Ezekiel 27-29
Have you ever been awed by the prosperity of a region? Maybe in your travels you have seen such opulence – and such commercial genius at work – that you have wondered how these people could have accomplished what is evident.
That’s the way Tyre was in the 6th century BC, when Ezekiel was prophesying from Babylon. It was a wealthy city. In fact, some of the mariners from Tyre had actually sailed as far as Spain and had established ports in that area. They were very energetic and very rich.
As Ezekiel is prophesying over the city of Tyre, he takes an interesting turn. He begins to prophesy to Satan himself – who he calls the Prince of Tyre. Satan’s headquarters are always endowed with wealth, because that’s his key for ruling his world. (Promised riches are the reason behind dealing drugs, prostitution, the Mafia, political corruption, etc.).
So Ezekiel prophesies to the Prince of Tyre, Satan, and we get more understanding of who he is and where he came from. Lucifer was a beautiful archangel, and one of God’s closest creations. He was “full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.”(28:12) But because of the “abundance of his trade” (his wealth), he was filled with violence and sinned against God. So Lucifer was thrown down to earth, and became Satan, the ruler of the kingdom of darkness.
Then the prophecy goes on to say that the kings of the earth will be appalled at him, and he will be no more. (28:19). The day will come when he will be thrown into the Lake of Fire.
We know that Jesus defeated Satan once and for all. He has no power over us, if we resist, because he is no match for the Holy Spirit who lives within us.
Satan is still roaming about, trying to trick us, but when we know who he is and who we are in Christ, the devil is no match for us! He’s under our feet.
I Peter 2-3
We are a “chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that we may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.”(2:9)
So what is Peter saying? We aren’t the same people we were before we got born again. If we receive the magnitude of what our God has done for us, our very lives are a witness to our God’s love, mercy, and transforming power. We are a new race of people – new “Creations in Christ.”(II Corinthians 5:17). New, because we have been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb and filled with the Holy Spirit of God.
We are a royal priesthood because we are now kings and priests to God. We can personally go boldly into the throne room of God and talk with our Father. And as kings, we represent our Father to the world. We speak His word, and we follow His leading to share His love with others.
We are a holy nation, because now we belong to the Kingdom of God.
And we are His. We belong to our Father. He watches over us, protects us, guides us, provides for us, and empowers us to accomplish His purposes in the earth.
If we will take the time to meditate on this special verse, we will never be the same. Our faith will sky-rocket and we will see our Father’s hand at work like never before.
What a joy to be His! What a delight to be a new creation and part of our Father’s kingdom!
