What Happened on the Cross. Nick Peros
and therefore the greatest of God’s created angels, the greatest of the created heavenly beings. This is Lucifer, later called Satan. As the passage continues, we learn about Lucifer’s nature, his position, his role before God, and also, to some extent, what happened in the course of his rebellion.
Lucifer’s Perfection
Ezekiel 28:2 tells us Lucifer was the “seal of perfection,” that he was “full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.” Lucifer was created absolutely perfect, utterly holy, magnificent. The term “seal of perfection” implies God created Lucifer as the very pinnacle of the entire angelic host, that he was God’s greatest heavenly creature. When Lucifer is described as “full of wisdom,” this tells us he, more than any other angelic being, would have known and understood God’s goodness, his holiness, his love. When he is described as “perfect in beauty” this means not only was he the greatest and most powerful of the angelic beings by rank and position, but even physically he was breathtaking to behold. Furthermore, we are told: “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created” (Ezek 28:15).
Not only was Lucifer perfect in beauty and full of wisdom, but, from the day that he was created, he was also perfect in all his ways. This means Lucifer, from the day he was created, was utterly and completely holy, good, and righteous, completely without sin—he was perfect in his nature.
From these verses we see God created Lucifer as his greatest angelic being, making him the greatest in rank and position above the entire angelic host. Lucifer was also filled with a deep wisdom, which allowed him to know and understand God better than any other angelic being, and he was made so physically beautiful he could only be described as the pinnacle of perfection. He was God’s special, exalted, heavenly prince, his greatest heavenly creation, completely and perfectly holy, righteous, and good.
Representative of All Angels
One other very important thing we learn from this passage about Lucifer is that not only was Lucifer God’s greatest heavenly creature, but he was also the representative of the entire angelic host before God, and he was also God’s representative to the entire angelic host—he would speak to God on behalf of the entire angelic host, and he would speak to the entire angelic host on behalf of God. This is an exceedingly exalted position. How can we know this from the passage in Ezekiel 28? We can understand it from the following verse:
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. (Ezek 28:13)
How, from this verse, can we conclude Lucifer was the representative of the entire angelic host before God, and also God’s representative to the entire angelic host? This is an important truth to understand, and we can understand it as follows.
In Israel, the role of the high priest was to represent all twelve tribes of Israel before God, and, by extension, to represent God to all of Israel. The high priest, as well as all of the priesthood of Israel, came from the tribe of Levi, the tribe of Moses and Aaron, with Aaron, Moses’ brother, being the first high priest. The Bible gives us many specific details on what was involved in the original institution of the high priest, including a detailed description of how the robes of the high priest were to be made. These were the robes the high priest would wear when he would go into the presence of God to represent all the people of Israel, and offer sacrifice for the sins of the people. This is described in Exodus 28:15–21:
You shall make the breastplate of judgment. Artistically woven according to the workmanship of the ephod you shall make it: of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, you shall make it. It shall be doubled into a square: a span shall be its length, and a span shall be its width. And you shall put settings of stones in it, four rows of stones: The first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and an emerald; this shall be the first row; the second row shall be a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; 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 settings. And the stones shall have the names of the sons of Israel, twelve according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, each one with its own name; they shall be according to the twelve tribes.” (NKJV)
We are told in this passage that the high priest was to wear a breastplate as part of his priestly garment, and we are given the exact measurements of the breastplate that is to be made for the high priest. We are also told that, upon the breastplate the high priest was to wear when he entered into the presence of God, it was to contain settings of twelve precious stones, four rows of three stones. The precious stones are listed as sardius, topaz, emerald; turquoise, sapphire, diamond; jacinth, agate, amethyst; beryl, onyx and jasper. We are also told these twelve stones represented the twelve tribes of Israel.
This very clearly tells us the reason the high priest was to wear those twelve stones upon himself as he entered into the presence of God was to signify that he, as high priest, was representing all Israel—all twelve tribes—before God. This is exactly parallel to the description of Lucifer in Ezekiel 28. Further, in Ezekiel 28:13, we are told:
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
Where Aaron’s high priest breastplate was adorned with twelve stones, we see that this “anointed Cherub’s” covering was set with nine stones, all of which were also in gold settings, as were the stones on Aaron’s breastplate. This means Lucifer, the anointed cherub, wore these nine precious stones upon himself, for they were his covering, which further denotes he was wearing the stones as part of some sort of covering garment.
What is the significance of the nine stones upon Lucifer’s covering? We know the twelve stones on Aaron’s breastplate represented the twelve tribes of Israel, one stone for each tribe. Why are there only nine stones on this anointed Cherub’s covering? It is because, just as the twelve stones upon Aaron’s robe represented the twelve tribes of Israel, so the nine stones upon Lucifer’s covering represented the nine ranks of angels.
Also, we see that nine of the twelve stones on Aaron’s breastplate are the same stones as the nine stones on the anointed Cherub’s covering—sardius, topaz, diamond, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. This is because the nine stones of the anointed Cherub’s covering serve the same purpose as the twelve stones on the high priest’s breastplate—just as the twelve stones being worn by the high priest upon his robe signify he is representing all twelve tribes of Israel before God, likewise the nine stones on the anointed Cherub’s covering signify this anointed Cherub is representing all of the nine angelic ranks before God. This anointed Cherub is the representative of all the angelic ranks before God. Likewise, just as the high priest of Israel also represented God to the twelve tribes of Israel, so did the anointed cherub, Lucifer, represent God to all the angelic ranks.
As a result, we know from Ezekiel 28:13 that before his fall, this anointed Cherub, Lucifer, was not only God’s greatest created heavenly being, but he was also in the position of representing all of the angels before God and representing God to all of the angels. Not only was that a position of highest exaltation, but it was also a position of highest creaturely authority and of the utmost trust. All of the other angelic beings would look to Lucifer, who was God’s representative to them, to speak God’s truth and God’s will to them—they trusted him.
Everything about Lucifer’s rank, power, position, wisdom and beauty was given to him by his creator, by God, and God specifically affirms this when he tells us the following: “I established you” (Ezek 28:14). Lucifer was established by God.
The Holy Mountain of God
As part of his exalted heavenly position, Lucifer is also described as follows:
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.” (Ezek 28:14)
The