The King of Tyre

[B-A-C]

Tyre is a city that still exists today in modern Lebanon. Back in New Testament times it would have been part of Syria.
In the time of Ezekiel it would have been part of Phoenecia.

In Ezekiel there a passage that talks about the sin of the King of Tyre, but this is often taken as an allegory.
An allegory is just a fancy word that means something or someone is used as an example to illustrate something about someone else who has a similar trait or feature about them. Sometimes if we say John looks like Bill his father and has his smile, or has eyes like his mother Sue, we might not know John, but if we we know what Bill or Sue his parents look like, maybe we could get an idea of what he looks like.

The King of Tyre is usually used as an allegory of Satan.

Ezek 28:1; The word of the LORD came again to me, saying,
Ezek 28:2; "Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because your heart is lifted up And you have said, 'I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods In the heart of the seas'; Yet you are a man and not God, Although you make your heart like the heart of God--
Ezek 28:3; Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; There is no secret that is a match for you.
Ezek 28:4; "By your wisdom and understanding You have acquired riches for yourself And have acquired gold and silver for your treasuries.
Ezek 28:5; "By your great wisdom, by your trade You have increased your riches And your heart is lifted up because of your riches--
Ezek 28:6; Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because you have made your heart Like the heart of God,
Ezek 28:7; Therefore, behold, I will bring strangers upon you, The most ruthless of the nations. And they will draw their swords Against the beauty of your wisdom And defile your splendor.
Ezek 28:8; 'They will bring you down to the pit, And you will die the death of those who are slain In the heart of the seas.
Ezek 28:9; 'Will you still say, "I am a god," In the presence of your slayer, Though you are a man and not God, In the hands of those who wound you?
Ezek 28:10; 'You will die the death of the uncircumcised By the hand of strangers, For I have spoken!' declares the Lord GOD!"'"
Ezek 28:11; Again the word of the LORD came to me saying,
Ezek 28:12; "Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
Ezek 28:13; "You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: 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, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, Was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared.
Ezek 28:14; "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.
Ezek 28:15; "You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you.
Ezek 28:16; "By the abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence, And you sinned; Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the stones of fire.
Ezek 28:17; "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, That they may see you.
Ezek 28:18; "By the multitude of your iniquities, In the unrighteousness of your trade You profaned your sanctuaries. Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you; It has consumed you, And I have turned you to ashes on the earth In the eyes of all who see you.
Ezek 28:19; "All who know you among the peoples Are appalled at you; You have become terrified And you will cease to be forever."'"

Is this Satan? I guess it comes down to whether believe this is a revelation from God or not.
There likely really was a King of Tyre in the time of Ezekiel, and it's likely his sin was that he tried to make himself like God. However it's unlikely that a man in the time of Ezekiel would still be alive if existed in the garden of Eden (verse 13)
Also it's unlikely that an earthly king would be called a cherub (verses 14 and 16)
We see that the king of Type will be cast into a pit (verse 8) Satan will be imprisoned in a pit for a thousand years
during the millennial reign. Also it's unlikely that a human "was cast down from the mountain of God". But we know Satan was cast down from heaven like lightning. In verse 15 it says this being was blameless, until...unrighteousness was found in him.
It is possible Satan was in heaven before he rebelled? Is it possible he was as blameless and Holy as the angels?

If this is really an allegory to Satan, then it appears Satan in an angel (cherub) who is a created being (verse 13).

 

[B-A-C]

Another passage that may be talking about Satan.

Isa 14:12; "How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations!
Isa 14:13; "But you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north.
Isa 14:14; 'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.'
Isa 14:15; "Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit.
Isa 14:16; "Those who see you will gaze at you, They will ponder over you, saying, 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms,
Isa 14:17; Who made the world like a wilderness And overthrew its cities, Who did not allow his prisoners to go home?'

The King James Bible mentions the word "Lucifer" in Isa 14:12; but most newer translations say "Star of the morning". This is the only verse in the Bible that the word
"Lucifer is used" Lucifer isn't really a name so much as a title "Star of the morning". It seems this being has the same sin and the king of Tyre in Ezekiel 28. He wanted
to make himself like God, in fact he wanted to raise his throne higher than the throne of God. Also, this person ends up in the pit. Could the prisoners in verse 17 be the
captives that Christ set free?

