Pride Is a Family Characteristic — Bob Utley

Pride in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28

After you turn to Ezekiel 28 Kirk read to you Isaiah 14. Which I believe is somewhat of a parallel to Ezekiel 28. This passage has caused great Confusion among interpreters and All I can do is bring you my opinion on it.

Which I certainly can't be dogmatic about it when so many Tremendous men of God that I trust and appreciate Divide over this passage. I've entitled this message pride is a family characteristic and I believe what we have in both Isaiah 14, which is the king of Babylon and Ezekiel 28 which is the king of Tyre is a Good Example of what pride can do to men men as they represent a nation and Yet, I believe because of the astonishing metaphors supernatural metaphors used For the king of Babylon the king of Tyre that the illustration goes behind them as human representatives of the characteristics of a nation and Goes behind that to the supernatural force of evil in our world that supremely embodies these characteristics and so my train of thought is going to run from the evil one fallen angel as he influenced other angels one as a representative of a whole and moving from the sin in the angelic world.

From Angels to Nations

We're going to move to a man as he exemplifies a nation and So we're moving from angel to angels to man to man. Now chapter 14 of Isaiah, I think represents a Military power the king of Babylon was the power of his day.

There was nothing could stand before him for long periods of Near Eastern history and He is the symbolic embodiment of military power. But as you can readily see if you know where Tyre is Tyre is the place the Israelis and the Lebanese are fighting over right now in the PLO.

It's on the northern coast of the Mediterranean just above Israel. It's the ancient sea going power known as the Phoenicians as Babylon may have represented military power. The nation of the the Phoenicians and especially Tyre its capital represented commercial power they were absolutely the Sea power of the day and all the commerce that went with it now.

I think as I have stated this several times We're talking about a man a worldly leader. But very quickly it's going to move from worldly leader To supernatural world leader, you know The Bible the New Testament says that Satan is the prince and the power of the air.

It calls him even the God of this world strong terms and so I want to do two things today if I possibly can I Want to hold the mirror of the Bible up to us as an individual That is is motivated primarily by egocentristic needs and trends and motives and Then as a nation That has seemed to build our foundation on success and power and Yet Behind it all is The supernatural forces of evil that have the exact same problem.

The Judgment of Tyre

So let's look if we could at this passage together. I believe it breaks quite naturally I'm going to do verses 1 through 19. It breaks quite naturally in the verses 1 through 10. Many people have said 1 through 10 is a picture of the Antichrist because in Verse 2 it's going to say I am a God and he took his seat among the gods.

And if you'll if you're familiar with 2nd Thessalonians, by the way, I'm teaching Tonight I'm starting a brand new book on Sunday night 2nd Thessalonians. I'll be in chapter 1 tonight. But next week I'll be dealing with this passage on the Antichrist, which is the most explicit in all the Bible and in 2nd Thessalonians Chapter 2 verse 4 the Antichrist has these characteristics and we're going to find that kind of identification all the way through.

The Old Testament as I have pointed out to you many times uses historical his current historical Circumstances to foreshadow the end time. What we're doing here is the exact same thing, but instead of historical Events, we're using historical personages in the king of Tyre to speak about.

Some personages that are going to come up on the stage of history later and One personage that's been on the stage for a long long time even before man. The Word of the Lord the Word of Yahweh came to me saying son of man.

This is the Old Testament use of that phrase that means human being that's all it means here person. Mr. Man Son of man say to the prince of Tyre and his name was f bail the second. You recognize the last little name bail the male fertility God remember that Jezebel Was a daughter of the king of Tyre.

Remember that she imported the prophets of bail and the prophets of Asherah, which is the fertility cult of the Canaanite religion. Remember that almost took over the entire worship of Israel. Remember all that.

Remember that Tyre an earlier King Hiram of Tyre was the one that Solomon Contracted to build the temple of God. Now Tyre is never an enemy of the people of God never. They are in close connection. They do military campaigns together.

They are tied economically together. And yet God has a word of judgment on this nation not because it's an enemy of the people of God. But because of the pride and arrogance that this nation developed.

The Meaning of “Lord God”

Thus says the Lord God. Now you look at your Bible if you would is a little side note. The years have Lord God Should have Lord Lord. The first one is that name? Adon or Adonai Master owner. The second one is the covenant name for God Yahweh, but in English it comes out what?

