Letter Answering Department Survey: Satan and Eziekiel 28:18

SUBJECT: Satan

QUESTION: Is Satan’s fate being described in Ezekiel 28:18?

ANSWER:

No, Ezekiel 28 is not talking about Satan or his fate. It is speaking about the city of Tyre and the king thereof. Notice the commentary.

Ezekiel 28:18

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.

Ezekiel 28:17-19

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. Thine heart. This is direct application of the story to the king, who represents the city (Ezekiel 27:3) and its inhabitants (27:8-9). 18,19. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries. The prophet predicts the ruin of Tyre itself. The king desecrated the temples which made Tyre a holy island, bringing about their destruction through his own sin. He fell below the standard of the truth his religion had preserved for him.

F. Oracle Against Sidon. 28:20-26.

Other maledictions against Sidon occur at Joel 3:4-8; Zechariah 9:2. Sidon (present day Saida, probably connected with the deity Sid, from the root sud, "to hunt") is located twenty-five miles north of Tyre. It is mentioned in the Amarna Letters (75,85,149, etc.) and by Homer, Iliad 7:290. The tribe of Asher did not drive out the Sidonians (Judges 1:31; 10:12). Sidon later became subject to its daughter city Tyre (Jos Antiq. IX. 14. 2). It was destroyed by Esarhaddon in 677; with Tyre it became subject to Pharaoh-hophra in 588; it submitted to Cambyses in 526 (Herodotus VII. 89; VIII. 67); it sold cedar for the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple (Ezra 3:7); it was destroyed by the Persians in 345; it surrendered to Alexander the Great in 333; and it passed to the Romans in 64. In several NT references it is mentioned in connection with Tyre (cf. introd. to ch. 26), and Paul touched at its port (Acts 27:3). ~from The Wycliffe Bible Commentary

Here is another commentary confirming the same facts:

Ezekiel 28:18

Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries-i.e., the holy places, attributed to the King of Tyre in Ezekiel 28:14 as his ideal position.

As he 'profaned' it, so God will "profane" him (Ezekiel 28:16).

Therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee-as he abused his supposed elevation amidst "the stones of fire" (Ezekiel 28:16), so God will make His "fire" to "devour" him. ~from Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary

Now notice this from our booklet, "Satan's Greatest Deception":

There are only three archangels mentioned in the Bible by name. One is Michael, another is Gabriel, and the third is Lucifer.

Turn to and read the two biblical accounts which are both prophecy and history of Lucifer, one of the three archangels who were close to God's own throne long before the world began! "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

"For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. "Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. "They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms?" (Isaiah 14:12-16).

Here, in the midst of a proverb against the king of Babylon, we are given an obvious type, or description of Satan's original state. He is called "Lucifer, son of the morning!" The name Lucifer means "morning star" or "bright shining star of the dawn." He was said in Isaiah's prophecy to "weaken the nations!" Compare this with Revelation 12:9, where the devil is said to "deceive all nations!"

In verse 13, where Lucifer said he would "exalt his throne" above the stars of God, we have another reference to angels around God's throne, irrespective of rank or beauty. The Bible frequently uses stars as a type of angels. The type of Satan the devil fades quickly to the antitype, the king of Babylon, with verse 15 and 16.

A parallel scripture is found in Ezekiel 28. "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. "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.

"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. "Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. "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. "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" (Ezekiel 28:12-17).

There can be no mistaking the reference to the devil in this passage, for he is said to have been in "Eden the garden of God." Notice verse 14! He is called "the anointed cherub that covereth." Again, in verse 16: "I will destroy thee, 0 covering cherub!" ---end---

Note: Clearly verses 2 through 17 are referring to Satan. Verse 18 however jumps back to the King of Tyre. The king is a type of Satan in this chapter. Notice this from the Herbert W. Armstrong booklet, "Did God Create a Devil" which is posted at: http://home.sprynet.com/~pabco/dgcad.htm

Lucifer Becomes the Devil

So Lucifer became the devil. God changed his name when his character changed. He tried to make himself God. But we find HE WAS CAST DOWN TO THIS EARTH.

Now, quickly turn over to Ezekiel 28, verse 1. "Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus. . ." The prince of Tyre, or Tyrus, was a very evil man. He was an aggressor, an invader, a conqueror. He was a tool of the devil. Now, as we come to the twelfth verse, just as in Isaiah 14, the lesser type lifts up to the great anti-type. We find the devil himself pictured! Now we find one that is not human at all. For a few verses, it is talking about the devil himself, and not about a human being.

Beginning at verse 12: ''Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus." Here is the REAL king that ruled in and through the prince of Tyrus. "And say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God. Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty." Here was one who sealed up the sum total of perfection, of wisdom, and beauty.

Could that be said about a man? Does God speak like that of any mortal man? Never! He is speaking of some being far greater than man. Notice, "Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God." On the earth! Then he said, "The workmanship of thy tabrets and thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast CREATED." This was not a human being, who was born.

The prophet continues to say, "Thou art the anointed CHERUB that covereth." If you will refer to Exodus 25, verses16-22, you will find the type of the throne of God described. Included in the earthly type - the tabernacle in the days of Moses - was the mercy seat which was a picture of the very throne of God. On it two cherubim were placed. They were made of metals, of course, but their wings stretched out and covered the very throne of God. They symbolized the two great cherubs whose wings cover the very throne of God.

Through Ezekiel, God says: "Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth." In other words, one of the two great cherubs ruling over millions of other angels! He was a created being. He sealed up the sum total of perfection, of wisdom, and of beauty. Then in verse 14, we read this: "I have set thee so," God said. God had set him in office. "Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God,'' - Palestine or Eden!” Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day thou wast created. Here was a being that was created perfect UNTIL INIQUITY WAS FOUND IN HIM.

That iniquity was described in Isaiah 14. He said, "I'm not satisfied with what I have. I'm going to become an invader. I'm going to take God's place and be the God of the universe." That was the devil's sin - INSUBORDINATION.---end---

Note: We are seeing from this the type and anti-type between Satan and the King of Tyre. The commentaries show that verse 18 is speaking of the king and not Satan.

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