EZEKIEL 28
The Creation, Fall, Career and Defeat of
Satan
There are many who think that the Ezekiel 28 passage (and
the Isaiah 14 passage) do not and CANNOT refer to some kind of "mystical"
focus on Satan. I suggest rather, that the passage in view (Ezekiel 28:11-19),
CANNOT refer to a human, but MUST refer to a non-human creature. All I
can do for proof or demonstration is to present a lengthy development of
the passage and let it speak for itself.
I will use the NASB since it is the best translation available
today.
Ezekiel 28:1, "The word of the LORD came again to
me saying,"
This introduces special divine revelation to communicate
divine judgment on a human ruler.
Ezekiel 28:2, "Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre"
This is Ithobal II, whom Josephus calls Ithobolus II.
The time of this message by Ezekiel is 587 BC (3538 AH),
based on Ezekiel 26:1, about 18 months before Nebuchadnezzar's invasion
of Tyre which began in 585 BC and extended to 573.
Ezekiel's evaluation and indictment of Tyre actually begins
at chapter 26.
Chapter 26 gives historical details concerning the fall
of Tyre via both Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (verses 7-11) and Alexander
of Greece (verse 12).
Verses 16-18 - the Phoenician colonies are in view
Verses 19-21 is referring to the city and kingdom of Tyre and not the ruler.
Chapter 27 continues the evaluation and indictment on
the city and kingdom - not the ruler.
Chapter 28:1-10, then specifically deals with the ruler.
The language in this section is very clearly "earthly"
in nature, mentioning "earthly" details such as "you are
a man," at verse 2, and gold and silver at verse 4, and "bring
nations upon you," and die "the death of the uncircumcised by
the hand of strangers," at verse 10.
HOWEVER, when we move into the next section, verses 11-19,
the language totally changes. It no longer gives us "earthly"
specifics but instead applies the GENERAL ideas of the previous section
to a creature who is not seen as A MAN (verse 2), but instead as a CHERUB
(verse 14).
Through the ministry of the Holy Spirit using the principle
of "symbolic transference" the vision goes far beyond the "man"
ruler of Tyre to the one who has influenced and molded the character and
kingdom of Tyre - Satan himself.
Review of the first section:
OBSERVATION: this section is given in the PRESENT tense
with statements of PAST and FUTURE details. This indicates application
to a present human ruler.
In contrast, when we get to the verses 11-19 section,
the language ABRUPTLY changes to a PAST tense focus so that we will be
made aware of a change in application.
Ezekiel 28:2,
1. 'Thus says the Lord GOD, Because your heart is lifted
up"
This refers to human pride that exalts the creature above
the creator.
2. And you have said, I am a god,
god, is the word, el, and indicate self deification.
3. I sit in the seat of gods,
The word, gods, is elohim and could be rendered "God."
Either gods or God, this refers to the Island of Tyre where the ruler "lived."
4. In the heart of the seas: Indicates that this location
is an island. It was called "the holy island."
5. Yet you are a man: Divine evaluation. Statement of
fact concerning his true nature. He is a HUMAN.
6. and not God: elohim again. You have no divine nature
or prerogative.
7. Although you make your heart like the heart of God:
heart refers to the character and mentality.
Ezekiel 28:3 Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; There
is no secret that is a match for you.
Divine sarcasm that actually reflects the attitude of
this man. The opinion he holds of himself. He is not really wiser than
Daniel.
Ezekiel 28:4 "By your wisdom and understanding You
have acquired riches for yourself, And have acquired gold and silver for
your treasuries.
Human logic and wisdom has made him wealthy.
Specific mention of gold and silver to keep it in its EARTHLY context.
Ezekiel 28:5 "By your great wisdom, by your trade
You have increased your riches, And your heart is lifted up because of
your riches.
General ideas: the wealth has just given him a bigger
head.
Ezekiel 28:6 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, Because
you have made your heart Like the heart of God,
Divine indictment upon his self deification.
Ezekiel 28:7 Therefore, behold, I will bring strangers
upon you, The most ruthless of the nations. And they will draw their swords
Against the beauty of your wisdom And defile your splendor.
Therefore, national invasion. Babylon first and then Greece.
Cf. Ezekiel 26:7 and Jeremiah 27:1-6
Very clearly keeps us on an EARTHLY focus with earthly military movements.
Ezekiel 28:8 'They will bring you down to the pit, And
you will die the death of those who are slain In the heart of the seas.
1. This is an idiom for physical death.
See topic: Physical Death
It refers to the pit of hades where the soul went at physical
death.
