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From the city the prophet passes to its ruler, who concentrated in himself whatever was most arrogant and boastful in the temper of his people. He is described here as a" prince," in Eze_28:12 as "king," and the combination of the two words points probably to some peculiarity of the Tyrian constitution. "Prince" it will be remembered, is constantly used by Ezekiel of Zedekiah (Eze_7:27; Eze_12:20, el al.). The King of Tyro at the time was Ithobal or Ethbaal III. (Josephus, 'Contra Apion,' Eze_1:21), who had taken part with Pharaoh-Hophra and Zedekiah in the league against Nebuchadnezzar, Ezekiel's description of what one may call his self-apotheosis may probably have rested on a personal knowledge of the man or of official documents.
Eze_28:2
I am a God. We are reminded of Isaiah's words (Isa_14:13, Isa_14:14) as to the King of Babylon. Did Ezekiel emphasize and amplify the boasts of Ethbaal, with a side-glance at the Chaldean king, who also was lifted up in the pride of his heart (Dan_4:30)? For like examples, see the boast of Hophra, in Eze_29:3; and the praise given to Herod Agrippa by the Tyrians (Act_12:21). It is noticeable that St. Paul's description of the man of sin (2Th_2:4) presents the same picture in nearly the same words. I sit in the seat of God, etc. Tyro was known as the Holy Island. The city was thought of as rising from its waters like the rock-throne of God. Though thou set thy heart. The words remind us of the temptation in Gen_3:5. To forget the limitations of human ignorance and weakness, to claim an authority and demand a homage which belong to God, was the sin of the Prince of Tyre, as it had been that of Sennacherib, as it was of Nebuchadnezzar, as it has been since of the emperors of Rome, and of other rulers.
Eze_28:3
Thou art wiser than Daniel, etc. There is, of course, a marked irony in the words. Daniel was for Ezekiel—and there seems something singularly humble and pathetic in the prophet's reverence for his contemporary—the ideal at once of righteousness (Eze_14:14) and of wisdom. He was a revealer of the secrets of the future, and read the hearts of men. His fame was spread far and wide through the Chaldean empire. And this was the man with whom the King of Tyro compared himself with a self-satisfied sense of superiority, and he found the proof of his higher wisdom in his wealth. Here, again, I venture to trace a side-thrust at Nebuchadnezzar and his tendencies in the same direction," Is not this great Babylon, which I have builded?"
Eze_28:7
I will bring strangers, etc. These are, of course, the hosts of many nations that made up the Chaldean army (comp. the parallel of Eze_30:11 and Eze_31:12). The beauty of thy wisdom is that of the city on which the prince looked as having been produced by his policy.
Eze_28:8, Eze_28:9
The effect of the Chaldean invasion was to bring the king down to the nether world of the dead. In the use of the plural "deaths" we have a parallel to the "plurima morris imago" of Virgil ('AEneid,' 2.369). And this death was not to be like that of a hero-warrior, but as that of those who are slain in the midst of the seas, who fall, i.e; in a naval battle, and are cast into the waters. Would he then repeat his boast, I am God?
Eze_28:10
The climax comes in the strongest language of Hebrew scorn. As the uncircumcised were to the Israelite (1Sa_17:36; 1Sa_31:4), so should the King of Tyro, unhonored, unwept, with no outward marks of reverence, be among the great cues of the past who dwell in Hades. Ezekiel returns to the phrase in Eze_31:18; Eze_32:24. The words receive a special force from the fact that the Phoenicians practiced circumcision before their intercourse with the Greeks (Herod; 2.104).
Eze_28:12
Thou sealest up the sum, etc. The noun is found only there and in Eze_43:10, where it is translated "pattern," but is cognate with the word rendered" tale" (equivalent to "measure") of Exo_5:13, and "measure" in Eze_45:11. The probable meaning is, Thou settest the seal to thy completeness (perfection). Thou deemest that thou hast attained the consummation of all beauty and wisdom. The LXX. and the Vulgate give, "Thou art a seal;" and this suggests a parallelism with Jeremiah's works to Coniah (Jer_22:24). The words were, of course, written with a keen irony. This was what the King of Tyro thought of himself.
Eze_28:13
Thou hast been in Eden, etc. The words are suggestive, as showing that Ezekiel was familiar with the history of Gen_2:1-25 and Gen_3:1-24. (compare the mention of Noah, in Eze_15:1-8 :14, 20). To him the King of Tyre seemed to claim a position like that of Adam before his fall, perfect in beauty and in wisdom, the lord of the creation. And in that fancied Eden he stood, so he thought, not like Adam, "naked and ashamed," but like one of the cherubim that guarded the gates of the primeval Paradise (Gen_3:24), covered with all imaginable splendor. Ezekiel returns to the phrase in Eze_31:8, Eze_31:16, Eze_31:18 and Eze_36:35. Other instances meet us in Joe_2:3 and Isa_51:3. Every precious stone. All the stones named are found in the list of the gems on the high priest's breastplate (Exo_28:17-20; Exo_39:8-14). Three, however, of those gems are wanting—those in the third row of the breastplate—which are not named elsewhere; and the order is not the same. The LXX. makes the two lists identical, apparently correcting Ezekiel by Exodus. St. John (Rev_21:19) reproduces his imagery in his vision of the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem, but naturally returns to the fullness of the symbolic number—twelve. Possibly the description of gold and bdellium and onyx (or beryl), as in Gen_2:11, Gen_2:12, may have suggested the thought that Eden was a land of jewels. The workmanship of thy tabret and pipes; better, the service. The Authorized Version and Revised Version follow Luther. Keil agrees as to "tabret" (so Gen_31:27; Isa_5:12; elsewhere, as in Exo_15:20 and Job_21:12, the Authorized Version gives "timbrels"), but takes the latter word (not found elsewhere) as identical with its feminine form, and meaning "female." He sees in the clause, accordingly, a picture of the pomp of the Tyrian king, surrounded by the odalisques of the harem, who, with their timbrels, danced to his honor as their lord and king (camp. Isa_23:16; Exo_15:20; 1Sa_18:6). Havernick, who agrees with Keil, calls attention to a passage in Athenaeus, in which Strafe, a Sidonian king, is said to have prepared for a great festival by bringing girls who played on the flute and harp from all parts of Greece. Others, however (Smend), find in both the words articles of jewelry, pearls perforated or set in gold (as in Exo_28:20), and so see in them the conclusion of the description of the gorgeous apparel of the king. Furst takes the words as meaning musical instruments that were of gold set with jewels. Ewald, following out the Urim and Thummim idea, takes the gems as the subject of the sentence, and translates, "they were for the work of thine oracles and divining." On the whole, the interpretation given above seems preferable. In the day that thou wast created. The words point to the time of the king's enthronement or coronation. It was then that he appeared in all his supreme magnificence. Had Ezekiel been a witness of that ceremony?
