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Question 113.
Dear Father,
Because your heart is lifted up, And you say, "I am a god, I sit in the
seat of gods, In the midst of the seas", Yet you are a man, and not a
god, Though you set your heart as the heart of a god.
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have set your heart as the
heart of a god, Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you,
The most terrible of the nations; And they shall draw their swords
against the beauty of your wisdom, And defile your splendor. They shall
throw you down into the Pit, and you shall die the death of the slain In
the midst of the seas. Will you still say before him who slays you, "I
am a god"? But you shall be a man, and not a god, In the hand of him who
slays you. You shall die the death of the uncircumcised By the hands of
aliens; For I have spoken, "says the Lord GOD."
My question(s):
1) Are these so called "strangers" & "aliens" other names for demons
that God is speaking of? For all I know, it is only the devil and his
angels that can cast souls into the Pits of Hell.
2) This message by God to Ezekiel is for the Prince of Tyre. Since this
Prince has exalted his heart and says that he is a god, is this sin
categorised as the sin of pride? It seems pride is such a dangerous sin
since the first archangel Lucifer fell like lightning from heaven and is
now known as Satan. (Luke 10:18). Also when the 70 disciples/apostles of
Christ that were sent out in groups of 2 had returned with joy saying,
"Lord even the demons are subject to us in Your name", He said to them
"Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions,
and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt
you." (Luke 10;19). Are these "scorpions" & "serpents" also symbolic
names of demons?
3) What does it mean when it says "you shall die the death of the
uncircumcised "?
In Christ,
Regards, John
Answer to
Question 113.
Dear John,
This prophecy by Ezekiel has been cause for many debates by both Jewish
and Christian scholars. There are certain differences between the
translation you are using and the Greek Septuagint so I will use the
Septuagint text in my answer.
The first problem is to see who is the Prince of Tyre. The Prince or
king of Tyre at the time of Ezekial was according to Greek scholars
Ithobaal II and according to western scholars Ithobaal III. Tyre was
known for building its wealth by exploiting its neighbours. Ancient
writers referred to Tyre as a city filled with unscrupulous merchants.
Tyre was a centre of religious idolatry and sexual immorality. The
biblical prophets rebuked Tyre for its pride brought on by its great
wealth and strategic location. Ezekiel seems to be a particularly strong
indictment against the king of Tyre, rebuking the king for his
insatiable pride and greed. The text could be referring to the
historical king, but when we get to verses 12-19 it describes the beauty
of Lucifer and how his pride brought down his fall from heaven so the
Prince of tyre could be referring to Satan. Origen, Tertullius, Ambrose,
Jerome and Augustine attribute the chapter to Satan, Theodoritus
attributes it to both the king and Satan with the king acting under the
influence of the devil and Hippolytus attributes the chapter to the
Antichrist. It would seem that the chapter is referring to two
creatures, the first ten verses are directed to a man and then from
verse 11 to 19 it is referring to Satan. Thus the Prince of Tyre could
be a figurative image of the Antichrist under the influence of Satan.
1) To your first question "strangers" and "aliens" does not refer to
demons, but to other nations who will march against Tyre. According to
chapter 26 Ezekiel dates this prophecy to the eleventh year on the first
day of the first month. The dating of Ezekiel's prophecies is based on
the number of years of king Jehoiakim’s captivity (Ezekiel 1.2), which
would date chapters 26–28 to the year 586 BC. This was shortly after
Nebuchadnezzar had conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the first temple,
so Ezekiel anticipates the king of Babylon to soon march against Tyre.
But you also say that "For all I know, it is only the devil and his
angels that can cast souls into the Pits of Hell". The text does not
mention hell but says "They shall throw you down into the Pit" It does
not refer to hell, but to the destruction of Tyre. The Septuagint is
very different and says "and they shall bring down thy beauty to
destruction. And they shall bring thee down".
2) Like Satan, the human king of Tyre was prideful. Rather than
recognize God’s sovereignty, the king of Tyre attributed Tyre’s riches
to his own wisdom and strength. Not satisfied with his extravagant
position, the king of Tyre sought more and more, resulting in Tyre
taking advantage of other nations, expanding its own wealth at the
expense of others. But just as Satan’s pride led to his fall and will
eventually lead to his eternal destruction, so will the city of Tyre
lose its wealth, power, and status. Ezekiel’s prophecy of Tyre’s total
destruction was fulfilled partially by Nebuchadnezzar (Ezekiel 29:17–21)
and ultimately by Alexander the Great.
The passage from Luke where the Lord gives his disciples authority to
trample on serpents and scorpions is symbolic and represents not only
Satan and his demons, but all the power of the enemy, every temptation
and evil influence, whether this be from demons or from Satan's human
emissaries and their craft. The Lord uses the image of serpents and
scorpions, which have poison that can harm people, as a symbolical
comparison for the poisonous and hurtful nature of evil.
3) For the Jews the uncircumcised were heathen and infidels and
therefore God's enemies. Here the term uncircumcised is employed by the
prophet in reference to the dead, who suffer death from the sword, and
whose bodies either lie unburied and dishonoured or are flung
indiscriminately into the earth with no funeral honours. The Septuagint
again is different and says "Thou shalt perish by the hands of strangers
among the multitude of the uncircumcised". What it is saying is that
Tyre will fall and be destroyed by the hands of its uncircumcised
enemies.
In Christ
Fr. Christopher
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