(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen. Alright, we're there in Ezekiel chapter 26, and we're studying through the book of Ezekiel on Wednesday nights, and this is a very interesting chapter, and there's kind of just three different, there's kind of three different parts, or at least three different things I'd like to point out to you in this chapter, and we'll begin with the first one here. If you notice Ezekiel 26 verse 1, it says this, and it came to pass in the 11th year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me saying, send a man, because that Tyrus had said against Jerusalem, aha, she is broken, that was the gates of the people, she has turned unto me, I shall be replenished, now she has laid waste. Now that should, if you were with us last week in Ezekiel 25, that should sound familiar to you, because if you remember in Ezekiel 25, we learned lessons about bitterness, and about just having a bad attitude towards peoples, and their calamities, and when they're going and struggling through things, and here we continue that in verses 1 and 2, where he's talking about Tyrus, or this would be Tyre, and how they are rejoicing over the calamity of the nation of Israel, and what we find here at the beginning is we see Ezekiel's advice for responding to God's judgment, because what we learned last week, and what we see here, is that we should not gloat or glory in the judgment of others, and again, I'm not going to re-preach last week's sermon, we're not talking about reprobates, we're not talking about people who hate the Lord, but when just normal people are judged by God, we should not gloat in that, I'm not going to re-preach last week's sermon, but let me just remind you of these verses, if you want to jot them down, you can put them maybe on the margin of your Bible there, but Proverbs 17 says this, who shall mock at the poor approaches this maker, but he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished. Proverbs 24, 17, and 18 say this, rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he's tumblin', lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him. So the Bible teaches clearly that, look, it doesn't matter if it's your enemy, now if it's the Lord's enemy, that's a different thing, but the Bible says rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and here's what's happening, and if you're familiar with the Old Testament, you'll remember that Tyre and the nation of Israel had a fairly good relationship back when David was king, when Solomon was king, but as time has gone on and we're obviously getting towards the end of the kingdoms of Israel in the book of Ezekiel, their relationships have deteriorated and they are rejoicing and they are gloating over the judgment of God upon the southern kingdom of Judah. Now skip down to verse number 13, and I want you to notice that Ezekiel does, he does kind of explain what should be our response to other people being judged. In verse 13 it says this, and I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease, because remember they're singing and they're rejoicing over the fact that God has destroyed Jerusalem. God says I'm gonna cause the noise of thy songs to cease and the sound of thy harp shall be no more heard, and I will make thee like the top of a rock, thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon, thou shalt be built no more, for I the Lord has spoken and saith the Lord God. So he's talking about the fact that he's gonna judge Tyre, because remember Tyre, they were the ones that were rejoicing, they were saying aha, she is broken in reference to Jerusalem. God is talking about the fact that he's gonna bring judgment to this place, Tyres, and we're gonna talk in detail about the judgment that God's gonna bring, but I want you to notice the response of the nations around Tyres. Verse 15, thus saith the Lord God of Tyres, shall not the isle shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee? Then all princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones and lay away their robes and put off their broidered garments. They shall clothe themselves with trembling, they shall sit upon the ground and shall tremble at every moment and be astonished at thee, and they shall take up a lamentation for thee and say to thee, how art thou destroyed that was inhabited of seafaring men? The renowned city which was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants which caused their terror to be on all that haunted. Notice verse 18, now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall. Yea, the isles that are in the sea shall trouble at thy departure, for thus saith the Lord God, when I shall make thee a desolate city like the cities that are not inhabited, when I shall bring up the deep upon thee and great waters shall cover thee. And here's what God is saying, he's saying I'm going to destroy you in such a way that the other nations around you are going to see the other islands, because Tyre was an island, and we're going to talk about that a little bit tonight, but the other islands around you, they're going to shake at the sound of thy fall. They're going to come down from their thrones, he says, they're going to tremble at every moment and be astonished at thee. He says they're going to tremble in the day of thy fall, and look, you say well we ought not glow when God brings his judgment upon others, but you know what we can do is we can learn from the judgment of others. We can watch how God judges other people and not rejoice over it, but tremble and realize, you know the Bible says let him that thinketh he standeth, that he lest he fall. And the Bible teaches, you say how should you respond? Look, when you hear, even if it's someone you don't like, even if it's your enemy, and you hear that he's getting a divorce and his wife is leaving him or her husband is leaving her or whatever, you know, don't rejoice over that. Just realize, you know, let that scare you a little bit and realize, hey I better be a good husband to my