Tyndale Open Study NotesEzekiel 28

• This section contains a series of messages of judgment against nearby nations. There are six shorter messages against Judah's immediate neighbors, arranged in a clockwise order, followed by a final message against Egypt (Ezekiel 30–32). Through experiencing God's judgment, the nations would recognize God's control over everything. The nations might be used to carry out God's judgment on his people, but they would not avoid judgment themselves.

• One of the main purposes of these messages was to show that the negative part of God's promise to Abraham ("I will … curse those who curse you," Genesis 12:3) was still active. No one can harm God's people and avoid consequences, even when God's people are under his judgment.

The message against Tyre, Israel’s northwestern neighbor, is more detailed than the short messages before it. It consists of three similar sections (Ezekiel 26:2–21; 27:1–36; and 28:1–19). Each section conveys the same idea: Tyre would meet a terrible end and cease to exist (Ezekiel 27:36).

• This section is the third message against Tyre (see study note on Ezekiel 26:1–28:19). It speaks directly to the ruler of Tyre, called the prince of Tyre. It condemns him for his pride.

  The prince represents the city itself. What happens to him also happens to Tyre. In his pride, he claimed to be a god. He said that he sat on a divine throne and ruled over the powerful seas. But this was not true. He was only a man.

• This chapter and Isaiah 14, which speaks about the king of Babylon, are sometimes understood as describing a heavenly battle between God and Satan, who is called “the prince of demons” (Matthew 12:24). However, this interpretation overlooks the historical setting of these passages.

  Tyre and Babylon were real cities. Their kings were real men. They had great power, but they were also very proud. The king of Tyre claimed to be a god, but his claim was empty.

  Political powers that oppose God and his people may serve as agents of Satan in his struggle against God. Yet these rulers will fall. Their defeat points forward to God’s final victory over all the powers of evil. Every authority that sets itself against the living God will be destroyed.

The prince of Tyre claimed to be divine because of his wisdom and his wealth. He believed that his wisdom had made him very rich.

His riches then made him extremely proud. His pride grew out of his success and wealth.

The prince of Tyre's pride led to his downfall (Proverbs 16:18). His claims of wisdom and power would prove empty when the Lord sent the Babylonian army against him. They would draw their swords and humble him.

The clearest proof that the prince of Tyre was only a mortal man came when the Babylonians killed him. He would not rest in the heights with the gods, as he had claimed. Instead, he would go down to the pit, the place of the dead.

Like the city of Tyre, the prince would die in "the heart of the sea" (compare Ezekiel 27:26–27). This image means he would share the same complete destruction as the city.

will die the death of the uncircumcised: In the Old Testament, circumcision was the sign of God’s covenant (his special agreement) with Abraham and his descendants (compare Genesis 17:10–14). To be uncircumcised meant to stand outside that covenant relationship.

This warning means the prince of Tyre would die without any share in God’s covenant promises. He would die as one who did not belong to the people of the covenant.

At first, this funeral song seems to treat the prince of Tyre’s claim to be divine as if it were true. It describes him as the model of perfection, full of wisdom and beauty.

But the tone is not sincere. The lament is sarcastic. It uses praise to expose his pride and to show how far he had fallen.

• Ezekiel mocks Tyre’s claim to great age and importance. He describes the king as if he had been in Eden at the beginning of the world. He presents him as a powerful angelic guardian. These heavenly beings carried the Lord’s throne in Ezekiel 1 and guarding the garden in Genesis 3.

  In this picture, the king had access to the holy mountain of God. In the Bible, mountains are often linked with God’s presence.

• The fiery stones may refer to shining gemstones around the garden of Eden. The list of jewels that the prince of Tyre supposedly wore adds to this image. It suggests he was specially chosen. The list includes nine of the twelve stones on the high priest’s breastplate in Exodus 28.

  This description mocks the prince’s claim. It suggests that he believed he had a place even higher than Adam’s. He claimed a place among the divine beings themselves.

This sarcastic description of the prince of Tyre's greatness and pride sets him up for his fall, similar to the fall of humanity (Genesis 3). Like Adam, the king of Tyre's supposedly blameless state was temporary and ended abruptly when evil was found in him. His wealth and dishonest trade led him to violence (compare Ezekiel 26:17).

Someone who claimed to be greater than Adam could experience a similar fall from favor and be banished from the mountain of God, the place of God's favor. The prince of Tyre's God-given beauty and wisdom were corrupted by his pride, leading to disaster and revealing his true nature.

The prince of Tyre was not a god who could make land holy. Instead, he made his sanctuaries unclean. Earlier, judgment was declared on his city. The prince of Tyre was destined to meet a terrible end and disappear (compare Ezekiel 26:21; 27:36). The proud leader would fall with his grand ship, reduced to nothing by the Lord's action.

No specific charges are made against Sidon, Tyre’s close neighbor to the north. However, it likely committed similar offenses. Its joy over Judah’s destruction would not last.

The Lord planned to show his glory and holiness through judgment. He would bring three kinds of punishment on Sidon:

• plague (disease),

• bloodshed, and

• attack by the sword.

The attack would come from every side. No part of the city would be safe.

The Lord would not show his holiness only by judging nations for their pride, arrogance, and hostility toward his chosen people. He would also bring his people back to Israel. There, they would live safely, build homes, and plant vineyards. These were common signs of covenant blessings in the Old Testament (see Micah 4:4; Zechariah 3:10).

After God punished the neighboring nations and restored his people, they would find peace. The nations would recognize God as the Sovereign Lord through his powerful judgments, and Israel would know him as the Lord their God. This title reflects God's covenant relationship of worship and fellowship with them.