Ezekiel 28:12Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Thus, I cast you out from the mountain of God and destroyed you, O shining cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones. Your heart grew proud because of your beauty; you corrupted wisdom because of your splendor. I cast you down to the ground, exposing you to the sight of kings. Because of your numerous transgressions and the unrighteousness of your trade, you have desecrated your sanctuaries. Therefore, I will bring forth a fire from within you that shall consume you, and I will turn you to ashes upon the earth in the presence of all who behold you. All who knew you among the nations will be astonished at your downfall. You are destroyed, and you shall exist no more forever.'

Reflecting on the ruler of Tyre and his prideful fall, we can learn from his mourning over lost glory. He is reminded of his former state, so he may lament the loss of what he once had. He is described as a seal of perfection, akin to what John the Evangelist states about the Savior: 'This is the seal of God the Father' (John 6:27), and concerning humanity: 'He put His seal of authenticity on this: that God is true' (John 3:33). In the Psalms, it is written, 'The light of Your face, O Lord, shines upon us' (Ps. 4:7). In another passage, we are reminded, 'Beloved, we are now the children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be; but we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him' (1 John 3:2). Therefore, it is also proclaimed regarding God: 'Who is like You?' (Psalm 34:10). This reflects a distinct likeness and equality. The gravest heresy acknowledges in Christ only the likeness of the Father while denying His true nature. But we affirm that in the Son resides both likeness and equality, which also explains why the Jews persecuted Him—not only for breaking the Sabbath, but for making Himself equal with God (John 5:18). Where equality exists, there too is shared nature and being. The Apostle echoes this notion of likeness, saying, 'My little children, for whom I labor in birth until Christ is formed in you' (Galatians 4:19), which means you are to regain the likeness lost through your own fault.

It is noted that in Latin texts, the term resignaculum substitutes for signaculo, due to a misunderstanding connected to the LXX (ἀποσφρα'γισμα). This was interpreted to mean that the king of Tyre unsealed and lost the seal of God, as if this divine image were inscribed upon soft wax, resulting in an unsealing that robbed him of God's image and likeness, the very essence with which humanity was created, as God proclaimed, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness' (Genesis 1:26). It is essential to recognize that the image was present from creation, while the likeness is received through Christ's baptism. Thus, the one referred to as 'seal of perfection' is described as full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, or as a crown of beauty. Where God’s likeness is found, there is complete wisdom and perfect beauty, as if a crown adorned with diverse colors, comprised of virtues which the diligent cultivate through effort, while the negligent allow to diminish, as illustrated in Proverbs, which describes a beautiful but lacking woman as 'like a pig adorned with a gold ring' (Proverbs 11:22).

It is also fitting to refer to paradise as Jerusalem, the sacred city filled with God’s plantings, which embodies life and salvation, prophecy, and the priestly order. In former times, there existed camaraderie between the king of Tyre and the king of Israel, characterized by mutual engagement as noted in the books of Kings. It is clear from these scriptures: ‘Thou hast adorned thyself with every precious stone,’ which should be taken literally with regard to the king. I have enriched you with countless blessings, bringing all manners of treasures to you, from which I prepared diadems, crowns, cufflinks, belts, and rings, filling your treasuries; yet amidst this vast abundance and glory, your thoughts turned elsewhere. However, let us not interpret this solely concerning the devil; let us view the statement, ‘You are the seal of perfection,’ as a reference to the authority and power once granted to him. As the Apostle teaches us: according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience (Eph. 2:2); this indicates that in ancient times, he was entrusted with dominion over the air, but due to his pride, he lost that authority, redirecting his activities toward the disbelieving in terms of the proclamation of faith. Filled with wisdom, crowned with goodness, you once flourished in the paradise of delight. Through this, God reveals to us his prior excellence. For it is written: God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good (Genesis 1:31), and he was indeed one of the created beings who had not yet succumbed to any self-directed decline. The specified stones reflect God’s wisdom and His gathering of all kinds. The high priest also entered the Holy of Holies, bearing on his fingers the stones of judgment, which were identical to these; the fingers serve as the treasury, the repository of the heart. All of the subsequent attributes should not be ascribed to the visible ruler of Tyre but rather to the unseen ruler. As it is stated:

What virtues could he lack, given that he is the seal of God's likeness? Just as a seal leaves an impression on wax, capturing the very essence of the design on it, so too does the seal reflect the likeness inherent within it. Although humanity was created in God's image, the angel is attributed something greater. He is described not merely as one made in God's likeness, but as the very seal of that likeness, suggesting that due to his more refined nature, God's image is imprinted in him more profoundly.