2. heart of the seas: he will die on his island.
Ezekiel 28:9 'Will you still say, "I am a god,"
In the presence of your slayer, Although you are a man and not God, In
the hands of those who wound you?
Then of course the emptiness of his claim will be quite
obvious.
Ezekiel 28:10 'You will die the death of the uncircumcised
By the hand of strangers, For I have spoken!' declares the Lord GOD!
A death of shame and dishonor; outside a "covenant"
relationship with God as an unbeliever. The mention of physical death still
keeps this in an EARTHLY context.
This ends this prophetic "session."
Verses 11-19 is another but slightly different "prophetic"
session.
Ezekiel 28:11-12 Again the word of the LORD came to me
saying,
"Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre,
This begins a description which is not divine sarcasm
nor a statement of what this person thinks about himself.
It is a statement of fact concerning the person in view.
It is given in the PAST tense with some FUTURE consequences,
as the prophet is taken OUTSIDE the sphere of this creature's existence
and given a vision of that existence in its totality - from start to finish.
REMINDER: the first section was given in the PRESENT TENSE
with past and future details, because it had in view the present ruler
of Tyre.
So, as the reader approaches this section, he thinks,
"ok, I'm going to learn some more about the king of Tyre and immediately
he sees language that is entirely different than what was given in the
previous section.
He sees a description that could not apply to any one
of "fallen" humanity who is dead in sins and tainted by the nature
of sin.
The focus changes dramatically from a PRESENT tense focus
to a PAST tense focus.
This person then - -
1. You had the seal of perfection,
A. seal, is the word, chotham, and refers to a model or
stamp with which to imprint something.
B. of perfection, is takniyth, which means a measurement
or proportion.
C. thus, the model of measurement.
D. Hebrew authorities agree that this speaks of perfection.
2. Full of wisdom: Certainly indicates a high quality
of wisdom. Filled up communicates completion.
3. and perfect in beauty: speaks of physical perfection.
Described later symbolically by the many gems of beauty known to men, verse
13.
4. So I must rule out some member of the human race born
after Adam, especially in view of verse 15, "until unrighteousness
was found in you."
Reason for this of course, is because all men are born
in sin (Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:23; 5:12)
5. It could refer to Adam before his fall in the garden,
especially in view of verse 13, "you were in Eden." But then
I arrive at verse 14 and a whole new slant is given to the picture, for
this being is called a cherub.
Ezekiel 28:13 "You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz, and the diamond;
The beryl, the onyx, and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise, and
the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets,
Was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared.
Every precious stone, etc, communicates to man the perfection
and magnitude of his beauty. (not with a red epidermis and horns, etc.)
He is probably the greatest and most beautiful creature that has ever come
from the hands of God.
Ezekiel 28:14
1. "You were the anointed cherub who covers, And
I placed you {there.}
A. kerubh: 92 times in the OT; 31 times in Ezekiel and
always of angels.
B. Therefore, it is certainly unlikely that the use here
could be rationalized to refer to anything other than an angel.
C. And indeed, the "guarding" cherub: one with
a heavenly function to memorialize and showcase divine essence as the chief
representative of God.
1. anointed Cherub: privilege, rank and honor. Actually,
he had the highest rank among the angels and had the
responsibility of representing the Glory of God to the rest of creation.
(very ironic)
2. who covers: sAkak, overshadow, screen, cover. The idea
of guarding, preserving and representing God's Glory.
What God does is to use the king of Tyre as the example
of human arrogance and then go beyond that person and view the being who
is really behind the person's wickedness, ie, Satan.
There is precedent for this.
God did it in Genesis 3 after Adam sinned.
At verse 14, He addresses the animal who was used by Satan and judges it.
Genesis 3:14, And the LORD God said to the serpent, Because
you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than
every beast of the field; On your belly shall you go, And dust shall you
eat All the days of your life.
But then in Genesis 3:15, he goes beyond the animal and
addresses the being who possessed and used the animal, ie, Satan.
(That is why Satan is called "the serpent of old" at Revelation
12:9 and 20:2.)
Any way, in Genesis 3:15, God addresses Satan and basically
gives a summary of human history in relation to Satan.
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the
woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.
The animal is not in view here. It is Satan.
It is Satan who bruises "the seed of the woman"
the Messiah, on the heel by putting Him on the cross, thinking that he
would win.
It is the Messiah through His payment of human sin and
His resurrection, who accomplishes a spiritual victory over Satan which
is a strategic "death blow" on the head; and who will wield the
final "death blow" through His tactical victory at Armageddon
and at the end of the millennial kingdom.
