The Mystery of the sons of God Part 2 B – were they angels?

In part 2A of this series, I offered scriptural evidence that proves that the ‘sons of God’ of Genesis 6 and Job, chapters 1, 2 and 38 were not angels, fallen or otherwise. I did a verse by verse analysis of Isaiah 14:12-14 which is an account of the fall of Lucifer. These verses of scriptures are often quoted to try and prove that fall of Lucifer as recorded in the book of the prophet Isaiah was on account of sexual sins, as those of the Sodom and Gomorrah, listed in the New Testament book of Jude. However even a cursory comparison of the sins of Lucifer as listed in Isaiah to the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, leaves no doubt that the sins of Lucifer were of a completely different nature; the sins and temptation of angels and man are just not the same because they are two different species of beings who are not motivated or tempted by the same passions and desires. The doctrine of the fall of the angels due to sexual immorality is therefore an unscriptural one.

The ‘host of heaven’ or ‘host of the ‘heavens’ is a Biblical term that describes the angelic ethereal army of God.  Any army has a well defined hierarchy, and it is no different with God’s heavenly army. One of the Archangels, Michael, is apparently a warrior leader; just the use of the prefix ‘arch’ with ‘angel’ would imply a ranking system, an order, much as is evidenced in any human organization. In the ‘host of the heavens’ not only is there a ranking system amongst angels, there are different types of ethereal spirit beings, not all of whom are angels. The Cherubim (plural of cherub) appear to have been very high in the hierarchy of God’s creatures, probably the highest of the angelic spirit beings even as man is the highest in the order of corporeal beings, above all other corporeal creatures classified as beasts. Ezekiel 28: 12-19 reveals a great deal about the majestic creature that was the ‘anointed cherub’, and the nature of his transgressions. The story of the ‘anointed cherub’ is the story of the birth of evil in God’s creation, and since many teachers assign the cause of his fall to sexual immorality, we need to study this account in some detail to determine the exact nature of the ‘anointed cherub’s’ sins, and the causes for his transgressions.

It is apparent that as a ‘cherub’, the creature referred to in Ezekiel, chapter 28 is an angelic spirit being, not a human being or mankind. I hesitate to name this creature Lucifer because the account in Isaiah, and in Ezekiel has some substantial differences that would seem to indicate that Lucifer and the ‘anointed cherub’ are the not the same person. This subject will be addressed on its own when I do a study on the identity of the ‘anointed cherub’, of Lucifer and of Satan. Iniquity or evil was first born in God’s creation in the ‘anointed cherub’ who appears to have been a very high ranking spirit being that was full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. As noted in previous parts of this series, and in the Prehistoric civilizations series, as well as in the Chronology of Creation audio series, there was a definite order in which the Universe was created. Contrary to popular opinion, God did not just wave a magic wand and all the heavenly bodies came into existence all at once. God created the Earth and the heavens in a specific order, and as the heavens were stretched He appointed rulers over specific regions to govern His creation which are called the host of heaven or the host of the heavens. Rulers of the heavens, over planets, stars, star systems, constellations and galaxies were appointed by God even before all these heavenly bodies came into existence. It would appear that the ‘anointed cherub’ was one such ruler, of a very high rank. In part 2B of this series I would like do a detailed study of the account of the birth of iniquity in the ‘anointed cherub’ of Ezekiel, chapter 28 as recorded in the pages of the Bible. The verses from chapter 28 of the book of the prophet Ezekiel that give a detailed account of the history of ‘the anointed cherub’, from the perfect state in which he was created to the discovery of iniquity (evil) in him to the causes for his many and varied transgressions to his final and eternal judgment.

Ezekiel 28: ¹¹Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

 ¹²Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

 ¹³Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

 ¹⁴Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

 ¹⁵Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

 ¹⁶By 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: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

 ¹⁷Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

 ¹⁸Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

 ¹⁹All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

THE ANOINTED CHERUB AS A HIGH RANKING MEMBER OF THE ‘HOST OF HEAVEN’

Ezekiel 28:12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.  

The term ‘sealest up the sum’ means that the ‘anointed cherub’ symbolized perfection in every way: It indicates completeness in every way, wisdom, beauty, environment, blessedness, and anointing of God. This fact is also confirmed by the rest of the verse that uses these extraordinary terms, full of wisdom, perfect in beauty, terms that are not used for any other being in the Bible, except for Jesus. Genesis 3 describes the state of man when he was first formed in the Garden of Eden; in contrast to the anointed cherub, man was not perfect in beauty, nor full of wisdom. This was one of the reasons that man was tempted to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 3:6 …the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise… This contrast between the original state of the ‘anointed cherub’ and that of man proves that angelic ethereal beings are of a much higher order than man, and are truly greater in power and might as the apostle Peter wrote in 2 Peter 2:11.

