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Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast. Powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the journey. Let's be honest, a lot of us are still treating digital ministry like it's a backup plan from 2020. But discipleship isn't just happening on Sundays anymore. People need gospel centered connection every day of the week. And if you're stuck juggling five different platforms, one for giving, another for sermons, something else for events, it's no wonder engagement feels off. That's not ministry. That's a mess. Subsplash changes that one platform. Everything you need. Media, giving, events, messaging, your app, your website built specifically for churches. No hacks, no workarounds, just clarity and simplicity. Because every day you wait, families scroll past your sermons, new guests click away from clunky sites, and real people miss real moments with Jesus. Don't waste another summer stuck in digital survival mode. Use it to get ahead, simplify, upgrade, get back to what matters. Head to subsplash.combible-dept and schedule a free no pressure demo. And let this be the summer your church gets focused and fully equipped family. Welcome to day 233. We are in Ezekiel chapters 25, 28 today. And Ezekiel chapter 28 is actually a very well known passage of scripture because a lot of people are going to interpret a handful of verses from Ezekiel chapter 28, and they're gonna interpret it to be talking about Satan. The they're gonna interpret these verses. A lot of Christians actually, I would say it's a very common interpretation for Christians to think that Ezekiel is actually prophesying against Satan. The text actually says that it's about the King of Tyre. We're gonna get into that later into the episode and we're gonna try to answer the question, is Ezekiel talking about the King of Tyre? Is he talking about Satan? What's going on in Ezekiel chapter 28? But before we get there, we gotta tackle Ezekiel chapter 25, 26 and 27. And like always, I'm gonna give you context clues, then I'm gonna give you as many nerdy nuggets as I can. We're always gonna leave off with a timeless truth. Cause we're not here to learn history. We're here to learn about the character and the nature of God and how he works in the lives of real people. So if you have done the reading for today, then everything that I'm gonna say, you're gonna have context for. If you haven't done the reading for today, then how about you stop the video, stop the audio, don't go do the reading for today. We just got a couple of chapters of Ezekiel to read. And then you'll have all the understanding that you need to really dive into today's content. With no further ado, let's actually dive in. So let me give you context. Okay? Ezekiel, chapter 25 to 28 are what we would call oracles against the nations. Oracles against the nations. A handful of these oracles are gonna have dates. And when we get to those, I will give you those dates. I mean, precise dates. This is one of the really cool things about studying a prophet who's in the Babylonian time period because the Babylonians had mastered the calendar, because they had mastered astronomy and astrology. And so we get way more accurate dates for prophets who are prophesying, who are influenced by the Babylonian world, as opposed to the Assyrian world or the Canaanite world or the Egyptian world. So we. We get some dates for a couple of these oracles. But Ezekiel 25, 28 are oracles against the nations. Now, chapters 25, 28 are oracles against Judah's neighbors. And I actually want to give you bigger context. I want to widen your context, which will help us out tomorrow. But Ezekiel, chapter 25 all the way to Ezekiel chapter 32. Okay? So Ezekiel 25 to 32 are the section of Ezekiel's book or book of prophecy that would be considered an oracle against the nations. If you have been studying any of the prophetic books, especially with us, you know that oracles against the nations are not new. Jeremiah, chapter 46 to 51 contain oracles against the nations. Isaiah, chapters 13 to 21 contain oracles against the nations. You may be wondering, why would God be prophesying against foreign nations that he doesn't have a covenant with? Well, let's say exactly why God has some harsh words for the neighboring nations that surround Israel and Judah. Imagine if my wife chooses cheated on me. Okay? Imagine if my wife found some. Some lover and was in an adulterous relationship. I wouldn't just be angry at my wife. I would also be angry at whoever this freaking loser is. Whoever this guy is, whoever this. Whoever this. Absolutely. I got some choice words that I. I can't really say on this episode, but I would be. I would be upset at. At this guy. Okay? I would have some very vengeful. Hateful, wrathful things to say not just to my wife, but also to the man that she's been unfaithful with. In the same way, Yahweh is in a covenant with Israel. Israel has cheated on Yahweh and been unfaithful to Yahweh with the gods of other nations through idolatry. And so Yahweh is going to have some choice words for those nations. I want you to also think about it this way, by the way, this doesn't take away the responsibility from. If my wife were to be unfaithful to our marriage covenant, she's still responsible. That doesn't mean that I'm not mad at the guy, okay, that