Ezekiel 28:5Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Recognize from the very deeds themselves that your understanding is not the source of your success, but rather My grace that has granted you this profession and abundance. For if I choose, I can swiftly strip you of all these gifts, allowing your experience to become your instructor. Had you acquired these blessings through your own insight, you would not find yourself losing them, as the same wisdom would safeguard your possessions. Yet, when you suffer loss and find yourself empty-handed, cast aside unwise notions. Understand that I am the one who bestowed these gifts upon you and who has now taken them away. Since you did not comprehend My presence when you were in possession of them, you will come to recognize Me in your time of loss.

Until every aspect of the world becomes perplexing and uncertain, fraught with risks and uncertainties for us, we might fail to recognize within it the ultimate wisdom of the Creator and the might of the Almighty. In our attempts to establish our happiness solely through our own understanding and endeavors, we overlook divine guidance. Fortunate is the nation that, without idolizing its prowess, fame, and grandeur, “sets its heart on the power of God” (Psalm 47:14). “Blessed are the people for whom the Lord their God is” (Psalm 143:15). As they witness Him compelled before them and at His right hand (Psalms 15:8), they shall remain unshaken by any turmoil or peril.