Ezekiel 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.  

The ‘anointed cherub’ was clothed like royalty, the description of his covering with precious stones and gold seems very much like the description of the garments of the high priest as detailed in Exodus, chapter 28. A whole chapter of the Bible is devoted to the description of the garments of the High Priest of Israel, which shows the importance of that office in God’s eyes. The ‘anointed cherub’ having been similarly covered and being full of wisdom and perfect in beauty shows that he must have held a high office indeed amongst the ‘host of the heavens.’ In stark contrast to the ‘anointed cherub’, the man and woman are portrayed as being naked, basically gardeners with no special office on Earth let alone in the heavens. Genesis 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Once again there is a marked contrast between the ‘anointed cherub’ and man; such contrasts between the ‘anointed cherub’ and man are important to consider to arrive at the understanding that the Bible portrays these beings as entirely different from each other, of different species, and of a different order in appearance, power and position. Therefore things that tempt man such as sight of beautiful women are not the kind of things that would tempt the higher order of angelic spirit beings like the Cherubim.  

Ezekiel 28:14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.  

The ‘anointed cherub’ was in the Garden of God, he was upon the holy mountain of God, and he also walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. While it is difficult to fully understand the places referred to in these scriptures, it is apparent that only a being of high rank and order would have access to such places that were certainly not accessible to mere flesh and blood man. The word ‘Anointed’ in the Bible means to be ‘Consecrated’ or ‘Set Apart’; God’s ‘anointed’ are creatures He Himself has chosen for a special calling or purpose. Biblically speaking only chosen men were ‘Anointed’; for example Aaron was anointed for the office of the High Priest; Saul and David were anointed as royalty to sit on the throne of Israel. Jesus Himself was called the Lord’s Anointed in Psalm 2 among other scriptures. It was only God’s anointed that had access into certain holy places; for example only the High Priest could enter the Holy of holies in the temple; since the ‘anointed cherub’ was in the holy mountain of God, and other holy places, he too must have held a special office. The anointed of God were also looked upon with special favor and protection, as we are told in scripture, as for example in 1 Chronicles 16:22: … Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. Just the fact that this cherub was anointed by God proves that he was consecrated for a special position, of priesthood or royalty or both, not just on an earthly scale but a heavenly one, and was therefore a truly special creature indeed.

THE ‘anointed cherub’ WAS PERFECT UNTIL INIQUITY FOUND IN HIM: THE BIRTH OF EVIL

Ezekiel 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

The above verse of scripture records the birth of evil in the Universe. As previously noted, the ‘anointed cherub’ was a high ranking ethereal spirit being who was ‘perfect’ at one time. God’s creation started out in perfection, without evil or darkness. But evil was necessary to be present in God’s creation to serve His purposes. For this reason was the ‘anointed cherub’ created , the very purpose for his creation was to be the originator of evil in the Universe.

This first age of creation (Genesis 1:1) corresponds to the GOLDEN AGE of Greek mythology; the Bible does confirm the mythological account that there once was a time at the beginning of creation that was an age of perfection, without evil and darkness.

From Wikipedia: “The term Golden Age (Χρυσόν Γένος) comes from Greek mythology and legend and refers to the first in a sequence of four or five (or more) Ages of Man, in which the Golden Age is first, followed in sequence, by the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and then the present, a period of decline. By extension "Golden Age" denotes a period of primordial peace, harmony, stability, and prosperity. There are analogous concepts in the religious and philosophical traditions of the Central Asian subcontinent. For example, the Vedic or ancient Hindu culture saw history as cyclical, composed of yugas with alternating Dark and Golden Ages. The Kali yuga (Iron Age), Dwapara (Bronze Age), Treta yuga (Silver Age) and Satya yuga (Golden Age) correspond to the four Greek ages. Similar beliefs occur in the ancient Middle East and throughout the ancient world, as well.”