I don't got beef with now this, this, this dude over here. In the same way, think about God, how, how the Lord interacts with Adam, Eve and the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Even though Adam and Eve are held responsible for their actions and there are consequences to their decisions, the serpent is still cursed by God for deceiving these people, for manipulating their weakness. Okay? So everybody's held responsible for the part they have played. And in that way, God, Yahweh, who's already been depicted as a lover, a husband who has been cheated on by Israel, he's got some words for the nations. Okay, So I want to put that in context. The reason that Yahweh has some choice words for people that he's not in covenant with is because he's actually upset with the very people who have drawn Israel away, who have deceived Israel, who have lured Israel into idolatry. That doesn't mean that Israel is not responsible. Israel as a nation, as a wife, is responsible. But God is also holding the nations that have lured her into. Into polytheism, into idolatry, responsible as well. And that's why Jeremiah, Isaiah and Ezekiel are going to have what we would call oracles against the nations. All right? We actually have a possible chiasm in the book of Ezekiel. So I wanna put our reading today even in context of the entire book of Ezekiel. Remember, in the Western story arc, the climax of the story always comes at the end. The. That's where the plot actually reaches an ultimate climax and finally gets resolved. Okay, so if you're watching anything produced in the Western world, there's the initial inciting incident where the plot is kicked into action, and then the tension rises all the way to a climax. And at the climax, the story is resolved, and then there's a rising, a falling Action. So inciting incident, rising action, climax, and then falling, a resolution. Okay, so in the Eastern world, Eastern narratives don't work that way. Eastern narrative doesn't work with putting a climax or the most important part to something at the end, but rather in the middle. So a chiasm is gonna be mirroring ideas until you get to the center. So want you to kind of track this with me. We're gonna look at the book of Ezekiel, and we're gonna keep going a layer in till we get right down to the middle. So Ezekiel 1 through 7 is about old Israel. Ezekiel 45 to 48, which is the end of the book, is about New Israel. Okay. So the beginning of the book and the end of the book mirror each other. Then you go one layer in. Ezekiel 8, 11 is all about Yahweh leaving the old temple. But Ezekiel 40, 44 is about Yahweh entering the new temple. Then you go another layer in, so that layer mirrors each other. And then you go another layer in and you get Ezekiel chapter 12 to 24, which is the old Israel is judged by their king. But then Ezekiel chapter 33 to 39, we get the new Israel protected by their king. Okay, and then we get the middle, which is Ezekiel 25 to 28, which is words against Judah's neighbors. And then 29 to 32, which is words against Egypt. And these two sections, which is today's reading, and in tomorrow's reading, take up a bigger section, which is words or prophecies or oracles against the nations. And that seems to actually be the center of the book. So this content in here sometimes gets overlooked because it's not about Israel specifically. However, this seems to be, in terms of a narrative context or a literary context, the most important stuff that's actually in the book. I think I've given you enough context, family. The wait is over. My brand new book, Crushing Chaos, is out now and available everywhere. Books are sold. Literally. Today I walked into a Barnes and Noble and I signed a bunch of copies at a physical location. So you can grab this book at a physical Barnes and Noble, or you can go to a Books A Million or Amazon or anywhere books are sold and grab a copy. If you enjoy reading the Bible from an ancient perspective, if you understand that the beauty of Scripture is actually knowing it in context, then you'll love this book. And if there's any chaos in your personal life, I think that reading the Bible from an ancient perspective can actually help to crush the chaos in your life. I think this book is going to be a New York Times bestseller. I really do. I think we wrote a good one. I think you should get a copy today. All right, back to the episode. Hey, are you looking for a really cool gift or just solid tools to support your faith in daily Life? Check out Mr. Pen. They've got no bleed Bible pens and highlighters that actually work on thin Bible pages. Journaling Bibles, Bible tabs and faith based journals. Even school supplies for parents, teachers and students. Mr. Penn was started by Christian teachers in Louisiana on a mission to serve the schools in their local community. And now They've got over 100,000 five star reviews on Amazon. I'm a huge fan of their Bible highlighters and pens. Super smooth and gentle enough to write notes in the margin of your Bible. Whether you're digging into scripture or stocking up for Back to school, Mr. Penn has you covered. Shop the best Bible journaling supplies on the market and fantastic gifts for the ladies in your life@mrpenn.com that's M r p e n.com and guess what? Our audience here at the Bible Department gets a special discount. Use code department10 