Ezek 28, 1-19
‘Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, “The Lord Yahweh says this: Because your heart has grown proud, you thought: I am a god; I am divinely enthroned far out to sea. Though you are human, not divine, you have allowed yourself to think like God. So, you are wiser than Daniel; no sage as wise as you! By your wisdom and your intelligence you have made yourself a fortune, you have put gold and silver into your treasuries. Such is your skill in trading, your fortune has continued to increase, and your fortune has made your heart grow prouder. “And so, the Lord Yahweh says this: Since you have allowed yourself to think like God, very well, I am going to bring foreigners against you, the most barbarous of the nations. They will draw sword against your fine wisdom, they will desecrate your splendour, they will throw you down into the grave and you will die a violent death far out to sea. Will you still think: I am a god, when your slaughterers confront you? But you will be human, not divine, in the clutches of the ones who strike you down! You will die like the uncircumcised at the hand of foreigners. “For I have spoken — declares the Lord Yahweh.”‘
‘Son of man, raise a lament for the king of Tyre. Say to him, “The Lord Yahweh says this: You used to be a model of perfection, full of wisdom, perfect in beauty; you were in Eden, in the garden of God. All kinds of gem formed your mantle: sard, topaz, diamond, chrysolite, onyx, jasper, sapphire, garnet, emerald, and your ear-pendants and spangles were made of gold; all was ready on the day you were created. I made you a living creature with outstretched wings, as guardian, you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked amid red-hot coals. Your behaviour was exemplary from the day you were created until guilt first appeared in you, because your busy trading has filled you with violence and sin. I have thrown you down from the mountain of God and destroyed you, guardian winged creature, amid the coals. Your heart has grown proud because of your beauty, your wisdom has been corrupted by your splendour. I have thrown you to the ground; I have made you a spectacle for kings. By the immense number of your crimes, by the dishonesty of your trading, you have defiled your sanctuary. So I have brought fire out of you to devour you; I have reduced you to ashes on the ground before the eyes of all who saw you. Of the nations, all who know you are stunned at your fate. You are an object of terror; gone for ever.” ‘
I have extended today’s reading by a few verses directly following, so that today’s and tomorrow’s interpretation will take them into account.
This text is often read with double meaning.
On the one hand, the actual human king of Tyre is taken into account. Tyre was known for the fact that its wealth came from the exploitation of its neighbours. Ancient writers referred to the city of Tyre as a city filled with unscrupulous traders. Tyre was considered the centre of religious idolatry, sexual immorality and other immoralities.
In the first part of the reading, the king is called to account and God clearly shows him his limitations, over which he rose in pride.
When we then read the lamentation of the king of Tyre, which follows immediately afterwards, we understand why this passage is interpreted as referring to the fall of Satan. “I made you a living creature with outstretched wings, as guardian, you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked amid red-hot coals. Your behaviour was exemplary from the day you were created until guilt first appeared in you”.
I agree with the view that these texts also report on the fall of Lucifer, who was endowed with unusual beauty and wisdom, but became intoxicated with himself and thus blinded. He did not want to owe God and was pushed down to earth by God. “I have thrown you down from the mountain of God and destroyed you, guardian winged creature, amid the coals.”
We know this from Catholic teaching and know that St. Michael the Archangel stood against Satan’s claim to power (cf. Rev 12,7).
The story of Satan’s rebellion is not yet over and he still has a deadline that God alone knows. Then his time will be over. Until then he too – because of his apostasy from God under a different condition – fulfils his task. God does not let the law of action be taken out of his hand by the claim to power of a creature. God always remains the sovereign of events.
The Heavenly Father gives the man who loves a share in his power, as we can so movingly know through Madre Eugenia, but he does not bow to the pressure of evil.
“The devil is on the prowl like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1Pet 5,8), so the Holy Scriptures say, and he still does. The characteristics attributed to the King of Tyre in the above text are points of contact and gateways where he can exert his influence: Pride, arrogance, vanity, the power of possession, all forms of rule that are not understood as service….
Lucifer is still working to build his Kingdom, yes, he wants to be worshipped. We know this from the scene in the desert when Jesus fasted and the devil appeared to him and promised him the kingdoms of this world if he would fall down and worship him (cf. Mt 4,8-9).
So he will probably also approach appropriate people today. It for example was Pope Benedict XVI: who said that Adolf Hitler probably experienced manifestations of the devil. If one looks at his diabolical hatred against the Jews and perceives the coldness of his murder and extermination machinery, it is clear that here the “murderer from the start” (cf. Jn 8,44) influenced the man Adolf Hitler and made him the tool of his wickedness. It was not much different with other leaders who made themselves masters of life and death and brought infinite suffering to the people. The murderer from the beginning pulled his strings.
But this cruel and murderous face of the devil is not always immediately and clearly recognizable. He hides behind many masks.
Even the name Lucifer – in German language bringer of the light – is an illusion, because he does not bring the light of God, but he deceives the people and disguises himself as “Angel of Light” (cf. 2Cor 11,14).
Bishop Athanasius Schneider for example gave a lecture at the association “Church in Need” in 2017. In his presentation he made it clear that Freemasonry forms an “anti-Church” and thus works against the Church and that it serves Satan in its higher degrees.
“In the first grades of Freemasonry, there is venerated an uncertain and nebulous divinity as the ‘Great Architect of the Universe,’ who in the higher and then in the highest grades becomes more and more concrete; in the higher grades this uncertain divinity is identified as the Lucifer, as Satan, as the good god, the adversary of God; and the true God is here the ‘bad God.’”
What a fatal deception and illusion! The blinded Lucifer deceives those who listen to him and they are blinded.
It will be continued!
Harpa Dei accompanies the daily scriptural interpretation or spiritual teaching of Br. Elija, their spiritual father. These meditations can be heard on the following website www.en.elijamission.net
