Ezek 28:1 AKJV/PCE The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
Ezek 28:2 AKJV/PCE 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:
This first one is called prince.
Prince = Strong’s H5057 נָגִיד nagiyd (naw-gheed’) n-m.
נָגִד nagid (naw-gheed’)
- a commander (as occupying the front), either civil, military or religious.
- (generally, abstractly and plural) honorable themes.
THOUGHT – It’s interesting that this Hebrew word is never translated specifically as king in the King James Version.
Now I think God is talking here to the human king of that ancient Phoenician city Tyre.
He was a man.
ALSO NOTICE THAT If we look at what God says to this “prince” it sounds like God is being sarcastic to this little ruler! 😀
Ezek 28:3 AKJV/PCE Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:
Ezek 28:4 AKJV/PCE With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:
Ezek 28:5 AKJV/PCE By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:
This little “prince” sure thinks he is smart! He thinks he is a self made man.
By his own smarts and wisdom he has made a LOT of money!!
And he is getting a little arrogant about it all . . .
Dangerous place to be . . .
Ezek 28:6 AKJV/PCE Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;
Ezek 28:7 AKJV/PCE 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.
Ezek 28:8 AKJV/PCE 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.
Ezek 28:9 AKJV/PCE 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.
Ezek 28:10 AKJV/PCE Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
So God is going to humble this little arrogant “prince” . . .
God will bring in invaders who will take his kingdom.
He will be killed!
Ezek 28:11 AKJV/PCE ¶ Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Ezek 28:12 AKJV/PCE 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.
BUT Look Here!
Now God is talking to the “king” of Tyre.
King = Strong’s H4428 מֶלֶךְ melek (meh’-lek) n-m.
מַלְכִּי malkiy (mal’-kee) [personal possessive]
a king.
Now this word means King!
And the King James Version translates it only as king or royal.
So this being is clearly levels above the other who in God’s view was only a “prince”.
LOOK What God says here about this “king”!
Ezek 28:13 AKJV/PCE 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.
NOTICE That the KJV says “thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created”.
It sounds like musical instruments were crafted within his being.
He must have been an incredible musician!
And he was “created”!
Companion Bible Notes – thou wart created. Not begotten by man, or born of woman. This can refer only to Satan.
THINK – We humans are not created.
We are born of woman.
After Adam and Eve all the rest of us are born of woman!
We are NOT Created!
But this being was created directly by God.
Ezek 28:14 AKJV/PCE 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.
Ezek 28:15 AKJV/PCE Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
This being was the “anointed cherub that covereth”.
He covered God as a sign of respect when He came among His creation.
This being just does not sound like a human being.
He is something far more powerful!
He is a Cherub = Strong’s H3742 כְּרוּב kruwb (ker-ooɓ’) n-m.
- a cherub. a created spiritual being having a various descriptions.
- (apparently) a spiritual being created for a discrete purpose, thus differing from other cherubim in this manner.
Companion Bible Notes says that – the anointed cherub that covereth. Cherub can be used only of a supernatural being, overshadowing and protecting “the world that then was” (2Pe 3:6), or the “garden” of Eze 28:13.
Ezek 28:16 AKJV/PCE 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.
Companion Bible Notes – merchandise = traffic, or going about, as in Eze 28:18. Hence it meant calumniator (slanderer), in a moral sense.
This being was in control of merchandise . . . business in the garden!
We first see the garden when Adam and Eve are there.
And there is no business like this going on in the garden.
Satan in fact, stays in the background trying to deceive Eve into disobeying God!
Satan does not have the power in Genesis 3 that we see him have here in Ezekiel 28!
Ezek 28:17 AKJV/PCE 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.
Ezek 28:18 AKJV/PCE 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.
Here we see that Satan did fall from his great position given by God.
He became arrogant and prideful and God removed him from that
position of power.
That is surely why Satan is trying to deceive Eve in the garden.
To get back some control of this earth from our parents.
Ezek 28:19 AKJV/PCE 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.
Ezek 28:20 AKJV/PCE ¶ Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Ezek 28:21 AKJV/PCE Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it,
Ezek 28:22 AKJV/PCE 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.
Ezek 28:23 AKJV/PCE 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.
Now God speaks to both the little “prince” who He will humble and to
that “cherub” who became arrogant. They will be destroyed and punished in hell
as will all others who refuse God’s mercy and salvation.
Well friends I hope you enjoyed this look at this mysterious but understandable
passage in Ezekiel 28.
I think it is a fascinating look at Satan and his fall before God re-created the earth and put our parents in the garden of Eden.
God Bless.
