The Inscrutable Question: Assignment to Eden, Significance of the Breastplate, Lucifer’s Personality Profile, Ezk 28:13a,b

C.	Ezekiel 28:13:
Ezekiel 28: 13 -	[NASV] “You were in Eden, the garden of God.  Every precious stone was your covering: the ruby, topaz, and diamond; the beryl, onyx, and jasper; the lapis lazuli [ LAP-ah-SLAZH-ah-lee ], turquoise, and emerald; and gold.  The workmanship of your setting and sockets was in you on the day that you were created.”
1)	Some commentators debate as to whether the “Eden” of this verse is the garden of Genesis 2-3 or a description of the third heaven.  There are several ways to biblically determine which is the correct location.
2)	First of all, it is true that Lucifer has been in both the third heaven and the garden of Genesis.  But we have a description here of an angel who is presented as the most perfect of all created beings.
3)	Lucifer, at the time of Genesis 3 was a fallen being and imperfect.  This is the first indicator that the Eden of Ezekiel 28:13 refers to the third heaven.
4)	Further, Lucifer’s uniform is decorated with a grouping of nine precious stones that are not mentioned collectively except in two other passages of Scripture. 
1.	The Breastplate of the High Priest
Exodus 28:17 –  “You shall mount on the breastplate four rows of stones.  The first row shall be a row of ruby, topaz, and emerald.
v 18 -	The second row a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond.
v 19 -	The third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst.
v 20 -	The fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree.”

2.	The Adornment of the Foundation Stones of the New Jerusalem
Revelation 21:19 -	The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone.  The first foundation stone was jasper, the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
v 20 -	the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite / KRIS-ah-LITE /; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase / KRIS-ah-PRAZE /; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.
5)	The high priest’s breastplate is to be worn by him as he enters the Tabernacle, the place of worship for Israel modeled after the heavenly prototype.
6)	New Jerusalem is the satellite city of God, which comes down out of the third heaven and orbits the new Earth in the future eternal state.
7)	The Garden of Eden in Genesis is associated with the human race and is adorned with trees and plant life, not precious stones.
8)	Lucifer was created before the creation of the universe and before the creation of the human race.
9)	Therefore we may conclude that the Eden in which Lucifer functioned in his pristine state was the garden of God in the third heaven.
10)	The uniform adorned with the precious stones indicates that the Lord has granted to Lucifer special favors, which are in accordance with his duties.
11)	In his exalted position, Lucifer was the supreme authority over God’s government and was to rule over the angelic creation, communicate divine policy, and coordinate angelic worship.
12)	These precious stones also enabled him to reflect the glory of God whom he served.
13)	It should be remembered that a gemstone emanates no light of its own.  It has no intrinsic power source to allow its brilliant refractive properties to shine forth.
14)	Yet in the presence of God, the uniform of Lucifer emitted an array of colors that complemented his already stunning physical beauty.
15)	Here is a warning to us.  No matter what mental or physical assets we may possess, we were created to reflect the glory of God, not be a source of glory unto ourselves.
16)	All the beauty possessed by Lucifer was given to him by God.  He was given a uniform decorated with precious stones.
17)	But neither Lucifer nor the precious stones possessed any innate source of power.  The glory they both were able to emit found its source in the glory of the Lord.
18)	Thus we can see from this the meaning of Lucifer’s name.  It means, the “light bearer,” the “brilliant one,” the “shining one.”
19)	Here’s an illustration of the principle that the Lord created both angels and humans as potential gemstones designed to reflect God’s glory, not to assume they are God’s glory.
Pentecost, J. Dwight.  Your Adversary, The Devil.  (Grand Rapids: Lamplighter Books, 1969), 17-18:
Some years ago when I was a pastor in the Philadelphia area, a man came into our congregation who moved from the Midwest to assume a position in the precious gem section of the large John Wanamaker store in Philadelphia.  One day I was passing through the store and he beckoned to me and said, “I thought you might like to see a diamond that we just got in from an estate.”  He went back into the vault and came out with a little chamois bag, and said “Hold out your hand.”  He opened the drawstring and shook a stone into my hand.  He had placed a half-million dollar diamond into my palm.  When I examined the huge stone, I was overwhelmed with disappointment because even the little stone that my wife wore on her finger shone more brilliantly and had a lot more life and fire than that diamond had. 
Evidently he could read my mind.  He smiled and said, “Let me have it.”  He reached down under the counter and took out a piece of black velvet and put the stone right in the middle.  Suddenly that diamond just leaped into life.  It was brilliant and sparkling.  He explained that, when I held the diamond in my hand, because it reflected the color of my flesh, it became very dead and dull.  But, when he put it on a black background, it reflected the light and then we could see the diamond’s beauty.  Even so, when God would show forth the perfection of His holiness, He revealed it against the black backdrop of sin.  When Jesus Christ came to save sinners, the contrast between Himself and sinful humanity made the glory of His absolute holiness shine.
Scripture records the fact that the wisest, the most beautiful of God’s created beings looked away from the Creator to himself.  He failed to recognize that all he was and all he had came as a gracious bestowment from the hand of the Creator to whom he was responsible.  In turning away from God, he turned to himself and became an essentially selfish being.  Every man born into this world from the time of Adam’s sin has had a nature just exactly like his father, the devil.  That which characterizes sinful man is self-centeredness.  Man is characterized by pride.  He lives his life in independence of God and he is only perpetuating the nature of his father, the devil.
Unless you come to understand something of the basic selfishness, pride, and independence that characterized Satan when he left his original state, you will neither understand yourself nor will you understand the temptations that come day by day.
20)	Lucifer was created perfect.  That perfection included not only perfect life but also perfect wisdom and perfect beauty.  Of all the angels that were created by our Lord Jesus Christ, Lucifer was the quintessence of perfection, the summum bonum of all living creatures.
21)	With these things in mind it is not too difficult to accept the fact that he had other attributes equally as perfect.  His duties required of him to worship God and to administer the angelic realm.  Both required the ability to communicate.
22)	When addressing the angelic assembly his arresting beauty no doubt caused every angel to look upon him in awe.  His maximum wisdom and his superior intellect were no doubt evident in the things he had to say.
23)	There was one other asset that when combined with his intellect and wisdom brought a dynamic, a charisma, and a flair to his personality that made him the greatest communicator of all time.
Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, s.v.:
1.	Dynamic: From the Greek dÚnamij / dunamis /: power.  Force and energy.
2.	Charisma: A personal magic of leadership arousing popular loyalty or enthusiasm.
3.	Flair: A uniquely attractive quality, i.e., elegance, sophistication, style.
24)	We have the phrase, “the workmanship of your settings and sockets was in you.”  Let’s take the word “workmanship” first.  It is the Hebrew word meleka / mel-a-KAH /, which means “craftsmanship.”  It can refer to the activity of one’s work, the requisite skills for the trade, or the finished product.  Here it refers to the finished product.  When the Lord created the angels, there was one named Lucifer upon whom the Lord bestowed perfection in his “settings and sockets.”