wife. I better be a good wife to my husband. I better make sure that, look, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. When I hear of these pastors who ruin their ministries and ruin their lives, you know, you say do you rejoice over that? No, you know what, I let that scare me a little bit and think, I saw what I want for me. And look, in my life and in your life, we ought to look at the judgment of God coming upon others and let it scare us a little bit. Because God is no respecter of persons. And if God will judge anyone, then he has the right to judge everyone. So we see here Ezekiel's advice for responding to God's judgment. And we see Ezekiel teaching us about how to respond to the judgment of God. We ought not gloat, but we can learn from it. We ought not glory in it, but we can learn from it. And look, you can allow other people to be a bad example. You don't have to just learn every lesson yourself. You know what I mean? You don't just have to try. On Sunday, we were talking about alcohol and drugs. You don't have to sit there and try every drug just to see if the Bible is true. Will it actually ruin my life? No, you know what, just watch other people's lives be ruined and tremble. Watch other people's life be ruined by alcohol and then just be so scared to come near alcohol, you know, and fear the Lord and trust his judgment. We can learn from the mistakes of others. So that's a lesson we see here in this chapter. We see Ezekiel's advice for responding to God's judgment. But secondly tonight, and this is the part of the chapter I think is the most interesting, is we see Ezekiel's specific prophecies of Tyre. Because Tyre, the way the chapter begins is where Tyre is basically rejoicing and gloating over the judgment of Jerusalem. So of course, God turns his attention towards Tyre, and Ezekiel begins to prophesy about the judgment that is going to come against Tyre. And what's interesting is that in this chapter, Ezekiel gives us some very specific prophecies about the nation of Tyre or the city-state of Tyre that had not happened, of course, at his time when he was alive. These things did not happen, but we can now look back through history and see that these things came to pass. I want you to notice there's three kind of things that he talks about with this prophecy. The first one is he brings up the fact that many nations will come against Tyre. Notice verse number three, Ezekiel 26 and verse 3. The Bible says this, 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. Now you need to understand about the city-state of Tyre and Tyrus that it was an island. Now it was not only an island, and I'm going to read some things to you about that, but it was known for its navy. It was known for its ships and its sailors, and God is telling them this fortified city on an island that was difficult to take over. God said, I'm going to send nations, he says, many nations to come up against thee as the sea causeth his waves to come up. So what God is saying in the prophecy here is that there will be a series of nations coming against Tyre like wave after wave, like the waves of the sea. Notice verse four, And they, now notice the word they there, the plural. It's referring to these many nations. 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, and it shall be a place for the spreading of the nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God, and it shall become a spoil, notice, to the nations. Talking about the fact that there's going to be many nations, plural, coming against Tyre like wave after wave, like the waves of the sea. Notice verse six, And her daughters, which are in the field, shall be slain by the sword, and they shall know that I am the Lord. Now here's what's interesting. If you go back and you look at secular history, if you just do a Google search of secular history of Tyre or Tyrus, you'll find that Babylon, which is actually mentioned in Ezekiel 26, King Nebuchadnezzar, came against Tyre and against Tyrus in 586 BC. But then after Babylon, Persia in 525 BC came against Tyre. And then after Persia, you have Alexander the Great with his Greek army come against Tyrus, and actually Alexander the Great is mentioned, not by name, but he's mentioned in this chapter. I'm going to show that to you. But he comes against Tyrus in 322 BC, and then the Roman Empire came against Tyrus in 64 BC. Exactly what Ezekiel had mentioned, that many nations would come up against the one after another after another. You had Babylon and Persia and Greece and Rome come like the waves of the sea to destroy Tyre one by one, one after the other. Now what's interesting is this, that Ezekiel begins, if you look at verses 3 through 6, he begins with this prophecy of the many nations, how they will become the spoil to the nations. And he talks about how they're coming like waves. But then he transitions. If you notice there in verse 3, he says many nations. In verse 4, he says they in the plural. In verse 5, he says the nations. But I want you to notice in verse 7, he transitions from plural to singular. Now he first talks about the fact that there's all these nations that are going to come up against the nation of Tyre, but now he begins to give a specific prophecy. Notice verse 7. He says, for thus saith the Lord God, behold, I will bring upon Tyrus, and I want you to notice a famous name, you know it, Nebuchadrezzar. Now of course, it's Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel's different spelling, but it's talking about the same person. Now here's what's interesting about Ezekiel 26, something that makes the chapter unique, is that Babylon has been the theme of this chapter, of this book since the book began. We've been talking about Babylon and Babylon, Babylon coming, the men of the east, people coming to destroy Jerusalem. Ezekiel 26 and verse 7 is the first time that Nebuchadnezzar is mentioned by name in the book of Ezekiel. And he mentions him and he talks and Ezekiel gives this very specific prophecy that God says, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, a king of kings from the north, with horses and with chariots and with horsemen and companies and much people. Notice verse 8, why don't you notice how he transitions from they to he. Verse 8, he shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field. Because remember in verse 6, he talked about the daughters which are in the field shall be slain with the sword. And then he's telling us, he told us that's going to happen when the nations come. But now he's specifically telling us that's going to happen when Nebuchadnezzar comes, when Babylon comes, he shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field. And notice verse 8, he shall make a fort against thee and cast a mount against thee and lift up a buckler against thee. Verse 9, and he shall set engines of war against thy walls and his axes. He shall break down thy towers. So he talks about how Nebuchadnezzar is going to show up and he's going to kill the daughters in the field and he's going to take and destroy the land. Notice verse 10, by reason of the abundance of his horses, there dost shall cover thee. Thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen and of the wheels and of the chariots when he shall enter into thy gates as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach. And I want you to understand, because Tyre or Tyrus was a city that was divided into two sections. You had what was known as old Tyre which was in the main land and then you had what was known as proper Tyrus or Tyre which was an island off of that, I think six kilometers off of the main land. And here God is describing the fact that Nebuchadnezzar is going to come and he's going to take over Tyrus, he's going to destroy it, he's going to besiege it, he's going to kill the people in the field and he's going to destroy that land. Notice verse 11, with the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets. He shall slay thy people by the sword and thy strong garrison shall go down to the ground. So we have a very specific prophecy of Nebuchadnezzar and he's pointed out by name that he's going to come against Tyrus. Now if you remember, by this point in Ezekiel, Nebuchadnezzar is already involved in a long siege against Jerusalem. But as history would have it, as soon as Nebuchadnezzar was done with Jerusalem, he turned his sights on Tyrus exactly how Ezekiel predicted. Now let me just read to you a little bit from an article here. This is from a website called Ancient History Encyclopedia. It's not a Christian website, in fact they use the monikers BCE instead of BC, which I don't use, but let me just read this for you. It says, the name means rock in reference to Tyre and the city consisted of two parts. The main trade center on an island and old Tyre about a half mile opposite on the mainland. The old city known as Ashu was founded in 2750 BC, they say BCE, and the trade center grew up shortly after. In time the island complex became more prosperous and populated than Ashu and was heavily fortified. The prosperity of Tyre attracted the attention of King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, who lay siege to the city for 13 years in the 6th century BC without breaking their defenses. During this siege, most of the inhabitants of the mainland city abandoned it for the relative safety of the island city. Ashu became a suburb of Tyre on the mainland and remained so until the coming of Alexander the Great. Now here's what I want you to understand. When Nebuchadnezzar is what history tells us, Nebuchadnezzar was able to take what was known as old Tyre, which was the city of Tyre on the mainland, but when he took it most of the wealthy people, the politicians, the rich people, they took their wealth and they fled towards the island of Tyre, which had of course a body of water protecting it, and they basically sat there and mocked at Nebuchadnezzar. This is not in the Bible, this is what history tells us, but this is what Ezekiel is referring to, what he's prophesying will happen, and Nebuchadnezzar was never actually able to take the island city. Let me read to you from another website. It says, in Nebuchadnezzar's campaign, the mainland city of old Tyre was captured. The Tyreans, however, removed their wealth to the island fortress and simply laughed at him. Now this is going to come back into play when we get to Ezekiel 29, and I'll remind you of it because I don't expect you to remember that, but in Ezekiel 29, Ezekiel gives us a further prophecy of Nebuchadnezzar, how he invests a lot of time and energy into taking Tyre and he walks away basically making no money, having no spoil, having had conquered but not having victory, and people in the day of Ezekiel would have thought, well why would Nebuchadnezzar take a city and not take the spoil? They would not understand that, but when it actually happened, it was understood, oh yeah, he took the city, but the people retreated to an island and he was unable to take the island. And again, we look back at it and look at Ezekiel 26 and say, yeah, this is exactly what happened in history, but these events were predicted by Ezekiel before they took place. And this is how God authenticizes himself as the God of the universe when he tells us events before they happen, when he predicts the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ was going to be born in Bethlehem 700 years before it happened, when he predicts certain things and then they come to pass, that is one of the proofs that God gives us throughout Scripture that tell us that God is the God, that he is the Lord, that he is the God of the universe. And it's interesting because Ezekiel here is saying, hey, he's going to take over Tyre, he's going to destroy Tyre, and those things came to pass. Now you say, well, Nebuchadnezzar's taken over a lot of places. That's not really saying much. What's really interesting about this chapter is found in verse 12. Now if you remember in verse number seven, Nebuchadnezzar was named by name as one of the kings of those nations that were going to come against Tyre. In verse 12, we have a shift because if you remember, look at verse eight, look at the beginning of verse eight, he, right, individual, singular, 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 a buckler against thee, verse nine, and he shall set engines of war against thy walls and with his axes he shall break down thy towers, verse 10, by reason of the abundance of his horses, there dust shall cover thee, thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen and of the wheels and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates as men enter into the city wherein is made a breach, verse 11, with the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets, he shall slay thy people by the sword, singular, singular, singular, singular, singular, look at verse 12, and they, so there's a shift here, now it's not just Nebuchadnezzar, now we're back to the nations, right, because we started with the nations, many nations are going to come against thee like waves of the sea, they're going to come one after the other and we know that happened, it was Babylon, it was Persia, it was Greece, it was Rome, then he talks about Nebuchadnezzar specifically coming against Tyre, but in verse 12 he changes again to they, and Ezekiel 26 12 is actually a prediction or a prophecy of Alexander the Great, now Alexander the Great is not mentioned, but it's a prophecy of Alexander the Great coming against Tyre, you say well how can you be so sure, notice what it says in verse 12, and they shall make a spoil of thy riches, because remember Nebuchadnezzar never made a spoil of thy riches, in fact people sometimes they want to look at Ezekiel 26 and say oh there's a contradiction in Scripture here because Nebuchadnezzar is mentioned as the king that comes against Tyre, but then in verse 12 he says that they make a spoil of the riches when it's a well-known fact that Nebuchadnezzar made a really bad choice, he threw good money after bad essentially when he decided to just spend like 13 years trying to capture Tyre after he took over old Tyre and he was not able to take over the island, he just kept at it, kept at it, it's just it went on his history as one of the biggest blunders that Babylon ever had, and it's just known that he walked away just making no money off the deal, that he invested all this time and energy, he should have stopped a long time ago but he was just so proud and arrogant and good nobody wouldn't listen to anybody, so people will look at Ezekiel 12 and say it's 2612 when it says that he took up the spoil and they'll say see that's a contradiction, Nebuchadnezzar took up the spoil, but they don't realize there's a shift, it's not he anymore it's they, it's not Nebuchadnezzar who's taking the spoil, it's the nations that are taking the spoil, and here's what the critics will say, they'll say there was a contradiction in Ezekiel 26 so Ezekiel 29 is a correction from by Ezekiel when he realized that all things didn't go out the way that I prophesied, then he goes back and in Ezekiel 29 he talks about how Nebuchadnezzar walked away from the deal with no money, here's the point it's not it's not a misconception at all if you understand the passage he's talking about the nations, not just Nebuchadnezzar all of the ones that are coming against him, then he talked specifically about Nebuchadnezzar and he makes sure that we know it's Nebuchadnezzar because for the first time in the entire book he calls him by name and he says he, he, his, he, he, his, he, he makes sure we know where we're talking about Nebuchadnezzar and then in verse 12 he says and they not Nebuchadnezzar anymore shall make a spoil of thy riches and make a prey of thy merchandise and they shall break down thy walls you say well wait a minute I thought Nebuchadnezzar broke down the walls yeah of old Tyre this day is gonna break down the walls of the island of Tyre and destroy thy pleasant houses and they shall lay thy stones I want you to notice the last part of verse 12 and they shall lay thy stones and thy timbers and thy dust in the midst of the waters you say it's not that impressive of a prediction that Nebuchadnezzar came against Tyre I mean Tyre was a major city state during that time Nebuchadnezzar was on a war path I'm not really that impressed that Ezekiel predicted that Nebuchadnezzar you know it'd be like during World War two predicting that Adolf Hitler was gonna you know try to take over some kind of naming some country in Europe you're saying you say it's not that impressive here's what's impressive in verse 12 he talks about the fact that they not he they are going to take of the spoil and then he says this the last part of verse 12 they shall lay thy stones and thy timbers in thy dust in the midst of the waters you say why is that impressive let me read to you from an article when Alexander the Great came against Tyre most of the people retreated to island portions of the city which even Nebuchadnezzar was not able to conquer in a remarkable feat of ingenuity and vision Alexander's armies took of the rubble of the mainland city and built a causeway which is a solid road built up through the water out of from the mainland to the part of the island and conquered it let me read to you from archaeologists website it says this up until Alexander's time no one had been able to take the island fortress because Tyre had the only Navy capable of doing it Alexander did what no one else had thought of he took the rubble of the old city of Tyre and dumped it into the sea within six months he built an artificial causeway between the mainland and the island when it was finished he quickly brought his siege equipment and took the city and what's interesting is that Ezekiel talks about the fact that there are many nations that are going to come against Tyre specifically Nebuchadnezzar will come and will destroy the city will kill the women in the field the daughters in the field but then he says they not Nebuchadnezzar are going to take up the spoil when they take up the stones and the timbers and the dust and they put it in the midst of the water and this is exactly what happened in history when Alexander the Great took the rubble of the old city and built a causeway to Tyrus and again God is just proving that he is not only the Lord over humanity he is the Lord over history it is God see we think Oh leaders their charisma and their strength and their ability is what causes one to rise and another to fall you know the Bible says that Bob says a promotion come in neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south but God is the judge he put it down one and settles up another it is God who is in control I love how it says in Daniel where it says the heavens do rule in the affairs of men it is God who knows it is God who is in control and I'm sure Ezekiel himself didn't really even understand what does this mean they're gonna put the timber in the water in the midst of the water and the dust what does this mean but you know what when Alexander the Great did it everybody knew that God was the God of the universe that he was able to tell and see God is able to tell us the beginning from the end God is able to call those things which are not as though they are God is the one who is able to tell us how history will end up for mankind so we have this very specific prophecy about the nations that came against Tyre Babylon Persia Greece Rome we have a very specific prophecy Nebuchadnezzar coming against Tyre but we also have this very specific military feat by Alexander the Great when he took the stones and the timber and the dust in the midst of the water and if you study what Alexander the Great did he he took so much of the buildings and destroyed so much of the building I mean everything that was in that old Tyre he took down to create this causeway that he used as a land bridge to get to to to Tyrus that he actually they actually don't to this day they were not even really sure where old Tyre was on the beach on the coast because he did such a good job at dismantling the whole city well it's interesting because in Ezekiel 26 4 the Bible says this 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 and this is exactly what happened where today you just look at those rocks and you're like I'm not really sure where old Tyre was so we not only see in this chapter Ezekiel's advice for responding to God's judgment we see Ezekiel's specific prophecies of Tyre and people would say well Nebuchadnezzar Ezekiel was alive during the time of Nebuchadnezzar it would be easy for him to make a prophecy of Nebuchadnezzar okay well how about a prophecy of Alexander the Great you know which obviously was a kingdom if you remember with Daniel you have the Babylonian kingdom then you have the Medo-Persian kingdom then you have the prince of the Greeks you have the Prince of Gratia coming and so we have this specific prophecy of Alexander the Great which I think is really interesting in this chapter go back to Ezekiel 26 verse 20 Ezekiel 26 verse 20 so we have Ezekiel's advice for responding to God's judgment what is it we should not glow we should not glory we should learn to fear when God judges others then we have Ezekiel specific prophecies of Tyre one is that many nations will come like the waves of the sea and we saw that happen through history with Babylon with Persia with Greece and with the Roman Empire in 64 AD and then we have the prophecy of Nebuchadnezzar coming and that happened and then we have a very interesting prophecy of Ezekiel of Alexander the Great creating that causeway to take over the island city thirdly tonight third thing I'd like you to notice in this chapter is we see Ezekiel's description of hell the the chapter kind of ends with this description of hell it starts in verse 20 notice what it says when I shall bring me down with them he's talking about his judgment coming upon Tyre he says when I shall bring me down with them I want you to notice these words that descend into the pit now he begins to talk about hell and he gives us three characteristics Ezekiel does of hell the first one is this that hell is down and specifically hell is in the center of the earth he says I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit with the people of old time and shall set thee in the notice low parts of the earth in places desolate of old with them that notice go down to the pit that thou be not inhabited and I shall set glory in the land living so he talks about the fact that they're gonna go down into the pit that they're gonna go down to the low parts of the earth that they're gonna go down and descend into the pit now here's what's interesting and I don't want to take you know too much time for this but if you turn over to Ezekiel 32 and Ezekiel 32 he talks a lot about hell as well and we're gonna be in Ezekiel 32 and in several in a couple of months or so so I don't want to go through and develop Ezekiel 32 for you but let me just show you what it says in verse notice verse 18 it says son of man wail for the multitude of Egypt this is a prophecy against Egypt because remember we're in the section of Ezekiel where he's not dealing with Jerusalem anymore he's dealing with the different nations around Jerusalem right now we're talking about Tyre in Ezekiel 32 where we're talking about Egypt he says thou son of man wail for the multitude of Egypt and cast them down even her and the daughters of her of the famous nations unto notice what he says the nether parts of the earth with them that go down into the pit notice verse number 21 the strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell notice verse 22 Asher is there and all her company his graves are about him all of them slain fallen by the sword whose graves are set in the sides of the pit and her company is round about her grave all of them slain fallen by the sword which caused terror in the land of the living I want you to remember that phrase the land of the living because he's talking about they're in hell because