Could this be Satan?

 

[Dovegiven]

Tyre is a city that still exists today in modern Lebanon. Back in New Testament times it would have been part of Syria.
In the time of Ezekiel it would have been part of Phoenecia.

In Ezekiel there a passage that talks about the sin of the King of Tyre, but this is often taken as an allegory.
An allegory is just a fancy word that means something or someone is used as an example to illustrate something about someone else who has a similar trait or feature about them. Sometimes if we say John looks like Bill his father and has his smile, or has eyes like his mother Sue, we might not know John, but if we we know what Bill or Sue his parents look like, maybe we could get an idea of what he looks like.

The King of Tyre is usually used as an allegory of Satan.

Ezek 28:1; The word of the LORD came again to me, saying,
Ezek 28:2; "Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because your heart is lifted up And you have said, 'I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods In the heart of the seas'; Yet you are a man and not God, Although you make your heart like the heart of God--
Ezek 28:3; Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; There is no secret that is a match for you.
Ezek 28:4; "By your wisdom and understanding You have acquired riches for yourself And have acquired gold and silver for your treasuries.
Ezek 28:5; "By your great wisdom, by your trade You have increased your riches And your heart is lifted up because of your riches--
Ezek 28:6; Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because you have made your heart Like the heart of God,
Ezek 28:7; Therefore, behold, I will bring strangers upon you, The most ruthless of the nations. And they will draw their swords Against the beauty of your wisdom And defile your splendor.
Ezek 28:8; 'They will bring you down to the pit, And you will die the death of those who are slain In the heart of the seas.
Ezek 28:9; 'Will you still say, "I am a god," In the presence of your slayer, Though you are a man and not God, In the hands of those who wound you?
Ezek 28:10; 'You will die the death of the uncircumcised By the hand of strangers, For I have spoken!' declares the Lord GOD!"'"
Ezek 28:11; Again the word of the LORD came to me saying,
Ezek 28:12; "Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
Ezek 28:13; "You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: 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, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, Was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared.
Ezek 28:14; "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.
Ezek 28:15; "You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you.
Ezek 28:16; "By the abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence, And you sinned; Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the stones of fire.
Ezek 28:17; "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, That they may see you.
Ezek 28:18; "By the multitude of your iniquities, In the unrighteousness of your trade You profaned your sanctuaries. Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you; It has consumed you, And I have turned you to ashes on the earth In the eyes of all who see you.
Ezek 28:19; "All who know you among the peoples Are appalled at you; You have become terrified And you will cease to be forever."'"

Is this Satan? I guess it comes down to whether believe this is a revelation from God or not.
There likely really was a King of Tyre in the time of Ezekiel, and it's likely his sin was that he tried to make himself like God. However it's unlikely that a man in the time of Ezekiel would still be alive if existed in the garden of Eden (verse 13)
Also it's unlikely that an earthly king would be called a cherub (verses 14 and 16)
We see that the king of Type will be cast into a pit (verse 8) Satan will be imprisoned in a pit for a thousand years
during the millennial reign. Also it's unlikely that a human "was cast down from the mountain of God". But we know Satan was cast down from heaven like lightning. In verse 15 it says this being was blameless, until...unrighteousness was found in him.
It is possible Satan was in heaven before he rebelled? Is it possible he was as blameless and Holy as the angels?

If this is really an allegory to Satan, then it appears Satan in an angel (cherub) who is a created being (verse 13).

 

[ATP]

If you believe in demonic possession then yes, Satan possessed the King. Is what I believe.

 

[Hekuran]

I've always felt the allegorical approach to these passages a bit flimsy, and not really necessary.

I find that the most natural way to interpret the most dramatic phrases in these passages is as hyperbole (exaggeration for effect). Jesus himself used this quite a lot - think camels through the eyes of needles, mountains being thrown into the sea etc.

So I'd boil the message to the king of Tyre down to something like: "you were very great, and highly successful, but your pride before God has been your downfall and now you are being humbled."

