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Ezekiel 27: Don't Sing That Song at My Funeral
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The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Well, everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today. Ezekiel, chapter 27,. Today's title is Don't Sing that Song at my Funeral. Don't sing that song at my funeral. I don't know if you've ever thought about this, but have you ever taken a moment to think through why people choose the songs that they do at funerals? There's a lot of different reasons and we're going to talk about those in just a second, but I want you to kind of get your mind in the space of what kind of song do you and do you not want to be sung at your funeral?
Speaker 1:We'll get into all that in just a second, but if you have your Bibles, I want to open up with me to Ezekiel, chapter 27. While you're doing that, make sure you take just a moment to go to our podcast and our YouTube channel and like, share and subscribe it really does help us get the word out to people and make sure you are going to the Bible Breakdown discussion on Facebook. There's an amazing group of people doing a wonderful job there every day and we want to connect with you. The whole goal of doing that is to create a community where we can enjoy God's Word together. We can ask questions, we can give insights and just basically just enjoy learning God's Word together, because God's Word brings life and we want to share life with each other and the more we dig, the more we find. Well, as you're opening up your Bibles with me to Ezekiel, chapter 27, don't forget that the overall goal, overall theme of Ezekiel is God's promise of renewal and, as we were saying yesterday, we're starting to see the tide shifting and God is going from just mourning over the loss of Israel and why they need renewal that now he is turning toward Israel's enemies and he is saying I'm not just going to deal with them, I'm going to deal with you as well. And we can see this tide starting to shift and the good thing is it's going to continue to shift until we're going to get into some chapters here before long and it's going to be beautiful in watching God's renewal, restoration process. But we're not there yet and what we're going to talk about today is the idea of God really sharing with Ezekiel this amazing sort of you know, it kind of takes a little bit of kind of courage, kind of just in your face kind of attitude to say hey, by the way, tyre, which is like one of their number one enemies at the time. I'm going to sing this song at your funeral. I mean you think about the level of awesomeness that takes to look at an enemy in the face and say I'm going to sing this song at your funeral. I mean that's kind of awesome if you think about it. And that's exactly what Ezekiel is doing is he is looking at those enemies and he's saying you're going to die and I'm going to sing this song. I mean that is like the best comeback line anyway, anywhere. Okay, here we go, let's read this. And then I want you to think about the idea of what kind of song do you want sung at your funeral? This is the one that's going to be sung at Tyre's funeral. Here we go, you ready?
Speaker 1:Ezekiel 27, verse 1, says this this is the message that came to me from the Lord, son of man. Say, hey, broski, sing a funeral song for Tyre, that mighty gateway to the sea, a trading center of the world. Give Tyre this message from the sovereign Lord. All right, here we go. By the way, this is not a fun song.
Speaker 1:You boasted, o Tyre, my beauty is perfect. You extended your boundaries into the sea. Your builders made your beauty perfect. You are like a great ship built on the finest cypress of Sinar. They took cedarbanon and made a mast for you, and they carved your oars like the oaks of bishan. You debt your deck of pine from the coast of cyprus was inlaid with ivory. Your sails were made of egypt's finest linen and they threw a as a banner above you and you stood beneath the blue and purple awnings made with bright, made bright with dyes from the coast of Elisha. Your oarsmen came from Sidon and Avot. Your helmsmen were skilled men from Tyre itself. Wise old craftsmen from Gibal did the caulking, and ships from every land came with goods to barter for your trade. Men from distant Persia, lydia and Libya served in your great army. They hung their shields and helmets on your walls, giving you great honor. Men from Arvin and Halakh stood on your walls. Your towers were manned by the men of Gamand. Their shields hung on your walls, completing your beauty.
Speaker 1:Tarshish sent merchants to buy your wares. In exchange for silver, iron verse 1 for your goods, merchants came to you from Dedan. Numerous coastlands were your captive markets. They brought payments in ivory tusks and ebony wood. Syria sent merchants to buy your rich variety of goods. They traded turquoise, purple dyes, embroidery, fine linen and jewelry of coral and rubies. Judah and Israel traded for your wares, offering wheat from Mithith, figs, honey, olive oil and balm. Damascus sent merchants to buy your rich variety of goods, bringing wine from Helbon and the white wool of Zinar. Greeks and Uzal came to trade for your merchandise, wrought iron, kesa and fragrant camelas and bartered for your wares. Dedan sent merchants to trade their expensive saddle blankets with you and fragrant kamalas and bartered for your wares. Dedan sent merchants to trade their expensive saddle blankets with you. The Arabians and the princes of Kedar sent merchants to trade lambs and rams and male goats in exchange for your goods. Merchants of Sheba and Ramah came with all kinds of spices, jewels and gold in exchange for your wares of spices, jewels and gold in exchange for your wares. Haran, kinah, eden, sheba, esur and Kalmud came with their merchandise too. They brought choice fabrics to trade blue cloth, embroidery and multicolored carpets rolled up and bound with cords. The ships of Tarshish were your ocean caravans. Your island warehouses was filled to the brim.
Speaker 1:Now pause Now. The reason why this is, of course, is this was a coastal city and so it was part of a trade route and people would come in and they would trade from all over the place. So that's why this is happening, is it became a massive center of trade and great wealth in the area? Okay, verse 26.
