Bible Lessons: Ezekiel 26

From: Messages of God's Love: 1935

THE eleventh year (verse 1) brought the kingdom of Judah and the city of Jerusalem to destruction at the hands of the Babylonians (Jeremiah 52:5-27⁵So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. ⁶And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. ⁷Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden; (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about:) and they went by the way of the plain. ⁸But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. ⁹Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment upon him. ¹⁰And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah. ¹¹Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death. ¹²Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem, ¹³And burned the house of the Lord, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire: ¹⁴And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about. ¹⁵Then Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive certain of the poor of the people, and the residue of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude. ¹⁶But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen. ¹⁷Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans brake, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon. ¹⁸The caldrons also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away. ¹⁹And the basons, and the firepans, and the bowls, and the caldrons, and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups; that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, took the captain of the guard away. ²⁰The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brazen bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house of the Lord: the brass of all these vessels was without weight. ²¹And concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it; and the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow. ²²And a chapiter of brass was upon it; and the height of one chapiter was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the chapiters round about, all of brass. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were like unto these. ²³And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side; and all the pomegranates upon the network were an hundred round about. ²⁴And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door: ²⁵He took also out of the city an eunuch, which had the charge of the men of war; and seven men of them that were near the king's person, which were found in the city; and the principal scribe of the host, who mustered the people of the land; and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the midst of the city. ²⁶So Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah. ²⁷And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land. (Jeremiah 52:5‑27)), and God here links with that most solemn dealing with His earthly people what is in type and representation the judgment of the world—the present order of things, as we may say.

Tyre, in the prophecies of Ezekiel 26, 27, and 28 represents the world, not the physical earth, but that worldly system winch had its beginning with Cain (Genesis 4:16-21¹⁶And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. ¹⁷And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. ¹⁸And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech. ¹⁹And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. ²⁰And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. ²¹And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. (Genesis 4:16‑21)), and after the flood substantially expanded under Nimrod (Genesis 10:8-10⁸And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. ⁹He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. ¹⁰And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. (Genesis 10:8‑10)), others patterning after these through the centuries until the present hour.

The people of God have ever been called on to walk in holy separation from the world, and the believer’s true path is not difficult to discover in the writings of inspiration, both Old and New Testaments. Enoch’s life and testimony (Genesis 5:22-24²²And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: ²³And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: ²⁴And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. (Genesis 5:22‑24); Jude 11, 15¹¹Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. (Jude 11)
¹⁵To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. (Jude 15)), and Abraham’s, Jeremiah’s and Daniel’s histories—to which we would add Balaam’s testimony in. Numbers 23:9⁹For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. (Numbers 23:9) (not to multiply refences) all speak loudly of the rightful position of the child of God while passing through this earthly scene. The Christian, truly, is called to a measure of separation quite beyond and distinct from that of the Old Testament saints, as John 17:14¹⁴I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. (John 17:14); Philippians 3:20, 21²⁰For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: ²¹Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:20‑21) and other scriptures abundantly prove, but the principle of separation is the same for both Old and New Testament believers.

Israel’s utterly failing to maintain separation to God from the world according to His Word, was the cause of their fall, but even so long as Judah and Jerusalem remained, the world of that day felt in some measure restrained, hindered from the aims before it, which left out God entirely. We may see illustrations of this restraint and the character and enmity of the world in 2 Thessalonians 2:7, 8⁷For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. ⁸And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: (2 Thessalonians 2:7‑8); Revelation 11:7-10⁷And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. ⁸And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. ⁹And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. ¹⁰And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. (Revelation 11:7‑10), and how much more manifested in the testimony of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John concerning the earthly life of the Faithful and True Witness, the Lord Jesus!

Tyre, therefore, rejoiced in the day of Jerusalem’s fall, not as Ammon, Moab and Edom did, in their jealous hatred of Israel, but because the hindrance was now removed which kept back the development of their city as the great market of the eastern world: “Aha, she is broken, the gate of the peoples! She is turned unto me; I shall be replenished now she is laid waste” (verse 2). God sees and knows every heart; its “thoughts and intents” (Hebrews 4:12¹²For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)) are manifest to Him who is the Author of the written Word.

Tyre was to be assailed in due time by many nations; its walls and towers to be destroyed; so complete was to be the work of destruction that her dust should be scraped from her, herself made a bare rock. Today Tyre is but a small fishing village near the ruins of the once proud city; the Word of God has been fulfilled.

Nebuchadnezzar attacked Tyre, and kept it under siege for thirteen years. Alexander the Great afterward conquered it. It is thought that verse 12 refers to this second conquest, as it does not appear that Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the place.

When the city finally lost its greatness we can well understand the consternation felt in the various cities and countries with which it had carried on an extensive trade. Thus Tyre’s judgment served God’s purpose as a type of this world and its judgment, as suggesting in some measure the day of terror which will be when the world is actually judged.

When this world meets its Judge, far greater than the distress of the nations of which verses 1048 tell will be the anguish of the despisers of God’s grace. The Scriptures afford us no word regarding it. Revelation 6:15-17¹⁵And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; ¹⁶And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: ¹⁷For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? (Revelation 6:15‑17) tells of the-first alarm which will soon pass away, and chapter 18:15-19 refers to the destruction to be visited by men upon the religious corruptress of the last days, but the judgment of God will be after these events.

ML-12/01/1935

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