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Day 30 Ezekiel 28 Ezekiel 28:1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus says the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: 3 Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee: 4 With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: 5 By thy great wisdom and by thy traffic hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches: 6 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; 7 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. 8 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. 9 Wilt thou yet say before him that slays thee, I am God? But thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slays thee. 10 Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, says the Lord GOD. 11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus says the Lord GOD; Thou seal up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covers; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. 18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. 19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more. 20 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 21 Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it, 22 And say, Thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her. 23 For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the LORD. 24 And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD. 25 Thus says the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. 26 And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God. People today seem interested in one thing – what they can get in the way of wealth and position. They don’t care how they get their wealth as they climb the corporate ladder, eliminating everyone on their way to the top. God saw the hearts and minds of the people, and told Ezekiel to lament for the king of Tyrus who sought the wealth of the nations through her port trade with the nations. The wealth and purpose of Israel was defined by the king. If the king worshiped other gods, so did the people. God told Ezekiel who was behind the greed and wealth of Tyrus. He named the anointed cherub who started it all in the Garden of Eden, citing his vengeance against God. As God gave Ezekiel to understand who was behind the sin of the people, so he had told Isaiah. Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. Lucifer was an anointed cherub in heaven. In creating him, God made him the most beautiful cherub, and gave him the duty of music by the mention of his tabrets and pipes. Lucifer’s beauty went to his head, and he sought to destroy God, by claiming God’s throne as his own. Because of his rebellion, God cast him to the earth, where he was seen in the Garden of Eden, and caused man to sin. Lucifer, or Satan, as he is known today, is behind every evil thought and action. He is behind the power-hungry person who does everything he can to get to the top without regard for anyone else. As such, God told Ezekiel, his plans would not succeed, as he judged Tyrus, and not just Tyrus, but Zidon as well, another port city close to Tyrus. As Christians, you need to know what is happening in your life and in the world around you. Satan is still working his evil ways in the hearts and minds of people and especially leaders everywhere. As goes the leader, so goes the nation. Psalm 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. 13 The LORD looks from heaven; he beholds all the sons of men. 14 From the place of his habitation he looks upon all the inhabitants of the earth. 15 He fashions their hearts alike; he considers all their works. When you turn your hearts away from the world and seek God’s will for your life, then you will see God’s work not only in your life, but in the world as well. You will discern Satan’s destruction of all that is good, from God’s intention to keep his people safe from Satan’s destructive force. Let’s pray: Father, help me see you clearly as I look to you to keep me safe from Satan’s destruction in my life. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 19 January 2018 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay