Interesting Questions-82

Jesus Christ and the Prince of Tyre
(Ezekiel 28:2)

Letter to the Editor:
PASUGO, August 2003, p.2

IN REJECTING THE "hypostatic union" or the doctrine of the Bible stating that Christ is both man and God, you cite Ezekiel 28:2 in which God said to the Prince of Tyre, "you are a man, and not a god."  I believe  that this verse is impertinent to the  issue, for it is clear that God here was talking to the Prince of Tyre, and not to the Lord Jesus Christ.  What applies to the Prince of Tyre does not automatically apply to Christ.  Remember that the statement of the Bible that "all hare sinned" (Rom, 5:12) applies to all men except to Jesus, for He has not sinned (I Ft 2:21-22)How sure are you, then, that God's statement "you are a man, and not a god" applies to Christ?

Rica Paras
Pagasa, Quezon City, Philippines

Editor's reply:

     To say that the Bible supports the doctrine of the “hypostatic union,” is categorically and grossly incorrect. What we are certain about is the fact that this doctrine was invented by the Council of Chalcedon (Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, p. 540) hundreds of year after the Bible was written after the last apostle had died. This teaching is against the teachings of the Bible. While Christ clearly introduced Himself as man (Jn. 8:40), the Lord God unequivocally stated that He (God) is not man and that man is not God (Hos. 11:9; Ezek. 28:2).

     Of course, it wasn’t Christ whom God was talking to in Ezekiel 28:2. Indeed, it was to the Prince of Tyre God said, “you are a man, and not a god.” The verse, however, is never irrelevant to the issue of whether Christ has dual nature or not. In this verse, God strongly declares that if someone is man, he is not God. Inasmuch as the Prince of Tyre is a man, he is, therefore, not God. God didn’t say to him he is not God because he is the Prince of Tyre, but rather because the Prince of Tyre is man. And since in state of being, Christ is “truly human” (I Tim. 2:5, Contemporary English Version), He is, therefore, not God.

     What further proves that what God said to the Prince of Tyre, being man, applies to Jesus Christ and even to all of us? In the succeeding verses, Ezekiel 28:9-10, this is recorded:

     “’Will you still say before him who slays you, “I am a god”? but you shall be a man, and not a god, in the hand of him who slays you. You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of aliens; for I have spoken’, says the Lord GOD.” (New King James Version)

     Regarding Ezekiel 28 verses 1-10, the book entitled A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture says this:

     “XXVIII 1-10 Pride and Humiliation of the Prince-2. In his pride he thought himself a god and his island capital the throne of a god. … 9. His death will show that he is a man.” (p. 614)

     The Bible agrees with what is mentioned in this book that even though the Prince of Tyre thought himself as god, “his death will show that he is a man.” The Scriptures teaches that men are mortals for “it is appointed for men to die once” (Heb. 9:27, NKJV). God, on the other hand, does not die, for He is immortal (I Tim. 1:17). And since our Lord Jesus Christ experienced death, that doesn’t qualify Him as God (Jn. 19:30, 33).

     We are very much certain, therefore, that the statement of God, “you are a man, and not a god,” expressed to the Prince of Tyre, also applies to the Lord Jesus Christ and to all human beings.

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Bible Study Suggestion: If you have further questions, please feel free to visit the Iglesia ni Cristo congregation nearest you. A minister or an evangelical worker would be happy to answer any biblical question you have in mind.