This technique is also used all throughout the Psalms
and Isaiah, using David and Isaiah to look forward to the person of the
Messiah.
So - -
This angel was in Eden, the garden of God, and yet this
"presence" in Eden seems to take place before
this creature has "unrighteousness found in you."
F. What then could be the significance of Eden? It has
a variety of uses.
SUMMARY OF EDEN
1. Background:
A. Adan, verb which means to be luxurious, delightful.
Only occurs in the hithpael, to delight oneself in something - Nehemiah
9:25.
B. Masculine noun: āden, means delight, luxury, and
is used at 2 Samuel 1:24; Jeremiah 51:34; Psalm 36:9
C. Feminine noun: ednAh, refers to sexual delight or luxury,
and occurs at Genesis 18:12.
D. Adjective: Adiyn, means sexually luxurious at Isaiah
47:8.
E. Masculine noun: maadAn
1. delight: Proverbs 29:11
2. delightful food: Genesis 49:20; Lamentations 4:5
2. Adam's original home: āden, at Genesis 2:8, 10,
15
A. kicked out: Genesis 3:23
B. Guarded: Genesis 3:24
3. Symbolic use for a beautiful land:
A. Joel 2:3, before the invasion of the king of the North.
B. Ezekiel 36:35, used for the condition of Israel after Messiah's 2nd
advent victory, (Isaiah 51:3).
4. Ezekiel 31:9, 16, 18: refers to the world as a garden
created by God and occupied with many trees (nations).
5. Ezekiel 28:13: God's domain for angelic beings in the
3rd heaven.
A. Follows the pattern of Point 3 for earthly nations
because Tyre is an earthly nation in the garden of nations.
B. So Satan was an angelic tree in God's garden of angels.
6. Also used for personal names:
A. Uaden: 2 Chronicles 29:12; 31:15
B. adnAh: 2 Chronicles 17:14; 1 Chronicles 12:21
C. adiynA: 1 Chronicles 11:42
D. Adiyn: Ezra 2:15; 8:6; Nehemiah 7:20; 10:17
E. adnA: Ezra 10:30
2. You were on the holy mountain of God: Once we recognize
that this being is an angel, these other terms take on a heavenly significance.
Without this context, this term, "holy mountain of
God" is indeed, difficult, since every other use seems to refer to
Zion and the temple mount in Jerusalem, but we DO have this context which
as I see it, is insurmountable for viewing this as a heavenly scene and
would be the place of heavenly service to God.
3. You walked in the midst of the stones of fire:
This too then, speaks of a heavenly scene and refers to
the specific details of his heavenly service.
A. Fire speaks of God's essence, both righteousness and
justice.
B. To walk in the midst of the stones of fire would indicate
an intimate association with God as the anointed cherub who guards.
4. Again, it must be stressed, that the basis for identifying
these two terms as having a heavenly connotation is the context which makes
it impossible for this to refer to a human after Adam's fall or Adam himself.
5. In verse 16, he is removed from these "heavenly"
associations because of his sin.
Ezekiel 28:15
1. You were blameless in your ways From the day you were
created: This makes is impossible to refer to anyone after Adam - since
all are born in sin (except Jesus - and He did not sin as this guy did).
A. blameless: tAmiym indicates consistently righteous.
B. from his creation: indicates that he is indeed a creature
- but cannot refer to a human who is born in sin.
C. In addition, the language that is used is not typical
in referring to a human. Ie, "in the day you were CREATED." Humans
are typically viewed as BORN, and BROUGHT FORTH.
2. Until unrighteousness was found in you.
This indicates clearly that a time came when this being
did or "thought" something that made him unrighteous in the eyes
of God.
This is amplified later as pride; an attitude of independence
from God and rebellion toward God, and superiority over God. the emphasis
is on internal thinking not overt.
(Thinking of yourself beyond what you really are, 1 Timothy 3:6)
Ezekiel 28:16a - describes further the nature of this
unrighteousness.
1. By the abundance of your trade: trade, is
rekullAh,
and refers to activity or function. The nature of that activity is determined
by context.
It refers to his heavenly responsibilities as being elevated
above the other angels and which precipitated thoughts of pride and arrogance.
2. You were internally filled with violence:
A. internally: indicates that it began as a mental attitude
B. violence: chAmAs, refers to revolutionary anger and
aggression. Since it is INSIDE it is not referring to physical violence.
3. And you sinned: chAtA, is the standard word for sin
and indicates that the "person" fell short of God's standards
for acceptance.
