1. You Are Not God Ezekiel 28:1-10

2. Castle Rock Entertainment

3. “I have an M.D. from Harvard, I am board certified in cardio-thoracic medicine and trauma surgery, I have been awarded citations from seven different medical boards in New England... So I ask you; when someone goes into that chapel and they fall on their knees and they pray to God that their wife doesn't miscarry or that their daughter doesn't bleed to death or that their mother doesn't suffer acute neural trauma from postoperative shock, who do you think they're praying to?

4. Now, go ahead and read your Bible, Dennis, and you go to your church, and, with any luck, you might win the annual raffle, but if you're looking for God, he was in operating room number two on November 17, and he doesn't like to be second guessed. You ask me if I have a God complex. Let me tell you something: I am God.” Jed, Malice

5. Castle Rock Entertainment

6. Ezekiel 28:1-10
1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "'In the pride of your heart you say, "I am a god; I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas." But you are a mere mortal and not a god, though you think you are as wise as a god. 3 Are you wiser than Daniel? Is no secret hidden from you?

7. Ezekiel 28:1-10
4 By your wisdom and understanding you have gained wealth for yourself and amassed gold and silver in your treasuries. 5 By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, and because of your wealth your heart has grown proud.

8. Ezekiel 28:1-10
6 "'Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "'Because you think you are wise, as wise as a god, 7 I am going to bring foreigners against you, the most ruthless of nations; they will draw their swords against your beauty and wisdom and pierce your shining splendor. 8 They will bring you down to the pit, and you will die a violent death in the heart of the seas.

9. Ezekiel 28:1-10
9 Will you then say, "I am a god," in the presence of those who kill you? You will be but a mortal, not a god, in the hands of those who slay you. 10 You will die the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of foreigners. I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD.'"

10. Ezekiel’s prophecies are largely concerned with explaining why God has allowed the enemies of Judah to gain the upper hand against them, and why the relief that they are hoping for is not going to come. Ezekiel prophesies that because of their sinfulness, God’s wrath will continue to be poured out against them, and that Jerusalem itself will be destroyed and the remaining people will be scattered to the winds.

11. The Herald of Hope

12. Ezekiel 28:1-10
1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "'In the pride of your heart you say, "I am a god; I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas." But you are a mere mortal and not a god, though you think you are as wise as a god. 3 Are you wiser than Daniel? Is no secret hidden from you?

13. Ezekiel 28:1-10
4 By your wisdom and understanding you have gained wealth for yourself and amassed gold and silver in your treasuries. 5 By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, and because of your wealth your heart has grown proud.

14. Ezekiel 28:1-10
6 "'Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "'Because you think you are wise, as wise as a god, 7 I am going to bring foreigners against you, the most ruthless of nations; they will draw their swords against your beauty and wisdom and pierce your shining splendor. 8 They will bring you down to the pit, and you will die a violent death in the heart of the seas.

15. “Arrogance and overconfidence are inversely related to leadership talent — the ability to build and maintain high-performing teams, and to inspire followers to set aside their selfish agendas in order to work for the common interest of the group.

16. Indeed, whether in sports, politics or business, the best leaders are usually humble… Most of the character traits that are truly advantageous for effective leadership are predominantly found in those who fail to impress others about their talent for management.” Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

17. Ezekiel 28:1-10
9 Will you then say, "I am a god," in the presence of those who kill you? You will be but a mortal, not a god, in the hands of those who slay you. 10 You will die the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of foreigners. I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD.'"

18. How do we resist when our society’s twisted value system encourages us to amplify our worst qualities and discourages us from relying on our best? Imitate Ezekiel, for he makes it a priority to remember that God is God, and that he is not.

19. Ezekiel 1:28
28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

20. God being distinct from the world does not mean that God is distant from the world.

21. Amazon.com

22. “People with power do not invite intimacy. We fear people with power
“People with power do not invite intimacy. We fear people with power. They can control us and force us to do what we don’t want to do… But God’s power is something entirely opposite. God does not want us to be afraid, distant or envious. God wants us to come close, very close, so close that we can rest in the intimacy of God as children in their mother’s arms.” Henri Nouwen

23. “The moment you have a self at all, there is a possibility of putting yourself first— wanting to be the centre—wanting to be God, in fact. That was the sin of Satan: and that was the sin he taught the human race. Some people think the fall of man had something to do with sex, but that is a mistake. (The story in the Book of Genesis rather suggests that some corruption in our sexual nature followed the fall and was its result, not its cause.)

24. What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could ‘be like gods’—could set up on their own as if they had created themselves—be their own masters—invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—

25. money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery— the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy. The reason why it can never succeed is this. God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else.

26. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself
Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.” C. S. Lewis

27. When Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man, He is indicating just how ordinary and unpretentious His humanity is, but He is also declaring that He is using the power of God as it ought to be used.

28. You Are Not God Ezekiel 28:1-10