Ezekiel 28
From the Garden of Eden to the End of the Ages Ezekiel 28 covers the entire history of mankind and God’s agenda for man. It spans the historical past and the prophetic future.
It has an intriguing point of view, that of God regarding Lucifer who is the agent in causing men to sin to indwelling the Antichrist at the end of the ages bringing the story of men to a climax at Armageddon before bringing in a glorious kingdom on earth.
Scriptural history is not written in a straight line, but it circles around and around, like a slinky where certain events line up on the same edge of different circles to repeat history.
Antiochus IV would be the perfect person to fulfill Daniel’s prophecy about the king who enters the holy of holies in the middle of Daniel’s week and defiles the temple. However, Jesus announces this monster is yet to come.
Antiochus IV was before Jesus. Therefore; Antiochus IV is a type of the Antichrist of the future. As a type, one event in the past is reconstructed and repeated in the future: How are they alike?
| Antiochus IV: The Past | Antichrist: The Future | ||
| 1 | A desire to annihilate the Jewish people “I will make Jerusalem a graveyard of Jews” | A desire to annihilate the Jewish people. | |
| 2 | Persecutes with a cruelty unheard of in history (He was led, says Josephus, “by his covetous inclination” (V2: 87). His own successors changed his title to Epimanes, the maniac.) | Persecutes with a cruelty unheard of in history (Matthew 24:21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.) | |
| 3 | Indwelt by Satan | Indwelt by Satan | |
| 4 | A desire to be “god” Antiochus regarded himself as Zeus (hence his title, epiphanes, meaning ‘manifestation of’), the Greek God. | A desire to be “god” Revelation 13:4 So they worshiped the dragon (Satan) who gave authority to the beast (the Antichrist); and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” | |
| 5 | Desecrate the Holy of holies (Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the king of Syria, captured Jerusalem in 167 BC and desecrated the Temple by offering the sacrifice of a pig on an altar to Zeus) | Desecrate the Holy of holies (Matthew 24:15 The Great Tribulation “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place”…) | |
| 6 | blaspheme the name of God. Antiochus IV committed ” blasphemy ” by showing disrespect for God’s covenant with the Jews. | blaspheme the name of God Revelation 13:6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. |
One rabbi says that spirits never die, they just find new opportunities. Haman is another such type. He also wanted to annihilate the Jews; also Hitler, the Muslim Mufti, etc.
With this understanding the reader is invited to read about several personages of scripture buried in “types” and “shadows”, sharing similarities of the “physical” and the “spiritual” realms.
In Ezekiel chapter 28, the prince/king of Tyre is a metaphor for Satan. The king acts as Satan’s puppet to carry out Satan’s desires taking on Satan’s heart of pride. This will be repeated in the future during the seven year tribulation by the Antichrist.
| King of Tyre | Antichrist | Satan | |
| 1 | Indwelt by Satan/Lucifer | Indwelt by Satan/Lucifer | Is Satan |
| 2 | Desires to be a god | Desires to be God | Desires to be God |
| 3 | Betrays the brotherly covenant | Betrays the peace covenant | Betrayed his Creator |
| 4 | Secures Riches from merchanting on the souls of men. | Secures Riches from merchanting on the souls of men. | Secures his riches of being worshiped by merchanting on the souls of men. |
| 5 | Rules in the midst of the seas | Rules from the midst of a sea of people in Jerusalem | Rules by indwelling the Antichrist in the midst of the people. |
| 6 | Anti-Jewish | Anti-Jewish | Anti-Jewish |
| 7 | The King of Tyre, Ithobaal III, either died near the end of the siege or was replaced as part of the surrender. | Slain. Body not buried. Thrown into the lake of fire. | Bound for a thousand years and then thrown into the lake of fire. |
The city of Tyre resides in the midst of the sea. Metaphorically, Satan resides in the midst of the sea of people, causing the sea to storm, stew, and boil.
The prince in the midst of the sea is Satan.
Proclamation Against the King of Tyre
Ezekiel 28:1 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,
Ezekiel 28:2 “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord God:
The prince of Tyre is indwelt by Satan. There seems to be a connection between his treatment of the Jews (during the time of Ezekiel) and the coming Antichrist.
“Because your heart is lifted up (Proud),
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
The heart of a god is a desire to be worshiped.