Verse 16b
"Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain
of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of
the stones of fire."
This is the judgment upon the anointed cherub by being
removed from his heavenly responsibilities.
Therefore, I have cast you as profane, is the verb,
chAlal,
which means to defile, pollute, profane, misuse, dishonor. So Lucifer
was rejected being now, dishonorable, defiled, corrupted and totally unacceptable
to God.
Ezekiel 28:17
1. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty: this
amplifies the internal violence as being an expression of arrogance based
on the magnificence of his beauty.
2. You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor:
This refers to a distortion of his character and mentality. He actually
acquired a "sin nature" so that now, his "heart" is
desperately wicked and deceitful.
You corrupted (shAchath = destroy, ruin, distort, piel
perfect) He actually distorted his superior wisdom when he redirected his
soul against the wisdom of the Godhead. This indicates the development
of a sin nature in him. So now, in his distortion, he cant really see who
God really is. Therefore, he thinks he can actually win over God and de-throne
him. That's why he is still fighting.
This is also quite significant since man is born ALREADY
with corrupted wisdom - already in sin. But this guy is seen as having
ACQUIRED a corrupted nature at some point in time.
The narrative continues in the "past tense"
even though the things described next do not actually take place until
some time in the future. However since they are viewed from the absolute
nature of God's plan and the decree from His justice, they can be viewed
as completed actions - certain to be carried out.
3. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, That
they may see you.
Again, operating on the premise that has been established
by the context, this refers to a future time when the "defrocked"
anointed cherub will be physically cast down to the earth and made visible
to those on the earth.
4. Since this anointed cherub who sinned finds no other
counterpart except Satan, I will henceforth refer to him as such.
5. Since Satan STILL has access to the presence of God
in heaven (Job 1:6; Revelation 12:10) the only place to find fulfillment
of this event is at the mid-point of the 70th week of Daniel as described
at Revelation 12:7-9, where we see Satan actually "cast down to the
earth," through defeat at the hands of Michael.
6. After this he is never again allowed access into the
presence of God.
Ezekiel 28:18a, further describes the nature of his rebellion against God.
A. By the multitude of your iniquities: Awon, in the plural,
amplifies his sin by indicating many expressions of antagonism toward God.
B. In the unrighteousness of your trade: His general activity
(rekullAh) is characterized by unrighteousness - that which is totally
contrary to God's standards.
C. You defiled your sanctuaries: A miqdash, is a sanctuary
or sacred place. This again speaks of the high place he held in heaven.
His sanctuaries refers to the holy duties that he had.
By rebelling against God and bringing creature arrogance
into the picture, he totally defiled that which was supposed to speak of
God's character.
Verse 18b,
1. Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you;
It has consumed you,
This is a judgment that backfires upon him from WITHIN
him because of his rebellion against God. Over time, the sin and rebellion
will eat at his divinely created "soul" and destroy it from within
- CONSUMED YOU.
However, this could refer to the fact that his INTERNAL
sin is the CAUSE of his ultimate destruction at the hand of God, rather
than an internal destruction.
2. And I have turned you to ashes on the earth In the
eyes of all who see you.
This is a physical judgment that begins at Armageddon
when Satan is defeated and chained in the abyss for 1000 years (Revelation
20:1-3) and is completed at the end of that 1000 years as is described
at Revelation 20:7-10.
This is not typical of describing the defeat of a human.
Compare above where the REAL king of Tyre dies "the
death of the uncircumcised." Here, this different creature is TURNED
TO ASHES on the earth.
The phrase, "in the eyes of all who see you,"
indicates that his defeat is VISIBLE by humans.
Ezekiel 28:19 All who know you among the peoples Are appalled
at you; You have become (the source of) terrors.
The peoples of the world have a general attitude of fear
and wonderment about this creature. It eventually turns into terror FOR
THEM as they share in his ultimate physical defeat on the earth and then
share his eternal judgment in the lake of fire (Matthew 25:41).
And you will be no more: describes the total neutralization
of Satan as he spends eternity separated from God in the lake of fire.
Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10
This same idea was mentioned earlier in reference to the
HUMAN ruler in view (verses 26:21; 37:36), but clearly in a "human"
context. But here, the Spirit uses the same terminology to communicate
the same idea of ultimate defeat and NEUTRALIZATION - destruction.
And then in Verses 20-26, Ezekiel receives another "prophetic"
session of teaching from God which deals with the physical kingdom of Sidon.
And the language clearly returns to an "earthly" or "human"
focus.
For more details, see: SATAN
and the Angelic Conflict
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Comments and questions welcome