at checkout to get 10% off your entire order. Let's dive into some nerdy nuggets. First nerdy nugget I've got for you is that there are seven nations in this oracle collection. In the seventh nation has seven separate oracles against it. That's technically in tomorrow's reading. All right? But this entire section, Ezekiel chapter 25 all the way to Ezekiel chapter 32, which encompasses today's reading and tomorrow's reading, have seven oracles. Okay? Seven nations in this oracle collection. And the seventh nation, which is Egypt, is going to have seven separate oracles against it. Seven conveys completion or fullness. These oracles represent all of Yahweh's judgment against those who have hurt his wife, who have hurt his vassal. This is his complete judgment on the nations. So I'll actually list all seven for you. Okay? The first is Ammon, which is Ezekiel 25. The second is Moab, which is Ezekiel 25. The next, the third is Edom, which is also Ezekiel 25. The fourth is Philistia, which is also Ezekiel 25. And then we're going to get two Phoenician cities, OK? Two cities in Phoenicia. The first is Tyre, which is going to be Ezekiel 26:28. And the second is Sidon, which is going to be Ezekiel 26:28. And then the last, which is my pinky over here is Egypt which is going to be Ezekiel, chapter 2932. And we will dive into that tomorrow because that is on the Bible reading plan for, for tomorrow. All right, that's our first nerdy nugget. That there are seven. There are seven nations in this oracle collection. And the seventh nation has seven distinct oracles against that seventh nation. And so the idea here is completion, wholeness, fullness. Okay, so second nerdy nugget. Three of these oracles are dated, and I'm gonna give you all three of those. So this is a hybrid between a context clue, but it's also a nerdy nugget. Okay, first, the oracle against Tyre is given on the first day of the first month of the 11th year of exile. This is April 23, 586 B.C. obviously, the Babylonian calendar doesn't have the month of April, but we're translating it into what does this date mean in our calendar? Okay, I'm not saying that they had the month of april back in 586 BC they did not. But we have the month of April and we can actually line up the Babylonian calendar system against our calendar system and translate that date into what that date would be in our calendar system. All right, second is the oracle against Pharaoh. That's given on the 12th day of the 10th month of the 10th year of the exile. The this would be the 7th of January, 587 B.C. and then the third is actually the last prophecy ever to be given by Ezekiel. An oracle to Babylon about Egypt given on the first day of the first month of the 27th year of exile. This would have been 570 B.C. april 28th, 570 B.C. that's our second nerdy nugget. Let's get into our third nerdy nugget. The fifth and sixth oracles are against Tyre and Sidon. These are the leading cities of the Phoenicians. Now, on the, on, on the surface level, it may not actually make sense why there's prophecies against Tyre and Sidon. Because Judah and Israel never go to war with the Phoenicians. But Ammon makes sense. Moab makes sense. Edom makes sense. The Philistine. The Philistines definitely makes sense. These were Israel's enemies, ancient enemies and enemies up until the, up until 586bc. These are enemies, clear. No mystery about why they're here. Tyre and Sidon, we actually have to dig a little bit. The Phoenicians were not traditionally the physical enemy of Israel and Judah, but they posed a different threat. The Phoenicians were the first great deep blue sea traders. These are the only people really like, wandering around the ancient world on boats or on ships. Most of the ancient world is deathly scared of the sea because it is the abode of chaos. Most ancient people believe that there are chaos monsters that live in the sea, which, you know, not shocking, right, that Jonah would get swallowed by some kind of chaos monster as he's out there in the deep blue sea. In the ancient world, the ocean or the sea is definitely synonymous with chaos. And that would be the home of chaos monsters. All right, so the Phoenicians were the only people who would even dare venture out into the deep blue sea, which meant that their sea craft was unparalleled in the ancient world. And this was the basis of their great trading empire. They traded with almost everyone in the Mediterranean world and established their own trading colonies, Carthage being the most famous, having such a wealthy northern neighbor. So the Phoenicians are the northern neighbor of Israel. Having such a wealthy northern neighbor was always a bonus for Israel. And as they fought many wars to defend or control the trade routes to Phoenicia, the desire to ally and trade with them brought disaster. However, as it was a trade alliance with Phoenicia that brought a princess named Jezebel or Jezebel. Jezebel into Israel's royal family. Remember, she marries Ahab and she brought with her the worship of baal. Phoenicia is seen then as the pagan temptress alluring the people of Yahweh away from him with promise of wealth through trade. So the marriage between Ahab and Jezebel or Jezebel is not just about worshiping other gods. It's the desire for wealth and security through trade that actually even winds this Jewish prince marrying a pagan