What Happened on the Cross. Nick Peros

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СКАЧАТЬ and character, describing him from the moment he was created and going on to describe his sin and his ultimate end, yet to come.

      Ezekiel 28

      Ezekiel 28 is divided into two clear sections. Ezekiel 28:1–10 is a prophecy against the prince of Tyre. Tyre was a great capital of the ancient world, and this prince of Tyre is its human ruler. This passage clearly tells us the prince of Tyre is a man, for we are told:

      And you say, ‘I am a god,

      I sit in the seat of gods,

      In the midst of the seas,’

      Yet you are a man, and not a god. (Ezek 28:1–2 NKJV)

      The passage continues to prophesy his destruction. The second section is Ezekiel 28:11–19, and it is here we find the description of Lucifer before his fall.

      A Lamentation

      Unlike the opening section of Ezekiel 28, which is clearly a prophecy, this second section is something different, for here God instructs Ezekiel as follows:

      The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’” (Ezek 28:11 NIV)

      God instructs Ezekiel to take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre. This is not a prophecy per se, but rather, at its heart, it is a lamentation of God over the king of Tyre. A lament is a song of weeping, a song of sorrow, so when God instructs Ezekiel to take up this lament over the king of Tyre, it is in fact God weeping over the king of Tyre.

      The King of Tyre

      Who is the king of Tyre? In the first section of Ezekiel 28, the prophecy is about a man, and that man is called the prince of Tyre. However, even though in the prophecy he is described as the prince of Tyre, that man was the earthly, or human, ruler of Tyre—in the eyes of the world, that man was the king of Tyre. So why then, in the second section of Ezekiel 28, does God take up a lament over the king of Tyre? If the earthly, or human, ruler of Tyre is called the prince of Tyre, then who is this king of Tyre?

      As Ezekiel 28:11–19 continues, we see very clearly this king of Tyre is not a human being; rather, this king of Tyre is the real power behind the human ruler of Tyre. In fact, we are clearly told this king of Tyre is an angelic being who had set his power base over the city of Tyre. As the real power behind the earthly ruler of Tyre, this angelic being is called the king of Tyre. This king of Tyre is Satan.

      Satan’s Throne

      The Bible tells us Satan sets up his throne at various places around the earth, moving it to various cities around the world. As a creature of time and space, Satan, just like you and I, can only be in one place at one time. He is not everywhere, for he is not God—he is a created creature. We are told the following in Revelation 2: “I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives” (Rev 2:13 NIV).

      In this passage in Revelation 2, the apostle John is told to send a letter to the church in Pergamum, a city of the ancient world, being instructed by Jesus on what to write to the church in Pergamum. One of the things Jesus tells John to write is that they live in the city where Satan has his throne. This is the same situation as the one described in Ezekiel 28:11. Although by the time of Revelation 2:13, Satan had moved his throne to Pergamum, in the time of Ezekiel 28, Satan had his throne in Tyre, and so in Ezekiel 28 he is described as the king of Tyre, the real power behind the human ruler of Tyre. As a result, when God tells Ezekiel to take up a lament over the king of Tyre, he is instructing him to take up a song of weeping, a song of sorrow, over Satan.

      Here is the passage from Ezekiel 28:11–19 in its entirety, giving us a very clear and detailed description of Lucifer before his fall:

      Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God:

      “You were the seal of perfection,

      Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

      You were in Eden, the garden of God;

      Every precious stone was your covering:

      The sardius, topaz, and diamond,

      Beryl, onyx, and jasper,

      Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.

      The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes

      Was prepared for you on the day you were created.

      You were the anointed cherub who covers;

      I established you;

      You were on the holy mountain of God;

      You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.

      You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,

      Till iniquity was found in you.

      By the abundance of your trading

      You became filled with violence within,

      And you sinned;

      Therefore I cast you as a profane thing

      Out of the mountain of God;

      And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,

      From the midst of the fiery stones.

      Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;

      You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor;

      I cast you to the ground,

      I laid you before kings,

      That they might gaze at you.

      You defiled your sanctuaries

      By the multitude of your iniquities,

      By the iniquity of your trading;

      Therefore I brought fire from your midst;

      It devoured you,

      And I turned you to ashes upon the earth

      In the sight of all who saw you.

      All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you;

      You have become a horror,

      And shall be no more forever.”’ (NKJV)

      The King of Tyre is an Angelic Being

      As the passage begins, God describes the being he is lamenting, telling us in verse 13 that this being was created: “prepared for you on the day you were created” (Ezek 28:13).

      Apart from Adam and Eve, СКАЧАТЬ