There's plenty in these passages to learn about leadership, power, pride and judgement; but maybe not so much about Satan.

 

[Dovegiven]

Repopulating my empty post #3.Finally found the text box.

I'd like to insert some historical context from Josephus and some off the BAS library that makes the Eze 28 light up a bit. The prophet was addressing a dynasty ruling over the region around Tyre. Ezekiel was in captivity with Israel in Babylon, the major voice of God to reach the sinful nation. He prophesied all the coming events for the nation's return, and well beyond into the far future. Along the way he spoke against a coming king of Tyre, Ithobaal, who would rule 250 years later. He was the father of Jezebel who married Ahab, king of Israel while good king Jehoshaphat ruled Judah. Ithobaal started off as priest of Astarte, a major pagan goddess. No wonder the personality of Jezebel and the extent of her devilishness! Her father definitely exhibited many signs of megalomania.

From such background I can see how Ithobaal's cozy diplomatic relationship with Ahab would be a threat to all Israel, his sentence already spelledout by Godthrough Ezekiel before Ithobaal was even born. There's no doubt in my thinking that Satan ruled over that man, influencing the whole region around Judah. Satan wouldn't have to possess a king as in demon possession, but can certainly appear as an angel of light, being a fallen angel, with a habit of powerful deceptions.Ithobaal's attitude of being god would play into Satan's hands. That's how Satan prefers to deal with people today who won't submit to God and resist the devil, instead letting Satan be Adviser in Chief..No doubt there is at least one current national leader bearing that threat to his nation and maybe the world.

Maybe Ezekiel was prophesying against both Satan and Ithobaal. Several of those attributes are not possible among mortal men, but would be expected of a Cherub class angel like Satan. By the way Ithobaal's son who took over the combined kingdom of Tyre and Sidon ended up paying tribute to the Assyrian king. That was a terrible fate for any king.

 

[Dovegiven]

Repopulating my empty post #3.Finally found the text box.

I'd like to insert some historical context from Josephus and some off the BAS library that makes the Eze 28 light up a bit. The prophet was addressing a dynasty ruling over the region around Tyre. Ezekiel was in captivity with Israel in Babylon, the major voice of God to reach the sinful nation. He prophesied all the coming events for the nation's return, and well beyond into the far future. Along the way he spoke against a coming king of Tyre, Ithobaal, who would rule 250 years later. He was the father of Jezebel who married Ahab, king of Israel while good king Jehoshaphat ruled Judah. Ithobaal started off as priest of Astarte, a major pagan goddess. No wonder the personality of Jezebel and the extent of her devilishness! Her father definitely exhibited many signs of megalomania.

From such background I can see how Ithobaal's cozy diplomatic relationship with Ahab would be a threat to all Israel, his sentence already spelledout by Godthrough Ezekiel before Ithobaal was even born. There's no doubt in my thinking that Satan ruled over that man, influencing the whole region around Judah. Satan wouldn't have to possess a king as in demon possession, but can certainly appear as an angel of light, being a fallen angel, with a habit of powerful deceptions.Ithobaal's attitude of being god would play into Satan's hands. That's how Satan prefers to deal with people today who won't submit to God and resist the devil, instead letting Satan be Adviser in Chief..No doubt there is at least one current national leader bearing that threat to his nation and maybe the world.

Maybe Ezekiel was prophesying against both Satan and Ithobaal. Several of those attributes are not possible among mortal men, but would be expected of a Cherub class angel like Satan. By the way Ithobaal's son who took over the combined kingdom of Tyre and Sidon ended up paying tribute to the Assyrian king. That was a terrible fate for any king.

I left off some other points that adds to the drama. Ithobaal as priest of Astarte murdered the king of Tyre Phelles, then took the throne over, and consolidated neighboring kingdoms under his rule, making him very powerful and wealthy. His date of death is not known, possibly living to see his son king Balazeros lose the power and wealth he treasured so much.
A second point is that the terribly spoiled Jezebel was the same one that went to war with Elijah, pressuring king Ahab to lead Israel to abandon. worship of Jehovah, for Baal and Astarte, et.al. I can see Satan very busy around there for all those years.