You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.
On the surface this is a lament for a foreign king, written in language so grand it seems to overshoot its target. "Anointed guardian cherub." "The holy mountain of God." "Stones of fire." Whatever the king of Tyre actually was, he wasn't that. Which is exactly why readers for thousands of years have suspected Ezekiel is describing something bigger through him — a being who had extraordinary standing and lost it through pride.
What's worth noticing isn't the mystery of who this figure was. It's the shape of the warning: even the most privileged position, the closest possible access to God, is not immune to corruption from the inside. Status doesn't protect you from yourself.
That's an uncomfortable thing to hear if you've ever assumed that getting closer to God, or to any kind of moral high ground, makes a person safe from their own worst instincts. This verse says the opposite is at least as often true.
If you've ever wondered how something so close to God could still go so wrong, this ancient lament is asking the same question.
A short video on this is coming soon — for now, read on.