Guard your Heart from the Evil One!

Ezekiel 28

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, July 4. Happy Birthday to the USA!

What was the power behind the throne of Tyre? Was it hubris, with the man on the throne claiming to be a god, or was it Satan, a disgraced cherub, who was using the king’s pride as an access point to animate the king’s heart for his own evil schemes? Tyre was not ruled by a god, as the king claimed of himself. In fact, God rebuked him for such a claim in Ezekiel 28:2, “Because your heart is lifted up and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the seas’; yet you are a man and not God” (cf. 6, 9).

Ezekiel 28 continues the three-chapter oracle of judgment against Tyre, concluding it with an indictment of the king’s pride. The prophet appears to be pulling back the veil of the natural as he used language that can’t be applied to any person. Regardless of whether you see this supernatural description as historical or allegorical, the ultimate point remains the same, “pride goes before destruction” (Proverbs 16:18). God described the prideful king as a fallen angel in Ezekiel 28:12-19:

You had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; … You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked in the midst of the stones of fire. … Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, that they may see you. … you will cease to be forever.

Seize the moment and humble yourself, stop Satan from having access to the control center of your life through pride and arrogance (James 4:7). Your heart is a throne, so guard it well (Proverbs 4:23; Matthew 6:13)!

God bless you!

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