of what they did in the land of the living he said they're down in the pit because of the terror he says which caused terror in the land of living he says there is Elam verse 24 and her multitude round about her grave all of them slain fallen by the sword which are gone down uncircumcised into notice the nether parts to the earth which caused their terror in the land of the living yet have they borne their shame with them that notice go down to the pit look at verse 25 they have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude her graves are round about him all of them uncircumcised slain by the sword though their terror was caused in the land of the living yet have they borne their shame with them notice that go down to the pit he is put in the midst of them that be slain there look at the last part of verse 26 cause their terror in the land of the living look at verse 27 they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised which are gone down to hell notice the last part of verse 27 were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living so he's talking about the fact that they're going down to hell they're going down to the pit they're going down to the nether parts of the earth and it's based on the things they did while in the land of the living this is what Ezekiel is referring to he's teaching us that hell is down now keep your place on Ezekiel 26 go to Matthew chapter number 12 Matthew chapter 12 first book in the New Testament should be fairly easy to find Matthew chapter 12 verse 40 the first thing we need to know it and you say isn't this common sense you know you think it's common sense till you start talking to theologians and they don't understand that hell is in the center of the earth today there's people who don't who do not believe but that hell is in the center of the earth but I'm here to tell you that the Bible teaches clearly that hell is in the center of the earth it's in the nether parts of the earth it's in the lower parts of the earth you go down in to hell are you there in Matthew chapters 12 look at verse 40 Matthew 12 40 says this for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth Jesus said that in the same way that Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly now I'm not going to develop it but not that long ago we went through a series in Jonas in the book of Jonah on Sunday morning and if you remember when Jonah was in the whale's belly he prophesied saying I cried out of hell now Jonah wasn't in hell but when he was in the whale's belly he he was he was saying he gave a prophecy of Jesus being in hell why did Jonah do that because Jesus would later on say hey in the same way that Jonah was in the whale of the belly three days and three nights he said in that same way I'm going to be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights then you go and read the story of Jonah in the whale's belly and he's talking about being in hell why because God is trying to show us something number one Jesus went to hell this is what the Bible teaches and people say I can't believe you would say that look the wages of sin is death hell is death we're going to learn that here in a second if he was the sacrifice for my sin and I have to go to hell then guess what Jesus went down to hell to pay for my sins are you there in Matthew 12 go to Acts chapter 2 just flip a few pages over Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Acts chapter 2 say I can't believe you would teach that Jesus went to hell okay well Acts 2 31 says this he's seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ don't miss this that his soul talking about Jesus was not left in hell neither his flesh did see corruption you say oh well my Bible says Hades okay well you don't speak Greek why does your English Bible say Hades you need to get a King James Bible you say ah you know my Bible says hey well I don't know what the Hades you're talking about because you don't speak Greek okay the English word is hell it says that his soul was not left in hell neither his flesh did see corruption now look when Jesus died his body was put in a tomb but where did his soul go it went down to hell Jesus said as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth why because hell is in the center of the earth you say why does it matter here's why it matters because modern scientific technology savvy smarter than things they're smarter than God man catch is constantly playing catch-up with the Bible you say well what do you mean well here's what I mean let me read you an article and this is not from a Christian website it's University today or you excuse me universe today.com it's from an article called what is in the center of the what is the center of the earth made of it says this the earth is broken up into layers the outermost layer is the crust that's what you're standing on about 30 kilometers below your feet is where the next layer of the earth the mantle starts the mantle makes up the majority of the interior of the earth and is composed of a heated rock under high pressure but inside the mantle is the core of the earth and it's made up of metal the earth's core is broken up into two distinct regions the inner core is a sphere of solid metal that measures about 2,440 kilometers across it's believed to be comprised of 80 iron and 20 nickel surrounding the solid inner core is an outer core of liquid metal that extends for approximately another 2,000 kilometers and I won't show you the picture but you look at this little picture look if you've ever just googled the center of the earth core of the earth you know they'll show you those pictures of the globe where it's cut in half and you know what's in the middle you know what scientists tell you it's in the center of the earth hot lava molten melted metal that's hot you know what's funny is that's what the bible teaches and in the center of the earth you've got a place called the lake of fire why is it called the lake of fire because it's melted fire it's fire that's melted the