Eze_28:14
The anointed cherub that covereth. The word for "anointed" is not found elsewhere, but is cognate in form with that which is commonly so rendered. The Vulgate, however, tracing it to another root, gives extentus et protegens, and is followed by Luther, Gesenius, Ewald, and others. Keil and Hengstenberg accept "anointed." The sequence of thought seems to be as follows: The splendor-of the King of Tyre had suggested the idea of Eden the garden of God. This, in its turn, led on to that of the cherub that was the warder of that garden (Gen_3:24). The Paradise of God is pictured as still existing, and the cherub—we remember how prominent the word and the thing had been in Ezekiel's thoughts (Eze_1:10; Eze_10:1-16)—is there (according as we take the above words) either as its anointed, i.e. "consecrated," ruler, or as extending the protection of its overshadowing wings far and wide as the cherubim of the tabernacle extended their wings over the ark (comp. Exo_25:20; Exo_33:22; 1Ki_8:7). Those cherubim, we may remember, were actually anointed (Exo_30:2, Exo_30:6). The King of Tyro boasted that he was, like them, consecrated to his office as king "by the grace of God." In that earthly Paradise the prophet saw the "holy mountain of God," the Olympus, so to speak, of the Hebrews, the throne of the Eternal (compare the Meru of India, the Albard of Iran, the Asgard of German poetry). Isaiah's words as to the King of Babylon (Isa_14:13, Isa_14:14) present a suggestive parallel. In the midst of the stones of fire. The words receive their interpretation partly from Gen_3:24; partly from 2Sa_22:9, 2Sa_22:15; Psa_18:8, Psa_18:12; Psa_120:4. The cherub's sword of fire is identified with the lightning-flash, and that in its turn with the thunderbolts of God. Out of the throne of God went thunders and lightnings (Exo_19:16). The "Flammantia maenia mundi" of Lucretius (1. 73) offers a suggestive parallel. The King of Tyre, like the King of Babylon (Isa_14:13, Isa_14:14), is painted as exulting in that attribute of the Divine glory.
Eze_28:15
Thou wast perfect in thy ways. The glory of the King of Tyre was, the prophet goes on to say, conditional. He began his reign in righteousness, but afterwards iniquity was found in him. And the root of that iniquity was the pride of wealth engendered by the greatness of his commerce (Eze_28:16). He was no longer like the cherub who guarded the Paradise of God, but like Adam when he was east out from it. Wealth and pride had tempted him to violence and to wrong, and he was no longer an "anointed" or consecrated, but a profaned and desecrated, king. The, "stones of fire," the thunders and lightnings of the Divine Majesty, should no longer protect him.
Eze_28:17
Thine heart was lifted up, etc. In yet another point Ezekiel sees the fall of Adam reproduced in that of the Tyrian king. He had forfeited his beauty and his wisdom through the pride which sought for a yet greater glory by a false and counterfeit wisdom (Gen_3:6). I will cast thee, etc. The words are better taken, as in the Revised Version, in the past tense, I have cast thee … I have laid thee before kings. Pride was to have its fall, as in Isa_23:9. The very sanctuaries, the temples which made Tyre the "holy island," were defiled by the iniquities through which the wealth that adorned them had been gained. The "fire," instead of being a rampart of protection, should burst forth as from the center of the sanctuary to destroy him. Is there an implied allusion to the fiery judgment that fell on Nadab and Abihu (Le Isa_10:2) and on Korah and his company (Num_16:35)? The doom of Sic transit gloria mundi was already passed on her.
