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The Pitfall of Pride: Lessons from Ezekiel - Ezekiel 28
April 10, 2025 · 14 min
Join us as we discuss Tyre's pride and its symbolic reference to spiritual rebellion, drawing comparisons to contemporary cultural shifts.
Series Stand on the Word - Video On Demand April 10, 2025 · 14 min · Stand on the Word - Video On Demand
Join us as we discuss Tyre's pride and its symbolic reference to spiritual rebellion, drawing comparisons to contemporary cultural shifts. ...more Show the full description Show less Join us as we discuss Tyre's pride and its symbolic reference to spiritual rebellion, drawing comparisons to contemporary cultural shifts.
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The Man Behind the Curtain: Pride and Spiritual Warfare 0:10 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Alright. We're getting an early start this morning as we look at Ezekiel chapter 28. Who's behind the curtain? Look at verse 17. Your heart was proud because of your beauty.0:21 You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. You probably remember the classic movie Wizard of Oz. And in the movie, the Wizard of Oz told Dorothy,0:33 pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, which, of course, was to distract her from discovering the truth about who was actually controlling the wizard. Well, I wanna discuss in this final chapter, the the the0:45 trio of chapters dealing with Tyre. We wanna focus on it separately because it contains not just the intermediate prophecy that would unfold with Tyre as we've looked at.0:57 But, as we look at the king of Tyre, it provides some biblical as what some biblical scholars say, a rare glimpse into the spiritual realm just as the book of Daniel does, which we're gonna be1:09 turning to shortly. The king of Tyre provides an allegory pointing to Satan as the chapter reveals events yet to happen. He's kind of the man behind the curtain.1:22 This is where I I I I, again, wanna give a disclaimer. There are areas of scripture, like we're gonna read this morning, that are open to interpretation. Different views, scholars have different interpretations of it,1:34 and I'm not gonna be dogmatic in what I believe the passage says. As I've said before, I am a student of scripture, but I do not claim to be a biblical expert, certainly not1:45 a expert of biblical prophecy. So feel free to disagree with my interpretation of today's passage. Will not offend me at all. Alright. Let's begin verse 1 chapter 28. The word of the lord1:57 came to me again saying, son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, thus says the lord god, because your heart is lifted up, and you say, I am god. I sit in the seat of gods in the2:09 midst of the sea, yet you are a man and not a god, though you set your heart as the heart of a god. Now take note here that the prince of Tyre had the desire2:21 to be god. Verse 3, behold, you are wiser than Daniel. There is no secret that can be hidden from you. With your wisdom and your understanding, you have gained riches for yourself and gathered gold and2:33 silver into your treasuries. By your great wisdom in trade, you have increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches.2:46 The king, or referred to here as the prince of Tyre at the time, is Ebal. In in chapter 26, we saw what triggered Tyre's that that triggered,2:58 Tyre's judgment by god. They welcomed, if not celebrated, the fall of Jerusalem. But here, we see that the root that led to the fruit of pride3:10 that led to this fruit was pride. The the what was underlying this, action that they took toward Israel, toward Judah, toward Jerusalem3:21 was pride. Because your heart is lifted up and you say, I am God. I sit in the seat of gods, in the midst of the sea. You are a man and not a god, though you set your heart as the heart of god. Man is3:33 never in a more vulnerable and dangerous position than when he puts himself on the throne that belongs to the creator. God does not share his glory with another. And and3:45 here's here's here's a trigger warning. Okay? I'm just gonna give you the warning. This is becoming commonplace in our culture today, not just among the princes, but among the people who have dethroned the3:57 creator and, in practice, declared him dead. And there's there's a this is no there's no greater illustration of this4:09 than when we say we can determine such things as our own gender. That's really a reflection of our culture and that we say we're a god. And the root of it is pride.4:21 That's, I mean, it goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden, and we'll see here in a moment. So what were the sources of pride? It was his wisdom. It was his riches. It is god. We need to4:32 realize this because America is suffering from some of the same conditions. It is god who gives us our ability to gain wealth as Deuteronomy chapter 8 says, and he is the source of wisdom and4:44 understanding as Proverbs makes abundantly clear. Pride is fueled by a desire for more. As CS Lewis said, quote, pride gets no pleasure4:56 out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. It is the comparison that makes you proud, the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition5:08 is gone, pride is gone, end quote. That's a powerful understanding of pride. Pride wants more. It wants more than the next guy. And that is what we saw5:20 here with the judgment of Tyre is that they rejoice with the fall of Jerusalem of Judah because this meant less economic competition. They could have5:32 more. What was the heart of it? What was at the root? Pride. Now the passage goes on to tell him a wake up call is on the way. In verse 9, will you still5:44 say before him who slays you, I am a god? In verse 11, we move to what I believe reveals who is behind the curtain, the 1 who is influencing the king of Tyre, who has5:56 roots all the way back, as I mentioned, to the Garden of Eden. Recall what Paul writes in Ephesians 6 12. Keep this in mind. Okay? Because this is important as we go through scripture. And I I6:08 really do go to Ephesians a lot because I think Paul has great insight in connecting. He was a student of the of the the scripture, and he he kinda pulls back the curtain for us. In6:19 Ephesians 6 12, he says, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual host of wickedness in heavenly places.6:30 Look. There is more to what is happening than meets the eye. I mean, have you ever said, this just doesn't add up? What what we see happening just doesn't add up. That's because there6:42 is a spiritual realm, and we need to pray that the lord would give us the ability to see into that realm just as Paul did. You know, I know I6:54 know that some will mock those statements. Alright? Okay. Let them mock. But like The Wizard of Oz, the 1 behind the curtain in the world wants to distract us. You know,7:06 the the The Wizard of Oz was wanting to distract Dorothy. Don't look behind the curtain. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Well, Satan is doing the same thing today. He does not want us to know that we're7:17 not wrestling against political powers. We're not wrestling against political power of parties. We're wrestling against principalities, against powers that,7:29 quite frankly, have been here from the beginning in many cases. They're territorial, and they have a long history. And that's why you see people saying, well, it looks like history is repeating itself. Yes. Because those7:40 forces, those spiritual forces behind the their instruments that they're using, they they use the same playbook. So we need to7:52 to understand that so that we can be prepared and equipped to address the issues. And I encourage you to well, let me just read the rest of, Ephesians 6.8:04 Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. We have to be spiritually prepared, not just politically prepared, not just culturally prepared.8:16 We have to be spiritually prepared. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth. What's the truth? The word of god. Having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation8:27 of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you'll be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked 1. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, the word of8:38 God, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for the saints. Prayer. Alright.8:51 Look in verse 11. We see that the passage makes a shift. Okay. Notice in verse 2, the word of the lord is about the prince, Nagid, of Tyre. But in verse 11, it shifts9:03 to king Melech of Tyre. Now many biblical scholars see verses, believe verses 11 through 19 are speaking of Satan, who has set a9:14 pattern not only for his demonic angels, but for the human rulers that are under his influence. Moreover, verse 11, moreover, the word of the lord came to me saying, son of man, take up a lamentation9:26 for the king of Tyre and say to him, thus says the lord god, you were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. Alright? That's where we we see this shift taking9:38 place. You were in the garden, the Garden of Eden. Well, certainly, the king of Tyre wasn't there. Every precious stone was your covering, the sardines, the topaz, the diamond barrel, the onyx, the jasper, sapphire,9:49 turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. Now another interpretation of this passage is that it represents all of humanity10:01 in its fallen state, which can be traced back to Adam and to the Garden of Eden. That's another interpretation. Verse 14, you were the anointed cherub who covers. I established10:13 you. You were on the holy mountain of God. You walked back and forth in the midst of the fiery stones. Now you were perfect in your ways from the day you were created till iniquity was found10:25 in you. Now Satan was created. Alright? And here is described as a cherub. That those were the ones, the angels that guarded the holiness of god, But not satisfied10:38 with this elevated position of great honor, Satan wanted more. He wanted more. Going back to CS Lewis's definition of pride, he wanted more. Pride became his downfall.10:50 Now just a thought or a question. Could this be why God detest pride? Pride, the the desire for more has led to the11:02 betrayal of God more than once. I mean, look what happened with Judas and Jesus. Alright. Verse, 16. By the abundance of your trading, you became filled with violence within, and11:14 you sinned. Therefore, I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, oh, covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones. Your heart was11:25 lifted up because of your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground. I laid you before kings that they might gaze at you. You11:37 defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your trading. Therefore, I brought fire from your midst. It devoured you, and I turned you to ashes upon the11:49 earth in the sight of all who saw you. Verse 19, all who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you. You have become a horror and shall know and shall be no more forever. Now this,12:02 as it applies to Satan, has not been fully fulfilled, but it will be. Satan's authority over the world was broken at the cross. Right? And all authority12:13 on heaven and earth was given to Jesus after his resurrection because of his obedience to the father. But the conclusion of Satan's destruction is yet to come. The12:25 there is a coming day when his Revelation 11 15 says, the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our lord and and of his Christ, and he shall12:37 reign forever and ever. In the meantime, we have been given the authority that we see in Matthew chapter 28 to pull back the curtain and to begin12:49 to dismantle the kingdom of Satan. Father, we thank you for your word. And and, again, we look to the Holy Spirit to guide us on this journey, to help13:01 us understand the truth of your word and its application to our lives and to this world in which we live. Lord, we thank you that you have defeated the power of Satan at the cross, and you have given us the13:13 power through the Holy Spirit to live out the kingdom life now by walking in obedience to you filled with the Holy Spirit, overcoming the evil that is around13:25 us. Give us, Lord, that understanding, and may we be equipped putting on the spiritual armor that you've provided for us that we might stand in this evil day13:36 that is here. Give us eyes to see what is happening around us that we might pray and we might use your word accordingly. If we pray and ask this in Jesus' name, amen.13:49 Alright. Thanks for joining me this morning. Until next time, keep standing on the word.13:55 Today's study comes from the stand on the word bible reading plan available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you14:07 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 The Man Behind the Curtain: Pride and Spiritual Warfare
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