So we are dealing with Ezekiel 28:11-19. As we have stated, there are so many conjectures over time by well-meaning ministers of the Gospel as to what this passage is all about. But somehow certain observations keep going amiss in what is presented. We have the belief saying that the passage is about Adam before the fall, maybe because the word Garden of Eden is mentioned. Others claimed it was Lucifer who was an angel in heaven before his fall. But let us quickly go through the passage verse by verse and see what comes up.

A Lamentation.

Ezekiel 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”

Note that it was a lamentation; it’s a song as well just like we found with Isaiah 14 on Lucifer, King Nebuchadnezzar .

Here in Ezekiel 28, it was about a king and the king of Tyre, the king Tyrus himself . I believe the above passage was meant to say;

“you formed a portrait of yourself and has represented yourself as the perfection of wisdom and beauty”. This is so because,

“Sealest up the sum”; rather should be “seals up the measure;” that is, you made the measure of your wisdom and beauty complete, understanding that a “seal” is set to that which is finished or complete as we can see in Daniel 9:24

“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy”

The “sum” means the full measure of beauty, from a Hebrew root, “to measure.”

The normal man–one formed after accurate rule.

So here we are seeing a king who through his wealth and riches is assuming the position of completeness in life, needing nothing and anyone else in life. Simply stated, he felt he has made it and he did so by himself through his wisdom.

TYRE.

“Tyre as a city”.

The commerce of the whole world was gathered into the warehouses of Tyre. It is said, “her merchants were the first who ventured to navigate the Mediterranean waters; and they founded their colonies on the coasts and neighbouring islands of the AEgean Sea etc. Tyrians and the Hebrews entered into a friendly alliance in the times of David, who were long ruled over by their native kings (2 Samuel 5:11; 1 Kings 5:1; 2 Chronicles 2:3).

Both Tyre and Sidon “were crowded with glass-shops, dyeing and weaving establishments; and among their cunning workmen not the least important class were those who were celebrated for the engraving of precious stones.”

So, we read in;

2 Chronicles 2:7 & 14 “⁷So now send me a man skilled to work in gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue fabrics, trained also in engraving, to be with the skilled workers who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided… ¹⁴ the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre. He is trained to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and in purple, blue, and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and to do all sorts of engraving and execute any design that may be assigned him, with your craftsmen, the craftsmen of my lord, David your father”

This is the practical reference to “Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold…” Ezekiel 28:13.

It was the wickedness and idolatry of this city that led to her fall as predicted by the prophets. (Isaiah 23:1; Jeremiah 25:22; Ezekiel 26; 28:1-19; Amos 1:9 – 10; Zechariah 9:2-4),

The city was founded at about B.C. 2700, it was often attacked by Egypt and Assyria. It was fortified with such strength, and possessed resources so abundant, as to be able to withstand the utmost efforts of Alexander the Great for the space of seven months. It was at length taken by him in 332 B. C.

Ezekiel 28; is not Adam, but the king Tyrus.

Ezek.28:13 & 15 “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… ¹⁵You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you”

This was not in any way referring to Adam; the reason is because Adam was not in the transgression according to the scriptures. 1 Timothy 2:14 “and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor”.

“The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat;” (Genesis 3:13) was the confession of the woman.

But Adam fell you may say, Yes! He did it willingly, Adam could not have been deceived, because He was a light being, and the Bible says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John.1:5)

It simply means, the darkness of ignorance, evil and the lies of the Serpent could not overcome, comprehend or understand the light-wisdom of Adam. So, the words of God to the man were, “Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten,” (Genesis 3:17).

Therefore, the fall of Adam as it were was a mystery of the union of the Christ and the Church.

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…” (Eph. 5: 25).

So just as the Last Adam died for the sake of His wife, the church, even so the First Adam willingly submitted to death already incurred by the wife by partaking of the fruit, otherwise the woman alone would have been expelled. Then the Church of Christ would have been left alone without a husband in death. What an expression of love!

So, the iniquity that was found in king Tyrus was his pride resulting from his abundance of wealth and the glory he has finally attained to by reason of that. Nothing to do with Adam or Lucifer. Just as the opening verse of the Chapter rightly said;

“The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 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”(Ezek.28:1-2)

The king was a man, the teaching that Satan was working behind the scene to cause him to do whatever he did is all conjectures. No scripture to back that up. It’s not the word of God but that of men.

Next, what is Eden the Garden of God?

To be continued…