Ezekiel 28:1-26

Pride is at the heart of so many of our sins. Ezekiel condemns the king of Tyre for his pride that made him believe that he was a god and not just a man.  It is a very dangerous thing to allow our hearts to be filled with pride because it makes us blind to our own foolishness as well as the consequences of our actions and attitudes.  Prosperity and power are two of the greatest contributing factors to pride and the king of Tyre had plenty of both.  There is nothing inherently wrong with prosperity; in fact God has often blessed His children with prosperity.  Power also is established by God, but the danger is when we start to believe that they are deserved and fill our hearts with pride.

THE PROBLEM OF PRIDE: Ezekiel reflects on the fall of three men: the king of Tyre, Adam and the king of Sidon.  All three of these men had great privilege.  They were given positions of authority, they had great wealth and they were powerful.  However, they all fell because of the pride that entered their hearts.  The king of Tyre thought himself to be a god.  Adam was deceived into thinking he could become like God.  The king of Sidon was boastful and proud of his accomplishments and thought he was beyond God’s ability to judge.  This is the path that Satan wants all of us to walk.  He tries to tell us we are great and convince us we can live independently of God.  This is foolishness.  All of us are created by God and only exist to be able to worship Him.  When we leave off our purpose for existence and begin to see ourselves as self-sufficient our pride will lead us to a great fall.


THE PRIVILEGE OF PROMISE: Israel too fell because of her arrogance and pride, but God is using this fallen state to bring her to repentance.  God is gracious and longs to be reconciled with His people and all people.  He judges us so that we might recognize the foolishness and uselessness of our pride and bring us to a saving knowledge of Himself.  He will restore those who humble themselves before Him.  He has promised to restore Israel and He will restore all who will repent and turn to Him through faith in Christ.

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