FM493

vs1, vs2, vs3, vs4, vs5, vs6, vs7, vs8, vs9, vs10, vs11, vs12, vs13, vs14, vs15, vs16, vs17, vs18, vs19, vs20, vs21, vs22, vs23, vs24, vs25, vs26, vs27, vs28, vs29, vs30, vs31, vs32, vs33, vs34, vs35, vs36

Ezekiel 27:1. The Word of the Lord came again unto me, saying. – In Chapter 27 Christendom, regarded as an independent system of pagan philosophy, is represented as a gallant ship. Its component parts are represented symbolically (27:4-7), as are its mariners and pilots (27:8-9). In verses 9 to 25 the figure reverts to a mercantile city, and the sources of its articles of trade. It is again pictured as a ship, which is steered by its mariners into an angry sea, and wrecked. – Verses 26 to 36.

Ezekiel 27:2. Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus. – The man-made system of Pagan philosophy must fall.

Ezekiel 27:3. And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people, for many isles, Thus saith the Lord God: O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. – O Christendom, thou that hast the entree to the ears of the peoples (sea), which art a salesman (merchant) of philosophical doctrines for the people of many revolutionary republics, thus says the Lord God: O Christendom, ecclesiasticism, thou hast regarded thy pagan philosophies as perfect, faultless and beautiful.

Ezekiel 27:4. Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty. – Thou, as an independent pagan religious organization or system, belongest among the disobedient children (sea) of the world. Thy philosophers, doctors of divinity, professors and writers, have perfected thy seemingly beautiful philosophy.

Ezekiel 27:5. They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir; they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee. – They have made as thy fundamental supporters (boards) believers in everlasting human life (firs, evergreen trees), in high stations in society. (Mount Senir, or Hermon, "pointed rock" was in Benjamin, one of the Hebrew tribes, and type of the Great Company). They have taken as the support (masts) of thy seeming righteousness (linen sails) earth's greatest men and the rulers, believers in inherent immortality (cedars), picturing them as from the loftiest, purest sources. (Lebanon, a great mountain range, means "white, snowy."). FM494

Ezekiel 27:6. Of the oaks or Basnan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim. – The prominent tares, leaders (oaks), whom other tares fellow and worship, and who are fruitful in producing more tares (Bashan means fruitful), are the mechanism (oars) for making thee move and progress among the people. The company of free-thinkers (Ashurite means freemen) have made thy white (supposedly righteous) seats (ivory signifies dreams – of immediate spirit life when they die) to be the seats (seats of the mighty), of the rowers who work the oars.

Ezekiel 27:7. Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee. – Thy ensigns, banners, sails, over thee, to be driven by the winds of error, are false righteousness (linen), with innumerable works of self-righteousness (broidered work), and of worldliness (Egypt); thou wast covered with the faithfulness (blue) and royalty (purple) of the worst of earth's pagan peoples (Elishah, descended from Javan, European, the most cruel and ferocious people of earth, as shown by their history, including this furious worldwar.)

Ezekiel 27:8. The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners; thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots. – The adherents of the belong-to-a-church or go-to-hell idea (Zidon meant "fortress," and this idea is the fortress of ecclesiasticism), and the supporters of the falsely comforting refuge of Platonic immortality of the soul (Arvad means refuge, and Platonic heathen philosophy is the refuge of philosophic Christendom) were thy mariners, the ones who "worked" thy oars; thy philosophers (wise ones), from Plato to Nietsche, charted thy evil course, and were the real "sky-pilots" for the rowers to row by.

Ezekiel 27:9. The ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers; all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise. – The doctors of divinity (ancients of Gebal) (Psa. 83:7) and the creed builders said enough on both sides of any question for theological authorities (calkers) to keep the people (sea) from getting on the inside, or having any real participation in thy affairs. In the middle of verse 9 the figure changes back to that of the prosperous mercantile city that Tyre was. All the independent religious and philosophical churches and other organizations (ships) of the sea (peoples and nations) with their sky-pilots (mariners) were in thee, O Christendom, thou aggregation FM495 of confused and contradictory philosophies, to receive, hold and disseminate thy teachings, doctrines, traditions, fables and philosophies (merchandise).

Ezekiel 27:10. They of Persia and of Lud and of Phut were in thine army, thy men of war; they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness. – Believers in the hell-fire superstition (Persians were fire worshippers), and middle-course, conservative worldly men of sin (the people of Lud and Phut were darkskinned men, living probably west of Egypt, type of worldly compromisers with sin) were in thine army, those that fight the bad fight of error for thee; in thee they hung the shield of credulity (faith) and the helmet of a false salvation; they extolled the loveliness of thy philosophy.

Ezekiel 27:11. The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadim Were in thy towers; they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty perfect. – The believers in human immortality, thy philosophic refuge (Arvad means "refuge") with thine army just mentioned were wall of thy defense and thy watchmen, college professors, economists (the Gammadim are thought to mean watchmen or guards) were in thy watch towers; upon thy walls, in the minds of thy supporters (walls) they hanged their shields of credulity; they have made thy philosophies and sophistries seem perfectly beautiful.

Ezekiel 27:12. Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs. – Thy preachers (merchants, trading in philosophy for gain) were a hard proposition (Tarshish means hard), with an abundant supply of teachings regarded worth while by the world; with worldly truth – silver – with strong earthly authority – iron – with actually worthless philosophies (tin was as the dross of silver) and with downright wicked doctrines (lead symbolized wickedness – Zech. 5:7-8) they taught and preached (traded) in thy preaching places (fairs).

Ezekiel 27:13. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market. – Believers in Greek philosophy (Javan represented the Greek race), and believers in the most farfetched and uncouth ideas, such as monkey-born evolution (Tubal and Meshech were the remotest and rudest of nations), were thy preachers (merchants). They sold men into bondage to sin, and presented teachings of human perfection (brass) attainable otherwise than through Christ. Brass should be translated copper, and signifies perfect human nature. – T18. FM496

Ezekiel 27:14. They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules. – The representatives of the rudest and crudest ideas (Togarmah) preached in thy churches with doctrines (horses) and with followers of the doctrines and with mixed human and spirit nature ideas (mules).

Ezekiel 27:15. The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles were the merchandise of thine hand: they brought thee for a present, horns of ivory and ebony. – Men of low ideals (Dedan means low) were thy preachers; many revolutionary republics (islands) were thy preaching places; they presented thee with dreams, visions (ivory) of power (horns), good and bad (ebony).

Ezekiel 27:16. Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate. – Believers in doctrines of lofty selfrighteousness (Syria signifies high land) were thy preachers; they traded for gain in philosophies of eternal life (emeralds) without Christ's purchase, with teachings of self-kingship (purple), with works of self-mastery (broidered work), with self-righteousness (linen), with an imitation ransom (red coral), and imitation character jewels (agate).

Ezekiel 27:17. Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm. – With thine errors were mingled God's Truth to make up thy mixed doctrines. Some of thy preachers were really believers in the Bible (of Judah and Israel), taught the wholesome spiritual Bible truths (wheat), good teachings for the natural man (Pannag means millet), and teachings about Christ's Second Coming (honey), the anointing oil of the Holy Spirit (Rev. 10:9, 10), and the balm of the comfort of the Word of God. – Rom. 15:4.

Ezekiel 27:18. Damascus wee thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool. – Thy preachers (merchants) were among the chiefest of the lofty, self-righteous, lordly ones (Damascus was capital of Syria, the high land), trading in all varieties of thy doctrines and philosophies, especially the mixed doctrines (wine) of earthly prosperity (Helbon, fruitfulness) and in natural human righteousness (white wool).

Ezekiel 27:19. Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market. – Apostate Christians (Dan was the seat of idolatry and types a class once spirit-begotten but fallen away) FM497 and Grecian pagans (Javan represented the (Greeks) preached in thy church gatherings; lordship, authority (iron), the claim of apostolic authority (cassia, deputy-ship), and a claimed knowledge of the Bible (calamus) were in thy churches (markets).

