Why do we see national salvation in inept human politics rather than God? Who is the real power leading and deceiving humanity? Let’s look at Ezekiel 28.
Does the king of Tyre face the same pitfalls in office as any national leader with great wealth and power?
This message came to me from the Lord: “Son of Man, tell Tyre’s Commander-in-Chief, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Because your heart is arrogant, and because you keep saying, ‘I have taken my seat, I am a god, seated in God’s seat right in the middle of the sea,’ and because you’re a man, and not a god, even though you pretend that you have a god-like heart…
Look! You’re wiser than Daniel, aren’t you? No secret is too mysterious for you! Your wisdom and understanding brought you phenomenal wealth. You’ve brought gold and silver into your treasuries. By your great wisdom, by your skills in trading you have amassed wealth for yourself and your heart has become arrogant because of your wealth.” (Ezek 28:1-5 ISV)
What punishment awaited the king of Tyre for his arrogance in office?
Therefore thus saith the Lord God; 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 God. (Ezek 28:6-10 KJV)
Does this now turn towards a double metaphor of both the king of Tyre and the fall of Satan? Was the devil the real power behind the throne?
Again the word of Yahweh came to me saying, “Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz, and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx, and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise, and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, Was in you.
On the day that you were created They were prepared. You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you. By the abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence, And you sinned; Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain of God.
And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was lofty because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, That they may see you. By the abundance of your iniquities, In the unrighteousness of your trade You profaned your sanctuaries.
Therefore I have brought out fire from the midst of you; It has consumed you, And I have turned you to ashes on the earth In the eyes of all who see you. All who know you among the peoples Are appalled at you; You have become terrified, And you will cease to be forever.”’” (Ezek 28:11-19 LSB)
Does God now turn His attention to Sidon, Tyre’s sister city to the north?
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, prophesy against her and say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am against you, Sidon, And I will appear in My glory in your midst. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I execute judgments against her, And I will reveal Myself as holy in her.
For I will send a plague to her And blood to her streets, And the wounded will fall in her midst By the sword upon her on every side; Then they will know that I am the Lord. And there will no longer be for the house of Israel a painful thorn or a hurtful thorn bush from any surrounding them who despised them; then they will know that I am the Lord God.” (Ezek 28:20-24 NASB)
Does God prophesy a future time of blessing for Israel?
“‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When I gather the people of Israel from the nations where they have been scattered, I will be proved holy through them in the sight of the nations. Then they will live in their own land, which I gave to my servant Jacob. They will live there in safety and will build houses and plant vineyards; they will live in safety when I inflict punishment on all their neighbors who maligned them. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.’” (Ezek 28:25-26 NIV)
Does Revelation also seem to picture the fall of Satan?
So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Rev 12:9 NKJV)
Why do we see national salvation in inept human politics rather than God? Who is the real power leading and deceiving humanity? You decide!