Lord Lord, which sounds funny. So they make it Lord God. Look at the R. The R's the way to tell every time the word Lord is you the little R. It's add-on if it's a capital R. It's Yahweh the covenant name for God.

You see the capital R in verse 1 you see the small R in verse 2. Now Tyre was the capital of the Phoenician Empire. It's a it was an island about a quarter of a mile from the shore with a very deep swift moving channel in between.

It was almost impregnable fortress. Everybody couldn't live on the island. So some of the town was on the mainland and that was pretty vulnerable, but that rocky fortress was absolutely the power of Sea trade there was it almost did not fall to any conqueror.

Now it failed a few but it didn't fall to many matter of fact I'm going to mention Nebuchadnezzar in a minute and all the power of Babylon. Historically that city never fail after a 13 year siege. By the largest world power in that day that rocky fortress did not fall.

That's that's something in it. This is the kind of kind of a place we're talking about. Because your heart is Lifted up now I'm going to be talking about this idea of a heart lifted up all the way through this chapter.

Pride as the Desire to Replace God

And what we're speaking about is and I'm going to use the word a creature. Desiring to be the creator the created. Storming the throne of the one who has created them now whether it be Satan who did that initially or.

Whether it be Adam and Eve who did that very same thing or whether it's you and I. Pride is the central core of man's problem that thing that directs every motive every issue every day every energy every desire it makes.

Everything focus around us. It makes us the hub of everything that is that's the problem here. It wants to remove God from his place and wants to put ourselves in that place. It's exactly in Genesis 3 5 what the serpent told Eve.

God doesn't want you that fruit because God knows you eat that fruit. You will be like him. You will be as God's daughter and Reason is Satan knew that was such a tempting thing. That's exactly what got him.

You all look at first Timothy 3 6, that's where it says that Satan. Isaiah 14 talks about that same idea of a heart being lifted up in pride and you have said I am A God my goodness, that's a little G there.

But it's it's it's the same idea if you're Reading to the book of Acts now by any chance on one of these yearly Bible studies. You may have read recently in Acts 12 24 About one of the Herod's who went to the city of Tyre by the way, and he walked out on the platform dressed in a magnificent metallic looking Outfit and the people said it is the voice of a God and not of man and Herod kind of like that Says the angel of the Lord struck him with worms and it ate his bowels yuck.

But it's the same people the Tyrannian people. You see the Tyrannian people believed that their King was a descendant of the gods and It fits that way right in the book of Acts. I Sit in the seat of the gods now what that means exactly I don't know except the fact that that King thought that he had an impregnable fortress.

He thought no one could take that city and that seems to be the idea here in the heart of the seas. And that fits that I did that little island you might want to see chapter 27 verse 4 matter of fact.

Chapter 26 and 27 and 28 in Ezekiel deal with the kingdom of Tyre and I'm just dealing with the last little part of it now. Yet you are a man and not a god. Well, the reason this chapter has been so Diversive among interpreters is and divisive is because obviously chapter 4 a chapter 2 here refers to a man and not to Satan chapter verse 4 verse 8 verse 9 all refer to human being and many of us said it's obviously just a reference to a man and yet chapters 12 and following absolutely can't refer to a man and then chapter 16 through 19 are kind of a mixture of a Supernatural element and a human element.

It's all mixed through here together makes it so difficult to be dogmatic about verse 3. Behold you are wiser than Daniel and there is no secret. That is a match for you. My goodness, what a statement about a human being now this just little side note the word Daniel here looks just like the book in your Bible doesn't it and We know that Ezekiel was the prophet who was in exile in Babylon the exact time that Daniel was in the palace in Babylon, and so I'm sure they knew of each other, but back in chapter Ezekiel 14 14 it mentions a man named Daniel it says Noah Job or it says Noah Daniel and Job the spelling of Daniel here in the Hebrew is different than the spelling of Daniel as the minor prophet and Nowhere else the Bible is the prophet Daniel that we know of from our Bible spell like this Daniel in Ezekiel.

Now it may be the Daniel that's in the palace. But it seems to be someone that's just noted for their wisdom that lived back with Job and Noah. That's patriarchal times. That's way on back there and it doesn't seem to be current.

I don't know if he's talking about Daniel that we know or another Daniel but what he's saying is that ma 'am whoever it was was noted for their wisdom as Daniel was and This man is said to be wiser than Daniel and nothing is hid from him.

No one is a match for you. That seems awful strong to me for a human being now. Then it says and by your wisdom and understanding you have acquired riches for yourself. You have acquired gold and silver for your treasuries and by your great wisdom by your trade.

You've increased your riches and your heart is lifted up because of your riches. There are three things said through here about a problem that we face. Number one is this man was extremely Intelligent he had a very sharp Rational and this particular guy business oriented mind as the king of this Phoenician nation.

He was a very very wise man. Number two, he was a very Wealthy wealthy man, and if you'll look at verse 17, he was a very beautiful Man. Because of his wisdom because of his riches. Because of his beauty he desired to be as God my friends.

Wisdom, Wealth, and Beauty Cannot Secure Us

I won't tell you. I don't know what you pride yourself in. I don't know what you boast about. You may be a handsome or pretty person. You may be a wealthy person. You may be a very intelligent person.

The New Testament talks about us boasting in Jesus Christ for the center of our worthiness. If you're putting your foundation on any kind of thing that you're doing I promise you in this world in time Can go like that.

How long does beauty last? How tenuous is riches in a world of war? How quickly does one little fall or one little brain tumor or one little stroke take away all of man's superior intellect. This man was trusting in his mind in his wealth and his beauty his heart was lifted up.

In verse 7, it says therefore behold, I will bring strangers against you the most ruthless of nations. And we learned from chapter 26 verse 7 is talking about Nebuchadnezzar coming against this. This same little phrase is used in chapter 30 11 31 12 32 12.

Nebuchadnezzar was the cruelest Military power. I think the Assyrians were crueler than the Babylonians, but this says the cruelest nation may be in existence at that time. You couldn't believe what they did when they swept into a city.

They slaughtered it and they took everything that city had and that's exactly what this King of Tyre is going to have happened to him notice it mentioned verse 8 that Talks about going down to the pit or she old.

The grave you're going to die. Notice in verse 9 it talks about a Personal death as well as a match national death. I want to tell you a nation That's exemplified in pride for their wisdom for their wealth and For their beauty is a nation that's on the slides to destruction the nation.

That trust in God is the nation that's secure on the foundation. Where would you put our nation? I think the purpose this whole thing is ambiguous for is it wants to speak to men and it wants to speak to nations and Because we even have personifications in history of this attitude doesn't preclude that we're going to have further personifications and our day is a day that's so proud of its commercial prowess of Its technological genius and Of its physical beauty which in this passage refers to the beauty and power of its cities.

What do we brag in as Americans? It continues then in verse 11 and makes a or the last part of verse 10 says for I have spoken Declares the Lord which means it's settled the doom. This man is sure the doom of these kinds of men is sure the doom of these kinds of creatures is sure then in verse 12 verse 11 and following I think it is Absolutely superhuman what's mentioned through here and you just think with me I'm gonna give you a list first before I read it.

The Supernatural Portrait of the Evil One

See if you can pick them up this way to step this this personage in verses 12 and following he has the seal of perfection, which means he is the pattern of Perfection or completeness. Number two. He is the has the full wisdom and beauty.

Number three. He was in the Garden of Eden. Number four. He is clothed with the royal jewels of the high priest Epoch the twelve stones only nine mentioned here. They're twelve in the Septuagint. Number four.

Five. He is not only the musical leader of the throne of God. He personifies music about that. Number six. He is the anointed Cherub that covers now cherubim are pretty strong. I'm gonna talk about that.

They are the the one of the angelic powers that God uses and this is the the anointed cherub. Which seems to imply? Numero uno, if you please, you know number seven. He is in God's presence. And number eight.

He is blameless. Whoo-hoo. Let's look at it. Son of man take up the funeral dirge over the king of Tyre and say to him thus saith the Lord God you had in yourself the pattern of perfection the measurement of completeness.

Well, I strong term full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You know the what what tickles me about the way we've handled the evil one. We kind of give him a red suit and horns and a tail and a pitchfork so we can laugh at him.

But the Bible calls Him an angel of light. Satan is the most beautiful creation. Continues you were in Eden. The Garden of God my goodness. Every precious stone you think King of Tyre was in Eden. You think he was the pattern of perfection?

Every precious stone was your covering now. This goes back to Exodus 28 17 through 20 where the high priest wore a gold plate around his neck and on that plate. Was the beautiful twelve stones each representing a tribe of Israel?