Ezekiel 27:20. Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots. – Preachers of low ideals (Dedan, low) preached that thy church organizations (chariots) should be made presentable by being robed in the embroidery of many works, church fairs and suppers, institutional work, and civic and social service (chariot clothes or robes).

Ezekiel 27:21. Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats: in these were they thy merchants. – Thy preachers, with claims of consecration, separateness (Arabia, wilderness) and all the powerful right reverends, fathers, and other lords (Kedar, powerful), they traded (exchanged from one church to another) their converts (lambs), old church members (rams), and out-and-out tares (goats).

Ezekiel 27:22. The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold. – The preachers in captivity (Sheba, captivity) to Satan, and those who tremble at Satan's word (Raamah, trembling) set forth a counterfeit of the Holy Spirit (principal spices, Exodus 30:23), all kinds and degrees of self-development of character (precious stones), and the alleged inherent spark of the Divine (!) in man (gold).

Ezekiel 27:23. Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants. – The preachers of New Thought, Theosophy, Christian Science and other phases of Spiritism, self-styled, strong and enlightened (Haran) set up and distinguished (Canneh) and believers in delightful delusions (Eden, delight), are in captivity (Sheba, captivity) to Satan, and really without hope of Kingdom honors (Chilmad, level, plain, without mountains).

Ezekiel 27:24. These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise. – These self-reliance preachers set forth the robes of a counterfeit faithfulness (blue), fruitless works of self-improvement (broidered work), and organizations (chests) offering an imitation righteousness (rich apparel), bound with cords of free-thought love and a delusive hope, and represented as having eternal life (cedar).

Ezekiel 27:25. The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious FM498 in the midst of the seas. – The mighty independent religious sects (ships of Tarshish – Isa. 2:16) did preach of thy philosophies and thou wast richly supported (replenished) (replenished) and made of great reputation (glorious) among the peoples and nations (seas).

Ezekiel 27:26. Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas. – The picture changes back to a gallant ship. Thy strong preachers (rowers) have steered thee into angry seas (anarchy); the doctrines (winds) from the presence of Christ the Sun of Righteousness (east wind) have broken thy power in the midst of a time of anarchy (seas).

Ezekiel 27:27. Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin. – Thy philosophies, thy churches, thy doctrines, thy preachers, thy philosophers, thy Doctors of Divinity (sky-pilots), thy church members, all thy church workers, and all the multitude that come to church, shall fall in the anarchy in the day of thy ruin.

Ezekiel 27:28. The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots. – Those affiliated with thee shall quake at the shoutings and threatenings of thy sky-pilots.

Ezekiel 27:29. And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land. – All those that work, the influential church members, the preachers, and all the skypilots of the anarchistic masses (sea) (Rev. 18:17-18), shall abandon their independent organizations or their heathen religions, and shall try to find more solid ground to stand on than thou wast on.

Ezekiel 27:30. And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes. – They shall speak against thee, and cry out with bitterness against thee, they shall show signs of grief.

Ezekiel 27:31. And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and bitter walling. – It was a custom in ancient times for those who had suffered great calamities to shave their heads. The Lord promises such an occasion for weeping to Zion, His professed people. – Isa. 3:24. FM499

Ezekiel 27:32. And in their walling they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea? – In their bemoaning the downfall of so-called "Christian philosophy" they shall lament over thee, saying, What organization was ever like Christendom, like her who has been destroyed in anarchy?

Ezekiel 27:33. When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise. – When thy philosophies were accepted by the masses, thou didst satisfy many people. Thou didst enrich materially and mentally the rulers and the clergylords of society with thy innumerable philosophies and thy doctrines.

Ezekiel 27:34. In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters, thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall. – When thou shalt be broken and engulfed in the roaring waves of anarchy, thy doctrines shall cease and all thy supporters shall fall.

Ezekiel 27:35. All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance. – All the people of the revolutionary republics shall marvel at thy fall, and the rulers of that brief era shall be troubled and afraid of meeting thy fate in the anarchy.

Ezekiel 27:36. The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more. – The preachers (merchants) then taking their place among the unbelieving masses shall scoff at thee; thou shalt be a "worn-out and wasted thing" (literal) and never shalt thou exist any more.

---