It is a near impossibility that every culture in the world, even on opposite ends of the words, would have a common belief that several ages have passed before the modern one, that the Universe is very very old, and its history very catastrophic. It was in the age from the beginning of creation to the birth of evil that the heavens were stretched out as new planets and stars and galaxies were formed and added to the previously existing ones. The time period from the beginning of creation till evil was born was indeed Golden, a time of perfection in which the Universe expanded and filled with life, both ethereal and corporeal. The following scripture from Isaiah parallels the creation account of Genesis 1:1 that in the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth, and He also created the beings that would inhabit these places. Having filled the Heaven and Earth with life, the growth and expansion of the heavens continued to a predetermined extent (as determined by God). This expansion or stretching of the heavens may be understood by picturing the Universe as giant sphere that was empty in the beginning. In the very beginning of the creation of the Universe of Matter, God created His own habitation, the city of Heaven; the place of His dwelling from which He would control and guide the construction process and the functioning of the Universe. The Earth that was the first terrestrial body created in the Universe is located at the very centre of this sphere of Space. God’s Word tells us that He has set a compass that determines the directions on Earth and in the heavens. Proverbs 8:27 When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth…The city of Heaven would be located due North of the Earth at the centre of the sphere that we call Space, in which are to be found all the heavenly bodies.

Isaiah 45:12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. The order of creation that becomes apparent from this scripture, and others, is as follows:

1. God created the Heaven, and then He God created the Earth.
2. He made man to inhabit the earth. Since we are speaking of the very beginning of creation, man in this scripture does not mean just the race of Adam but also includes the races of mankind that predate Adam by eons.
3. The LORD God stretched out the heavens. In the beginning there was only the city of Heaven and the planet Earth. In the course of time Space began to stretch as a womb as other heavenly bodies, terrestrial and celestial, meaning planets and stars were added to it.
4. As the heavens were planted as recorded in Isaiah 51:16, the host of heaven were formed and appointed to rule God’s creation. It is apparent from scriptures such as Isaiah 14:13 that the host that manage God’s heavens have thrones that He has given them, there are rulers appointed to rule the heavens and the Cherubim are probably of the highest order of rulers.

·         Isaiah 51:16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.

So from the beginning of creation the ‘anointed cherub’, and the other host of heaven oversaw the expansion of the heavens, literally the formation of other planets and stars that were then seeded with life, both corporeal and ethereal. The question of how long would it take to form a planet, a solar system, a constellation, or a galaxy is a question for which we have no accurate answer; it would be unwise even to hazard a guess let alone offer reasonable estimates. This was the story of the Golden Age, of unhindered growth across the Universe, of an age without death and darkness until the time came that the ‘anointed cherub’ began his rebellion. Since that time the Universe has been in a state of decay, in a state of corruption from which it will not be delivered until God creates the news heavens and the new Earth. It is the earnest expectation of all of creation to be delivered from the virus of corruption that seems to have infected all of God’s creation.

·         Romans 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,  ²¹ Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

Evil has had a profound but foreknown nad fore – planned (by God) impact upon all of creation not just upon man. For this reason the inhabitants of the heavens (as opposed to the Earth) are told to rejoice when Satan is cast down to the Earth out of the heavens, breaking his evil hold upon the dwellers of other worlds out there. It would appear that the planet Earth is not the only place where suffering and corruption are to be found in God’s creation.

Revelation 12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

THE SINS OF THE ‘anointed cherub’ NOT THE SAME AS THE SINS OF SODOM & GOMORRAH

 Ezekiel 28:16 – 19 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: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. ¹⁷Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. ¹⁸Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.  ¹⁹All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

Verses 16 – 19 list and detail the sins of the ‘anointed cherub.

Ezekiel 28:16  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: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 

It is interesting to note that the very first sin that is mentioned in the case of the ‘anointed cherub’ is that of merchandising. The first merchant banker in the Universe was the ‘anointed cherub’, the father of the system of commerce that is with us to this very day. It is this system that began, perhaps millions of years ago, that started selling and buying of God’s creation that He had feely given to all of His creatures. However the mercantile system, based as it is on greed and lust for power, always fills the merchant’s heart with violence, as we are told happened to the ‘anointed cherub’. Merchants, ultimately deal in death as is seen in our world to this very day. The biggest investments that investment bankers make are in the industries of death, the armaments industry in particular. It is interesting that the Star Wars saga begins in Episode 1 as a trade war that leads to warfare and mass destruction, including that of an entire planet in the course of time. There is much truth in such fiction that is based upon actual events of past ages. We do not know how much time went by from the time evil was born in the ‘anointed cherub’ to the time that he became a full blown merchant warrior but it stands to reason that it must have been of considerable length, this rebellion was not limited to one planet or a single solar system, we are told that corruption eventually spread through all of God’s creation.