Tyre is a city set off the coast in the sea. As a triple meaning, the sea is a sea of people where “the king” sits. This king is the literal king of Tyre, symbolically Satan, and metaphorically the coming Antichrist who will rule in Jerusalem during the seven year tribulation.
Dan. 11:37 “Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
Dan. 11:45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him”.
Ezekiel 28:3 (Behold, you are wiser than Daniel!
There is no secret that can be hidden from you!
The King of Tyre and the coming Antichrist are empowered by Satan with Satan’s power and knowledge.
This is a tribute to the wisdom of Daniel who was Ezekiel’s peer during the Babylonian captivity.
Ezekiel 28:4 With your wisdom and your understanding
You have gained riches for yourself,
And gathered gold and silver into your treasuries;
His riches are gained by marketing on the souls of men.
Did the king of Tyre betray the Jews by delivering them into captivity? Yes:
Amos 1:9 Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment, Because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom,
And did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.
The “covenant of brethren” (margin) was the league made between Hiram and David, and afterwards between Hiram and Solomon (2Samuel 5:11; 1Kings 5:1; 1Kings 5:12). This ancient covenant was forgotten in Phœnicia’s mercantile cupidity, and Tyre was tempted to sell Hebrew captives to Greeks and Idumeans.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
Likewise, the Antichrist will betray the Jews before setting up his own kingdom in Jerusalem in the middle of the tribulation.
Ezekiel 28:5 By your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches,
And your heart is lifted up because of your riches),”
Power and money tie the great men of the earth into one unholy sheaf as a wave offering to Satan.
Ezekiel 28:6 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Because you have set your heart as the heart of a god,
Who is “you”? First, it is Satan who indwells men for his own purposes. Second, it is the Prince of Tyre, and third, it is the coming Antichrist who will engage in attitudes and events similar to the king of Tyre. See verse 14 concerning Satan.
Satan has set his heart as the heart of THE God. His counterparts have set their hearts as the hearts of A god, desiring the worship of others.
2 Corinthians 4:4 whose minds the god of this world/age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
Ezekiel 28:7 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.
Nebuchadnezzar attacks Tyre in Ezekiel’s time. The ten kings of the Antichrist will also be brought against Jerusalem.
The King of Tyre, Ithobaal III, either died near the end of the siege or was replaced as part of the surrender. He was succeeded by Baal II, who ruled as a vassal to Babylon.
Ithobaal III (Latin Ithobalus, Hebrew Ethbaal) was recorded by Josephus as the king on the list of kings of Tyre reigning 591/0–573/2 BC at the time of the first fall of Jerusalem, and therefore the subject of Ezekiel’s cherub in Eden. The city, according to the oracles of Ezekiel was not captured. Ithobaal himself survived the siege with the prophet acknowledging that “King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre… yet neither he nor his army got anything”.
Ethbaal the king of Tyre, also known as Ithobaal I (or Ithobalus), was the father of the capricious Jezebel and is mentioned in the First Book of Kings as the king of Sidonites (Sidon). https://bible.wikia.org/wiki/Ethbaal
Ezekiel 28:8 They shall throw you down into the Pit (grave, prison),
And you shall die the death of the slain
In the midst of the seas.
This and the following verses seem to apply to the Antichrist instead of the king of Tyre.
Ezekiel 28:9 “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.
Ezekiel 28:10 You shall die the death of the uncircumcised
By the hand of aliens (foreigners);
For I have spoken,” says the Lord God.’ ”
There are no records of the death of Ithobaal III.
Who is this prophetic man scripture calls THE Antichrist (not “an” Antichrist). Is he Jew or Gentile? Is he Edomite, Amalakite, or a combination of many lineages?
We know he comes from one of the four kingdoms (horns) of Alexander’s generals, most obviously Syrian.
It appears he is “the one, the ‘HE’ whom the prophets wrote about: the “king of the locusts” Gog, aka Agag, Amalekite.
We know he is supported by ten kings who give him their power during the tribulation.
Dying the death of the uncircumcised (foreigners) it lends suspicion that he may be Jewish. Furthermore Isaiah 14:10 states he has destroyed his land And slain his people, the Jews.
Who is this “Antichrist”?
Lamentation for the King of Tyre
Ezekiel 28:11 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
Ezekiel 28:12 “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God:
The king of Tyre is compared to the creation of Lucifer, aka Satan. Lucifer was in Eden, not the king of Tyre. Evidently this king is indwelt by Satan who was in Eden.
