Ezekiel 28 presents us a rather interesting proclamation against the King of Tyre. If we believe what Georges Santayana, the Harvard philosophy professor, said - "Those who do not know the past will repeat it" - then this passage is highly instructive for us.
Verse 2 reveals the issue that God has against them -- "your heart is lifted up" and they said that they "were a god." The Bible is rather specific about such pride issues -- God hates pride. Proverbs 16:18 reveals that "Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall." I can share a personal example that proves that to be the case. My senior season, were were playing our final tune-up game before departing to a mid-year tournament. The team we were playing was over-matched by us, and one of their players, whom I was guarding, did a turn-a-round jump shot. Well, I threw this thing about 6 rows up in the stands and had a few words for that person. On the in-bounds play (which was my fault because we were taught not to sling the ball put tap it to another player to begin the fast break), I went up to steal it away and landed on that guy's foot. I broke my ankle and missed most of the season. My pride led to my downfall.
The particularly instructive part of this passage, though, is verse 5 because it reveals the source of their pride -- "your heart is lifted up because of your riches." Think of that!! Prosperity led them to forget who they were (nothing) and who God is (everything). It has been said that no civilized nation has beaten the worst foe known to man, and that foe is prosperity. When we have everything we can imagine, think about it. We really do, as my dad used to say, "get too big for our britches." We think we own the world and them start acting like it.
That was the problem with Tyre - they forgot who they were compared to an Almighty, Sovereign God. You know what? That's the problem with America too. We've become too cozy with our "American dream" of having everything we want, and then demanding more. Even worse, we are raising our children with a sense of entitlement -- "if I don't have a ______, then you don't love me!" You can fill that blank in with any techno-gizmo, a car, or whatever else. We are to blame for that occurrence.
The only time that we invoke the name of God is when we need something of Him -- an accident, sudden health issues, etc. The problem is that God is not a 9-1-1 service, but He must become the object of our worship. Verse 22 shows us what God says about this in that He says that He "will be glorified in your midst." We can either glorify Him willingly with our lives or He will take that glory forcefully (please see my previous blog entry).
In the shadow of the tremendous suffering in Haiti, we have been abundantly blessed. It would do us a great deal of good to live with less and give the rest to those who need it. For an interesting read on this topic, get a copy of Francis Chan's Crazy Love at your local bookstore or purchase it online. He will provoke your thinking and show you that you do not love God as much as you should.
Give your heart to God, and the money will follow to Him as well. He will not let you down because He promises in Matthew 6:33 that keeping Him first will result in Him caring for your needs. Note the key word there -- "needs" not our "wants."
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