for I will send pestilence into her, and blood into her streets; and the slain shall fall in her midst, by the sword that is against her on every side. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
Ezekiel 28 closes its long series against Tyre with a short word against Sidon, a coastal city to the north. Plague, blood and the sword will sweep through it — and the strange note is what God says they will achieve: He will be glorified, and held holy, in the very city He strikes.
Sidon's Place in the Series
Sidon gets only a few verses. One writer explains why the notice is so short, and what God is judging.
Numerical Bible NotesWe now have the judgment upon Sidon, added to the judgment upon her relative Tyre. It is very brief, but as the firstborn of Canaan he cannot be overlooked here. Sidon means "the taker of prey," not exactly "the fisher," as some say, for which there is no word… But she has been a sharp brier and a painful thorn in Israel's side; not very dangerous, perhaps, for lack of power, but that was not her fault. It is the enmity that God judges here, as elsewhere.
So the charge is the attitude, not just the damage. Sidon was weak, but weakness is not innocence.
Sidon in History
One writer places the city — spelled Zidon in older Bibles — and notes what later became of it.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinIn verses 20-26 the judgment upon Zidon, some twenty miles north of Tyrus, is predicted. For some years Zidon was even more prominent than Tyrus. She was burnt after a revolt against Artaxerxes Ochus in 351 B.C., but later rebuilt.
Sanctified Through Judgment
To be sanctified means to be set apart as holy. God says these judgments are how He will be sanctified in Sidon, and one writer explains why He takes that route.
Numerical Bible NotesJehovah must sanctify Himself, therefore, in judgment, if there is no faith to receive His grace. So it was at the end of the Jewish age, and so it will be at the end of the Christian one. So too the earth will be filled with His glory, as He says here: "when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness." (Isa. 26:9.)
God said much the same through Moses to Aaron. One writer draws out what those words settle.
William KellyAnd Moses said to Aaron, This is what Jehovah spoke, saying, I will be hallowed in those that come near Me, and before all the people I will be glorified… Judgment will be no less terrible because it may be hidden for the present… God in no case can be a consenting party to His own dishonour.
Knowing God by Judgment
Twice this short prophecy ends the same way: they will know Jehovah — the name the ESV prints as "the LORD." One writer marks how limited that knowing is.
J. N. DarbySo this knowledge of Jehovah is by the judgment itself, not by any resulting spiritual knowledge of Him… It will be through judgment that all the nations shall know that Jehovah is God.
Two Ways of Being Known
The same word comes back later in Ezekiel, with Israel in view. One writer sets the two side by side.
William KellyGod is now known in and by His grace in Christ Jesus our Lord. As before the gospel it was by His judgments, so will it be again when the acceptable year of Jehovah opens with the day of vengeance of our God. And how solemn the difference of the portions measured out to Zidon and Israel! The Zidonians should know He is Jehovah by the judgments through which He would be sanctified in their city; Israel should know Him as Jehovah their God when He has gathered them in from the nations where they are still scattered, and is sanctified in them in the sight of the Gentiles.
Today God makes Himself known in grace, in Christ Jesus our Lord. When the day of vengeance comes, judgment will make Him known once more.
Summary
- Cause — enmity. Sidon, "the taker of prey," was a brier and a thorn to Israel. God judges the hostility itself, not just what her small power let her do.
- Means — judgment. Plague, blood and the sword are not random disaster. They are how God makes Himself known when no faith receives His grace.
- Aim — holiness owned. He will be sanctified and glorified in the city, because God will never agree to His own dishonour.
- Limit — knowing without blessing. The nations come to know Jehovah by the judgment itself, not by any spiritual knowledge of Him. They learn who He is, but they do not share Israel's portion.
- Contrast — the two ways. God is sanctified in Sidon by judgments, and in Israel by gathering them home. One word, two very different portions. In this age He is known in grace, in Christ.