Eze_28:19
Thou shalt be a terror, etc. The knell of doom, as heard in Eze_27:36, rings out again. The same judgment falls alike on the city and on its king. The question when and in what manner the prediction received its fulfillment has been much discussed. Josephus ('Ant.,' 10.11. 1; 'Contra Apion,' 1.19) states that Nebuchadnezzar besieged the island Tyre and Ithobal (Ethbaal III.) for thirteen years; that, on his father's death, leaving his Phoenician and other captives to be brought by slower stages, he himself hastened to Babylon, and that afterwards he conquered the whole of Syria and Phoenicia; but he does not say, with all the Tyrian records before him, that the city was actually captured by him. It has been inferred, indeed, from Eze_29:18, that Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Tyre ended in, at least, partial failure, that he and his army had no "wages" for their work, i.e. that the spoil of the city was meager and disappointing. Possibly the merchant-princes of the city had contrived to carry off part of their treasures in their ships. On the other hand, it may be noted
(1) that the national historians of the ancient world (perhaps not of that only) willingly minimized the disasters of their country; and
(2) that the Phoenician fragment quoted by Josephus ('Contra Apion,' 1.21) simply for synchronistic purposes, shows a significant change of government following on the siege. Ithobal was "king" during the thirteen years, but afterwards "judges" were appointed, and these ruled for periods of two, or three, or ten months. All this indicates a period of confusion and anarchy, the consequence of some great catastrophe. As a whole, too, we have to remember that it was with Tyre, as with Babylon and with other nations. The prophecies against them had "springing and germinant accomplishments." What the prophet saw in vision, as wrought out in a moment of time, was actually the outcome of the slow decay of centuries, and of catastrophes separated from each other by long intervals of a dwindling history. The main facts of that history may be briefly stated. There was, as implied in Isa_23:17, a revival of commerce under the Persian monarchy, and of this we have traces in Neh_13:16. Two hundred and fifty years after Nebuchadnezzar, Tyre was still so strongly fortified that Alexander the Great did not take it till after a seven years' siege (Died. Sic; 17.20; Arrian; 2.17; Q. Curtius, 4.2-4). It rose again into wealth and power under the Selencidare, and the Romans made it the capital of their province of Phoenicia. It appears as a flourishing town in Mat_15:21; Act_12:20; Act_21:37, and is described by Strabo (16.2, 23), as having two harbors and lofty houses. From A.D. 636 to 1125 it was in the hands of the Saracens. Saladin attacked it without success in A.D. 1189. In A.D. 1291, after Acre had been taken by storm by El-Ashraf, Sultan of Egypt, Tyro passed into his hands without a struggle. When it again passed into the power of the Saracens, its fortifications were demolished, and from that time it sank gradually into its present obscurity. The present Sur is a small town of narrow, crooked, and dirty streets, and the ruins of the old Phoenician city cover the suburbs to the extent of half a league round. The harbor is choked up with sand, and with remains of the old palaces and walls and temples, and is available for small boats only. The sea has swallowed up its grandeur. The soft on which the traveler stands is a mass of debris, in which marble, porphyry, and granite mingle with coarser stones. So it has come to pass that it is little more than "a place for the spreading of nets" and that the sentence, "Thou shalt never be any more," seems to be receiving its fulfillment. There was for it no prospect of an earthly restoration, still less that of a transfigured and glorified existence like that which, in the prophet's visions, was connected with Jerusalem.
Eze_28:21
Set thy face against Zidon. The relation of this city to Tyre was one of sufficient independence to justify a separate oracle for the completeness of the prophet's arrangement of his messages (Eze_27:8; Joe_3:4; Jer_25:22; Zec_9:2). It was sufficiently identified with it not to call for any long description. It is assumed that her sins were of the same kind and required a like punishment.
Eze_28:22
I will be glorified in … thee. The thought and the phrase come from Exo_14:4; Le Exo_10:3. Ezekiel reproduces it in Eze_39:13. God is glorified, or, as in the next clause, sanctified, when his power and holiness are manifested in righteous judgment. (For "sanctified," see Eze_38:16 : Num_20:13.)
Eze_28:23
Pestilence was the natural accompaniment of a siege. As in Eze_14:19, blood probably points to death from this cause, as distinct from the slaughter threatened in the following clause.
Eze_28:24
There shall be no more a pricking brier. There is a special appropriateness in Ezekiel's imagery. The words had been used in Num_33:55 of the Canaanites at large (comp. Jos_22:13). Ezekiel applies them to the cities which were the most conspicuous survivors of the old Canaanite races. Israel, he implies, had been wounded with those thorns and briers, had caught (as e.g. in the case of Jezebel) the taint of evil life and evil worship from those races; but for her there is, as in Verse 25, the future of restoration, and when that future comes, the Canaanite cities, with their idolatries and vices, should have passed away forever.
Eze_28:25
My servant Jacob. The use of "Jacob" for "Israel" is not common in Ezekiel, but Eze_20:5; Eze_27:25; Eze_34:25 may be noted as parallels.
Eze_28:26
Shall build houses, etc. The words sound almost like a direct quotation from Jer_23:6 and Jer_36:28; and, at all events, present a suggestive parallel. The restoration was to include also the blessing of confidence and hope; no longer a groundless and false confidence, like that of Jer_2:37 and Jer_48:13, but one resting on the fact that God was in very deed the Judge of all the earth. We may note, at the close of the chapter, how its juxtaposition of the two Phoenician cities seems to have been present to the mind of the Christ in his references to the judgment that should come upon both of them (Mat_11:21; Luk_10:13). He himself, it will be remembered, passed through the coasts of Tyre and Zidon (Mat_15:21), and probably, according to the best text of Mar_7:24, actually trod the streets of the latter city. They supplied some of the great multitude of Mar_3:8, who listened to his teaching.
II. PRIDE IS THE BESETTING SIN OF HIGH OFFICE. The Prince of Tyre exclaims, "I am a God, I sit in the seat of God." There are many temptations to this sin of pride.
1. Power. Holding high office necessarily confers great influence. The man in power may really be a weak person, but he has great resources at his command. Thus he is inclined to think too much of himself, and to transfer to the score of his merits what really only belongs to his position.
2. Flattery. The prince is not the only person to blame. They are highly culpable who encourage him in a belief in his own greatness by their base adulation. All people in office need to beware of the honeyed words of those beneath them.
III. THE PRIDE OF HIGH OFFICE IS AN INSULT TO GOD. The prince compares himself to a god, and his throne to the seat of a god. This implies two evils.
