Tag: Leadership Must Use Wisdom Wisely - Ezekiel 25-30

Ezekiel 28:1-3

Prophecy Against the Prince of Tyre

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord God:

“Because your heart is proud,

and you have said, ‘I am a god,

I sit in the seat of the gods,

in the heart of the seas,’

yet you are but a man, and no god,

though you make your heart like the heart of a god—

you are indeed wiser than Daniel;

no secret is hidden from you;

Tag: Leadership Must Use Wisdom Wisely

Wisdom comes from the Fear of the Lord (Proverbs 9:10).  Without the Fear of the Lord there can be no wisdom.   Since this is a truth we can’t ignore, we must read in the above passage in light of that truth.  It states that the Prince of Tyre not only had wisdom, but his wisdom exceeded Daniel.   It could be the Ezekiel is simply speaking of human wisdom.   But, as the chapter unfolds we are lead to believe that the Prince of Tyre indeed HAD wisdom from God.  The point of the entire chapter is that he is being held responsible for what he did with this wisdom. God had given him wisdom and he had abused it and used it for his own glory and power. He used it to secure wealth and honor for himself.  He did not honor God with the gift he was given. If, indeed, Ezekiel is speaking of merely human wisdom and he is being sarcastic in regard to the comparison with Daniel, it matters little.  The point of the passage is that this leader had a gift of wisdom (Godly or from man) and used the gift God gave him in pride and arrogance to promote self.   Read a few of the verses that follow:

Ezekiel 28:12

“Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God:

“You were the signet of perfection,

full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

Ezekiel 28:17

Your heart was proud because of your beauty;

you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.

I cast you to the ground;

I exposed you before kings,

to feast their eyes on you.

When we are given a gift from God (wisdom or any other gift) we have an obligation to honor God with the gift.