bible teaches that you go down and tell you say well why is that why is that important here's why it's important because today the dispensationalists they want to tell you that you know the saints went down to hell right to this place called paradise when in in the bible every time you see an old testament saying when they when they're going to heaven they're always going up elijah was caught up enoch was caught up they all go up hell's down they didn't go to hell they went to paradise it's heaven it's where the throne of god is it's where the tree of life is and so look as bible believers we just need to understand there is a place in the center of this earth and it's called hell it's a lake of fire and we understand i'm not going to get into all of it maybe when we get to ezekiel 32 i'll talk about hell and how hell will get changed and right now it's in the center of the earth but there's another place in the outermost parts of the universe where hell will be for all eternity and we'll we'll talk about that another day but i want you to notice that ezekiel teaches the fact that hell is in the center of the earth go to revelation chapter 9 last book in the new testament should be fairly easy to find revelation chapter 9 do me a favor when you get there just keep your finger there in revelation because we're going to leave it we're going to come right back to it revelation chapter 9 but if you remember remember ezekiel in chapter 26 and in chapter 32 he referred to this place this going down this lower parts of the earth the nether parts of the earth he referred to it all as the pit in revelation 9 2 the bible says this and he opened the bottomless pit and there arose smoke out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace and the sun and their air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit and i'll tell people like isn't it interesting that god told us all the way back from ezekiel through christ through revelation look the book of revelation was written over 2 000 years ago is and people say you know it's interesting that in the center of the earth there's lava and there's molten metal and there's fire and then god tells us that in the center of the earth there's fire and there's there's uh fire that's liquid he calls it the lake of fire and it's and people say oh well the bible just uh refers to to hell there because that's where the core of the earth and i'm thinking myself like well how in the world did ezekiel know that how how did john know that oh oh they just say hell is there because there's fire then give them credit for knowing there's fire there you know here's it doesn't matter how you want to cut it the bible is always right god is always right and when ezekiel stands up and says nebknezer is going to destroy tire but then there's some other guy who's going to put well he's going to put stones in the in the water ezekiel what are you talking about then alexander shows up generations later and does it exactly how he predicted and you know what there's a there if if we can see ezekiel be right about alexander the great and his causeway then ezekiel is right about hell and ezekiel is right about the fact that there is a place in the center of the earth hell is down but i want you to notice that's not the only thing he teaches us about hell go go back to ezekiel 26 keep your place in revelation we're going to come right back to it ezekiel 26 verse 20 he also says this when i shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit with the people of old time and shall set thee in the lower parts of the earth in the place desolate of old with them that go down to the pit that thou be not inhabited i want you to notice what he says this should sound familiar to you because i highlighted to you from ezekiel 32 and i shall set glory in the land of the living i want you to notice that the place that is not hell is called the land of the living you say why is that because of the fact that not only is hell down ezekiel teaches us but hell is also death go to revelation chapter 20 notice what the bible says in revelation chapter 20 we're fast forwarding to the great white throne this is when god judges unbelievers in the in end times prophecy there are two great judgments one is called the judgment seat of christ this is the judgment for believers they will be judged for their works not to get into heaven they're already in heaven they will only be judged based on their work so that they can get rewards specifically for the millennial reign then you have the the great white throne this is when god judges unbelievers and he and it's basically the final judgment this is what we're talking about where he takes hell out of the center of the earth and he puts it somewhere else and again i don't have time to develop that but look at relation revelation 20 verse 11 and i saw a great white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heavens flood away and there was found no place for them i want you to notice what he how he refers to these people and i saw the dead you see how do you know that the great white throne is not for uh it's not for believers because you have idiots out there preaching that saints go to hell that christians will be at the great white throne you say how do you know that it's not for believers because it says i saw the dead they're called the dead say well what well what does that mean well think about this john 11 25 you have to turn there let me just read it for you jesus said unto her i am the resurrection and the life he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live and whosoever liveth and believeth and me is what jesus said shall never die jesus said look if you are saved you'll never die your body may go to sleep that's what the new testament calls it your body may stop breathing but as soon as you take your last breath here on earth you'll take your first breath up in heaven you will never experience death one day your soul will be reunited to your body at the rapture but you'll never experience