“You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
Ezekiel 28:13 You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes (Jewelry settings)
Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
Nine stones are mentioned.
Ezekiel 28:14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
An illusion to Jerusalem being the location of the Garden of Eden: Lucifer was in Eden….on the holy mountain of God.
Ezekiel 28:15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.
Lucifer (aka Satan, the Devil) as a serpent appears in the Garden of Eden to lure Eve into sinning against God. One can surmise this is the moment when his iniquity was discovered.
Ezekiel 28:16 “By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
As a “covering” cherub, one would surmise Lucifer was a guardian angel in the Garden of Eden.
Lucifer was cast out of the mountain of God aka Eden?
Again, much is said about Lucifer/Satan merchandising on the souls of men.
From the midst of the fiery stones.
It is my own speculation that the fiery stones are the Laws of God, whether written or unwritten. The Laws of God were given to the Jews and upheld in Jerusalem, the mountain (government) of God.
Ezekiel 28:17 “Your heart was lifted up (proud) because of your beauty;
The Antichrist has the heart of Satan:
Isaiah 14:12 “How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer (Day Star), son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’
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.
Isaiah 14:15-17
15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths (recesses) of the Pit.
16 “Those who see you will gaze at you,
And consider you, saying:
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
17 Who made the world as a wilderness
And destroyed its cities,
Who did not open the house of (would not release) his prisoners?’
Ezekiel 28:18 “You 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 the earth
In the sight of all who saw you.
The body (corpse) of the Antichrist is described:
Isaiah 14:18 “All the kings of the nations,
All of them, sleep in glory,
Everyone in his own house;
19 But you are cast out of your grave
Like an abominable (despised) branch,
Like the garment of those who are slain,
Thrust through (pierced) with a sword,
Who go down to the stones of the pit,
Like a corpse trodden underfoot.
20 You will not be joined with them in burial,
Because you have destroyed your land
And slain your people.
The brood of evildoers shall never be named.
Ezekiel 28:19 All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you;
You have become a horror,
And shall be no more forever.” ’ ”
Isaiah 14:9 “Hell (Sheol) from beneath is excited about you,
To meet you at your coming;
It stirs up the dead for you,
All the chief ones of the earth;
It has raised up from their thrones
All the kings of the nations.
10 They all shall speak and say to you:
‘Have you also become as weak as we?
Have you become like us?
11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
And the sound of your stringed instruments;
The maggot is spread under you,
And worms cover you.’
The soul of the Antichrist is cast into the Lake of Fire. Satan is bound in a bottomless pit for one thousand years. At the end of the one thousand years, Satan also is thrown into the Lake of Fire.
Proclamation Against Sidon
The kings of the Sidonites are connected to the king of Tyre in familial relationships.
Ezekiel 28:20 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 21 “Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against her, 22 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I am against you, O Sidon;
I will be glorified in your midst;
And they shall know that I am the Lord,
When I execute judgments in her and am hallowed (sacred) in her.
Ezekiel 28:23 For I will send pestilence upon her,
And blood in her streets;
The wounded shall be judged in her midst
By the sword against her on every side;
Then they shall know that I am the Lord.
The Sidonites, according to verse 24 was a pain, like a thorn, for the Jews, and will continue to be in the future.
Ezekiel 28:24 “And there shall no longer be a pricking brier or a painful thorn for the house of Israel from among all who are around them, who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord God.”
The thorn is a metaphor for a curse. The ground was cursed for Adam, the first man. The crown of thorns was a curse for the second man, Jesus.
Israel’s Future Blessing
Ezekiel 28:25 ‘Thus says the Lord God: “When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am hallowed in them in the sight of the Gentiles, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob.
The last scattering of the Jews will be when the Antichrist betrays them and they run for their lives in the middle of the seven year tribulation. When Jesus returns to earth (in the pattern of the Jewish Feast Yom Kippur), He destroys the enemies of the Jews, saves them from complete annihilation, and regathers them from the wilderness (of gentile nations and peoples) where they were hid from the Antichrist.
Ezekiel 28:26 And they will dwell safely (securely) there, build houses, and plant vineyards; yes, they will dwell securely, when I execute judgments on all those around them who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God.” ’ ”
The Jews will dwell securely during Jesus’ one thousand year reign on earth.
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