Ezekiel 26—Downfall Of Philosophy
26:1. And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying.—Chapter 26 depicts ecclesiasticism in the guise of an elaborate system of philosophy. The name Tyrus signifies “Rock;” and human philosophy, particularly Greek Platonic philosophy, is the real rock foundation of ecclesiastical teachings. Any true ecclesiastic, when driven by the Word of God from his untenable errors, claims sanction for them by reference to the philosophy of Plato and the inherent immortality of man, etc.
26:2. Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people; she is turned unto me; I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste.—This system and its adherents will manifest their essentially non-Christian nature when Christendom (Jerusalem) falls at the hands of the revolutionists in 1918. Philosophy, Higher Criticism, will rejoice that ecclesiasticism, which claimed to be the gateway to God for the people, is broken. They will imagine that the adherents of a Christianity that has failed will turn to philosophy, and that the adherents of philosophy will be increased now that ecclesiasticism is desolated. Human philosophy will seem to be the sole refuge of the people of Christendom.
26:3. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.—Because Christendom has borne the name of Christ and had the oracles of God, therefore God is against philosophy and will cause the many nations of Christendom to come up against established philosophy, as a sea of anarchy, with the discontented masses attacking, wave after wave, endlessly.
26:4. And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.—The anarchists shall destroy the walls of defense, composed of the adherents to human philosophy, and shall break down the loftiest and strongest organizations, its towers of defense. [pg 490] God will remove the last vestiges of human adherence to Christendom's system of philosophy.
26:5. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God: and it shall become a spoil to the nations.—In the anarchy, human philosophy shall be utterly abandoned—deprived of all its former supporters, by whole nations of anarchists.
26:6. And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword: and they shall know that I am the Lord.—The religious organizations (daughters) founded on philosophy, which are in the world (field), shall be wiped out; and in the Kingdom their former adherents shall come to know Jehovah as He is.
26:7. For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people.—Jehovah God declares that against human philosophy (Tyrus) and its systems and adherents, He will array Satan—the king of this evil world, ruler of mystic Babylon, “the gateway to Bel,” to devil worship, king over the kings and other children of disobedience. He shall be permitted to come by God Himself (the North) (Jer. 1:14), with teachings (horses) of anarchy, with institutions based upon such teachings (chariots), with leaders and teachers riding these hobbies (horsemen), with an organised following (companies) and with many people following after anarchy in unorganized mobs (much people).
26:8. He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field: and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee.—With weapons of destruction (swords) anarchy shall seek to destroy the philosophical churches and other religious organizations (daughters) in the world (field) and shall systematically besiege them.
26:9. And he shall set engines of war against thy walls and with his axes he shall break down thy towers.—Anarchy shall make war against their defenders (walls), and with keen, strong, cutting arguments (axes), shall break down philosophy's strongholds (towers).