1. Godlessness. Carrying out this notion in practice, the Prince of Tyre refuses to humble himself in the sight of Heaven. As all men bow to him, he is tempted to forget that he should look up to and bow before a higher Power.
2. Rebellion against God. The proud ruler usurps the place of God. He elects to become an earthly providence. He dispenses with any reference to the holy will of the Supreme, and sets up his own will as the highest authority.
IV. SIN IN HIGH OFFICE IS ESPECIALLY CULPABLE BECAUSE IT INVOLVES A MULTITUDE IN ITS EVIL EFFECTS. The effects are seen in its contagious influence and in, its punishment.
1. Its influence. The bad ruler is like Jeroboam, whose awful climax of wickedness was seen in the fact that he "made Israel to sin" (1Ki_15:30). The power of a bad ruler is one that makes for wickedness. It sows seeds of sin broadcast. Society takes its fashion from the court, and then each order of the community from that next above it. It is a fearful thing to be the leader of a fashion of wickedness.
2. Its punishment. The ruler's sin brings misery on the nation. The people must reap the consequences of the misdeeds of their princes. Tyre's doom is the heavier because her prince is a bad man. Therefore
(1) the people should look well to the characters of the men they put in office;
(2) all persons in authority should dread the double guilt of brining ruin on the multitude as well as wrecking their own lives.
Eze_28:3
1. Its nature.
(1) Insight. Daniel was able to discern the meaning of mysteries that baffled the ingenuity of the most skilful of the magi. The greatest wisdom is required to penetrate beneath the surface. Foolish people are shallow; wisdom dives into depths of truth.
(2) Foresight. Daniel had visions of the future. We speculate on the future; he saw it.
2. Its application.
(1) To human affairs. Daniel's wisdom was not expended on abstract problems; he did not even use it for that interpretation of nature which, since the days of Bacon, has yielded us such rich results; he employed it in the consideration of what was most nearly concerned with man. Here wisdom is most practically valuable; but it is just here that the application of it is most difficult.
(2) To large questions. Daniel did not spend his mind on little personal affairs. His vision swept empires. The highest wisdom is required for large public interests.
3. Its source.
(1) Springing from Divine inspiration. Daniel was trained in Chaldean lore, but he did not find his wisdom in that school. It was derived from his religion. We must connect it with his fidelity. He who dared the lions' den rather than be unfaithful to God was rewarded with heavenly wisdom. True wisdom is from above (Jas_3:17).
(2) Engaged in self-restraint. No doubt the simple living which Daniel chose in common with his three companions prepared him to receive light from God. Luxury and self-indulgence blind the eyes of the soul. Simplicity and self-restraint make a man most susceptible to the influences of Heaven.
II. THE MOCKERY OF WORLDLY WISDOM. The proud Prince of Tyre vainly pretends to excel this high wisdom of Daniel.
1. Its nature. It is "earthly, sensual, devilish" (Jas_3:15). The wisdom of the Prince of Tyre was seen in his successful management of the commercial affairs of his city. It did not touch the counsels of God; it had no bearing on the true welfare of the state; it gave no insight into the essentially corrupt condition of the city; it was entirely lacking in foresight of impending doom. But it was in a large measure successful in opening up new markets, favoring mercantile exchange, and generally promoting the trade interests of the community. This was its highest attainment. There are many people in the present day whose minds are entirely absorbed in similar subjects. They are keen men of business, and they imagine that their astuteness in making money is the height of wisdom. Flattered by temporary success, they despise all other considerations as dreamy. The intelligence that makes money is with them true wisdom; all else is but so much wasted thinking.
2. Its folly. This wisdom, when held to be supreme, is really foolishness, because then it blinds men to the great facts of life and eternity. It is bad to throw dust in the eyes of people, even if this be gold-dust. The supposed wisdom of the Prince of Tyre was one element that contributed to his ruin, because it prevented him from seeing approaching danger, in the confidence of his worldly success. The wisdom of the world is foolishness when it comes as a veil between us and truths that we need to know. Thus the proudly wise may perish, while the foolish in this world are endowed with heavenly wisdom, especially that highest wisdom of the gospel of Christ (1Co_1:24, 1Co_1:25).
Eze_28:15
1. In the race. The Bible represents Adam and Eve as commencing life in primitive innocence. However we may interpret the narrative in Genesis-as literal history or as allegory—if we attach any inspired authority to it we must see that it points back to a time when man lived in childlike innocence and ignorance of evil.
2. In the nation. Even Tyre, wicked, corrupt Tyre, had once known better days. Nearly every people has traditions of a good age preceding the later corruptions. We do not see that the heathen are advancing. On the other hand, behind idolatry there are often to be discovered shreds of an ancient faith in one spiritual God. Thus the Vedas show a purer religion and a higher thought than are to be found in modern Hinduism. We may believe that God is educating the world, and yet see that vast portions of it do not as yet respond to the uplifting influences.
3. In the individual. Children begin life in innocency. Though they come into the world with hereditary tendencies to evil, those tendencies are at first latent, and until they have received the consent of the will they cannot be accounted elements of guilt. Concerning little children our Lord said, "Of such is the kingdom of God" (Mar_10:14).
II. THIS PRIMITIVE INNOCENCE AGGRAVATES THE GUILT OF LATER YEARS.
1. In the community. Man was not created corrupt. He cannot lay the charge of his sin against his Maker. There has been a fall. Degeneracy is especially evil. To go from good to bad and from bad to worse in a descending scale of wickedness is to be without excuse in sin.
