by: Dr. Allen Domelle
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:”
Pride is always the source of every sin. You tell me the name of a sin, and we will discover at the source of that sin is pride. This is why God said in Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
Nobody embodies the symbol of pride more than Satan. In Ezekiel 28, Tyre is a symbol of Satan. When you look at Satan, you will find there were four sources of his pride. Position was the first source of his pride when he said, “I am a God, I sit in the seat of God.” Wisdom was his second source of pride that caused his heart to be lifted up in verse 4. Wealth became his third source of pride in verse 5. Beauty was his fourth source of pride in verse 17. What is interesting about all of these is that he did not give himself position, wisdom, wealth or beauty, God did. When you study the Scriptures, you will clearly see that all of these things come from God.
These things created two destructive attitudes in Satan. The first destructive attitude was when he said, “I am.” The “I am” attitude is one where you want everyone to look at what you have done. You believe you are great because of what you have done in the past. Friend, you had better never forget who helped you to achieve those accomplishments. You are walking on dangerous ground when you start pointing people to what you have done instead of to what God has done through you. Every accomplishment you have is because God gave you the wisdom, power and strength to do it; don’t forget it!
The second destructive attitude of Satan was when he said, “I sit.” This attitude is one where you get people to look at who you are because of what you are doing. You are walking on a self-destructive path when you start believing that you are so big that nobody can stop you or take you down. I have sadly seen people, whom God has used, who thought they could do what they wanted to do, even if it was against the Scripture, and think that nobody could stop them because of who they were. You may hold a powerful position, but God is still more powerful than you. Don’t ever get to the point where you think you are too big to fail.
There is only one reason a person would get this far, and that reason is that they stopped looking at the “I will.” You will find that the “I will” is God. You can choose to keep your eyes on the “I will” or you will be forced to look at the “I will” when He judges you. Verse 22 shows what God wants when He says, “I will be glorified in the midst of thee.” You can choose to stay focused on the “I will” and give Him glory at your own choosing, or He will receive the glory when He forces you to look at the “I will.”
Let me encourage you not to let the four sources of pride cause you to take your eyes off the “I will.” If you will keep your eyes on the “I will” and give Him glory, He will continue to bless you in life.