“Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God: You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God: every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you.’” (Ezekiel 28:11-17 ESV)
Here, in Ezekiel 28, the Bible tells us that Lucifer was an anointed cherub. We also know that he was cast out of heaven for attempting to overthrow God. In Luke 10:18, Jesus said “I beheld satan as lightning fall from heaven.” It is my firm belief that satan was cast down to the earth, and that this earth was under his dominion before God created Adam and Eve. When God created Adam and Eve, in Genesis 1:28, it states, and “God blessed them, and God said unto them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it.’” Notice here that God said to replenish the earth, meaning that obviously the earth was inhabited before God ever created Adam and Eve. The exact reasons why no one was left are not known, but obviously there were at one time former inhabitants on the earth. This, of course, would explain why scientists have uncovered dinosaur bones millions of years old. But the time from the creation of Adam and Eve until now is only a little over 6000 years.
Lucifer's original sin was pride. He was created as one of the beautiful cherubs. But because of his beauty, his pride got the best of him. Many have painted the devil as a horrible looking thing with horns, but do not be deceived. Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians 11:14 that “satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”
Looking at Ezekiel 28:13, we read, “thou hast been in Eden, the Garden of God.” This proves that these verses in Ezekiel are not about a man, but about Lucifer. I want you to notice the terminology here though. It says Eden, the Garden of God, and not the Garden of Eden. Three times in the creation story Eden is mentioned. But all three times it was the Garden of Eden. Here in Ezekiel though it is called the Garden of God. Why? I believe it's because they are not the same gardens. I think we're talking about two different gardens altogether.
Allow me to explain. Listen to what verse 13 says again; “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. When Satan was in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, he did not have diamonds and emeralds and gold. When the serpent started talking to Eve, she didn't say, “Oh, how beautiful and how shiny your diamonds are.” No, she didn't say that. Because they weren't there. satan had already fallen. He had already lost his beautiful covering because of sin. The Garden of Eden was Adam's garden. Satan had to use a snake. How befitting.
Looking further into this Scripture, we now read in verse 14, “Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth.” From this we know that he was an angel. But what exactly does “the anointed cherub that covereth” mean? The word anointed here means “supreme favor with God.” Here, we see that Lucifer once was a very high-ranking angel with God. The Hebrew word for “who covereth” literally means “one who leads.” When these words are combined together, they give us the full meaning. This person, Lucifer, was the ruler and leader of the angelic beings in heaven and apparently led them in their worship unto God.
This ties right in with what verse 13 said of him, “the workmanship of thy tabrets and pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.” Lucifer had built in instruments! The word tabrets here is where we get our English word tambourine. The pipes mentioned here were a type of an organ pipe that made some sort of beautiful sound. It is obvious that Lucifer was once the praise and worship leader of the angels in heaven.
Now, as we look at the latter half of verse 14, we see this: “you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.” This is where we really start to understand what Lucifer’s job was as the anointed cherub that covereth. Cherubs were guardians. They guarded God’s glory in Ezekiel 10:18-19. According to Ezekiel 1:24-6, they also guard and carry God’s throne. In Genesis 3:24 cherubs guard the entrance to the Garden of Eden. In Exodus 25 we see that they sit on both sides of the mercy seat to guard the Ark of the Covenant.
Lucifer’s job, though, was a little bit more, well, in fact, it was a whole lot more! Lucifer, according to verse 14 also “walked in the midst of the stones of fire.” May I probe your mind for just a moment? In the Bible, who was the only person ever allowed to touch the stones of fire? Think about it, these stones of fire were found in only one place–the Holy of Holies! And the one person who was allowed in there was the High Priest of the temple! I submit to you that Lucifer’s job, before his fall, was the high priest of heaven. He was a personal minister unto God.
In verse 13, it says, “every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings.” What an amazing comparison to the High Priest’s breastplate that God ordered made for Aaron. Exodus 28:15-20 (ESV) states: “You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in skilled work. In the style of the ephod you shall make it—of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen shall you make it. It shall be square and doubled, a span its length and a span its breadth. You shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first row; and the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree.” And, if we were to take this even further, we also see a striking correlation to the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21:19-20 (ESV): “The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.”
Someone may ask at this juncture, “Why did God do that? Why did God make the High Priestly breastplate to match the stones that were built into Lucifer? Why did He build New Jerusalem with the same stones?” To torment the devil! Every time satan saw that breastplate on the High Priest, walking into the Holy of Holies, it was a reminder that he once was there, but no longer. Every time he hears about the New Jerusalem prepared for the saints of God; he is reminded of his future–hell. Every time he looked at each of these, it was a reminder from Yahweh, “Lucifer, you had it made. You were My high priest, but you blew it. Now I’ve found someone to take your place–mankind! Every time you see that breastplate and hear about the New Jerusalem; it will be a reminder that you failed.”
Then, do you know what God did? He sent the greatest High Priest this world has ever seen to this earth–Jesus! Whereas the high priest under the old covenant could only enter the Holy of Holies once per year to shed the blood of bulls and lambs for the people’s sins, Jesus entered once and for all. His blood made the ultimate atonement for each of us to walk in absolute victory. When Jesus cried “It is finished!” the veil in the temple was torn in half from top to bottom.
Do not miss the importance of this–when the veil of the temple was made, it was made with cherubim sewn into the fabric! Exodus 26:31 tells us, “And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it.” And that’s not All! Inside the Holy of Holies, on the walls were engraved cherubim as well. “He overlaid also the house, the beams, the posts, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubim on the walls” (2 Chronicles 3:7). Furthermore, you also had the cherubim with outstretched wings over the mercy seat: “And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be” (Exodus 25:18-2- ESV).
When Jesus uttered His last words, and the veil ripped in half, it did so exposing the cherubim on the inside and giving access to all of mankind into the Holy of Holies. Whereas only the High Priest could go into the Holy of Holies once a year, now we can go into it ourselves, any time we want to. Why? Because we have been made priests unto God! And whereas Lucifer used to be the guardian of the throne of God, the presence of God, the glory of God, now we are the New Guardians! We are his replacement! For God “hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.” (Revelation 1:6)