that but these people they're called the dead look at verse 12 and i saw the dead small and great isn't that what ezekiel's talking about the king of egypt the king of aseria the king of edom he said small and great stand before god and the books were open and another book was open which is the book of life and notice the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works and the sea gave up notice the dead which were in it and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them and they were judged every man according to their works and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire notice this is the second death and by the way let me just say this they're already in hell that's the first death the second death is when they get taken out of hell in the center of the earth and they get thrown into the lake of fire which is now being relocated somewhere else and he calls it the second death and that you know that doesn't matter how you teach that or how you want to say that but it's just interesting to understand that and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire this is the second death and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire put a revelation 21 verse 8 but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers sorcerers adulterers and all others shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death see hell is death death is not only an experience it's a place it's hell it's the lake of fire so ezekiel teaches us look there's a difference between the land of the living and the land of the dead the land of the dead is called the pit it's called hell it's in the lower parts of here so this is what ezekiel's teaching us keep your finger there in revelation we're going to come right back to it go back to ezekiel 26 we're almost done ezekiel teaches us that hell is down it's in the center of the earth it's in the lower parts of the earth he teaches us that hell is death believers will never die because jesus said i am the resurrection and the life but i want you to know this thirdly as we finish up tonight ezekiel teaches us that hell is eternal look at verse 21 i will make thee a terror and thou shalt be no more though thou be sought for yet thou shall never be found again saith the lord god they're not coming back they're not being reincarnated they're not it's not the catholic teaching of purgatory where you go there and just kind of burn off all your bad sins then you get to go to heaven no once you go there you'll never be seen again thou shall never be found again it's forever go to revelation 20 look at verse 10 revelation 20 verse 10 says this the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are in our tormented day and night forever and ever revelation 14 and verse 10 if you just flip a few pages to the front revelation 14 verse 10 says this the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of god which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels in the presence of the lamp and the smoke of their torment ascended up forever and ever and they have no rest date or night who worship the beast in his image and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name it doesn't matter what the joe's witnesses teach it does not matter what the uh seventh day advantage teach the bible teaches that hell will last forever and ever and look every once in a while we need to be just be reminded of the fact that there really is a place called hell and that people will go there people will die and go there and they will spend eternity in flames forever and ever and look you you gotta you need to just remember you know when it comes to soul winning sometimes we get excited about soul winning it's always exciting because we're going to the philippines and soul winning is exciting because we're having the red hot preaching conference a lot of our friends are here and soul winning is this and so winning that but you know what every once in a while when soul winning is not exciting when you had a hard week and you're tired you need to just you need to just go something out of character and out of duty and realize that people are gonna die go to hell for all of eternity and i'm looking forward to heaven but there's one thing that i will not be able to do in heaven that i will be able to do on earth and it is preached the gospel to someone who's condemned to help they'll never be able to do that in heaven but on earth we must be mindful of the fact that there is a place called hell people die and they go there and when they go there they are never found again they are never seen again there is no getting out they will be there for all eternity this is why the bible says and if some have compassion making a difference and others save with fear pulling them out of the fire hating even the garment spotted by the flesh that's by our heads and i want to pray heavenly father thank you lord for your word thank you for the bible thank you for this chapter this very interesting chapter where you show us your ability to control the events of planet earth and that should cause us that if you can control the kings and the nations in the land of the living then we should trust you when you speak about the land of the day and lord i pray you to help us to be mindful of hell help us to be motivated to preach the gospel reach people to talk to people to learn how to present the gospel to ask people that question do you know for sure you died today if you go to heaven help us to be motivated to be soul winners because there's a place a fire brimstone torment and you will save them if they'll believe but how shall they believe in whom they have not heard and how shall they hear without a preacher lord i pray you'd help us to be a church filled with soul winners people who go out and take the gospel take time out of their business schedules take time when they're tired when they'd rather do something else to preach the gospel to a lost and dying world we love you in the matchless name of christ we pray amen