Everyone was a different color. I think here. It's not so much that that he had the gems all over him. But the color color itself was the garment of this this being. Beautiful radiant color of gems is what this creature wore and.

The last part of this verse 13 if you have a New American Standard Version, I'm gonna take real I'm gonna attack it if you let me. I don't know what the other ones have mine has and gold the workmanship of your settings.

And sockets. Do you have something like that last part of verse 13? No, no, no. No, it's the word flute and the word tambourine tambourines and flutes. What it was saying is you were the musician at court.

These instruments were made out of gold and you personified them. You provided the music if you please for the setting whether it be Eden or heaven then it continues. That music the setting and sockets was in you the musical instruments were in you on.

That day you were created. I believe we're talking about. Not that the king coming to the throne which some try to say the word is created here on the day. You were created that that says to me that not only men are created but angels are created.

There is no dualism in Christianity. This is not Zoroastrian Overflow from the Persian period in the Bible Satan is a created being that's under the control of the one creator God. That's and that's that's important.

You were prepared look at verse 14 now. There's so many translations that do a number on this and I want to show if you got one of these you look what they're Doing. If you have the New Jerusalem Bible or the Revised Standard Version or the Peshitta or the New English Bible it's going to say something like you were provided with a Cherub that covers but man that is not the Hebrew and that is not what American Standard Version or Revised Standard Version has.

Listen this one you were not you were provided with. That's an interpretation to get away from this supernatural element. You were the anointed Cherub who covers? Now the word covers here is the idea of the mercy seat almost as.

If you remember correctly It was the cherubim whose wings met over the Ark of the Covenant and on that mercy seat was where the sins Of the people were dealt with once a year on Yom Kippur the Day of Atonement Leviticus 16.

These cherubs were in the presence of atonement if you please they protected and covered the place of forgiveness. Not only that the cherubim were the ones that when Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden.

They held the sword that goes all the ways that protected the tree of life from fallen man. The cherubim are those creatures that carry God symbolically. They become the chariot of the divine. The cherubim are.

The one that in Ezekiel chapter 1 on that strange vision of the wheels within the wheels and the eyes around it. And those strange angelic beings. That's the cherubim in Ezekiel chapter 10 we get a description and the Bible is fluid some sometime.

They have two wings sometimes four. Sometimes one face sometimes four faces. But these are the are one of the angelic orders the seraphim is another one. That's only in Isaiah 6 in the book of the Revelation chapter 4.

It's like the seraphim and the cherubim are mixed together in that in passage. But anyway, these were powerful angels that worked in the area of Redemption and mission for God and the one we're talking about is the Cherub who covers man, that's a strong powerful angel.

I want you to know I don't know there's been an archangel and a covering chair, but I want you know, we're talking about a beautiful fantastic original creation of God. That was in the Garden of Eden.

Man it's just the evidence is becoming overwhelming now that we're beyond the king of Tyre a whole long way. It continues then when it says and I placed you there and you were on My holy mountain in the midst of the stones of fire.

Satan’s Presence Before God and His Fall

What could that be? Well, we're somehow getting the idea of the Garden of Eden and almost Mount Sinai maybe but what I think is happening. This is all this is a way of speaking about that this personages Personage was in the presence of God.

What Old Testament book does the evil one spoken of in the presence of God? Job 1 and The sons of God came to God and Satan came with it friends. I want to tell you Do you believe the king of Tyre was ever in the presence of God?

I? Won't fit he sure wasn't in Eden. He wasn't that he was smart and powerful and a military leader, but he was not all these things now. In the midst of the stones of fire that I think that refers to that those colors, you know color is a beautiful thing.

Color is a we take it so for granted. I try to wear it as much as possible. I Think heaven is just filled with color and that's the idea. The presence of God is lit up. Light in all of its spectrum surrounds the throne of God this one walked amidst that beautiful color with God.

You are blameless Unblemished. Sincere whatever you want to say in all your ways from the day you were created. You think a man can be said to be Unblemished and sincere in all his ways. Not at the doctor of original sin has any biblical warrant.

It can't look what it says then. Until unrighteousness was found in you. And then it goes back in verse 16. It's almost a mixture again between supernatural and natural by your abundance of trade. You were internally filled with violence and you sinned therefore I have cast you as profane.

From the mountain of God I have destroyed you. Oh covering cherub from 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 and I cast you to the ground.

I put you before kings that they may see you. By the multitude of your iniquities and the righteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries. Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you and consumed you.

