Ezekiel 28:11-19

This set of verses is a bit complex because it is addressed to both the former archangel that served at the very throne of God but also in part to a physical king of Tyre. However, whether Satan himself or his physical minion, they are both following Satan's same pattern of prideful corruption of what God can give in wisdom and beauty to enhance His creation. "By the abundance of your trading" it says, "you became filled with violence within, and you sinned. Therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God." Regardless of whether it is specifically referring to Satan or those following the pattern of Satan and the way he lives his life within the free choice God had given him, this world's pattern of prideful corruption is where we live to grow, but set apart by God to follow His way and not this world's way.

Ezekiel 28:14-17

Let us go back to that scripture in Ezekiel 28 where God weaves together a tapestry here. Sometimes He is directly talking about the king of Tyre, at other times He is talking about Helel, and at other times it seems as though the two of them are blended together. In verse 14 it is clearly talking about Helel.

Helel was not a snake. He was not a serpent. He was not a crocodile. He was not what men would like to picture him as being. He was a powerful, supremely intelligent, and beautiful, free moral agent - an angelic one. But because he could not control his thoughts in making comparisons, his intellect, authority, and his beauty led him to feel superior to others, to misuse them and circumstances solely for his benefit. Perhaps even the knowledge of God's plan affected him - just speculating a little bit here.