Speaker 1:But look, your oarsmen have taken you into stormy seas. Your mighty eastern gale has wrecked you in the heart of the sea. Everything is lost your riches and wares, your sailors and pilots, your shipbuilders, merchants and warriors. On the day of your ruin, everyone on board sinks into the depths of the sea. Your cities by the sea tremble as your pilots cry out in terror. All the oarsmen abandon their ships. The sailors and pilots stand on the shore. They cry aloud over you and weep bitterly. They throw dust on their heads and roll in ashes. They shave their heads in grief for you and dress themselves in burlap. They weep for you in bitter anguish and deep mourning. As they wail and mourn over you, they sing this sad funeral song Was there ever such a city as Tyre, now silent at the bottom of the sea?
Speaker 1:The merchandise you traded satisfied the desires of many nations. Kings at the end of the earth were enriched by your trade. Now you are a wrecked ship, broken at the bottom of the sea. All your merchandise and crew have gone down with you. All who live along the coastlands are appalled at your terrible fate. Their kings are filled with horror and look on with twisted faces. The merchants among the nations shake their heads at the sight of you, for you have come to a horrible end and will exist no more.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you can see that what's going on here is this has been a mighty trading area and God is saying you guys have done really bad stuff and you're going down. And so, in advance of going down, ezekiel, go ahead and sing a funeral song over them. And the funeral song is beginning with hey, you guys did great things, y'all had it going on for a season and then. But he didn't trust the Lord and it all came crumbling down. And we're going to continue through some of this over the next couple of chapters, just as this different type of thing starts to happen, as they continue to grapple with just the judgment of God upon them.
Speaker 1:But the point of this is there will come a time, no matter what you look at the city of Tyre, just from reading about it, and it seemed as though this would have been one of those cities that would never end that, for now on, no matter what happened, no matter what technology came along, no matter what treaties came along, whatever you have a city that is a coastal city and just seems to be a world hub in a way, of commerce and trade, it's always going to be there. But eventually this city failed. It failed because of their great sins, and so the reality is not if something will come to an end, but it's. When will it come to an end and what will that look like? That has to do with seasons in our life, it has to do with difficult people in our life, it has to do with good people in our life and it also has to do with us. And so there's going to be a couple of times over the next few chapters when God is going to proclaim a funeral song or a time of mourning over a city whose judgment has come.
Speaker 1:And remember that's because of this great shift in what's happening in the ministry of Ezekiel, as he's gone from mourning over the nation of Israel to now calling judgment upon and beginning the renewal process for these negative cities, bad cities, and for Israel. But it leads to a wonderful question for us to think about, and that is this One day, no matter how much we take care of our bodies, no matter how healthy we are. All of this the Bible gives us a promise, and it says it is appointed unto us once to die. After this is the judgment. In other words, after this is the reckoning. It's the moment when we are judged according to did we receive Jesus, as our Savior Did we? Is he our king? If so, wonderful, we get to enter into the glories of the Lord. If not, we now enter into a separation from God for the rest of eternity. It's what we call hail or Hades, or Sheol, all that stuff.
Speaker 1:And so when that is happening to us, the people who were left behind are going to be grappling with what kind of life they had, what kind of life did you leave behind? And the song that Ezekiel is singing is a song that is basically saying, hey, you know what? There was a season when everything was going well until it wasn't, and then he's going to get into all the negative stuff. And my question for you to ponder over and to think over today is one day when you are gone, what are the songs that people will sing at your funeral? Now, there's so many reasons.
Speaker 1:I've heard that people choose songs because they knew they liked that song, so they didn't really have any meaning other than it was something they would have liked. There are people I know who have picked songs because they had no idea what the person who passed away wanted. They didn't know at all, and so they just picked the song that they liked because they didn't know what else to do. Sometimes that they liked because they didn't know what else to do. Sometimes they pick songs because the person left a will behind and said do that song. And then there are songs that say you know what. They pick songs rather than say that this most encapsulates their life, and it would be a song that really was part of the legacy left behind. And so I want to ask you this question If someone were to pick a song, what would they sing about you?
Speaker 1:Would they sing a song about someone who was faithful to the Lord? Would they sing a song about someone who started so well but ended not so well? Maybe the other way around they started off as a dumpster fire and ended out as something beautiful, who knows? But it's something to think about, because if you're listening to this, that means you have time. You have time to course correct and say God, I want to live the rest of my days in such a way that when I'm gone one day, no matter what they say about me at my funeral, at some point they will pivot and they will say but thank goodness, for the goodness of God, that they made a transition in their life and I remember them as loving Jesus with all their heart. I remember them as being a faithful friend, as a faithful brother or sister, a faithful mother or father. You know they didn't get it right all the time, but they kept getting up one more time. That's what I hope my legacy is. Is that I left the world knowing a little bit more about Jesus. Is that I left the world knowing a little bit more about Jesus, wanting to know him a little bit more, and someone who reminded everybody that God still loves you. What about you? What will they sing at your funeral?
Speaker 1:Let's pray together right now, god. Thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, that this is all for you and all for your good pleasure. And I pray, lord, that when that day comes and someone is singing songs about us, it won't be morning songs, but it'll be celebration songs, songs that celebrate your goodness and how you moved in our lives. Lord, we thank you that it's never too late to course correct and make our lives about you. We celebrate you today In Jesus' name. We pray Amen. And what God's word says in Ezekiel, chapter 34, verse 14, I will put my spirit in you and you will live again. My hope is that you experience the newness of God in your life every single day. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Ezekiel, chapter 28.
