Biblical Oddities: The Stones of Fire

In the book of Ezekiel God begins talking about the devil, who is referred to as the king of Tyre. (Why Satan is referred to this way, and not simply called ‘Lucifer’, is far beyond the scope of this post.) At first the discussion is easy to follow:

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.
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.”

When Lucifer was created he was the wisest and most beautiful of all of God’s creation. He was in Eden in the garden of God; he was adorned with every precious stone. All of that is easy to understand.

Then we come to this:

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.”

As God describes the glory of Lucifer, one of the key things that’s mentioned is that he has “walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire”. What on earth does that mean? What are the stones of fire? Why is walking among them such an impressive, awe-inspiring feat?

We find it repeated again a few verses later:

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

When God pronounces judgment upon the fallen Lucifer, He says that He will cast him out of the mountain of God and destroy him from the midst of the stones of fire. This leads me to believe that the “stones of fire” are something that can be found in the mountain of God.

It is possible that the “stones of fire” (which some say should be translated as “glittering stones” instead of “fiery stones”) may be something that is found in Heaven. This passage may be saying that Lucifer was in Eden, the garden of God, and in Heaven as well – he had access to both places.

Whatever it is, the stones of fire are never mentioned again, and we never hear anything else about them. It’s one of the mysteries of the Bible.