All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever.”
This verse ends a funeral song for the king of Tyre, and everyone who knew him is left staring at a glory that is gone for good. Ezekiel speaks to a real king of a real city, yet his words reach far past any city — so who is this song really about?
Two subjects in one lament
The chapter shifts from "prince" to "king." Writers read the second half on two levels at once. The real city is still in view, and the closing verses prove it.
J. N. DarbyIn Ezekiel 28 the prince and the king of Tyre are judged for their pride… Verses 11-19 keep speaking of Tyre, but I think they go much farther. They show, though not plainly, the fall and the ways of Satan, who through our sin became the prince and god of this world… I have no doubt that Tyre itself is meant in history; verses 16-19 prove it. But, I repeat, the mind of the Spirit goes much farther.
Tyre: the world's merchant city
Why Tyre? It was the trading capital of the world, and it set itself up as Jerusalem's rival. There you could buy whatever you wanted.
Morrish Bible DictionaryEzekiel 26:2 shows that Tyre, the merchant city of the world, was the rival of Jerusalem, the city of God. God was known in the palaces of Jerusalem. In Tyre it was the god of this world, and there people could satisfy the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. So the destruction of Tyre in Ezekiel 28:12-19 shows the king of Tyre to be closely tied to the misuse, through Satan, of the wisdom and beauty seen in creation.
The enemy behind the throne
Read as politics alone, the passage sounds like eastern overstatement. One writer warns that this is how readers end up finding fault with God's word.
William KellyCan anyone doubt that in this condemnation God had before Him the fall and ruin of His great enemy? When people fail to see such hints, past or future, and above all fail to see Christ in the prophecies, those not yet settled in the truth are often led to find fault with God's word. They call it eastern exaggeration. But those who know the truth find here the deepest reason for a thankful heart, because God's grace ties all He has revealed into one harmonious whole.
Self-admiration as the root
The ruin had a cause, and it was not an attack from outside. It was a creature turning to look at itself.
The Christian's FriendA great moral fall happened in one who held one of the highest places in the universe. His heart was lifted up because of his own beauty, and he was cast to the ground. To make yourself the object of your own heart, to fall in love with your own beauty, is what always comes just before apostasy — a full turning away from God. In this bright and exalted creature the fall was terrible, and the consequences, which still last, are even more terrible.
A ruin with no way back
Some have hoped that the fallen cherub might one day be restored. The last line of this verse refuses that hope.
William KellyEzekiel 28 speaks of one destroyed from among the stones of fire and cast out of the mountain of God, because he was lifted up with his own beauty. But there is no promise that the anointed cherub will be restored from his fallen state. Verse 19 says plainly, "you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever."
(Older translations read "you shall be a terror, and never shall you be any more.")
The warning it leaves with us
The fault named here is not only his. One writer turns it into a prayer for himself and his readers.
J. N. DarbyNote, the iniquity was found in him — it was "looking at his own beauty." Lord, keep us from this! How vile it is to take the credit for this beauty ourselves! And we would all have this devilish tendency, unless God keeps us. Look at the brightness which is in the stone! We are engraved on it, and call it our own because we are engraved on it and it bears us. Dependence was lost, and what had been a natural quality became a power of evil.
Summary
- Given. The song is sung over a real king of Tyre, yet "the mind of the Spirit goes much farther." The one addressed held "one of the highest places in the universe."
- Admired. The fall started inside him, with a heart "lifted up because of his own beauty." Loving your own beauty is what always comes just before turning away from God.
- Sold. Tyre was the world's merchant city and Jerusalem's rival, the place where the eye, the flesh and pride could all be satisfied.
- Ended. No promise of restoration is given to the anointed cherub. The verse records an ending: he "shall be no more forever."
- Guarded. The same tendency sits in us. One writer's response is a prayer: "Lord, keep us from this!"