2. In the individual. The child who has never known goodness can scarcely be blamed for living a bad life. He can hardly be said to have chosen evil rather than good, for he has had no alternative set before him. But it is otherwise with one who has begun well. Israel is the more to blame because her goodness was like the morning cloud (Hos_6:4). The child of a Christian home is exceptionally wicked when he turns his back on the good influences of his early days, and deliberately descends into the lower paths of sin. There is this guilt with sin in some measure for all of us. For we have all turned aside. When the hardened sinner looks back on his child-days, when he remembers his simple, innocent life in the old home, when he sees his younger condition reflected in the frank countenance of some little child, be may well learn that his own self will be his accuser in the day of judgment.
III. THE INNOCENCE OF EARLY DAYS INSPIRES US WITH HOPES OF RESTORATION. Man is not naturally a brute. What he has been suggests what he may yet become. Absolute primitive innocence is indeed irrecoverably lost. The bloom of childhood can never be restored. Yet as Naaman's flesh became like the flesh of a little child after he had bathed seven times in the Jordan (2Ki_5:14), it is possible to be converted, and become as a little child again (Mat_18:3) in simplicity and a new purity of heart. This is the great Christian hope. The most abandoned sinner may, through Christ, be restored. He need not despair when he compares his present shame with his past innocence. The old fallen world may be recovered. The gospel of Christ goes forth to arrest the deepening degeneracy of mankind.
Eze_28:20-23
II. UNPROSPEROUS SINNERS WILL BE PUNISHED AS WELL AS PROSPEROUS ONES. Tyre was prosperous; Zidon was unprosperous. At least, the history of Zidon is that of a decline in influence compared with the growing importance of Tyre. The oldest and most prominent settlement of the Canaanites (Gen_10:15), and the representative of the whole Canaanitish trade (Gen_49:13), Zidon had gradually declined until it had become virtually, if not nominally, a dependence of Type. But though she reaped less earthly good from her wickedness, she did not therefore escape punishment. There is a superstitious notion that those people who suffer adversity on earth will be spared further punishment after death. But this notion is utterly without warrant, unless it can be proved that the last farthing is paid, and we can scarcely be bold enough to assert that anything of the kind has happened to the most unfortunate. Further, it is sometimes thought that failure exonerates. The evil deed is not carried out to perfection because the doer of it is hampered by external circumstances. This fact is no mitigation of his guilt. He would have consummated his wickedness had he been able to do so. Then he is guilty of the full completion of it, for the sin lies in the intention. Lastly, it is perhaps secretly thought that obscurity will hide from judgment. It was not so with Zidon. God sees all.
III. GOD IS CONCERNED WITH WHAT WE REGARD AS SECONDARY IN IMPORTANCE. He even gets glory through his just treatment of such a second-rate place as Zidon. God is too great to need to confine his attention to what is only of primary importance. As this is true of judgment, so it is also true of redemption. God does not only get glory through "pestilence and blood." His highest glory is seen in the redemption of the world. This redemption is not only for the great and notable. Second-rate characters are not beneath the attention of Christ. His salvation is for all—for the obscure, the neglected, the unfortunate.
Eze_28:25
I. THE FRUIT OF DIVINE REDEMPTION IS A GREAT HOME-GATHERING. It was so physically with Israel; it is so spiritually with Christians.
1. Sin scatters. It drives men from God, banishes them from their old privileges, breaks up the brotherhood of fellow-men, and destroys the true family spirit. All evil is a solvent of society.
2. Christ restores.
(1) To God. The first departure was from God. Where the parent is, there is the home. We leave our home in leaving God; in restoration we first come hack to God. The first great result of it is a return of the soul to communion with God.
(2) To the home. Israel is restored to Palestine, the land flowing with milk and honey. The redeemed are now restored to what is better than Caanan even in its palmy days—to the kingdom of heaven brought down to the earth. Here the Christian may eat of the tree of life and drink of the river of water of life. Here no pricking briars may grow.
(3) To Christian fellowship. The home is the abode of the family. By redemption Christ heals enmity, destroys selfishness, inspires sympathy, draws and binds souls together. This is the earthly blessedness of the Divine recovery.
II. THIS GREAT HOME-GATHERING IS FOR THE GLORY OF GOD. God was to be glorified in the punishment of the wicked (Eze_28:22). But he gains a fresh glory from redemption. When Israel is restored God "shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen." The holiness of God will then be made apparent to the world. The restoration of Israel reveals the power and goodness of God, and shows how he cares for and saves the people who acknowledge him. In a much higher way the redemption of the world sanctifies God by revealing his holiness.
1. It shows his power over sin. He restrains the wicked, that those who obey his Word may have freedom to do so.
2. It shows his recovering grace. The Jews had sinned and had been banished as a punishment for their wickedness, in which they resembled the heathen. But they were penitent, and, being pardoned, they were also restored. There is greater glory in redemption than in retribution. If God conquers sin, not by destroying the sinner, but by converting him, God's holiness is most fully glorified. There is nothing on earth that so sanctifies God, by revealing him in separate, supreme goodness, as the triumphs of the gospel. Nebuchadnezzar glorified God, but Cyrus more so. God was glorified in the destruction of Jerusalem; he was more glorified in the preaching of St. Paul.
Eze_28:26
1. It glorifies God. To be forever doubting, questioning, and fearing shows an unworthy want of appreciation of God's glorious redemption. We honor God by taking him at his word, and quietly trusting in his grace.
2. It confers peace on the soul. We can possess our souls in quietness when we have confidence. Diffidence keeps up a sense of perpetual unrest.
3. It inspires energy. "They shall build houses, and plant vineyards." So long as the restored Jews expected to be surprised at any moment by their foes and driven away again from their homes, they would not have much heart to build up the walls of Zion. Tents are sufficient for sojourners. Confidence, however, will give a motive for laying good foundations and building solid structures. The confident Church will launch out in daring enterprises, or carry on long patient toil in sure expectation of enduring results.