The transition from the Golden Age to the Silver Age was not necessarily a violent or catastrophic one but once evil had risen and matured in the ‘anointed cherub’, and that of his fellow angelic conspirators, their day of judgment came and they were cast down to hell, to the lowest part of hell, to Tartarus, as I wrote in part 2A of this series. The time of this judgment, I believe, was very long ago, perhaps millions of years ago at the end of the Silver Age at which time much that had been built during the Golden Age was destroyed. Many worlds were destroyed including the civilization on Earth, and from the ashes of those once perfect worlds arose an inferior Universe, in which inferior civilizations with inferior technologies were built in contrast to the majestic glorious ones of the Golden Ages. The ‘anointed cherub’ once holy was now cast out as profane, from the mountain of God and destroyed in the midst of the stones of fire.

The cause of his downfall was none other than his own self. Whereas many people teach that he fell because of the beauty of some earthly females, the Bible tells us that he fell because of his own beauty, enamored by his own wisdom and knowledge.

Ezekiel 28:17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. 

As in the case of the account of the fall of Lucifer in Isaiah, chapter 14, this account of the fall of the ‘anointed cherub’ in Ezekiel 28 disproves the theory that the fall of the angels was as a result of their desire to come down to Earth to be with women they found to be beautiful or fair. I doubt that any woman or man would match the beauty of these majestic creatures that God clothed and exalted to high positions within His creation. The ‘anointed cherub’ did not come down to earth of his own free will; he was cast down to the ground by God. Having been cast down, I doubt that he had the opportunity or desire to start taking human wives, and having families as the ‘sons of God’ did later on in the days before the flood.

Ezekiel 28:18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. 

This verse of scripture tells of the time that the practice of idolatry, of worshiping the creation rather than the creator, was instituted. The ‘anointed cherub is said to have had sanctuaries, which is the Hebrew word for Temple, God calls these places ‘thy sanctuaries’ meaning they were temples devoted to the ‘anointed cherub’ not to God. These places were defiled by the multitude of iniquities that contaminated them; and what was the nature of these iniquities? It was iniquity of their traffic, of merchandising, of turning holy and sacred things into a business. The ‘anointed cherub’ is the one who turned religion into a business, a tradition that has been carried on across the ages by the spiritual descendants of the father of iniquity. The only time that Jesus was moved to righteous indignation was when He witnessed the Temple of God being made into a house of merchandise. John 2:16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. Is it not interesting that Jesus used the very same word, Merchandise, which was used so very long ago by God to describe the iniquity of the very first merchant in the Universe. It is also interesting that the mercantile system of commerce as symbolized by the whore of Babylon will not be destroyed until the very end of the age. Jesus said that people were buying and selling till the very day that the flood came, and will be doing the same when he returns. Having survived the Silver, the Bronze and the Iron Age the system of the Universal Commercial Code will finally be destroyed at the end of this age.

The destruction of ‘anointed cherub’ by means of a fire that arises within his own self is poetic justice indeed. He transgressed because of his own beauty, it was own brightness that corrupted his wisdom. Highly intelligent people are called ‘bright’, and the ‘anointed cherub’ was possibly the brightest of all God’s creatures in that age. As his own brightness corrupted his vision and lifted up his heart, God would bring forth a bright fire from within himself that would reduce the ‘anointed cherub’ to ashes. This judgment greatly parallels the story of the mythological ‘phoenix’ bird. It is interesting that the phoenix is said to have had a golden plumage, and one of the coverings of the ‘anointed cherub’ was gold. Mythological stories deify evil creatures and do not attribute their demise as a result of judgment from God but they are based on the history of actual persons and events. The story of the phoenix bird certainly appears to be that of the ‘anointed cherub’ with the difference that the cherub will never rise because God promised him that never shall he be anymore. 

 This then was the story of the birth and rise of evil in God’s creation in a bygone age. The ‘anointed cherub’ though often equated with Lucifer and Satan was in all likelihood neither one of them. The story of the corruption or decay of God’s creation, the second law of thermodynamics in action, has occurred over 3 or more ages. The decay started at the end of the Golden Age when iniquity was discovered in the heart of the anointed cherub, it accelerated in the Bronze Age when Lucifer attempted to conquer Heaven, and it will reach its zenith in the Iron Age (the present age) when Satan is cast out of the heavens to set up his beastly kingdom right here on Earth. Though it is assumed that the ‘anointed cherub’ is Lucifer, and Lucifer is Satan, I do not believe the Bible supports this interpretation. This important subject will be studied in the future on its own as it is too complex to be discussed briefly, and many a person’s understanding of Satan and evil is based on presumptions rather than on scripture. However as it was concluded at the end of part 2A, an accurate understanding of the nature of angels and other ethereal beings such as the Cherubim proves indisputably that such creatures, being of a higher order and species were not guilty of the type of sins that are common to man, such as those of Sodom and Gomorrah. Therefore the sons of God who committed such transgressions could not have been angels.

To be continued