28 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord God:
“Because your heart is proud,
— Ezekiel 28:1-10, English Standard Version
and you have said, ‘I am a god,
I sit in the seat of the gods,
in the heart of the seas,’
yet you are but a man, and no god,
though you make your heart like the heart of a god—
3 you are indeed wiser than Daniel;
no secret is hidden from you;
4 by your wisdom and your understanding
you have made wealth for yourself,
and have gathered gold and silver
into your treasuries;
5 by your great wisdom in your trade
you have increased your wealth,
and your heart has become proud in your wealth—
6 therefore thus says the Lord God:
Because you make your heart
like the heart of a god,
7 therefore, behold, I will bring foreigners upon you,
the most ruthless of the nations;
and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom
and defile your splendor.
8 They shall thrust you down into the pit,
and you shall die the death of the slain
in the heart of the seas.
9 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?
10 You shall die the death of the uncircumcised
by the hand of foreigners;
for I have spoken, declares the Lord God.”
And here is the most excellent Dr. Michael Heiser to unpack this passage, which is quite an odd one, loaded with a great deal of meaning and interpretation:
1 Comment
If you’re a Christian and you came to read a Didact Sunday special, don’t skip this over. The message attached is not your normal church schtick and is full of insight. Scripture is polyvalent, it has many meanings within the same passage, and they are often context-dependent on the intellectual environment it is written into. Heiser brings much of that to light, and it does reflect poorly on our materialistic western hearts.
If you’re not Christian and you came to read a didact Sunday special, don’t skip this over. The scripture and the message are integral to a Christian view of evil seeking to destroy both mankind and the God who made them in his image. There’s a war for the cosmos we’re in the middle of.