4. It gives leisure for service. The distrustful workmen must carry the sword as well as the trowel, and thus be hampered in their work. Confidence dismisses fear of danger. The confident servant of God may give himself wholly to his Master's work.
5. It wins others to confidence. Timorous Christians will make but few converts, but one person's confidence infuses a corresponding confidence in others.
II. TRUE CONFIDENCE IS BASED ON SAFETY. Confidence is a feeling; safety is a fact. The one is only justified by the other. Confidence without security is mere bravado. There is no security in the bare sense of safety. Thus often they are most confident who have least reason to be so. The first inquiry is as to facts, not feelings. If we lack confidence our business is not to endeavor to stimulate it, to lull fear with spiritual opiates, or to rouse assurance with spiritual intoxicants. Such conduct is as foolish as it is dangerous. The right course is to look into the question of the justification of confidence. If we want to know whether the house will stand, let us have its foundations examined. When we can be assured of safety, confidence will be a natural result.
III. THE SAFETY ON WHICH TRUE CONFIDENCE IS BASED IS ACCOMPLISHED BY THE REDEEMING WORK OF GOD. The Jews were to dwell in confidence when God had destroyed the power of their enemies. Thus they were to "despise them round about them." It is shown in the Old Testament as well as the New that the sources of confidence as well as the grounds of safety are not to be found in man. We are not to be confident nor to count ourselves safe because of anything we have done, or because of our assurance of our own strength and resources. Our confidence is in God; therefore the feeblest souls may be confident, as the weakest of men may be quite safe within a strong fortress. Judgment reveals God to the wicked. Thus Zidon knows that God is the Lord (Eze_28:22). Redemption reveals him still more to his people, to those who trust and acknowledge him. They will be confident when they are brought by the gracious goodness of the Lord to know him by experience as indeed "their God."
I. THE GROUND OF THIS ARROGANT CLAIM.
1. There is on the part of Tyre an assumption of extraordinary wisdom, superior to that of Daniel, a wisdom from which no secret can be hidden.
2. By the exercise of this singular wisdom and understanding, the city has devised means, such as the enterprise of its merchants, by which it has accumulated riches, and has filled its treasuries with store of gold and silver and all the conveniences and luxuries which wealth can purchase.
3. The eminent position among the nations which Tyre has thus attained, the honor accorded to it, its weight in political relations, have so lifted up its heart that it claims to be a god, and to sit in the seat of God. By this must be understood a claim and assumption to be superior to the need of any Divine care or protection, to be independent of all assistance of any kind, to be secure against the assault of any foe, and even against the mutability characteristic of the human lot. This is arrogance beyond what is to be found even in the wisest and the greatest of mankind.
II. THE VANITY AND FOLLY OF THIS ARROGANT CLAIM. A state is a human institution; and although it undoubtedly embodies the Divine idea and principle of authority requiring submission, although there is such a thing as national character and national life, still every earthly and human institution, beginning in time, ends in time, and participates in human weakness and ignorance. They who claim deity for aught earthly cannot understand what Deity is, how it is creative and not created, eternal and not transitory, immutable and not shifting, perfect and not subject to development and dissolution. To know one's self is true wisdom; he who forgets or disclaims his humanity is the subject of illusion, and illusion which must be speedily and irretrievably dispelled.
III. THE SINFULNESS OF THIS ARROGANT CLAIM. The assumption of Tyre is rebuked and censured, not as a violation of good taste, not as an insult to other nations, but as a defiance of the Lord of all. To claim unfailing wisdom and irresistible power is to assume the attributes, to aspire to the throne, of the Eternal. Pride has been reckoned as one of the seven deadly sins. It is indeed pernicious in its effect upon the character of those who suffer it to take possession of their being and to control the habits of their life. It is offensive and injurious in its influence upon human society. But primarily it is a sin against God—the placing of the creature in that supreme position which is God's of right, and God's alone.
IV. THE DISPROOF OF THIS ARROGANT CLAIM. Events occur which dispel human illusions, confound human vanity, and unmask human pretensions. In the days of its prosperity and power, men, ever ready to flatter and to worship the great, were too ready to concede the extravagant and monstrous claims Tyre advanced. But the time of trial comes, and their baselessness and absurdity are exposed. Evils which a Divine power would avert prove able to assault and master the pretentious and self-confident. The one great lesson of human history is this—man is but man, and not God.
V. THE PUNISHMENT OF THIS ARROGANT CLAIM. In the zenith of its prosperity, the acme of its power, Tyre is confronted by a force mightier than its own. The agency is the king and army of Babylon; but the great Actor in the awful scenes which transpire is none other than the Eternal himself. The forces of Tyre are defeated, the fleets of Tyre destroyed, the walls of Tyre razed, the wealth of Tyre dispersed, the city of Tyre itself demolished. "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." Here is something more than disproof; here is reversal, refutation, annihilation. Pride is humbled to the dust; and the proud are scattered and are no more.—T.
Eze_28:3-10
I. THE RANGE AND REALITY OF WORLDLY WISDOM. It has respect to earthly good, prescribing means by which health of body, riches and luxuries, worldly honor, etc; may be attained. It bounds its regards by the horizon of earth and time. It employs instrumentalities which experience approves as efficacious. It takes counsel of the prosperous and the honored. It pursues patiently and persistently aims which are mundane and which are within human reach, wasting no time (as it would say) upon ethereal sentiment, imaginary and ideal perfection, Utopian schemes.
II. THE FRUIT OF THIS WISDOM. The case of Tyre is to the point. The understanding and skill for which the Tyrian merchants and mariners were noted were not employed in vain. Success was their attestation and approval. Uncertainty is indeed distinctive of all human endeavor and undertaking. But a large measure of success may fairly be reckoned upon as likely to be secured by the use of means devised by the wisdom of this world. As a man soweth, so does he reap.
III. THE BOAST OF THIS WISDOM. Tyre claimed to be wiser than Daniel, and to be able to penetrate all secrets. There are those who would think it vulgar and contemptible to boast of their birth, their wealth, their honors, who, however, are not above boasting of their insight, sagacity, and prudence. They would never have fallen into errors which misled their neighbors! They would have known how to deal with such a person, how to contend with such difficulties, how to adapt themselves to such circumstances! Trust them to find their way, however intricate its windings!
IV. THE TRIAL OF THIS WISDOM. It is admitted that, in ordinary circumstances and times, worldly wisdom is sufficient to preserve a man and a nation from calamities, to secure to them many and real advantages. But every true student of human nature and human history is aware that times of exceptional probation and difficulty have to be encountered. It is so in the life of every man, it is so in the history of every people. The principles which served well enough before are useless now. The men of the world are at a loss, and know not whither to turn. The crisis has come: how shall it be met?
V. THE VANITY OF THIS WISDOM. Mere cleverness and fox-like keenness, mere experience upon the low level of expediency, are proved in times of trial to be altogether worthless. Deeply rooted convictions of Divine truth, and habits of reverential conformity to laws of Divine righteousness, "the fear of the Lord" (in the language of Scripture),—such are true wisdom. Anything short of this must issue in disappointment and powerlessness. Human expediencies may carry us a long way, but a point is reached where they fail, and where their worthlessness is made apparent. Such a point was reached in the history of Tyre, when it was found that wealth could not buy off the hostility of Babylon, and that mercenaries could not resist Babylonian arms or policy overcome Babylonian persistence.
VI. THE OVERTHROW AND CONFUSION OF THIS WISDOM. The language of the prophet upon this is singular and suggestive: "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." The wisdom in which the Tyrians trusted, and which excited the admiration of their neighbors and rivals, could not withstand the attack of Oriental soldiery and tactics. It was boasted in days of prosperity; but in the day of adversity its strength was small.
VII. THE DISCREDITING AND CONTEMPT OF THIS WISDOM. There are times when professions are accepted as valid and trustworthy; but there are also times when professions are of no avail, and when solid facts and realities alone will abide. As in the case of Tyre, the wisdom which is weighed in the balances and is found wanting is utterly discredited. Men despise what formerly they praised. Such is the fate to which the wisdom of the worldly wise is doomed. "It is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the prudence of the prudent will I reject Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?"—T.
Eze_28:16
I. THE OCCASIONS OF SIN.
1. We may discover what may be called material occasions of sin, in the wealth and prosperity, the fame and renown, the beauty and splendor, of Tyre. Circumstances of very different kinds may yet agree in suggesting evil thoughts, desires, and habits. Men lay the blame upon circumstances, but this is a very shortsighted method of proceeding.
2. There are moral promptings to sin which may spring out of the former. The heart is lifted up with exultation; a not unnatural confidence in possessions and resources springs up and asserts itself.
II. THE MANIFESTATIONS OF SIN. "Thou hast sinned' is the reproach addressed by God to the guilty city; and it is the reproach addressed to every nation and to every man that has yielded to temptations which should have been withstood, repelled, and mastered. The forms which sin assumes are innumerable, and vary with varying times and with varying states of society. The context refers to:
1. Iniquity, or the violation of Divine laws regulating men's relations among themselves and to God himself.
2. Violence, such as the powerful, willful, and haughty are given to exercise in their treatment of their inferiors.
3. Corruption and defilement, such as are certain to prevail where God is not honored, and where selfish ends inspire men's conduct.
III. THE PUNISHMENT OF SIN. This is:
1. By the decree of God. He is the Speaker throughout this passage. He claims to bestow privileges, and to call men to account for the manner in which those privileges are used. Whatever be the agency or instrumentality of chastisement and correction, it is by the Eternal Wisdom and Righteousness that it is inflicted.
2. In the case of national sin, the penalties are put in force through the instrumentality of neighboring nations. A barbarian horde, or a mighty sovereign and conqueror, has again and again been used as a "scourge of God." It would be wrong to attribute any moral superiority to the victorious people; they may be merely the rod, the sword, in the hand of the Lord of hosts.
3. Where the offence has been heinous, the visitation may be one involving complete destruction, as in the case of Tyre. The terms of threatening here recorded are of the strongest and most unsparing. "I will destroy thee;" "I will cast thee to the ground;" "I will bring forth a fire from the midst of thee; it shall devour thee." Such punishment is sometimes regarded as inconsistent with the attributes of a just and merciful King and Judge. But, whilst it may not be in our power to vindicate all the ways of God, it is certainly not for us to question the acts of him who is omniscient, and whose righteousness is without a flaw. There is nothing in Scripture to support the opinions of those who think that, because God is benevolent, therefore there is no such thing as punishment. There is a moral law which the Sovereign Judge will surely maintain and vindicate.
4. The punishment inflicted upon sinners shall be published far and wide. What is done by God in the exercise of punitive justice is done in the sight of all, and all shall be astonished. This publicity may surely be explained as an arrangement intended for the universal good—to impress upon the minds of all mankind the heinousness of iniquity, that they may "stand in awe, and sin not."—T.
