Only One

In the midst of the passages condemning Tyre, we find an interesting passage concerning the king of Tyre.

Many people have said the “ruler of Tyre” in verses 1- 10 was the literal human ruling over Tyre, while the “king of Tyre” in verses 11-19 were referring to the king’s ruler, Satan.

Whether this is true or not is debatable.

There is enough historical, linguistic, and cultural evidence to say that all of these verses were in reference to the literal king of Tyre, and that Ezekiel was talking about how this king was trying to make himself “a god” like the gods he worshiped.

Whatever Ezekiel was referring to in this passage, God makes one thing clear.  There is only one God, and neither this king (nor Satan if that was indeed who verses 11-19 were referring to) were him.

This king, because of the prosperity of his city and his reign as king proclaimed,

“I am a god.  I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the sea.”  (Ezekiel 28:2)

But God told him,

You are a man and not a god, though you think you are as wise as a god…you will die a violent death in the heart of the seas.

Will you then say, “I am a god,” in the presence of those who kill you?

You will be but a man, not a god, in the hands of those who slay you.  (2, 8-9)

What can we get from this?

Very few of us would ever claim that we are gods.  But how many of us live that way?

How many of us because of our accomplishments or success start to think of ourselves as above others?

How many of us then start to look down on others and treat them not as fellow brothers or sisters, but as people who should be serving us?

Worse, how many of us take the throne of our hearts, casting God from his rightful place, doing our own will instead of his?

The day we will come to realize what the king of Tyre realized.

No matter how successful we are, no matter how beautiful, no matter how wise, we are mere humans, not God.  And if we would try to rise up and usurp God’s rightful position in our lives, we will be cast down.

There is only one God, and we are not him.  So let us submit ourselves to him and his reign in our lives.