Echoes of Eden

Ezekiel 28 is a fascinating chapter, as it combines Eden imagery with temple imagery, all within the apocalyptic context:

“ You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
“ You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.
“ By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones.
“ Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor;
I cast you to the ground,
I laid you before kings,
That they might gaze at you.
“ You defiled your sanctuaries
By the multitude of your iniquities,
By the iniquity of your trading;
Therefore I brought fire from your midst;
It devoured you,
And I turned you to ashes upon the earth
In the sight of all who saw you.
All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you;
You have become a horror,
And shall be no more forever.”’”

Back in my old Baptist days I always thought this was about the origin of Satan.  Thanks to John Milton’s lasting influence on Christian folklore, I couldn’t imagine a beautiful and proud angel who set himself up to be a god, without thinking immediately of Satan.  Now, however, I think the more appropriate figure is Adam.

Eden was God’s temple, a holy mountain if you will.  The jewels mentioned remind us of the land outside of Eden, and since we are in Ezekiel, we’ve also got the Solomonic temple in mind as well.  The jewels have begun to be put into the temple by this point.

The anointed cherub is the priest.  After Adam’s fall from the garden-sanctuary, a cherub takes his place as guarder of the garden.  The cherub bears the flaming sword, and human priests will not regain this fire until Pentecost.

Adam was condemned to return to the ashes of the earth, and the entire book of Genesis chronicles the falling down the holy mountain all the way to Egypt, the bottom of the world.