"Thou wast perfect in all thy ways from the day that thou wast created 11 (ver. 15). 2. Here are most feUcito'l/,S circumstances. (Vers. 13, 14.) (1) Delightful residence. "Thou wast in Eden, the garden of God." The reference is probably to the luxurious- ness an<l beauty and gran<leur ?f Tyre. The king had lived there in the full enjoyment of its countless comforts and its various pleasures, realizing as it were a paradisaical existence. (2) Royal splendours. "Every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, the topaz, and the diamond," etc. "The precious stones with which the king is bedecked bring the glory of his rank to outward view." He had jewels in great abundance, and rich variety, and of rare lustre and beauty, "Full many a gem of purest ray serene" glittered upon his person. Music is mentioned as another element ?f the roJ:al state and glory. "The workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was m thee ; m the day that thou wast created they were prepared." The accession of the king to the throne was celebrated with musical honours and rejoicings. Or perhaps the clause means that the Tyrian monarchy was thus inaugurated. In either case, music was one of the delights of the royal court of Tyre. (3) Illustrious station (ver. 14). "Thou wast the anointed cherub that covereth." The cherub was an ideal combination of creature life in highest forms and fullest perfection ; and the cherubs in the temple were consecrated and anointed with oil (Exod. xl. 9). And as a king the Prince of Tyre was anointed, and was looked up to, or looked upon himself, as the embodiment of perfection. Moreover, as the cherubim with outstretched wings covered the mercy-seat, so the King of Tyre covered his people with his protection. The prophet goes on to say, "'l'hou wast upon the holy mountain. of God," which the 'Speaker's Commentary ' explains thus: "The cherub was in the temple on the holy mountain, so the Prince of Tyre was presiding over the island-city, rising like a. mountain from the deep." But "the holy mountain of God" may be simply a figure denoting a very exalted station. The prophet continues : "Thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire." Various and conflicting are the interpretations of this clause. It probably means that his state apartments were decorated with precious stones like those mentioned in ver. 13 (cf. eh. i. 27), and that be walked in the midst of their glitte1ing splendour. Here, then, notwithstanding that the exact meaning of some parts of the text is uncertain, we have a picture of a man in very exalted condition and very felicitous circumstances. II. MAN IN A MOST EXALTED CONDITION AND MOST FELICITOUS CIBCUMSTANCES FALLING INTO HEINOUS BINB, (Vers. 16-18.) Unrighteousness was found in this exalted prince. Two forms of sin in particular are charged against him. 1. Inj11stice in commerce. "By the multitude of thy traffic they filled the midst of thee with vio- lence, and thou hast sinned. . . . By the multitude of thine iniquities, in the unrigh- teousness of thy traffic, thou hast profaned thy sanctuaries." Great traffic occasions great temptation. When men are devoted to merchandise, their path is beset by moral perils. They will be tempted to achieve commercial success by unworthy or unrighteous means-means which the unsophisticated conscience condemns as sinful, but which the commercial world allows and practices under plausible names. "The constant excite- ment of selfishness and covetousness connected with trade can only be effectually counteracted by the grace of God." " They that desire to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare," etc. (1 Tim. vi. 9, 10). 2. Pride of person and position. "Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrnpted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness." The pride of this prince has already met with deserved rebuke. "Thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches" (ver. 5); "Thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas" (ver. 2). Secular prosperity often begets pride, and pride (as in the case of the King of Tyre) corrupts wisdom. Hengstenberg observes truly, "The foundation of wisdom is humility, which sees things as they are, bas an open eye for its own weakness and the excellences of others, and is on its guard against dangerous undertakings, as David says in Ps. cxxxi. 1, '0 Lord, my heart is not haughty,' etc. The •brightness' received into the heart blinds the eye, so that one regards himself alone as great, and everything else as small, and rushes wantonly into dangers for which he is not prepared, and enters on paths which lead to perdition; as, for example, Tyre undertook the combat against the flourishing Chaldee monarchy. God does not need to appear e.s a Deus e:v machina in the judgment upon the proud, who wantonly brings himself to ruin." (!Jt, x:rtm. 1--26.J THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 121
Ill. MAN m EXALTED CONDITION .AND FELICITOUS OIB0UllSTANOES, HAVING FALLEN INTO HEINOUS BINS, VISl'fED WITH SEVERE PUNISHMENT. Three features of the punish- ment of the proud Prince of Tyre are exhibited by the prophet. 1. Hisforr;i"ble re11WVal from his ezalted condition and felicitous cire11,mstamces. "Therefore have I cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God; and I have destroyed thee, 0 covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire." He had gloried in his wealth and power and grandeur, and he should be deprived of them all. 2. His open degradation. " I have cast thee to the ground, I have laid thee before kings, that they may behold thee." "Formerly," says Hengstenberg, "in its brightness a spectacle of wonder and envy for kings, Tyre is now become for them a spectacle of astonishment and spiteful joy in its terrible downfall" (cf. eh, xxvii 36). This was the appropriate punishment of excessive pride. The punishment corresponded with the sin. " When pride cometh, then cometh shame : but with the lowly is wisdom" (Prov. xi. 2; xvi. 18; xvili.12). 3. His utter destruction. •• Therefore have I brought forth a fire from the midst of thee, it bath devoured thee, and I have turned thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee." The fire signifies the wra~h of God in the punishment of sin; and the effect of that wrath would be the complete destruction of the Tyrian monarchy. Here is an impor- tant fact. The destructive fire springs out of the midst of that which is to be destroyed. 11 All God's judgments upon sinners take rise from themselves; they are devoured by