princess. Okay. And Jezebel wreaks havoc in the nation of Israel, promoting BAAL worship. Not just promoting, but endorsing and teaching and instructing and spreading BAAL worship all throughout the kingdom of Israel. Okay, so Tyre and Sidon, the leading cities of the Phoenicians, are going to be judged. Okay. Because of this. All right. Nerdy nugget number four is actually the one that I teased at the very top of the episode. So let's get to Ezekiel, chapter 28. Ezekiel, chapter 28. We'll kind of start reading. In verse one says the word of the Lord came to me, Son of man said to the ruler of Tyre. So. So this is the king of Tyre. I need to make this very clear. The person being spoken about is the king of Tyre. This is what the sovereign Lord says. In the pride of your heart, you say, I am a God. I sit on the throne of a God in the heart of the seas. All right, right on the outset, Yahweh is judging the King of Tyre because in his heart. His heart is full of arrogance, full of pride. And just like Pharaoh, just like all the ancient kings of the ancient world. I know that a little bit of a redundant sentence. The ancient kings of the ancient world, they all believed they're not just royalty, but that they were deities. Pharaoh is worshiped as a God. Alexander the Great worshiped as a God. Which, whether it's Persian or Babylonian or Assyrian or Phoenician kings, these men were worshiped as gods. This obviously influences the Greco Roman world. Okay, Caesar, Caesar Augustus is going to claim that he's the son of a God, which means he has to say that his dad, Julius Caesar was a God and he's gonna. Roman Caesar are gonna go on to claim that they are gods. There's nothing new about kings or dictators or. Or monarchs declaring that they're gods, that they're descendants of gods, or that they're a part of the pantheon of gods. So in the pride of your heart, you say, I am a God. I sit on the throne of a God in the heart of the seas. Why in the heart of the seas? Because Phoenicia had built its empire on trade. So they had the best boats in the ancient world. They dared to go off into the sea and actually trade with people. But you are a mere mortal and not a God, though you think you are wise as a God. So the. The tone of all this stuff is arrogance and humility, that the King of Tyre is arrogant. And Yahweh is saying you should realize you are a mere mortal. Okay, so there's an arrogance here. All this is clear until we get to verse 11. And then it seems like there's a second word of prophecy. The word of the Lord came to me. Son of man, take up a lament concerning the King of Tyre. So this is still about the King of Tyre. And say to him, this is what the Sovereign Lord says. Now this is where people will begin to make parallels between what is said here and the character that we know as Satan. You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom, perfect in beauty you were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone adorned you. Carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx, Jasper, lapis, lazuli, turquoise and beryl, your settings and mountings were made of gold on the day you were created. They were prepared. All right, now when the Bible says your settings and mountains. Okay, so let's tackle that part first. I think this is the easiest part. Most people, or most Christians in the modern age at least, are going to have heard sermons or been influenced by the idea that this, starting at verse 11, that this prophecy or this lament against the King of Tyre is actually about Satan. Once you make that hermeneutical jump, the next thing that people are probably not aware of is that in the King James version of the Bible, it does not say settings and mountings in verse 13, but it actually says tambors and pipes. A tambour is like a tambourine and then a pipe is like an organ pipe. So they are then going to draw the hermeneutical interpretation that Satan was in charge of music in heaven or that Satan was a worship leader in heaven. And the reality is that that's a terrible interpretation. Actually, tambors and pipes is not a good interpretation of the Hebrew here. Settings and mountings is actually a better interpretation. And even the more modern interpretations are going to say engravings. Okay, so there's actually nothing musical in the Hebrew here. However, an interpretation or translation of the Bible, which is the King James translation, and I don't want to make people upset, but the King James translation is not a good translation of the Bible. I know, I know, I know, I know. People are going to attack me. People are going to have all things to say. I just will say this. The only people who think the King James Version is a good translation of the Bible are actually are influenced by their denomination or are church people. In the academic space. As I went through my undergraduate program, master's degree program in my doctoral studies, I never had a professor in the academic world that said the King James Version is a good version of the Bible. Never, never, never, never. In academic circles, the NRSV is the gold standard. Okay, NIV is cool, ESV's cool. But never had a professor that said, you got to use the King James, that it's really church people and denominationally influenced people who have that stance. Anyway, I think we can at least just go ahead and say the translation