Ezekiel 28:13, commentary and pictures

The verse describes Lucifer before his fall as a created angel holding the highest place under God and Christ as the anointed covering cherub. He was made perfect, holy and undefiled, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, with all his glory and gifts received from God leaving no excuse for rebellion. He had been in Eden the garden of God, covered with every precious stone and gold as the sign of his exalted station, with musical powers prepared in him from the day he was created and with access to walk in God's presence in the midst of the stones of fire. His heart was lifted up because of his beauty and brightness until he coveted the homage due to the Creator alone, spread disaffection among the angels under his command, made war in heaven, and was cast out to the earth. At the end he will be destroyed from the midst of the stones of fire, brought to ashes and never be any more, warning all against pride, self-exaltation and refusal to be corrected.

Subject and Setting

The verse describes Lucifer, or Satan, before his fall as the anointed covering cherub, a created, highly intelligent being who held a high position among the angels. He had been in Eden the garden of God, adorned as his covering with every precious stone and gold, and the workmanship of his tabrets and pipes was prepared in him in the day he was created. He was created perfect, holy and undefiled, and remained perfect from the day he was created until iniquity was found in him. He stood next to Christ as the most honored in heaven, highest in power and glory, first of the covering cherubs upon the holy mountain of God, showing full wisdom, perfect beauty and exalted station. All his beauty, power, honor and gifts came from God as a created being, leaving no excuse for rebellion.

He is presented under the figure of the king of Tyre, because he fully controlled that government and Tyre served as his agent. His glory belonged to him as a created being, not as God. The description that refers primarily to Lucifer the fallen angel also portrays a broader movement that God's people would witness. The chapter to which the verse belongs calls for careful study to understand God's dealings with fallen angels and fallen people. In that connection it is linked with the account of angels expelled from heaven because of self-exaltation and the desire to be above Christ.

Eden is the Garden of God, which is not to be found on the present earth marred by sin, where no place is faultless.

Created Splendor and Office

He was made by God flawless, holy and undefiled, and he stayed flawless from the day of his making until wrongdoing was discovered in him. That unfallen state belonged to Lucifer before his fall, when he stood as the first of the covering cherubs in purity before evil entered.

He had been in Eden the garden of God, clothed as his covering with every precious stone — the sardius, topaz and diamond, the beryl, onyx and jasper, the sapphire, emerald and carbuncle — and gold, a vesture that displayed his exalted station, full wisdom, perfect beauty and splendor. His beauty, power and honor in that original condition marked him as highly exalted and beloved among the heavenly beings. The gems and gold were not his own by right of deity but adornment given to a creature, showing the greatness of what had been bestowed upon him.

The workmanship of his tabrets and of his pipes was built into him and made ready in him on the very day he was created, forming part of his inborn musical endowment. Those instruments of music were prepared in him at creation together with his jeweled covering in Eden.

He was the anointed cherub that covereth, set upon the holy mountain of God, walking up and down in the midst of the stones of fire and standing in God's immediate presence. Next to Christ he was the most honored in heaven, first of the covering cherubs, highest in power and glory, holding a place of rule under God and Christ when all was radiant and lovely. That nearness to the Creator placed him above the heavenly host in office and trust.

He sealed up the sum, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, the light-bearer sharing God's glory, noble in appearance, powerful in intellect, and great in power and majesty next to Jesus. All his glory, beauty, wisdom, gifts and position came from God as belongings of a created being, not as God Himself, so that no lack or injustice in his endowment gave any excuse for rebellion.

Rebellion and Expulsion

His heart was lifted up because of his beauty, and he corrupted his wisdom by reason of his brightness, coming at last to regard his God-given glory as his own. His beautiful garments and his special place near the Creator did not lead him to gratitude, for though his covering was beautiful and radiant with light, that honor left him unthankful. He had once served God in harmony, but pride led him to treat his wisdom as his own and to seek honor and power equal to God's.

He became discontent and envious of Christ, coveting the homage due alone to the Creator. He felt he should be above Christ, refusing Christ the preeminence next to God, aspiring to stand next to God in efficiency, to be like the Most High, to have equality with God and to dethrone God. Ambition and selfish desire led to his sin, and the loss and ruin of heavenly beings, for though holy and undefiled and highly exalted and loved among the heavenly host, first of the covering cherubs next to Christ, he cherished envy and sought the homage due to the Creator. He concealed his purpose while he worked upon the angels until he deceived them, communicating envy by deception to secure their service and loyalty and thus bringing evil into the heavenly courts.

When God sought to correct him he would not be corrected, refusing to yield his own way. He insisted his judgment was unchangeable and infallible, worshiped his own ideas and plans in wicked ambition, and held that Christ must be second to him, though the Lord told him this could not be because Christ was His only begotten Son. Such persistence in treating one's own plans and opinions as infallible, never to be revoked or changed, takes his position, and leaves God no use for the one who so persists unless he changes and is reconverted.

