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Today's bible study is one of the most fascinating studies of the entire bible. It not only provides us with some interesting lessons about how God uses wicked leaders for His service and how God condemns those who speak evil and mistreat those who are His people, but also of how Satan became the fallen one - his once glory-filled position and his pride-filled fall.
As we begin in Chapter 28, God commands Ezekiel to prophecy doom to the "prince" of Tyre. Tyre would be in modern day Lebanon today.
The prince spoken of in this chapter was a literal leader in that part of the middle east. He was a human man who I believe was a Satan-filled man. In fact, He was possessed by Satan himself. Keep in mind that Satan is NOT like God in any way. Satan is NOT omnipresent. He is one being that can only be in one place at any given time. However, God is omnipresent.
God condemns this leader of Tyre because Satan has lied to him about how great he was. Satan allowed him to enjoy vast amounts of riches and to rule over a great city. As a result, this man's heart was lifted up with pride - one of many things God absolutely abhors! That's why God said, "In your great pride you claim, ‘I am a god! I sit on a divine throne in the heart of the sea.’ But you are only a man and not a god, though you boast that you are a god... Yes, your wisdom has made you very rich, and your riches have made you very proud."
You can imagine how humbled this man became as he was killed by ruthless soldiers.
In the same chapter, we see Ezekiel prophesying again the "king" of Tyre. This king was actually Satan himself! But, how do we know that? Let's take a closer look to discover how this could be describing Satan himself. There are 3 specific things God says to Ezekiel that allows the reader to see exactly who God is referring to:
1) "You were in Eden, the garden of God." - Only three people were in the original garden of Eden - Adam, Eve, and Satan. We know Adam and Eve died, so it had to be Satan.
2) "I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian." - Other translations refer to him as one of the cherubim. The cherubim, according to the Bible, are seated just below the throne of God and follow God wherever He goes, as seen in the book of Daniel. No human being has ever had or ever will have this position in Heaven.
3) "You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire." - This description refers to God's throne and the "coals of fire" mentioned in Revelation. Satan lived in the very presence of God just beneath the throne of the Almighty.
Notice some things about Satan:
1) He was a model of perfection! vs. 12
2) He was full of wisdom and beauty! vs 12
3) His clothing was made up of precious stones, beautifully crafted and set in gold! vs 13
4) His glory filled him with pride and caused him to revolt and sin against God! vs. 16-17
5) Originally, he was blameless in all that he did! vs. 17
So, he was far from being the red, horned and hoofed creature with a pitchfork we see in the cartoons!
As we move into chapter 29, God continues with His doom and gloom message, but this time it's for Egypt. Israel had asked Egypt for help when they heard that King Nebuchadnezzar was coming with his mighty army. Initially Egypt agreed to help, but nervously backed out. This angered God. So, God decided to judge Egypt for not defending His people in their time of need.
This passage in Ezekiel was written on January 26, 586 BC, nearly six months prior to the fall of Jerusalem.
By Ezekiel’s time, Egypt had lost her ancient glory. Jeremiah had rebuked Judah’s kings for trusting the Egyptians to save them from Nebuchadnezzar. Instead of defending Israel, they suffered a crushing defeat by the Babylonians. Many scattered into Arabia, many were carried as captives to Babylon, and mighty Egypt became almost desolate from Syene to Ethiopia (Ezekiel 29:10)—that is, from the northern reaches of the Nile to the southern.
What about the 40 years of Egypt being uninhabited?
No forty-year period of such complete desolation in Egypt has been confirmed, although this was the length of time between Nebuchadnezzar’s defeat of Pharaoh and Egypt’s later deliverance when Cyrus and the Persians conquered Babylon. Very little is known for certain about the Egyptian history of this period, but it is known that the Egyptian monarchs, like other monarchs of antiquity, commonly boasted inordinately of the victories and passed over their defeats as lightly as possible. That is, even if the prophecies in these verses were fulfilled literally, Egyptian historians may not have acknowledged it for reasons of national pride. We can be confident that, when and if Egypt’s true and full history is ever discovered, these prophecies will be found to have been fulfilled as written.
One alternate possibility is that a forty-year period of complete desolation is still future, in the early years of the coming kingdom age. The desolations of the tribulation period may leave certain areas completely uninhabitable for a time, as the lands are gradually being healed and fruitful again.
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