“Yes, your wisdom has made you very rich, and your riches have made you very proud.” - Ezekiel 28:5
God addressed the king of Tyre through the prophet Ezekiel. God would bring an army against this king that would bring him “down to the pit” (Ezekiel 28:8). The king of Tyre had wisdom and understanding but had used them for evil and personal gain. Thus God would bring judgment and destruction (Ezekiel 28:4-10).
People tend to attribute all they accumulate and achieve to their own prowess. Rarely do they realize that riches and honor come from God alone, that power and might are in his hand, and that people only become great and strong at his discretion (1 Chronicles 29:12). The problem today is that being very rich and very proud is considered very good, while being very poor and very humble is considered unfortunate. The king of Tyre had “amassed great wealth” (Ezekiel 28:4), but his great wealth filled him with violence (Ezekiel 28:16). In contrast, Jesus, “though he was very rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
We need to watch carefully how we use the gifts God has given us. He has bestowed them on us in free grace for our good and for eternal, not earthly, gain! “Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith?” (James 2:5). The wealth of faith is the only wealth that lasts for eternity.
For Further Study: Ezekiel 28:1-19
Excerpted from The One Year Devotions for Women, Copyright ©2000 by Jill Briscoe. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
For more from Jill Briscoe, please visit TellingtheTruth.org.
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