Audio Download

Ezekiel 28:1-26 The Judgment of the Prince of Tyre

Introduction

[Study Aired August 19, 2024]

Today’s study is about the resources the Lord has given the Prince of Tyre which had made him bask in pride. As a result, the Prince of Tyre shall surely be destroyed through the Lord’s judgment. The study also focuses on Tyre’s neighbor, Sidon and her destruction. Finally, the study ends with a promise of restoration of the people of Israel who in this case represents the Lord’s elect. 

In order to understand what the Lord is sharing with us today, we need to know who the Prince of Tyre represents spiritually. That will make it easier to know the mind of Christ concerning today’s study. As we are aware, it is the spirit that gives life, the flesh profits nothing.  

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 

In the previous study, we mentioned that Tyre spiritually is the same as Babylon. Therefore, the Prince of Tyre is the same as the Prince of Babylon. One key characteristic of both is their pride which makes them think that they are like God to be worshiped. Indeed, it is because all humanity worships them that makes them think they have the same status as God.

Eze 28:2  Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: 

Isa 14:13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 
Isa 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 

Rev 13:8  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.  

However, the Lord is saying that they are mere men or flesh and not spirit. Being flesh means that the King of Tyre and that of Babylon all represent our old man or flesh.

Isa 31:3  Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together. 

Psa 9:19  Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight. 
Psa 9:20 Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah. 

This chapter we are reviewing today is what the false apostles in Babylon used to make us believe the false doctrine that Satan was created a perfect angel of the Lord, who later rebelled against the Lord. These verses are as follows:

Eze 28:13  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 
Eze 28:14  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 
Eze 28:15  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
Eze 28:16  By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 
Eze 28:17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.  

They try to support this assertion by referring to the Book of Isaiah as follows:

Isa 14:12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 
Isa 14:13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 
Isa 14:14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 
Isa 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. 

These verses have nothing to do with Satan. They refer to our old man or flesh. Lucifer means light-bringer or shining one, and it is not another name for Satan. As we review this chapter, we shall see why our old man is called a light bringer or shining one. 

The Pride of the Prince of Tyre

Eze 28:1  The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 
Eze 28:2  Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: 
Eze 28:3 Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee: 

As indicated in the previous study, the word of the Lord coming to Ezekiel in verse 1, who represents the Lord’s elect, means the unveiling of the mystery of the kingdom of God to us, His elect. 

Eph 3:1  For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 
Eph 3:2  assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 
Eph 3:3  how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 
Eph 3:4  When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 
Eph 3:5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. (ESV)

As indicated, the Prince of Tyre represents our old man or flesh. In verse 2, the fact that he sits as God in the midst of the seas means he dominates the sea of humanity. What controls every man is the demands of his flesh or old man which receives his power through the devil.

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Why does the old man or flesh think he is like God? The fact that everyone born of the flesh submits to his rule makes our flesh proud, thinking that he is God. In addition, the false doctrine of this world and of Babylon that everyone has his or her own free will and does whatever he or she pleases makes us assume the role of God, who alone does what He pleases. No man has a freewill. 

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 

Rom 9:15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 
Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. 

In verse 3, the Lord is rhetorically saying that our old man thinks he is wiser than the Lord’s elect, symbolized here by Daniel. When we are dominated by the flesh, we think we are wiser than the Lord’s elect. Our old man is the epitome of the wisdom of this world. However, this wisdom is of the earth, sensual and devilish.

1Co 3:18  Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. 
1Co 3:19  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 
1Co 3:20  And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. 
1Co 3:21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; 

Jas 3:15  This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
Jas 3:16  For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. 
Jas 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 

In verse 3, we are also told that our old man thinks there is no secret hidden from him. Our old man is totally in darkness regarding being given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of the Lord. It is our new man created in righteousness that is endowed with wisdom from above with no secret hidden from him. 

Eph 4:24  And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Col 3:10  And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

Eze 28:4  With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: 
Eze 28:5 By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches: 

We know that it is not through our wisdom and understanding that we get riches into our treasures – silver and gold. The silver and gold therefore in this case represent worldly riches. The positive application of silver and gold refers to the truth of the word of the Lord which is given not through human wisdom but through being called and chosen before the foundations of the world. Verse 5 also shows us that it is also through trafficking, that is, peddling or trading, that our flesh becomes enriched or resourced which causes us to become proud. We know that the love of money or desiring to become rich is the source of all evil. This implies that our old man is the source of all evil within us.

1Ti 6:9  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
1Ti 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Eze 28:6  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; 
Eze 28:7  Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. 
Eze 28:8 They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas. 

