Context:
II. Judgment on Gentile Nations (chaps. 25–32)
A. Judgment on Ammon (25:1–7)
B. Judgment on Moab (25:8–11)
C. Judgment on Edom (25:12–14)
D. Judgment on Philistia (25:15–17)
E. Judgment on Tyre (26:1–28:19)
1. Destruction of the city (chap. 26)
2. Dirge over the city (chap. 27)
3. Downfall of the prince of the city (28:1–19)
28:1–5. Ezekiel’s third message against Tyre was directed specifically to the ruler of Tyre
28:6–10. God would not let the pride (vv. 2, 5) of Tyre’s ruler go unchallenged
28:11–19. Ezekiel’s final prophecy against Tyre was a lament concerning the king of Tyre. The use of “king” (meleḵ) instead of “ruler” (v. 2) was significant.
Ob and In:
1. The change from the description of the king to what the Sovereign LORD did to the king, then back to the description of the king
v.12b-13 You were perfect, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty...you were in Eden, the garden of God,...precious stone was your covering...on the day you were created they were prepared.
v.14 I placed you there...
v.15 you were on the holy mountain of God...you walked about amidst fiery stones...you were blameless...
2. Among these descriptions, the repeated ones are:
a. perfect, blameless v.12, 15
b. the proximity in location to God: in Eden, the garden of God, on the holy mountain of God, amidst fiery stones.
3. What God did to the king: I placed you there
(NET) In the Hebrew text the ruler of Tyre is equated with a cherub, and the verb “I placed you” is taken with what follows (“on the holy mountain of God”). However, this reading is problematic. The pronoun “you” at the beginning of verse 14 is feminine singular in the Hebrew text; elsewhere in this passage the ruler of Tyre is addressed with masculine singular forms. It is possible that the pronoun is a rare (see Deut 5:24; Num 11:15) or defectively written (see 1 Sam 24:19; Neh 9:6; Job 1:10; Ps 6:3; Eccl 7:22) masculine form, but it is more likely that the form should be repointed as the preposition “with” (see the LXX). In this case the ruler of Tyre is compared to the first man, not to a cherub. If this emendation is accepted, then the verb “I placed you” belongs with what precedes and concludes the first sentence in the verse. It is noteworthy that the verbs in the second and third lines of the verse also appear at the end of the sentence in the Hebrew text. The presence of a conjunction at the beginning of “I placed you” is problematic for the proposal, but it may reflect a later misunderstanding of the syntax of the verse. For a defense of the proposed emendation, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.
Summary and reflection: The king of Tyre was facing the judgement of God and the judgment was for sure would happened and therefore God told Ezekiel to sing a lament for him. The lament started with the perfect was the king originally. However, no matter how beautiful he was he would still faced the judgement.
Both his perfection and proximity were created or given by God. He could not brag about those when judgment came.
What kind of tragedy when we failed our Creator? Why faced judgement? Do I fail the expectation of my Creator? How could I help other people who are going to face judgement?
4. Repeated words: sin v.15,16
v.15b sin was discovered (found)
v.16 filled with violence, and you sinned
v.17 your heart was proud because of your beauty
Summary and reflection: Sin was not created, but found. The sin of the king was the violence and proud. Note, beauty was given by God, but was misused. Do I misuse the privileges and gifts by God?
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