Day 244, Ezekiel 27-28

A Lament for Tyre

The word of the Lord went to Ezekiel and told him to raise a lamentation over Tyre. He spoke to them summarizing all the wonderful things that Tyre had; how the ships were built; the rowers, pilots, and skilled men; their army; and great wealth of every kind from all the people trading with them.

Many coastlands were their own special markets and would trade and buy from them in all sorts of different things; silver, iron, tin, lead, human beings, vessels of bronze, horses, war horses, mules, ivory tusks, ebony, emeralds, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and ruby.

Judah and the land of Israel traded with them, and exchanged for their merchandise wheat of Minnith, meal, honey, oil, and balm. Each place exchanged different things and it continued to discuss these.

The ships of Tarshish traveled for them with their merchandise, and they were filled and heavily laden in the heart of the seas, and all would sink into the sea on the day of their fall.

At the sound of their cries, the countryside shook. Down from their ships came all who handled the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea and they stood on the land. They shouted aloud bitterly and cried over them. They cast dust on their heads and made themselves bald, and put sackcloth on their waists. They wept over them and had bitter mourning in their souls.

In their mourning they raised a lamentation for them:

‘Who is like Tyre,
like one destroyed in the midst of the sea?
When your wares came from the seas,
you satisfied many peoples;
with your abundant wealth and merchandise
you enriched the kings of the earth.
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.
All the inhabitants of the coastlands
are appalled at you,
and the hair of their kings bristles with horror;
their faces are convulsed.
The merchants among the peoples hiss at you;
you have come to a dreadful end
and shall be no more forever.’
-Ezekiel 27:32-36

Prophecy Against the Prince of Tyre

Ezekiel was to say to the prince of Tyre what the Lord commanded, and discuss with him how his heart was proud and he would say, ‘I am a god,’ even though he wasn’t. He was very wise and no secret was hidden from him by his wisdom and understanding.

He had made wealth for himself and gathered silver and gold into his treasuries. In his increased wealth, his heart had become proud in his wealth. And the Lord said because his heart was like the heart of a god, He would send foreigners upon him, the most ruthless of the nations, and draw their swords against the beauty of his wisdom and defile his splendor.

They would thrust him down into the pit, and he would die the death of the slain in the heart of the seas. He would die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of foreigners.

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?
-Ezekiel 28:9

A Lament over the King of Tyre

Moreover, the word of the Lord went to Ezekiel and told him to raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre.

This section I really liked, because of its poetry and symbolism. Even though almost all of what I’ve read since starting this journey is death and destruction, doom and gloom; there are still some parts that are absolutely beautiful. I’m not sure why, and even though it is still dreary, this next section of the lament over the King of Tyre is one of those.

“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 carbunkle;
and crafted in gold were your settings
and your engravings.
On the day that you were created
they were prepared.
You were 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.
In the abundance of your trade
you were filled with violence in your midst,
and you sinned;
so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,
and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub,
from the midst of the stones of fire.
Your heart was proud because of your beauty;
you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground;
I exposed you before kings,
to feast their eyes on you.
By the multitude of your iniquities,
in the unrighteousness of your trade
you profaned your sanctuaries;
so I brought fire out of your midst;
it consumed you,
and I turned you to ashes on the earth
in the sight of all who saw you.
All who know you among the peoples
are appalled at you;
you have come to a dreadful end
and shall be no more forever.”
-Ezekiel 28:13-19

What do you think, am I reading this wrong to think of it as poetry? I either don’t understand it, or am twisted to think it is sort of beautiful. Or maybe I just like reading parts where I believe God explains His love for us, that unending love, even though He goes on to punish them.

It’s like it has to explain how much He loves them first and how He made us all perfect and beautiful in our own ways, so we can understand why He does what He does.

He’s not just some big monster in the sky that goes around tormenting people. He gave very clear guidelines, rules, commandments, statutes, etc. that he required and people still chose to disobey; therefore there were punishments. And it’s not like He enjoyed punishing His children. I feel like a lot of the time we break His heart more than anything.

It’s like when you love someone so much and have certain expectations, or standards and they let you down or betray you. It really does break your heart to see them another way than you did before or had intended.

I love the thought of Papa God, and the parent/child relationship. He loves us so much, and He knows we’re going to screw up. To teach us a lesson He has to punish us, but it hurts him to do that because He loves us so much.

Prophecy Against Sidon

Ezekiel was told to prophecy against Sidon and tell them the Lord was against them and would manifest His glory in their midst. So they would know that He is the Lord, He would execute judgments and manifest His holiness there.

He would send pestilence to her, and blood into the streets. The slain would fall in her midst by the sword that was against her on every side.

For the house of Israel, there would be no more a brier to prick or a thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors who had treated them with contempt. Then they would all know the Lord.

Israel Gathered in Security

When the Lord gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they were scattered, and manifested His holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they would dwell in their own land that was given to the Lord’s servant Jacob.

They would dwell securely in it, and would build houses and plant vineyards. They would dwell securely when the Lord executed judgments upon all their neighbors who had treated them with contempt. Then they would know the Lord.