As indicated earlier, our old man thinks that he is God as he is worshiped by every human being. In addition, it is only God who makes His own decisions. The false doctrine that we make our own decisions causes us to assume the role of God which is blasphemy. As a result, our old man must face judgment. As shown below, our old man devises his way, but it is the Lord who directs  everything that he has created including the devil.

Pro 16:9  A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.  

Here in verse 7, the Lord is using the sword as His instrument of judgment to destroy our old man. Strangers drawing their sword means every man’s sword shall be against us as people oppose us and speak bitter words to us. That is the negative application of the sword. 

Psa 64:2  Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity: 
Psa 64:3  Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words: 

Eze 38:21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.

Jdg 7:22 And the three hundred [men with Gideon] blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host [of the Midianites]: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.

The judgment of the Lord will result in bringing down into the pit our old man as he dies the death of them that are slain in the midst of the seas. Being slain in the midst of the seas means that our old man shall die through the agency of humanity (sea of flesh). This happens as every man’s sword comes against us. 

Eze 28:9  Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee. 
Eze 28:10 Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD. 

Verse 9 is another way of saying that when we are judged, our old man shall die and will not resurrect again to usurp our Lord Jesus Christ’s throne in our hearts and minds. Verses 9 and 10 all affirm to us the death of our old man through the Lord’s judgment, which will be swallowed up in our victory over our flesh.

1Co 15:55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 
1Co 15:56  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 
1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Eze 28:11  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 28:12  Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 
Eze 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 

Before we review these verses, we must understand that everything the Lord has created, whether good or evil, is good in regard to the purpose for which it was created. 

Gen 1:16  And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 
Gen 1:17  And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 
Gen 1:18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

Here in verse 12, the Lord requesting Ezekiel to take up a lamentation upon the King of Tyre is to let us know the evil experience we must pass through for the destruction of the king of Tyre which is our old man or flesh. In verse 12, the Lord is letting us know that the king of Tyre is an embodiment of wisdom and perfection of beauty. Here the Lord is making us aware that our old man is endowed with the wisdom of this world. The perfection in beauty relates to the wisdom of our old man as shown in the following verse:

Eze 28:7  Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. 

In verse 13, we are made aware that the Prince of Tyre was in Eden, the garden of God and that every precious stone was her covering. Being in Eden means our old man or flesh was an integral part of his creation right at the beginning. In the Bible, precious stone refers to the truth of the word of the Lord. Therefore, our old man or flesh being covered with the Truth of the words of the Lord means that it is only through the truth of the word of the Lord that we can see the nakedness or the depravity of our old man or flesh. A natural man only sees the perfection of beauty of our old man. That is why when we are given to know who our flesh or old man is, we really marvel at his destructive nature.

Isa 14:16  They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; 
Isa 14:17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?  

2Co 3:13  And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: 
2Co 3:14  But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. 
2Co 3:15  But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 
2Co 3:16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

In verse 13, we are further told that on the day that our old man was created, his settings and engravings were all crafted in gold. That becomes clearer as follows:

Eze 28:13  You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. (ESV)

What we are being told here is that all that pertains to our flesh or old man was created by the words of the Lord, which is signified by gold, just as we see in creation that it is the words of the Lord that brought about everything.

Gen 1:1  In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 
Gen 1:2  The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 
Gen 1:3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.  

Eze 28:14  You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. 

In verse 14, our flesh or old man is shown as an anointed cherub. According to Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB), anointed here can mean expansion. Cherub also can mean the chariot of Jehovah. What these definitions are telling us is that the prince of Tyre as an anointed cherub means that our old man or flesh was intentionally created by the Lord to serve as the vehicle for the expansion of his creation. As we can see physically, human wisdom has expanded the creation of the Lord. However, human wisdom is earthly, sensual and devilish. That is why the world is becoming worse and worse.  

Jas 3:15  This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
Jas 3:16  For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. 
Jas 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.  

The holy mountain of God refers to the house of Israel which in this case is the temple of the Lord which is our body. 

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 
1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 

Eze 20:40  For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things. 

Isa 2:3  And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

The stones of fire signifies the voice of the Lord as shown in the following verse:

Psa 18:13  The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire. 

The purpose of our old man being placed in the temple of the Lord, which is our body, is for us to be able to hear His voice. Since our old man does not have what it takes to obey the voice of the Lord when he hears Him, this gives the Lord the occasion He is seeking to come and judge us. This becomes clearer when we look at what happened to Adam and Eve when they heard the voice of the Lord in the garden. They hid from Him. This is all to show us that when we are dominated by the flesh, we run away from the voice of the Lord, that is, the truth of the word of the Lord

Deu 4:36  Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire. 

