Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 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 was 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. 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. 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 (verses 11-19).
The Prince and the King are identical, and not different persons as some
say. But what is said now of the ruler of Tyrus as king could never be
said of a mere human being. Hardly any of the descriptions given in
these verses can be applied to the heathen King of Tyrus. The
description fits another being, the person who was originally the
greatest and most beautiful creature of God, but has become a fallen
creature and the enemy of God. In one word, it is Satan in his original
greatness and in his fall who is revealed in connection with the King of
Tyrus. Satan was the power behind the throne of the Tyrian King, as
Satan is still the god of this age who controls the kingdoms of the
world. Inasmuch, then, as Tyrus is a type of the commercial glory of the
world, its wealth and pride, foreshadowing the final great world-city or
world-system, Babylon, the ruler of Tyrus, spoken of as Prince,
foreshadows the Antichrist, while as King, Satan himself stands behind
him as the domineering power. The descriptions given of Satan as an
unfallen being, show that he was originally a marvelous being, full of
wisdom and perfect in beauty. From Jude's epistle we learn that even
Michael still recognized in him the grandeur of his unfallen past and
did not bring a railing accusation against him (Jude verses 8-10). He
was in Eden, the garden of God, and every precious stone was his
covering. It is a description of Satan's original place and of his great
beauty. Furthermore, he was the anointed cherub that covereth; the Lord
had set him to be this. As the anointed, divinely chosen cherub he held
an exalted position in connection with the government of the throne of
God.[19] Everything shows that this majestic creature possessed a place
of great dignity, being "upon the holy mountain of God," walking up and
down in the midst of the stones of fire, he was ever present and moving
about in the fiery glory of a holy and righteous God. "Thou was perfect
in thy ways from the day that thou wast created till unrighteousness was
found in thee." Surely the first part of this verse could never apply to
the King of Tyrus nor to any other human; it is a picture of the
unfallen glorious creature of God. But unrighteousness was found in him.
He sinned, and as a result divine sentence is pronounced upon him. Yet
this sentence in verse 16 is not yet executed. He is not yet cast out in
the fullest sense, nor bruised completely, nor is he in the lake of
fire. All this is future. God in His all-wise purpose delays the
complete execution of this judgment. But the day will come when he, who
walked once in the presence of the glory of God, in the midst of the
stones of fire, will be cast into the lake of fire, his eternal abode.
What was his sin? "Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou
has corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness." He became puffed
up, lifted up with pride (1 Tim. iii:6) on account of his own beauty and
brightness. There can be no question, but the person so closely linked
with the King of Tyrus is Satan. The passage contains one of the most
interesting revelations we have in the Bible on the person and dignity of
that fallen being. Verses 18 and 19 show that the King is in view and
the fate of his city Tyrus: "I have turned thee to ashes upon the earth
in the sight of all them that behold thee."
[19] For a detailed and excellent exposition of this passage see the
book on "Satan," by F. C. Jennings, pp. 43-48.