Ezekiel 28:1
"The word of the Lord came to me again, saying..." (Ezekiel 28:1)
This is the third of seven times throughout this section of the book that Ezekiel begins the oracle with this statement.
Ezekiel 28:2
'“Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord God : “Because your heart is lifted up, And you say, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods, In the midst of the seas,’ Yet you are a man, and not a god, Though you set your heart as the heart of a god' (Ezekiel 28:2)
The king of Tyre was proud and arrogant. He considered himself a god, and his godly throne among the seas because his kingdom was an island located in the Great Sea. But God disagreed with his prideful assessment of himself and said, "No, though you might think you are a god, you are only a man, and not a god."
Ezekiel 28:3-5
'(Behold, you are wiser than Daniel! There is no secret that can be hidden from you! With your wisdom and your understanding You have gained riches for yourself, And gathered gold and silver into your treasuries; By your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches, And your heart is lifted up because of your riches),”' (Ezekiel 28:3-5)
Verses 3-5 are in parenthesis, meaning that it is a side note or explanation of the surrounding content. In the previous verse God was talking about the king's pride. In these verses He is giving an explanation of where his pride came from.
God's comments of the king of Tyre being "wiser than Daniel", and that "no secret that can be hidden from you!" seems to be sarcastic, because Daniel the prophet was very wise, and had the ability to interpret dreams, which contain hidden secrets. He was so wise, that he was described as having "wisdom like the wisdom of gods" (Daniel 5:11). His wisdom and understanding was from God, while the king of Tyre relied on his own. The riches he gained and increased made him prideful. Below are some passages describing Daniel's wisdom which comes from God:
'And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians astrologers who were in all his realm. ' (Daniel 1:20)
'Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him. “I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, And have now made known to me what we asked of You, For You have made known to us the king’s demand.”' (Daniel 2:20-23)
'But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these: '(Daniel 2:28)
'There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God. And in the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him; and King Nebuchadnezzar your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers. Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining enigmas were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, now let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation.”' (Daniel 5:11-12)
The word of the Lord that came to the prophet Zechariah spoke similarly about Tyre's riches which led to her pride and destruction:
'The burden of the word of the Lord Against the land of Hadrach, And Damascus its resting place (For the eyes of men and all the tribes of Israel are on the LORD); Also against Hamath, which borders on it, Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise. For Tyre built herself a tower, Heaped up silver like the dust, And gold like the mire of the streets. Behold, the Lord will cast her out; He will destroy her power in the sea, And she will be devoured by fire.' (Zechariah 9:1-4)
(Note also in this passage that is speaking about Tyre and Sidon, that Zechariah prophesied that the Lord will "cast her out", which is similar to what Ezekiel said about Tyre, however, Ezekiel is believed by many to be speaking about Satan for some reason.)
Ezekiel 28:6-10
'‘Therefore thus says the Lord God : “Because you have set your heart as the heart of a god, Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you, The most terrible of the nations; And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, And defile your splendor. They shall throw you down into the Pit, And you shall die the death of the slain In the midst of the seas. “Will you still say before him who slays you, ‘I am a god’? But you shall be a man, and not a god, In the hand of him who slays you. You shall die the death of the uncircumcised By the hand of aliens; For I have spoken,” says the Lord .’ ”' (Ezekiel 28:6-10)
The Lord's promise to the king of Tyre, was that the consequences of setting his heart as a god, were that he and his kingdom were going to be defiled, destroyed, and killed by the sword of "strangers; the most terrible of nations; by the hand of aliens." If he were a god he would be eternal, but he was not a god, but a man, and therefore he would die the death of the slain and the uncircumcised. He would not go on living as a god would, nor would he die an honorable king's death, nor be given a king's burial. He would be thrown in "the Pit" (Sheol), where his body would rot and decay, as a mortal man's body would.
Ezekiel 28:11
"Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me..." (Ezekiel 28:11).
Again, the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 28:12-15
“Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord God : “You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you.' (Ezekiel 28:11-15)
God commanded Ezekiel to lament (grieve) over the king of Tyre because he had been "perfect", until he fell because of sin and unrighteousness.
Ezekiel 28:16-19
“By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones. “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you. “You defiled your sanctuaries By the multitude of your iniquities, By the iniquity of your trading; Therefore I brought fire from your midst; It devoured you, And I turned you to ashes upon the earth In the sight of all who saw you. All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you; You have become a horror, And shall be no more forever.” ’ ” (Ezekiel 28:16-19).
The abundance of trading filled the king of Tyre with violence and sin, and therefore God cast him out and destroyed him by fire, turning him to ashes. This is likely referring to Nebuchadnezzar's seige of Tyre.
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