Free Unlocking the Heavens: Release the Supernatural Power of Your Worship by Shane Warren

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’”
(Ezekiel 28:11-19).
    In interpreting this passage, people often refer to Isaiah 14:12 for its portrayal of the heavenly rebellion and fall of a powerful angel:
    How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!
    I believe that the king of Tyre, Satan, must have energized the earthly ruler known as the prince of Tyre, using him to accomplish Satan’s own evil purposes. This also occurred elsewhere in the scriptural accounts, such as in the book of Daniel and in the Revelation of John, where the Antichrist, who is an earthly ruler, is energized by Satan to accomplish his wicked agenda during the end-times tribulation. Other places in the Bible tell how Satan tries to control the leaders of nations. One, in First Chronicles 21, deals with Satan as he inspired David to take a census, after which David repented. Later, there is the account of Satan’s temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. In the latter example, Satan clearly “tips his hand” regarding his agenda of maintaining earthly control:
    Then the devil led Jesus to the top of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and all their splendor. The devil said, “If you will bow down and worship me, I will give you all these things.” Jesus said to the devil, “Go away from me, Satan! It is written in the Scriptures, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him’”
(Matthew 4:8-10 NCV).
    SATAN’S ORIGINAL ROLE
    Satan, also known as Lucifer, began as an obedient angel, but he rebelled against God and led an attempt to steal God’s throne. Before he rebelled, his coverings were jewel-studded and glorious to behold: “Every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold” (Ezekiel 28:13). These are the same jewels found on the breastplate of the high priest of the people of Israel (see Exodus 28:17-20), which speaks of Lucifer’s special priestly authority.
    According to Ezekiel 28:13 and Isaiah 14:11, the angel Lucifer also had special musical abilities. Various translations mention a range of instruments—timbrels, pipes, viols, harps, lyres, and stringed instruments. In essence, Lucifer functioned as a heavenly worship leader. (With all of the world’s perverted music and lyrics, one must wonder if Satan is still playing music in his rebellious state. Could the world’s music be emulating the wicked sound from the fallen angel?)
    The next verse is the one about the anointed cherub, and it goes on to provide an important clue as to the identity and function of this powerful personage: “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on