Scroll to the bottom for thoughts/discussion questions!
One-sentence summary: The word of the Lord comes to Ezekiel, and he prophesies against the great nations who rejoiced at Israel's downfall.
Ezekiel prophesies against the Amonites, because they were glad when His sanctuary was profaned and Israel was desolate and when Judah when they went into captivity. The Lord says He will deliver them as a possession to the men of the east. Then, they will know He is the Lord. Because they disdained Israel, they will be as plunder to the nations, and they will be cut off from the people and destroyed. Because Moab and Seir thought Israel was like all the other nations, the Lord will also give them to the men of the east. Because of what Edom did to the house of Judah, the Lord will stretch out His hand against them, cutting off man and beast and making it desolate. The Lord also says because the Philistines took vengeance with a spiteful heart, the Lord will stretch out His hand against them.
The word of the Lord comes to Ezekiel, and He says that because Tyre was happy that Jerusalem was broken, the Lord is against them and will cause many nations to come up against them, like the waves of the sea. They will destroy their walls and break down their towers, and they will become plunder for the nations. Then, they will know He is the Lord. He will bring Nebuchadnezzar and his army against them, and they will never be rebuilt. The Lord says the coastlands will shake at the sound of their fall. The princes of the sea will come and clothe themselves with trembling, sitting on the ground and being astonished at them and even take up a lamentation for the "renowned city." The Lord will bring them down and make them dwell in the lowest part of the earth, in places "desolate from antiquity, with those who go down to the pit." They will be sought for but never found again.
The word of the Lord comes again to Ezekiel and tells him to take up a lamentation for Tyre, "the merchant for the people on many coastlands." They have said they were perfect in beauty. They were abundantly prosperous, and many nations gave to them. Judah and Jerusalem traded with them and many others, because of the abundance of goods they made and their many luxury items. But "the east wind broke them in the midst of the seas." All their men of war will fall into the midst of the seas, and the people will shake at the cry of the "pilots of the sea." They will stand on the shore and cry bitterly and cast dust on their heads and roll in ashes, shaving their heads in mourning, girding themselves in sackcloth, and weeping and wailing "in bitterness of heart." They will take up a lamentation and say, "What city is like Tyre, destroyed in the midst of the sea?" They enriched the kings of the earth with their many luxury goods and satisfied many people, but now, they are "broken by the seas in the depths of the waters." Their merchandise and entire company will fall in into the sea, their kings will be greatly afraid and troubled, and the merchants will hiss at them. They will become a horror, and they will be "no more forever."
Thoughts/discussion questions:
It is definitely a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God! (See Hebrews 10:31.)
The prophesy about Tyre was fulfilled during the time of Alexander the Great.
The Lord can plant, and the Lord can uproot. When a nation, a people, a city, becomes full of pride, watch out! The Lord can bring them down in a moment. It happened many times before and can happen again. No one can stand against Him!