I N D E X
`Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty'.
`Every precious stone was thy covering'.
`Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth'.
`Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God'.
`Thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire'.
`Thou wast perfect in thy ways'.
In contrast with this list of excellencies let us tabulate his defection:
`By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee
with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane
out of the mountain of God'.
`Thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness'.
`Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries ... by the iniquity of thy traffic'.
However far from ordinary experience the above account may be, it is very
clear that this king of Tyre had to do with holy things.  The anointing, the
covering, the holy mountain, the stones of fire, the sanctuary; all alike speak
of holy things.
So also the fall.  The `merchandise' was not the ordinary trading of an
ordinary merchant, this `traffic' `defiled' sanctuaries.
We have seen that Ezekiel 28 speaks of the fall of a being, in terms not
suitable if that `anointed cherub' was but a descendant of fallen Adam.  We have
seen sufficient to believe that there is contained in this symbolism a reference
back to `before the overthrow of the world' and to `the heavenly places' which
were the realm of this great one, set forth as the King of Tyre.
If the church of the Mystery was chosen to occupy the place and position
forfeited by Satan and the principalities and powers that fell with him, then,
we shall find by examination a further link between Ezekiel 28 and Ephesians 1:4
and its insistence upon holiness.
If we remember the word `holy' is allied with the word `whole' in its
derivation, the words `Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in
beauty' (Ezek. 28:12) take on a fresh significance.  That the mighty being
spoken of by Ezekiel had an office intimately connected with holy things, is
evident.
He was cast out as `profane'; he was charged with `defiling' his
`sanctuaries'; he was `the anointed cherub that covereth' and had been on `the
holy mountain of God'.
While the word translated `traffic' and `merchandise' retains its usual
significance in Ezekiel 28:5, where it is used of this anointed cherub (who can
scarcely be conceived of as a `merchant' in the ordinary sense of the word),
when it is used of such a being, and speaks of `traffic' in holy things, the
word takes on a sinister meaning.  Even among men `traffic' in holy things is
looked upon with horror and loathing.  This feeling is supported by the fact
that the Hebrew word rekullah is derived from the word ragal `to go about',
which word is translated `backbite' (Psa. 15:3), `spy' (Gen. 42:9) and to
`slander' (2 Sam. 19:27).
The LXX renders the words `he hath slandered' by methodeusen `to deal
deceitfully', a word which will call to mind in many readers the language of
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