¹¹ Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
¹² 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.
¹³ 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.


Foremost, the passage is speaking of the King of Tyre - the two chapters preceding chapter 28, all spoke about the King of Tyre (not Lucifer, an angel). “You were in Eden”, verse 13 – How can one draw a conclusion that that scripture spoke of Lucifer (an angel)? That verse goes on to list precious stones “prepared in him”.

May we look at these precious stones for a minute? The stones to wit are The ruby, the topaz, and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx, and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise, and the emerald; And the gold.

In the introductory scriptures of the creation of man, we see that the streams that flowed out of Eden flowed to places where Gold and Onyx were found. As we progress through the scriptures, we see that the breastplate of the ephod, an apparel worn by the priests (and a couple of times by Kings), was decked in twelve precious stones; to wit are sardius (ruby), topaz, carbuncle (garnet), emerald, sapphire, diamond, jacinth, agate, amethyst, beryl, onyx, and jasper; it was embroidered with gold and its twelve precious stones set in gold filigree. The stones spoken of here in Ezekiel 28 are the same precious stones found on the breastplate of an ephod. Several descriptions of the duties of the first Adam give us strong reasons to believe that his chief duty in the Garden of Eden was to be a priest unto God, and the rivers from the garden and the lands they flowed to were picturesque descriptions of the means Adam was to speak with/to God similar to the use of the ephod.

The reference verse says, “On the day you were created, they were prepared”. If we infer from the second chapter of The Book of Genesis, just after the precious stones and rivers were mentioned, Adam was placed in Eden, perhaps on the same day. If one stopped his reading at verse 13, then, such one would conclude that Adam was the man in question here.

Two divination gemstones, Urim and Thummim, were placed in the breastplate (Leviticus 8:. The Hebrew word for “Urim” is “light”. In his final days, Moses charged Israel that the Urim-bearer or light-bearer should be a godly man (Deut. 33:. In addition to carrying the Urim and Thummim, the ephod served as the lining garment for the Breastplate of Righteousness or the Breastplate of Judgement worn by that godly man (High Priest).

Before I proceed any further, the name ‘Lucifer’ (not a proper name) means “light bringer or bearer” or “shining one”. He who bore the Urim was given the same title. Joseph, who bore the coat of many colors, a garment in the likeness of the ephod, was the shining one among his brothers. He could be called a ‘Lucifer’.

The ephod was worn when its bearer sought to communicate with God. I had highlighted earlier that the individual spoken of in Ezekiel 28 had the precious stones in him; this is in contrast with others who wore the stones, as they were, on themselves. This individual had the privilege to speak with God without wearing special apparel, divining, and withdrawing to a high place or temple - the privilege the saints have today through Christ Jesus.

In the next verse, the Lord said: "You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.”

Yet, this individual who is a man (v.2,9), is referred to as “The Anointed Cherub”. The definite article “the” shows that of all Cherubs, one specific Cherub (one who covers) was chosen. (From the narratives of Joseph and his eleven brothers, Aaron and the Levites, Joshua and the Spies, and David and his brothers, the ‘light bearer’ was distinguished because he had ‘the’ righteous heart and his righteous acts "covered" his brothers).

To buttress the fact that indeed these verses were referring to a man, here is the blessing Moses pronounces on Joseph (akin to the blessings Ezekiel reveals the King of Tyre enjoyed): Of Joseph, he said, "...With the choice things of heaven, with the dew, and from the deep lying beneath, and with the choice yield of the sun, and with the choice produce of the months. And with the best things of the ancient mountains, and with the choice things of the everlasting hills, and with the choice things of the earth and its fullness, And the favor of Him who dwelt in the bush. Let it come to the head of Joseph, And to the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers. As the firstborn of his ox, majesty is his, and his horns are the horns of the wild ox; With them, he will push the peoples, All at once, to the ends of the earth." (Deut. 33:13-17)

As stated earlier, when observing the precious stones associated with the King of Tyre; all the stones found in him are also the precious stones found on the breastplate of an ephod. We looked at what an ephod is, with emphasis on the Urim; Briefly, we looked at the function of the ephod as a means of inquiring from God, and how this could point to the privilege this king had. We also saw that this king was a man (v.2,9).

Before we continue, let us look at certain descriptions of this man, in the verses that preceded the verses where you concluded that this individual is Lucifer, the fallen angel. (I’d like you to note that Lucifer is not a proper name. It is a title meaning “lighter bearer or bringer “. It is the title given to one who bore the Urim (pronounced O-rim) divination Stone). The King of Tyre was described as:

1. One made like other men - from the earth (v.1).
2. One wise, wiser than Daniel (v.2, 12)
3. One who lived among men (not angels) (v.7)
4. Mortal (v.1,8,9)
5. One of Hebrew origin (v.10)
6. One who had the ‘seal of perfection’ and ‘perfect in beauty’ (v.12).

