Ezekiel 28 -- Not As Wise As We THINK We Are

God had a message for the man ruling the city-state of Tyre.  Yesterday I’d read His words to the citizens of that city-state.  Now He lets the ruler responsible for it have it:

“Because you are proud, you say, ‘I am a god.” … You think you are as wise as  a god, but you are a human, not a god … You are too proud because of your riches.  So this is what the Lord God says:  You think you are wise like a god, but I will bring the foreign people against you, the cruelest nation.  They will pull out their swords and destroy all that your wisdom has built, and they will dishonor your greatness …. I have spoken, says the Lord God.”

The Bible continually warns that if we think we are wise, we are not.  It’s the height of stupidity to think we are above everyone else in wisdom.  We set ourselves up for a fall when we do.

I think a bigger picture here shows up in what my commentary said.  The first ten verses are addressed to the ruler of Tyre.  But the rest of the verses are addressed to its king.  The references to the Garden of Eden, and God’s quote of having thrown him down in disgrace from the mountain of God indicate that Satan was the motivating force behind the ruler of Tyre and he is the one God is addressing here.  “You became too proud because of your beauty.  You ruined your wisdom because of your greatness.”

Over the years, I’ve learned that one becomes wiser by admitting how little he knows, rather than by regaling others of his supposed knowledge.  Wisdom tempts us to say that we know better than God, and it can cause us to not trust Him to have our best interests at heart.  From the other side, Satan loves to tell us how “wise” we are, just as he tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden to eat the fruit and know what God knows.  It’s highly overrated, as the main character of the movie Big Fat Liar kept saying.  How appropriate a name for the devil!

Father, each day I depend upon You to show me through Your wisdom what to do.  Without You, my decisions would be flawed and would take me away from You.  I rely on Your wisdom.  Help me not to trust in my own.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford