Beauty Restored

“You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering…” ~Ezekiel 28:12-13

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that human beings by nature long for and seek beauty—beauty in themselves, others, and the places they inhabit. When planning a vacation, the choice is usually between a beach or a mountain top, and always with a view. We seek beauty by nature because that’s one of the many ways we were created like God. 

Ezekiel’s prophecy against the king of Tyre reminds us of the same truth. This king, like most people, had devoted his life to seeking beauty and splendor. But he, unlike most people, had everything the world of his day had to offer. He teaches us several truths, none more important than this: the more we seek beauty on our terms, the less beautiful we become.  

The prophet first reminds us that human beings at creation were endowed by God with beauty beyond imagination. It was a gift we naturally possessed within, without, and all around us. In describing this king’s wealth and splendor, Ezekiel references the first Adam because, like him, Tyre’s king had beauty, riches, and wisdom. Sadly, they both fell from their exalted position through a quest for grandeur and lavishness outside of God. 

Notice how these are emphasized: “You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty” (v.12). “You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering” (v.13). “I placed you… in the midst of the stones of fire you walked” (v.14). The stones of fire likely refer to the beautiful and rare jewels of Eden, jewels we still consider precious today: sardius, topaz, diamond, jasper, sapphire, emerald, etc.  

The God we know and serve, among His other attributes, is beautiful. He’s not, as many suppose, boring and bland. One essential quality of God’s beauty is His holiness. Beauty and desirability can’t exist without holiness. This is exactly what the first Adam and his distant counterpart teach us. The prophet drives the point home in v.17: “Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.” 

Tyre’s king became repulsive in his pursuit of beauty. He became violent (v.16); he was unethical in business (v.18); and pride and corruption were what he ultimately attained (v.17). Perhaps the most shocking consequence of his life was his rejection of beauty’s source: “You have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods’” (v.2).  

He reminds us of what happens when we pursue any gift apart from God. We not only lose what we had; we become undesirable. And one day we lose, as this king did, whatever beauty we temporarily possessed: “I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God” (v.16).  

Though I can’t prove it with chapter and verse, I’ve always suspected that part of the anguish of judgement for those who reject Christ is related to beauty lost. It will be experienced when unbelievers realize the heights and depths of desirability and glory they have exchanged for the grotesqueness of their sin. 

But followers of Christ will experience to the utmost what this king only dimly reflected. We will one day live again in paradise. The fading beauty we see around us will be green with youth and rich in the splendor that comes from God’s eternal beauty and holiness. 

Rev. Marc Harrington, Associate Pastor