The Gospel According to Ezekiel, Chapter 27-28 (Part 1 of 2)

A Lamentation Over Tyre

We're still in the context of Tyre's judgment. The Lord now turns his focus from prophesying Tyre's judgment—which was totally fulfilled in history—to instructing Ezekiel to take up a lamentation over Tyre. Through Ezekiel's grieving, God shows us how utterly grieving pride actually is. The specific issue is the pride of Tyre, illuminating why Tyre was judged to such an extreme degree. God illustrates the grieving nature of pride through Tyre's example, showing why pride is so evil.

Pride is replacing God with yourself as the source of everything good. That's pride in a nutshell, and in essence, every sin. Every time a believer stumbles into sin, it's the result of pride—putting self in place of God, or the enjoyment of self in place of God.

In these two chapters, we see that God is ultimately the source of all Tyre's bliss. Yet Tyre, and specifically the king of Tyre, takes credit for it all. As a result, God lays Tyre low. Through careful study, God reveals the grief of pride in Tyre's example.

Examine what God says about Tyre versus what Tyre says about itself. You'll find differences—phrases to avoid, lifestyles to avoid.

Ezekiel 27:1–3 (ESV)
The word of the Lord came to me: “Now you, son of man, raise a lamentation over Tyre... Say to Tyre, who dwells at the entrances to the sea, merchant of the peoples to many coastlands, thus says the Lord God: ‘O Tyre, you have said, “I am perfect in beauty.”’”

This is a funeral song, a dirge—a lament grieving over someone who has passed. Ezekiel is instructed to grieve over Tyre. Tyre was a well-known center of economic dominance in the Near East. Its destruction is something to grieve—not just the fall, but the reason: Tyre's pride. Pride is super grieving.

Tyre Personified as a Merchant Ship

Tyre is personified as a magnificent merchant ship—not a warship, but a trading vessel. Nations supply its vastness and greatness.

Ezekiel 27:5–9 (ESV, excerpted)
They made all your planks of fir trees from Senir. They took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you. Of oaks of Bashan they made your oars... A fine embroidered linen from Egypt was your sail... The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers; your skilled men, O Tyre, were in you; they were your pilots.

Nations like Persia, Lud, and Put form its army, but the emphasis is mercantile. Men of Arvad and Gamad hang shields on its walls, perfecting its beauty. Tarshish, Javan, Tubal, and Meshech trade silver, iron, tin, lead, humans, bronze—even horses, mules, ivory, ebony.

Syria trades emeralds, purple, linen. Judah and Israel trade wheat, figs, honey, oil, balm. Interestingly, Tyre once allied with Israel—David and Solomon contracted Tyre's elders of Gebal for temple work. Phoenicians contributed magnificent architecture. Yet Tyre betrayed God's people, rejoicing at Israel's fall for economic gain. They extorted and deceived nations.

Ezekiel 27:25–27 (ESV, excerpted)
The ships of Tarshish traveled for you with your merchandise. So you were filled and heavily laden in the heart of the seas. Your rowers have brought you out into the high seas. The east wind has wrecked you in the heart of the seas. Your riches, your wares, your merchandise, your mariners and your pilots... sink into the heart of the seas on the day of your fall.

The Horror of Tyre's Fall

God details Tyre's height to show its peak. Everyone trades there—it's a hub of wealth and magnificence. Tyre boasts, "I am perfect in beauty." But God credits other nations—and ultimately Himself—for its beauty.

Delivered among exiles, this prophecy shows Tyre's heyday: satisfying many peoples with abundant wealth, enriching kings. It looks awesome, satisfying—a center of satisfaction.

Ezekiel 27:32–34 (ESV, excerpted)
In their wailing they raise a lamentation for you and lament over you: “Who is like Tyre, like one destroyed in the midst of the sea? When your wares came from the seas, you satisfied many peoples... Now you are wrecked by the seas, in the depths of the waters; your merchandise and all your crew... have sunk with you.”

Yet from this height, Tyre falls. The world looks on in horror—faces convulsed, kings' hair bristling, merchants hissing. Tyre becomes a center of destruction, grief, bitterness. Pride's downfall grieves not just itself, but others.

Tyre's economic power isn't the problem. God doesn't judge it for wealth accumulation or distribution. Nations grew rich through honest trade. The problem is pride—replacing God with self as life's source. That's the ultimate offense.

The Pride of Tyre's King

Ezekiel 28:2–5 (ESV)
Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord God: “Because your heart is proud, 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—you are indeed wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you; by your wisdom and your understanding you have made wealth for yourself, and have gathered gold and silver into your treasuries; by your great wisdom in your trade you have increased your wealth, and your heart has become proud in your wealth.”