I’d like to speak a bit about the last description and speak of the other descriptions if necessary. Why did the Lord say, “You had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty”? Who is this guy?

The Lord said to Moses: “And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons. And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty. And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.” (Exodus 28:1-3)

Exodus 28 solves this riddle of Ezekiel 28 for us: The second divination stone, the Thummim, means “perfection” in Hebrew and Greek translations. This stone was to be placed in the breastplate sealed (attached) to the garment of extreme beauty, the ephod (Exod. 28:30). The garment was to bring praise to God and admiration from all that gazed upon it.

This King, who had the Thummim (perfection) in the ephod (beauty), was judged because he had exalted himself to the height of God, becoming proud, and craving for the admiration of men. The description, ‘perfect in beauty’, was an allegory for the effect (similar to that of the ephod) the King had on everyone around him.

It is worth noting that the duty of the priest was not to be carried out by the King, and vice versa. God’s judgment always befell the king that performed the duties of the priest. This King of Tyre perhaps was a priest turned king; and in performing the duties of the King, possessed the oracles of God and perverted them. Exodus 28:1-3 corroborates point five - this king had Hebrew roots.

It is also worthy to note that the splendor of great cities was described as “perfect in beauty” (Lam. 2:15, Ezek.27:3) - Revelation 21:19-25 is my reference text - the fitting response to any misunderstanding of Ezekiel 28:15.

The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temples. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed (Rev 21:19-25)

Earlier on, we saw that the scriptures hinted to us that Adam and the King of Tyre (through the riddle of Ezekiel 28:12) were primarily priests unto God. We also saw that the understanding of the meaning of the ephod, and the Urim and the Thummim, was essential to understanding the verses that spoke of the precious stones, the wisdom of this king, and his beauty. If we would understand the allegory of Ezekiel, we would have to delve into more meanings and perhaps some functions of these divination stones as oracles used during trial ordeals - difficult trials of persons.

First, the Urim:

The urim is said to be derived from the Hebrew word for ‘light’ or ‘to give light’. It was the white stone placed in the breastplate of judgment. Do you remember when Jesus said: “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone “? This white stone was used to bring to reveal the guilt of an accused person e.g., when it was used to locate Achan and try him after the defeat at Ai: The narrative from the Book of Joshua shows that: For Achan’s personal sin all the children of Israel suffered defeat in battle before Achan was found.

Please observe this verse:

Therefore, Saul said, ‘O Lord God of Israel, why have you not answered your servant this day? If this guilt is in me or in Jonathan my son, O Lord, God of Israel, give Urim. But if this guilt is in your people Israel, give Thummim.’ Then Jonathan and Saul were taken by lot, and the people escaped. (1 Samuel 14:41).

It was also used to give authority to eleven tribes of Israel to proceed in annihilating the tribe of Benjamin. The white stone signified that a proposed action was satisfactory to God. This stone signified understanding, veracity, affirmation, and doctrine.

In the reference text above, we see this concerning the New Jerusalem: In the daytime, for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed!

Secondly, The Thummim:

The Thummim is the black stone. In contrast to the Urim, which stands for ‘light’ or ‘illumination’, the Thummim is usually associated with gloom, darkness, or negativity. In the text used in my introduction, we see the twelve precious stones associated with the ephod being used as the foundation of the New Jerusalem. We also see that the profoundness of this city was its ‘illumination’. Just like the merchants of the world were attracted to Tyre, the Kings of the world were attracted to the brilliance (Light) of this city, New Jerusalem, for God was the source of its ‘illumination’.

Significantly, from this text in the Book of Revelations, a temple, and the Thummim are absent - The city had no night (Thummim) because all the inhabitants of the city were guiltless. Note: The Kings of the earth bore their glory (akin to the Lucifers, Urim bearers- the shining ones- signifying that in the end, everyone will be a priest unto God through Christ.

Going back to Moses’ era, we see that the in the making of all the things the priests used in the worship of Jehovah, only one was not given design specifications; one could say it wasn’t made ‘with human hands’ - the ephod and its elements. This suggests that this garment pre-dated Moses. (I had suggested earlier that Joseph’s garment of many colors was an ephod).

The ‘priestly kings, Joseph and the King of Tyre, were blessed with tremendous prosperity that their estate was referred to as ‘The Garden of Eden’. In the foremost Garden of Eden, the ‘Tree of Life’ was associated with light; while the ‘Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil’ was associated with darkness. In the concluding parts of the scriptures, the latter tree was absent (Rev.22:2) and the former remained - Light (Urim) remained and the darkness dissolved (Thummim).

In the Revelation of John, the new city, Jerusalem was described in terms of the Garden of Eden...