He communicated his envy by deceptive insinuations, sophistries, and claims that Christ had taken a place that belonged to him, stirring doubt, disaffection and discontent among the angels under his command. His beautiful appearance was constantly exalted until the suggestion spread and angels sympathized with him, and he and his party became strong against Christ, concluding to war against God while the loyal angels would not yield the point that Christ should hold that place. The result was war in heaven, and he with his party of angels of great power was thrown out of heaven, shut out of heaven, expelled and cast to the ground to be laid before kings. He pursued this ambition deliberately and deceptively, concealing his disloyalty from the heavenly beings.

His dissatisfaction included disregard for what God had revealed about his own assigned work and desire for what God had not revealed, for dissatisfaction that God had not revealed all His purposes led him to disregard what had been revealed and to lose his place. He stirred the same discontent among the angels under his command, causing their fall. His jealousy also flared when God told His Son they would make man in their image, for he had a mild countenance expressive of happiness like the other angels, with high and broad forehead showing great intelligence, perfect form, and noble and majestic bearing, yet because he was not consulted about the formation of man he grew jealous of Jesus and was filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred, desiring to receive the highest honors in heaven next to God.

Though he had forsaken his exalted place as the covering cherub, he could have been restored to his office if he had returned to God, acknowledged the Creator's wisdom, and accepted the place appointed for him. His rebellion and expulsion did not destroy his powers and did not make him a beast or a fiction or an inferior being. He kept his mighty strength and wisdom and turned them against the government of heaven, growing more artful since his fall and learning the most successful manner to tempt men with unperceived, wisely-laid plans. The history of his fall and his plots for the destruction of the human race, showing the nature of the divine government that the prince of evil was trying to overthrow, was opened to Adam and Eve in Eden by heavenly messengers to warn them of the danger that threatened them.

Ultimate Destruction

At the end God will vindicate His law and deliver His people, and Satan with all who joined him in rebellion will be cut off. Sin and sinners will perish root and branch, Satan himself the root and his followers the branches. The word spoken to Satan as the prince of evil and covering cherub who set his heart as the heart of God will then be fulfilled.

That covering cherub, who in his original exalted state sealed up the sum, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, had been in Eden the garden of God with every precious stone as his covering — sardius, topaz, diamond, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire, emerald, carbuncle — and gold, with the workmanship of tabrets and pipes prepared in him in the day he was created, the anointed cherub set upon the holy mountain of God walking up and down in the midst of the stones of fire, perfect from creation till iniquity was found in him, will be destroyed from the midst of the stones of fire. His heart having been lifted up because of his beauty so that he corrupted his wisdom by reason of his brightness and felt he should be above Christ, he with angels of great power was expelled from heaven and cast to the ground to be laid before kings. Cast out of the courts of God, he will be brought to ashes upon the earth, shall be a terror, and never shall be any more.

Doctrinal Teachings

Sin originated with him who next to Christ had been most honored of God and stood highest in power and glory among the inhabitants of heaven, in the first departure from truth when he rebelled against God and sought to establish an empire ruled by himself. Before his fall he was first of the covering cherubs, holy and undefiled, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, with every precious stone for his covering in Eden the garden of God. He occupied a special, exalted position in the heavenly courts and determined to have no one higher than himself, seeking to stand next to God in efficiency. Christ was above him as the only begotten Son of God, united with God, yet he claimed he must be above Christ.

That greatness he perverted, ascribing to God all the evils to which flesh is heir and representing God as delighting in the sufferings of His creatures and as revengeful and implacable. It was he who originated the doctrine of eternal torment as punishment for sin, that in this way he could lead men into infidelity and rebellion, distract souls, and dethrone human reason. Since seeking to dethrone God and take the Most High's place and failing and being cast out, he has worked to make people believe that God is arbitrary and harsh in dealing with them. Through his accumulated misrepresentations men in ignorance and moral darkness did not know God, and worshiped a false god clothed with the attributes of the satanic character, with a gloomy shadow cast between man and God, so that only a divine Instructor, the Lord Jesus as the light of the world, could roll back the clouds, dissipate that shadow, and reveal God to human understanding. His beauty led him to become proud and jealous of Jesus Christ, and after he was cast out of heaven with those who joined him he sought to make Adam and Eve his own by deceiving them and misrepresenting God's character.

Though separated from God as he was, he still retained many precious gems of thought God had given him, with heavenly training and education and discipline in the heavenly courts giving him a knowledge of good as well as of evil. This explains why thoughts of an elevated character that are attractive to the mind are found in the writings of pagans and infidels whom the world admires for priceless intellectual gifts and master minds, and why his agents sometimes display remarkable wisdom. He placed those gems in a framework of error to give luster to human sentiments and make attractive the utterances inspired by the prince of evil, mingling the precious with the vile, and this mixture is what gives him his power to deceive men. He was created with exceptional beauty, wisdom, and gifts, as light-bearer sharing God's glory in heaven, next to Jesus in power and majesty, sealing up the sum, with musical instruments prepared within him, and after separating from God he corrupted his wisdom and used those gifts to make error attractive. He has stolen the livery of heaven in order to exercise influence in his usurped dominion, and he has agents educated after his methods, inspired by his spirit, and adapted to his work. Those perverted gifts enable him to inspire ideas that sound noble and uplifting, disguising temptation as goodness and presenting himself as humanity's friend in order to deceive.

