Ezekiel 28:11-19 – Don’t be ruined by pride

Prophecies often have a double reference. This is one of those prophecies. While the lament in Ezekiel 28:11-19 concerns the prince of Tyre, the implication of another being cannot be missed. We can make a sanctified guess here. He is none other than Satan or Lucifer, referred to here as the fallen cherub. While we do not want to be dogmatic, the description given makes it hard not to see Lucifer or Satan, the fallen archangel being referred to.

Before his fall, he had the seal of perfection and was wise and beautiful. Not only that he was found in the Garden of Eden covered with all kinds of precious stones. These precious stones made him dazzle. The shine and the glisten of the stones must have made him into a bright light which made Paul referred to as “an angel of light.”

 

He was a cherub could not be more obvious. For God in verse 14 said that he was placed there “on the holy mountain of God and walked amid fire.” He was perfect until he was corrupted by sin. According to verse 17, his was pride.  He became proud because of his beauty and used it to abuse his wisdom. Pride became the root of all sins. An intelligent guess will tell us that this cherub was so impressed with his own beauty, wisdom, power, and position that he started to covert the honour and place that belonged to God alone.  Because of her corruption, Tyre as well as the fallen cherub would be shamefully removed.  His selfish greed and arrogance would all come to a humiliating end. 

It was pride that had caused the ruin of this anointed cherub and cost him his place. Won’t it be foolhardy for us mortal men made in God’s image hope to gain by being full of pride? As Billy Graham once said, “Pride comes in looking at oneself, meekness comes looking at God.” Where is our focus today?  No matter how good-looking, how clever, and how powerful we think we are, learn not to focus on them. Focusing on them will make us proud. Besides, these are temporary things. We must turn our eyes on Jesus and behold His beautiful face. Then all these things will become strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.