Ezekiel 28:20 - Meaning and Application

God’s glory is his great purpose, in both the good and the evil that come from the Lord’s hand. We see that here. God will be glorified in the destruction of Zidon, a city near Tyre. Zidon was older than Tyre, but less important, and it depended on Tyre, so it stood or fell with it.

God says, “I am against you, O Zidon,” and, “I will be glorified in your midst” (Ezekiel 28:22). He also says that those who would not learn by gentler means will learn that he alone is the Lord, a just and jealous God, when he carries out judgment on them. In that judgment, he will show that he is holy. The Zidonians seem to have been more given to idolatry than the Tyrians, who, because they were busy in trade and had wider dealings, may have been less controlled by stubborn superstition.

The Zidonians were known for worshiping Ashtaroth. Solomon introduced that worship into Israel (1 Kings 11:5). Jezebel, daughter of the king of Zidon, brought the worship of Baal into Israel (1 Kings 16:31). So the Zidonians had greatly dishonored God. Now God says, “I will be glorified, I will be sanctified.” That means his holiness will be shown and honored.

The Zidonians lived near Israel, where God was known, and they might have learned to honor him. Instead, they led Israel into idol worship. When God is sanctified, he is also glorified, because his holiness is his glory. And if people will not honor him, he will still be honored when he judges them. His judgments prove that he is a righteous avenger of his own honor and of the honor of his people.

The judgments against Zidon are war and pestilence, two destroying judgments (Ezekiel 28:23). They are like God’s messengers, sent to do the work he appoints them to do. Pestilence and blood will fill her streets. The dead will lie there, some who died of plague, perhaps made worse by poor food during a siege, and some killed by the enemy’s sword, most likely the Chaldean armies when the city was captured. Then the wounded will be judged. As they die from their wounds, they will be seen to have received what they deserved.

Some read the verse as saying that they will be punished by the sword, the sword sent to destroy on every side. It is God who judges, and he will prevail. And God’s judgments would not fall on Tyre and Zidon only, but on all who despised his people Israel and mocked their suffering. This was now God’s case against the nations around them (Ezekiel 28:26). When God’s people are under his correcting hand, he still cares for their honor. That is why he takes it badly when others despise them and make their trouble worse, even though he is only mildly angry with them (Zechariah 1:15). God sees his people even in low times, so no one should treat them with contempt.

God will also be glorified in restoring his people to their former safety and prosperity. Their sins had dishonored him, and their suffering had given enemies a chance to blaspheme (Isaiah 52:5). But God will heal them of their sins and relieve their troubles. Then he will be honored in them before the nations, and the glory of his holiness will be seen again (Ezekiel 28:25).

They will return to their own land. God says, “I will gather the house of Israel from among the nations,” answering the prayer, “Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations” (Psalm 106:27), and fulfilling the promise, “The Lord your God will gather you from there” (Deuteronomy 30:4). When he gathers them, he will bring them back as one people to live in the land he gave to his servant Jacob. God remembered the old promise when he brought them back. The right to the land still stood, even if they had been away from it for a time. The one who gave it before can give it again.

They will also enjoy peace there. Once the people who had troubled them are removed, they will live without threat. There will be no more painful brier or hurting thorn (Ezekiel 28:24). They will settle happily, building houses and planting vineyards. They will live safely and calmly, with no one to frighten them or disturb their peace (Ezekiel 28:26).

This was never fully true of that people as a whole after the exile, because they were often troubled by one enemy or another. The church under the gospel has also never been completely free from painful thorns and troubles. Yet at times the church does have rest, and believers always dwell safely under God’s protection and can be quiet in the fear of evil. The full meaning of this promise is still ahead, in the heavenly Canaan, where all the saints will be gathered together, everything that harms will be removed, and all grief and fear will be gone forever.