Ezekiel 28:1-10--Prophecy Against the Prince of Tyre

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.”

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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.