In this series of study, we want to look at another critical scripture, Ezekiel 28. Was the king of Tyre the same person as Satan or Lucifer? What does it mean to be in Eden the Garden of God and a few more questions we shall look into:

Lamentation

Ezekiel 28:11-19.

“¹¹Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹²Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

¹³You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created.

¹⁴You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.

¹⁵You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you.

¹⁶By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones.

¹⁷Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you.

¹⁸You defiled your sanctuaries By the multitude of your iniquities, By the iniquity of your trading; Therefore I brought fire from your midst; It devoured you, And I turned you to ashes upon the earth In the sight of all who saw you.

¹⁹All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you; You have become a horror, And shall be no more forever.” (NKJV)

Most often when this passage of Ezekiel 28:11-17 is quoted, it is commonly linked to Satan’s beginning in the Garden of Eden. But this was actually a lamentation; same picture you see with king Nebuchadnezzar in Isaiah14.

A careful examination of this section reveals that it is a piece out of the heart of Chapters 26-28 of the Book of Ezekiel, and it is expressly the Chapters that are dealing with the king (kingdom) of Tyre.

There is this misunderstanding within the Body of Christ that though this section of the Book is about the king of Tyre, but that it is only “primarily” or “immediately” about the king of Tyre, but it is also about Satan because there are elements in the oracle that weren’t literally true of Tyre.

But essentially we know it’s about the king of Tyre because it is expressly revealed as we can’t read chapters 26—28 of Ezekiel without confronting this truth.

The reason some say it is “primarily” about the king of Tyre but “also” about Satan is because of the satanic elements in particular supposedly found in Ezekiel 28:11-17 in verse 13 we read

“You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering” So to them this makes the story that of the person of Satan.

Here are the major reasons why they say it’s about Satan;

The one addressed is said to have been

(1) “the model of perfection”

(2) and to have been “in the Garden of Eden”

(3) “anointed as a guardian cherub”

(4) and to have been “blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you”

The argument is, the king of Tyre wasn’t in the Garden of Eden nor was he an anointed cherub so we’re told, it must be Satan that’s spoken of in these phrases. But if the king of Tyre wasn’t in the Garden of Eden, neither was Satan walking on Mount Sinai and cast forth from there either, as seen in verses 14 and 16.

“¹⁴Thou 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… ¹⁶By 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”.

The “anointed guardian cherub” can’t refer to the Garden of Eden; but more instead to the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant at Mount Sinai. And even if the anointed cherub is to be located in Eden, there’s nothing in the Genesis account that makes Satan a guardian cherub.

Like we read in Genesis 3:24

“So, he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life”.

Notice that the word used here is cherubims (plural), there is nothing to indicate here that they were in the Garden, neither can ‘THEY’ be identified as Satan. Some even go to the extent of teaching that this is talking of Adam in his days of Glory using the above elements. “You have been in Eden”. This man-made theory cannot agree with scriptures either. They are merely conjectures. Looking at Ezekiel 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.”

We need to know what is the Mountain of God here being referred to, that is where this personality was and it is synonymous with the Garden of God. And we can see that the “anointed cherub” was driven from the “mount of God” in disgrace and not just from an isolated Garden of Eden. This is very important.

What can we see here?

The simple picture painted before us in Chapters 26-28 of Ezekiel, is the description of the glory of the Tyrian kingdom, its fall and the reasons for its fall. This is very explicit for a diligent mind. This City is here described as the foremost trading nation of the world (merchandise- Satan was not a trader I am sure ), a renowned city and a city that is about-to-be destroyed (Compare chapter 26).

In Ezekiel 27, She sees herself as a rare beauty and is described as a beautiful sailing ship with timbers, masts, decks and sails from around the world and sailed by mariners from all nations.

Her pride is bursting out and though it is a human kingdom it sees herself as god,

“Will you then say, ‘I am a god,’ in the presence of those who kill you? You will be but a man, not a god.” (Ezekiel 28:9)

Tyre is therefore being described as privileged among the nations. She’s been to Eden and to the holy mount where she walked among the stones of fire on that blazing mountain (as Moses did). Describing her glory in her days of wealth as a trading seaport if you will. She is said to be adorned with precious stones (as the High Priest was) and is likened to the cherubim that stood guard in and at the entrance to the Holy of Holies (on the curtain and over the Ark of the Covenant).

If these descriptions weren’t literally true of the Tyrian king (who represents the city-kingdom), it wasn’t literally true of Satan either. But the truth is, God so exalted Tyre, gave her glory, profound privilege and breathtaking success. Instead of thanking him for all of it she fell in love with herself and thought it was all of her own making.

Like Adam, the Tyrian king did well until he thought he could make a great god and acted as though he could be and was truly independent of God. This kind of “over the top” description of glory is not unusual in the prophets. Just like we found in the case and the authority of Nebuchadnezzar as described in Daniel 2:36-38.

So, the whole picture painted in Ezekiel 28, is about a city, and the kingdom of the king of Tyre.. Not a devil or Satan, nothing to do with Lucifer here either.

To be continued…