Gen 3:8  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 

Eze 28:15  You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. 
Eze 28:16 In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 

Being blameless in his ways from the day our old man was created until unrighteousness was found in him implies that until Christ comes to us with His words, we think we are righteous. In the Book of Job, we saw that Job was described as being blameless. It was when the Lord came to him with His judgment that he realized that unrighteousness was in him. 

Job 1:1  There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.      

Job 40:3  Then Job answered the LORD, and said, 
Job 40:4  Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth. 
Job 40:5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further. 

Job 42:5  I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. 
Job 42:6  Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. 

Our flesh loves to enrich itself through business or trading. We know that the love of money is a root of all evil. One of the obvious evils of the love of money is violence. In verse 16, we can see that it is because of money that our old man becomes violent when such an opportunity to enrich himself is threatened. Most of the violence in the whole of this world is principally due to people feeling threatened of their ability to make money. The casting of our flesh from the mountain of God and the midst of the stones of fire implies the destruction of our old man or flesh within us through the fiery words of the Lord. It is through this judgment that we are able to offer our bodies as living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to the Lord.

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 

Eze 28:17  Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. 
Eze 28:18  Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. 
Eze 28:19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more. 

The beauty of our old man is his attractiveness which has caused all humanity to become his victims. That is to say that all humanity worships or is dominated by the beast or our old man or flesh. This is what has made our old man to be lifted up with pride. Being cast to the ground in verse 17 means being judged. Our old man being laid before kings to behold means that the Lord’s elect (kings) shall come to see who our old man or flesh really is.

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 

Rev 13:8  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 

Defiling his sanctuaries by the multitude of his iniquities in verse 18 implies our old man claiming himself as God and sitting on the throne of our Lord in our hearts and mind. One of his iniquities which is mentioned here in verse 18 is his trafficking which is his inclination to trading or peddling, even the word of the Lord.

2Co 2:17  A lot of people try to get rich from preaching God’s message. But we are God’s sincere messengers, and by the power of Christ we speak our message with God as our witness. (GW)

The Lord bringing forth a fire from the midst of the old man means our old man shall be judged using the flesh of others to come against her. That is to say that every man’s sword shall be against his neighbor. 

Eze 38:21  And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother. 

In verse 19, we are told that it is through the Lord’s judgment that our old man or flesh shall be put to death. That is to say that he will lose his power of influence over us, His elect.

Prophecy Against Sidon

Eze 28:20  Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 28:21  Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it, 
Eze 28:22  And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her. 
Eze 28:23  For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the LORD. 
Eze 28:24 And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD. 

Sidon was a port city close to Tyre. She had a close ties with Tyre and was supportive in helping build the temple of the Lord during Ezra’s time. Spiritually, Sidon is the same as Tyre. This means that both Sidon and Tyre represent Babylon. Inwardly, Babylon within us shall be destroyed through the Lord’s judgment of our old man. In verse 24, we are shown one of the benefits of the Lord’s judgment. The false doctrines in our hearts and minds that we imbibed during our time in Babylon, which we still cling to, is the pricking briar or the grieving thorn that hurts the development of the temple or the house of the Lord within us. The destruction of Babylon within us through the Lord’s judgment will therefore enhance our understanding of the truth of the words of the Lord. That is the same as hearing the voice of the Lord in the midst of the fire. 

Deu 5:24  And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.

The Lord’s Elect shall be Gathered Together in Security

Eze 28:25  Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. 
Eze 28:26 And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God. 

What the Lord is doing now is gathering His elect in this age. He does it through the judgment of our old man. It is obvious that those who are in Christ are going through all kinds of trials all over the world. This testifies that the Lord is doing a quick work in us as He gathers His children together from all over the world, even as we see the end of the age approaching. We are the ones who are being sanctified in the plain sight of the people of this world, the heathens. Dwelling in their land in verse 25 means being given dominion over our bodies as we walk in the spirit and therefore do not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Gal 5:16  This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 
Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 
Gal 5:18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. 

Dwelling safely therein as we build houses and plant vineyards in verse 26 is another way of saying that no weapon, formed or fashioned against us shall prosper as we see the day approaching.

Isa 54:17  No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD. 

All those who despise us in verse 26 refer to our old man or flesh. Therefore, the Lord executing judgment on all those who despise us round about refers to the judgment of our old man or flesh. It is through this judgment that we come to hear the voice of the Shepherd and therefore come to know Him as our Lord!!

Deu 5:24  And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.

May the Lord continue to gather us together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings!! Amen!!