Eze_28:25, Eze_28:26
I. THE FAVOR TO BE SHOWN TO ISRAEL IS IN CONTRAST TO THE FATE OF OTHER NATIONS. Tyre should perish from off the earth; Egypt should be trodden underfoot, and should be degraded in the scale of nations; but Israel should dwell in their own land with confidence.
II. THE FAVOR SHOWN TO ISRAEL IS CONSEQUENT UPON ISRAEL'S DEPRESSION, CONQUEST, AND CAPTIVITY. It is not to be supposed that Israel, because the chosen nation, was exempt from calamity and discipline. On the contrary, it was because, to some extent, the discipline was answering its intended purpose, that brightness followed the storm, that the winter of Israel's discontent was succeeded by the genial and happy springtime.
III. THE FAVOR SHOWN TO ISRAEL WAS, HOWEVER, UNDESERVED BY ISRAEL'S OWN CHARACTER AND ACTION. So it had been from the beginning. Israel was a rebellious and stiff-necked people, lapsing now into idolatry and again into murmuring or licentiousness. God had a purpose in Israel's election, and that purpose must needs be carried out. But in any case, it was no virtue, excellence, or merit in Israel that accounted for the forbearance continually and repeatedly extended towards the people of the covenant.
IV. THE FAVOR SHOWN TO ISRAEL WAS OWING TO THE CLEMENCY OF THE DIVINE RULER. Why such clemency was extended to Israel, and was withheld from Tyre, it may not be possible for us to explain. But there is no caprice in the government of God; justice and mercy are his attributes, and it would be folly in man to impugn them. Who is there who is not indebted to Divine long-suffering and loving-kindness? What nation has not been spared and delivered from its enemies, once and again in the course of its history? Certainly, the mercy of the God of Abraham towards the people that sprang from the father of the faithful was great and marvelous.
V. THE FAVOR SHOWN TO ISRAEL WAS MANIFEST IN THE DELIVERANCE OF THE PEOPLE FROM CAPTIVITY AND EXILE. They were "gathered from the people among whom they were scattered." Instead of being reduced to perpetual bondage or absorbed by their conquerors, the Hebrew people, though appointed to exile, were in due time redeemed from their subjection, dependence, and expatriation.
VI. THE FAVOR SHOWN TO ISRAEL WAS MANIFEST IN THEIR PEACEFUL RE-ESTABLISHMENT IN THEIR OWN LAND. It was the land given by Jehovah to his servant Jacob, the land of promise, the land of the covenant. God had his own wise purposes to work out by this replanting and resettling of the people of Israel upon the sacred soil. There it was appointed for them to dwell in safety and confidence, to build their houses and to plant their vineyards, and above all to worship the God of their fathers in his chosen sanctuary.
VII. THE FAVOR SHOWN TO ISRAEL WAS INTENDED TO AWAKEN THE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS OF GRATEFUL PIETY. The services and their motives may not always have been spiritual and pure, free from every taint of selfishness and self-satisfaction. The Israelites, thinking of the judgments God had executed upon all those who had despised them round about them, congratulating themselves that, whilst their foes had been humiliated or destroyed, they had been spared, restored, and blessed, may, perhaps, have allowed some feelings of self-righteousness to take possession of their hearts. Yet they could not fail to acknowledge Jehovah as their true Friend and mighty Deliverer; they could not but offer grateful sacrifices of adoring praise to him who had remembered them in their low estate; for his mercy endureth forever. They could not but know and confess him as the Lord their God.—T.
I. SUPERIOR WISDOM LEADS TO SUCCESS IN COMMERCE. "With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches." So far, no sin was committed. It is God's will that the rocks of earth should disclose their treasures of silver and gold. It is God's will that the nations of the earth should interchange their products. The wisdom requisite for enterprise and commerce God himself gives. "Say not in thine heart, My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth; but thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for he it is who giveth thee power to get wealth." Far-reaching sagacity, careful plan, prudent thrift, and bold adventure bring stores of wealth. "The hand of the diligent maketh rich."
II. COMMERCIAL SUCCESS LEADS TO STATE MAGNIFICENCE. More or less in every human breast there is a hunger for dignity, luxury, magnificent display. As soon as means are forthcoming this hunger will satiate itself. Nor is it merely a matter of personal satisfaction. It lends importance to the man; it lends importance to the state; it impresses other people—other nations—with a sense of superiority. It obtains homage and deference from men, and this is delicious. How otherwise can wealth be expended? The king cannot consume more food, unless it be to his injury. Expenditure on dress soon reaches its utmost limit. Therefore wealth can find outlets only on palatial buildings, pompous equipages, and martial defenses.
III. STATE MAGNIFICENCE BREEDS A SPIRIT OF VAIN ASSUMPTION. The tendency of all material possession is to foster a feeling of self-importance. The adulation of others strengthens this feeling. Every addition of influence or power contributes to this inward vanity. In proportion to a king's poverty of mind will he over-estimate his importance. He looks upon his granite ramparts and upon his vast armaments, and imagines himself unconquerable. All other monarchs flatter him. He is easily cajoled into the belief that he possesses a clear superiority among men—yea, positive supremacy. He conceives that be is cast in a mould unlike that of mortals—that he is deathless and divine. He demands honors which belong to God alone. Instead of making his perilous position secure by the ramparts of God's friendship, he makes God an enemy.
IV. PROFANE ASSUMPTION IS DESTINED TO A TERRIBLE REVERSE. "Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers." A castle built without foundation is sure, sooner or later, to fall. In proportion to the loftiness of the erection will, in such a case, be the greatness of the catastrophe. Instead of being secure and permanent as God, he will find himself vulnerable as a man, frail as a flower at noonday. The spears of those he had despised will pierce his flesh as they would the flesh of another man; and when