His fall after being once in grace in heaven proves that being once in grace does not secure a being in grace forever, and demonstrates the sure result of breaking God's law. His exalted origin explains his skill in flattering in the most pleasing manner and insinuating seemingly sublime theories to take the world captive and if possible deceive the very elect. He worshiped his own ideas and plans in wicked ambition and refused to be corrected, so he could no more claim the mercy and love of God, and justice decreed his expulsion from the heavenly courts. His fall exposes the danger of lifting up the soul unto vanity, feeling secure, and holding once in grace always in grace, and warns all who would lay claim to infallibility, with safety only in daily humility, daily conversion to God, feeling great need of the Holy Spirit, and earnest prayer for power to present Christ as Saviour.

His portrayal as a beautiful being supports that he appeared to Christ in the wilderness as an angel from heaven rather than as a disgusting fiend, with his beauty serving as a disguise in his attempt to overcome Christ through temptation. He can cite those former excellencies and learning as if they still belong to him, using his former agency to appear intelligent and good and to mislead people toward perdition. He boasted of his wisdom and knowledge and used his scientific knowledge to blind the mind and judgment of those connected with him, step by step wandering away from God while working out plans instigated by himself as the archdeceiver. His part is thus the pattern for one who uses scientific knowledge to blind others and follows plans instigated by the arch deceiver. There he used sophistries and misrepresentations, blinding those he influenced and deceiving many by continuous misrepresentation, and a man who continually misrepresents truth repeats the same actions.

Warnings and Applications

The war begun in heaven over who should stand next to God is being acted out again on earth in strange developments seen especially in America since San Francisco was destroyed by fire. The one described as glorious before his fall allowed desire for supremacy to rule him, was expelled, and then came to this earth and threw himself with zeal into commercialism. Having been restrained from carrying out his designs in heaven, he resolved to be his own god here and to make the world his own field of working by laying plans through commercialism. He leads men to plunge the world into commercial strife and to make it uncivilized by strange things not ordained by God, though the Lord forbids his plans and remains Ruler of heaven and earth. Those who reject the light given them and depart from the faith are following that fallen angel, and unless people stand loyal and true by the side of Prince Emmanuel they will be ensnared by him.

With the angels cast out with him he now labors to deceive all who will heed deception, to delay and hinder God's work, and to steal away true conviction of the Holy Spirit from those who do not discern the signs of the times. He can act in disguise and employ strange spirits to create confusion among God's people by enlarging small differences and hindering the saving of souls. He and his agencies watch every movement to divert minds from the special saving work to unessential details, to pick flaws, to magnify differences of opinion, and to bring confusion and disagreement into the ranks. His power and deceptive snares are so great that his false theories cannot be discerned and his temptations cannot be resisted and escaped without divine aid, only through personal experience gained by receiving a knowledge of Jesus Christ.

His refusal to yield when God sought to correct him warns against treating one's own plans, opinions, and judgment as infallible and unchangeable. To persist in one's own way and insist that one's judgment can never be revoked or changed is to take the position he took, and God has no use for such a one unless he changes and is reconverted. A minister who becomes so self-sufficient that no one can correct or balance him shows the same spirit, which is evidence that God has forsaken him. The same spirit of selfish ambition and opposition to faithful service was followed by Brother Miller when he pursued his own interests and weakened others' confidence in the work. Holding for years to opinions never to be given up and laying claim to infallibility continues his specious, seductive device.

As angels in heaven looked to him and lost the sense of the presence of Christ and God, so looking to man in confidence in human greatness repeats their course and such false sentiments must be met by refusing ever to place such confidence in man. His supposition that he should occupy the place of Christ and even the place of God stands set against the higher Being next to God who left the royal courts and consented to live as humanity to share all its afflictions. The contrast calls humanity to humble itself, to know what true conversion, self-denial, and self-sacrifice mean, and to obey God's words instead of having only a theory of truth, since one selfish movement in an unconverted state may ruin many souls. His exalted origin explains his skill in flattering in the most pleasing manner and insinuating seemingly sublime theories to take the world captive and if possible deceive the very elect.

Safety is only in daily humility, daily conversion to God, feeling great need of the Holy Spirit, and earnest prayer for power to present Christ as Saviour. God is now seeking a people who keep His commandments whom He can introduce into heaven without causing a second rebellion, after the first rebellion contaminated a large number of angels who had to be turned out with their leader. The adversary is acquainted with refinement, courtesy, and beauty in the character of those who obey God, and he seeks refined persons fit to be masters rather than coarse and vulgar men. The same spirit of pride, ambition, envy, discontent, and desire for position that led him to challenge God's government and seek to overthrow its established order later stirred Korah and his companions to rebel against God's appointed leaders. His self-exaltation proves that knowledge or experience does not perfect a person unless it leads to honoring God and Jesus Christ.