Ezekiel 28:2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God.
Description of the Devil?
Would you know the devil if you saw him? I know that’s a question that invites a smart aleck answer, but if you could see the devil in bodily form, what would be the dead giveaway? It probably would not be a pitchfork, long tail, and horns. If you could tell the devil by what he was doing or saying, how would you know it was him? Maybe he would be blaspheming, lying, or committing a horrible sin. How would you know the devil if you saw him?
It fascinates me that on a couple of occasions in the Bible, God starts out to condemn a wicked king and ends up seeming to describe the devil himself. It’s rather ambiguous. Upon reading such passages, I think that perhaps God has made it intentionally ambiguous.
For instance, in Ezekiel 28:2 it says, “Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD, Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God.”
Later, Ezekiel is commanded to take up a lamentation for this king of Tyrus who is in trouble because of his pride. God reminds him that he, the king, was created and that people will know that He, Jehovah, is the Lord God. There is only room for one God in this world, and it is not you, me, or the devil.
It is fascinating that when you read this description of the King of Tyrus, it is difficult to distinguish between the description of the devil and the description of a man that is taken with himself. Perhaps no other sins so graphically reveal Satan as pride, arrogance, and love of self. When I live in pride, I live like the devil.
I don’t know what you have today, but I do know that each of us should be thankful for what we have and humbled by what God has provided. No matter if a man is poor or wealthy, famous or infamous, the thing that most mimics the devil is a heart of rebellion manifested in pride.