Idolatry, Oppression and the Development of Demons: Part 2, The King as Guardian Angel

To give a lesser known illustration of the point I made in the last post, about how the political leaders of the nations were considered to be "sons of god" and angelic guardians of the nations, consider the judgment upon the king of Tyre in the book of Ezekiel.

In Ezekiel 26-28 we find a prophecy about the judgment to come upon the pagan nation of Tyre, one of a bunch of pagan nations that Ezekiel proclaims judgment upon. 

In proclaiming judgment upon the nation of Tyre the king gets singled out for special rebuke. And in the midst of this rebuke the king of Tyre is described in a particular way:

Ezekiel 28.14
You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you.

Other translations render "guardian cherub" as "guardian angel" as cherubs were angelic beings.

Again, this is an illustration of the point made in my last post, that the rulers of the nations were considered to be angelic beings who were ordained stewards and protectors of the nations. The king of Tyre was anointed by God to be the guardian angel of the nation of Tyre.

In the biblical imagination, guardian angels are the kings and rulers of the nations.

And yet, unlike how we tend to think about guardian angels, this isn't a warm, fuzzy situation. Because as we noted in the last post, these "guardian angels," the kings of the pagan nations, are the source of political oppression. That's why the guardian angel of Tyre comes under judgment:

Ezekiel 28.16
Through your widespread trade
you were filled with violence,
and you sinned.
So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God,
and I expelled you, guardian cherub...

Notice, and this is the key point I'm making in this series of posts, how the angelic aspect of a pagan nation is conflated with political oppression.

The guardian angel of Tyre is judged as being "violent" through "widespread trade."

And that sin, the angelic spirit of Tyre descending into the demonic, brings about the judgment of God.