I have turned you into the ashes on the earth in the eyes of all who see you. All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you and you have become a horror and You will be no more. I won't say two things.

The Spiritual Battle Against Pride

I want you to hear what I'm saying. Number one the greatest tendency of the evil one in your heart is To you to focus everything toward yourself. Ego Centristic arrogant pride is the basic problem of the creatures of God.

Always wanting to usurp God's authority and power. Always wanting to steer the ship always wanting to be number one always wanting to do what we want to do always Focusing everything toward our own pleasure and our own goals and our own dreams.

It has been so in the angelic world it is so in the lives of men it is becomes exemplified in the lives of nations. Nations have a personality just as men have a personality and you can mark a nation by the Characteristics of its population.

I think we have a mark. Not only of a commercial power, but we almost embody both of them. We trust in our missiles and Brag in our economy and it will all be pulled down to hell if we don't trust in the Redeemer.

There is no power on earth can stand before God. You can't shoot spiritual beings with nuclear-tipped warheads. But you can see behind the role of history the footprints of the evil one in a in a world as fouled up as ours is not just nationally or corporately but in the Individual lives of people.

I see these characteristics not only in the lost but in the redeemed. This chapter is not only a beautiful picture of what military power and here particularly that's Isaiah 14 here Particularly commercial power can do to an individual.

But this passage is one of the few glimpses of the origin of the evil one that we have anywhere in the Bible. I was amazed as I read commentator after commentator who refused to cite this passage for their theology.

But sentence after sentences the implications in this passage that is nowhere else in the Bible continued to come through. To say Satan is a created being only comes from Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. There is no other place in the Bible.

It says that Except these two passages and yet those commentators afraid to make these passages supernatural. Continue to refer to Satan as a created being. Well friends whether you cite it or not, this is a very influential passage in the life of the church origin and Tertullian many of the early church fathers use this as a way for us to know something behind the scenes of history and behind the scenes of the evilness of our own heart and Friends I want to say to you If you haven't read Ephesians 6 10 and following lately, you need to do that because we are in a spiritual battle not only for the lives and hearts of men but for the goals and purposes of nations and If you don't even realize that there is a supernatural adversary.

The Armor of God and Christian Vigilance

You will never be prepared to do supernatural battle for the kingdom of God. That sounds so ridiculous to modern man and you can poo-poo that ideal if you want to friend. But I have committed my heart and mind to the Bible as the self-revelation of the one eternal God and he over and over.

And over and over and over again doesn't tell me completely doesn't tell me even clearly but tells me that there is Forces of evil out to thwart not only my life but my family and my church and my nation and my world and If we never realized that We are blind and helpless in Ephesians 6 it says that God has provided all the weapons for a spiritual battle all of them are liars.

But they are not automatically put on us. We must recognize the battle we must pick up the implements we must put them on our lives and then we must stand and Friends the reason that most of you are getting knocked over day after day is you don't realize you are in a spiritual battle.

Prayer Bible study. Moral integrity are important in a world that is moral in nature. With an ear immoral tendency deep in the heart of every one of us and Manifested through temptation on the outside of each one of us friends.

We're in a battle and the evil one is beautiful and Powerful and pervasive Beyond all of our imagination. We don't have to fear him. As powerful as he is greater is he that's in us than he that's in the world first John 4 4.

But never taking for granted he roams the earth seeking whom he may devour and God help us. Christians are often caught in the meat grinder of The forces of evil of our world. May we pray? Lord, I pray for a sense of your presence.

Prayer for Spiritual Discernment and Faithfulness

I Am so thankful that I do not have to fear evil. I 19 said it is gone. We know that it is finished Lord from the cross That the kingdom has been destroyed of the evil one and vanquished and yet Lord in somehow in your purpose.

There is still such great historical evidence That though he is defeated He is still here Lord I do not want to be a fanatic or a wild man or someone who is uncredible and what I say. But Lord, my particular age has written spiritual things off because we can't put them in a test tube and yet God I know of your reality because of what you've done to my heart and Unfortunately Lord, I know the reality of the evil one because of what he's done to my heart and I pray that eyes might be opened That we might be prepared spiritually Lord to face a culture that does not believe in spiritual realities and Yet is penetrated by their influence and their manipulation.

I pray for wisdom and insight. I pray for a deeper and greater love for your book and I pray for a more powerful preaching of the cross of Christ in Jesus name. Amen.