Tyre claims perfection in beauty; its king claims divinity, exalting himself in his heart. Wealth becomes an issue only when pride infects it—claiming "I am a God," the source of all good.

The king's "wisdom wiser than Daniel" is economic prowess in accumulating wealth. Daniel's wisdom followed God; this king's exalts self. Perhaps sarcasm: You're "wiser" only in the wrong things. Daniel knew secrets from God for His glory; this king claims it for self.

Ezekiel 28:6–10 (ESV, excerpted)
Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Because you have made your heart like the heart of a god, therefore, behold, I will bring foreigners upon you, the most ruthless of the nations... They shall thrust you down to the pit, and you shall die the death of the slain in the heart of the seas. 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... You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of foreigners.”

God says: You're no god—you're a man. Will you claim godhood when slain by mere men, even uncircumcised ones? Phoenicians viewed circumcision as superiority; death by "lesser" men is ultimate humiliation. Those who exalt themselves, God brings low.

Lament Over the King of Tyre

Ezekiel 28:11–15 (ESV, excerpted)
Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God: “You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God... You were an 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.”

This is the spiritual explanation of Tyre's fall: they accumulated beauty, became proud, judged. God credits Himself for placing the king (Ithobaal II, claiming "I am El") in authority and beauty. Relating him to Adam in Eden—where gods dwell, per his own claim—God uses his words against him. Not Satan's fall, but the king's, employing spiritual language for our benefit: pride's pattern from Eden.

The King of Tyre as a Type of Adam

The cherubim reference indicates that King Ittobaal was placed in the garden with the cherub, not as the cherub. This is even the intention of the original Hebrew. Verse 16 states, "I destroyed you, O guardian cherub," and the Greek translation says, "I destroyed you... and drove you out of the garden with the cherub."

The significance is that the king of Tyre lived in paradise—that's the Greek word used for "Garden of Eden," simply meaning paradise. "You were in paradise." As he existed in paradise, the king of Tyre bit the same lie as in Eden. Certainly there's satanic involvement, probably even in the king of Tyre's life. But the ultimate idea is the Edenic lie: "Don't worry about obeying God. Go ahead and pursue what God has forbidden because in the day you do, you will be like God."

That's the issue with the king of Tyre. He existed in a paradise like Adam, with all sorts of wonderful things, yet became dissatisfied. The biggest pride issue in Eden is dissatisfaction with what God has given. God says, "I placed you there. I exalted Tyre." Yet the ultimate source of sin, of pride, is dissatisfaction with God. It's the same Edenic lie Adam bit into: the opportunity to pursue being the God of your life.

Could this shed light on Satan's fall? Sure, an angel standing in God's presence not satisfied with God. But the immediate context emphasizes the king of Tyre following Adam's path—not satisfied with God, pursuing judgment.

Israel's Restoration and the Contrast

And the word of the Lord came to me: For the house of Israel there shall be no more a brier to prick or a thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.

This echoes Adam's judgment of working the ground with briars and thorns.

Thus says the Lord God, When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered and manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they shall dwell in their own land that I gave to my servant Jacob. And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.

It's peculiar: an exhaustive treaty against Tyre, then Sidon mentioned in passing—not even detailing their sins, but focusing on God's judgment. It caps the chapter with Israel's restoration.

If Ittobaal was a type of Adam, ruling a prosperous city yet corrupting himself and bringing judgment, Sidon were lackeys—following Tyre, wanting to be like Tyre. Historically, that's their position, so they're mentioned briefly.

The judgment on Sidon in passing, then Israel's restoration, shows this: We've seen a nation like Adam in paradise. The king exalted himself as a second Adam, bringing judgment on himself and followers. Adam failed as ruler; Ittobaal failed; followers fell as a nation. Yet the prosperity is desirable—I want that city. But the wrong Adam fails because power and pride corrupt.

Is there a ruler with utter humility who can govern such prosperity peacefully, without judgment? God boasts about Tyre as a perfect, beautiful paradise. But with the wrong Adam, it's paradise lost, judgment incurred—even on followers.

God promises restoration: gathering Israel, protecting from prideful neighbors who destroyed God's people and those trading with them. He gathers them into the land given to Jacob, to dwell securely. This points to the hope of Christ, the second Adam of Romans 5, through whom righteousness spreads. In Revelation, he's the king of his city, dwelling with his people. In his city, God's judgment is impossible—he's already borne it.

Interpreting this as specific to the king of Tyre paints a bleak backdrop to follow anything but Christ, creating hope to dwell in God's city under Christ, the true second Adam, ruling a prosperous city. That's the gospel according to Ezekiel.