that this should be anything musical is most likely a bad translation of, of. Of these verses. All right, I'm going to go ahead and just submit the idea that Satan was probably not a worship leader in heaven. Like maybe he was, maybe, maybe he was. But. But this verse is not a good verse to stand on when making that argument. All right, next. Verse 14. You were anointed as a guardian, cherub, so I ordained you. You were on the Holy Mount of God. You walked among fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade. You were filled with violence and you sinned. So let me just say this. This never stops being about the King of Tyre. We have to acknowledge that there's no point where this is not about the King of Tyre. Now, if we wanna make the argument that there's a layered meaning here, that we're talking about the King of Tyre, but we're also talking about Satan, I can rock with that. But here's what would probably be even more helpful, is realizing that the Bible often uses cosmic language to talk about human rulers. Cosmic language, or what we would call angelic language or apocalyptic language to talk about human rulers. So this actually happens in chapter 31 of Ezekiel, where the Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is going to be compared to a chaos monster, a sea monster like Leviathan. We're going to use cosmic language to describe a earthly ruler. Here's what I actually think is happening. What I actually think is happening is that there are spiritual beings that are influencing human rulers. And God, in this oracle against the nations, is actually judging both judging the human being, the King of Tyre, and the deceptive force behind the King of Tyre in the same way that when God looks at Adam and Eve, he holds them accountable for their actions, but also says, the serpent was behind this and manipulated you and deceived you. That doesn't mean that you're not responsible, but that does mean that you are both responsible. And so I would say there's probably a layer here. Do I think that the Bible often uses cosmic language to describe earthly rulers? Yeah, it does. So I'm not so quick to say, yeah, this is about Satan. But I am open to the possibility that although the Bible is talking about the King of Ty, that there may be nuance here, that the Bible is acknowledging that the King of Ty has been influenced by spiritual or demonic forces. God is holding all of them responsible. Moreover, I would say that pride and arrogance are still the thing being addressed. That for earthly rulers, the thing that we can't miss is that the moment I exalt myself as a God, the moment I exalt myself as someone who's more than just a mere mortal God, is now in opposition to me. And I would say from the very top of this chapter, all the way down, the issue here is Actually not. Whether it's about Satan or not, the issue here is about arrogance and pride. Verse 17. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth. I made a spectacle of you before kings. By your many sins and dishonest trade, you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you and it consumed you. And I reduced you to ashes to the ground in the sight of all who were watching. All the nations who knew you are appalled at you. You have come to a horrible end and will be no more. I would say that, you know, Satan is not out here trading, but the King of Tyre was. So I'm gonna go ahead and say it's probably about the King of Tyre. And this actually leads us into our timeless truth, which is God gives grace to the humble, but he opposes the proud that if you want God to be in opposition to you, be arrogant, be proud. But if you want God's grace, if you want God to be attracted to you, be humble. Whether or not this is about Satan or the King of Tyre is actually about of minimal consequence. But whether or not you are arrogant or full of pride, or whether or not you have the humility that can actually sustain your spiritual life in the long haul, that is of maximum consequence. That is a very, very big deal. The other Thomas truth that I want to focus on just for a moment is that Israel was designed to influence the nations in a positive way, but because of Israel's idolatry, the nations end up being judged. And you want to know something? I think there's a lot of blood on our hands as Christians. We are supposed to be salt and light in the earth. But there are people who love Jesus but just don't like Christians and therefore lose out on a relationship with Jesus. And I think in the same way that the nations are judged because of Israel's idolatry, I think that still today there are people that don't know God who are gonna be judged because of the Church's idolatry. And that's not just true for Ezekiel's audience, that's true for us today. Tomorrow we got day 234, and we're gonna be in Ezekiel, chapter 29 and 32. It's gonna be awesome. If you're on a streak, I'm so proud of you. How about you come right back here tomorrow so that we can continue our trek through the Book of Ezekiel? I love you so much. I'll see you tomorrow. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department Podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show@thebibledepartment.com and on Instagram at the Bible department. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@thebibledepartment.com we'll see you back here tomorrow.