Ezekiel 28:11–19

Read the passage.

The Lord, through Ezekiel, continues the pattern of giving a prophecy of judgement and then raising a lament over the judged. And like the previous lament over Tyre the city, this one extols the virtues of the king of Tyre before deconstructing them. The king of Tyre is compared to a guardian cherub, placed in a perfect environment and adorned with beautiful wealth.

I admit to being thrown off by the comparison to a cherub instead of Adam, considering the explicit reference to Eden in verse 13. But the mentions of “stones of fire” (vv. 14, 16) that the cherub walks among are more appropriate for an angelic being than a man. The notes in the Reformation Study Bible mention that some consider this lament a comparison to the fall of Satan, which is plausible to me, at the least. If that’s the case, there are some implications in calling Satan a “guardian cherub”, and it makes the latter half of this lament eschatological in nature.

In verse 15, unrighteousness is found in the cherub. Violence abounds and beauty engenders pride. This corrupted the cherub’s wisdom, and because of all this the Lord casts him down. The kings of the earth see the downfall and the consuming fire that destroys him, and they are apalled.

All Your actions are perfectly just, O Lord. None of Your adversaries escape unpunished.