Ezekiel 25:1-7
English Standard Version

Prophecy Against Ammon
25 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face toward the Ammonites and prophesy against them. 3 Say to the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD: Thus says the Lord GOD, Because you said, ‘Aha!’ over my sanctuary when it was profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah when they went into exile, 4 therefore behold, I am handing you over to the people of the East for a possession, and they shall set their encampments among you and make their dwellings in your midst. They shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk. 5 I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and Ammon a fold for flocks. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 6 For thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced with all the malice within your soul against the land of Israel, 7 therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand against you, and will hand you over as plunder to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and will make you perish out of the countries; I will destroy you. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

The Ammonites would try to swoop in and seize control of the Land and the Temple while the people were in Exile.  They had no claim to the Land or the Temple.  It was never their ancestral homeland.  They were in the Trans-Jordan area that was later called Gilead, and they were some of the first peoples defeated as part of the Conquest (while Moses was still leading the people through the Wilderness).  The LORD now is going to finish what He started with Moses and the children of Israel during their early days.

The LORD is going to send the Ammonites into exile.  It will now be their land and produce that are pillaged and plundered, and it will be their capital city and their temples that are torn down and ruined.  Why?  Because they rejoiced at the downfall and destruction of Jerusalem and thought that the inheritance of the LORD's people was something they could steal from them while the LORD's people were in Exile.  The LORD is in control of lands and produce and resources, and He has decided that it is time for the kingdom of Ammon to come to an end (these are the descendants of one of Lot's sons born out of incest, but since they were close relatives of the Jews, the LORD used other nations to effectuate their final destruction).  Notice the promise is not for them to be scattered or to be dispossessed from their land and be wanderers all the rest of their days.  No, the LORD promises total annihilations for them.  Then they (and all the other nations) will learn or remember something about the LORD and will fear Him and will treat His people and His Land of Israel with respect and honor, even if they don't deserve it.