Chapter 5. Major Divine Patterns (in the Word)
The last section from our five-point outline will deal exclusively with end times prophecy and the second coming of Christ. Before delving into that subject however there needs to be another section of Biblical proof, similar to the preceding Messianic prophecies, yet a bit different in scope. There are two types of patterns I want to present; the first (chapter 5) is what can be found exclusively in the Bible; the second (chapter 6) is what can be found in conjunction with the natural world.
Divine patterns of course have been presented above in the Messianic prophecy sections, as they touch every aspect of Biblical interpretation. Searching for designs has two great benefits: the first is they demonstrate that God is the author of the Bible, for there are identical threads of truth running throughout all the individual books within the canon. The second is that they often help fill in the blanks of salvation history, giving us a fuller picture of God’s times and epochs. The greatest such pattern is perhaps Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob. He was of course a real figure in history, but his life was also patterned after God’s beloved Son. Let’s begin by reviewing his story.
1. Joseph [all the quotes for this specific sub-section use the ESV for the Old Testament and the ALT3 for the New Testament unless otherwise stated]
A. Genesis 37
<Jacob lived in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers {1}. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons {2}, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors {3}. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him {4}. Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us {5}?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you {6}?” And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind. Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them {7}.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” “I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him {8}. They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him” -- that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore {9}. And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it {10}. Then they sat down to eat {11}. And looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah {12} said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver {13}. They took Joseph to Egypt. When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit {14}, he tore his clothes and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone, and I, where shall I go?” Then they took Joseph’s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood {15}. And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.” And he identified it and said, “It is my son’s robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard {16}.>
(1) <{Jesus said} I am the good shepherd! The good shepherd lays down His life on behalf of the sheep (John 10:11).
(2) and (3)
<And having been baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water. And look! The heavens were opened to Him, and he {i.e., John} saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon Him. And listen! A voice [comes] out of the heavens, saying, “This is My Son -- the Beloved -- in whom I am well-pleased” (Mathew 3:16-17)!
The Lord Jesus Christ was cloaked with the Holy Spirit’s approval and power, due to his Father’s love for him.
(4) Envy played a major part in the Messiah’s condemnation:
<But Pilate answered to them, saying, “Do you* desire [that] I release to you* the King of the Jews?” For he knew that because of envy the chief priests had handed Him over (Mark 15:9-10).
(5) and (6)
There are two dreams concerning Joseph’s future glory. One is where his brothers (represented as sheaves) bow to him in a field; the second is where all his family (represented as the sun, moon, and stars) bow in the sky. Thus earthly things are contrasted with heavenly things. This fits the idea of the God-man whom all of heaven and earth will worship one day (Philippians 2:9-11). Also of interest is that Jacob interprets the second dream as relating to Joseph’s mother even though she had long been dead...
<Therefore, I strongly urge [you] before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, the One being about to be judging [the] living and [the] dead at His appearing and His kingdom (2 Timothy 4:1)...
<And He gave strict orders to us to preach to the people and to solemnly testify that He is the One having been designated by God [to be] Judge of living [people] and of dead [people]. To this One all the prophets bear witness [that] through His name every[one] that is believing [or, trusting] in Him receives forgiveness of sins (Acts 10:42-43).
(7) In many passages the Messiah calls himself the sent one (Matthew 10:40, 15:24, 21:37, Mark 9:37, 12:6, Luke 4:18, 4:43, 9:48, 10:16, John 3:34, 4:34, 5:23, 5:24, 5:30, 5:36, 5:37, 5:38, 6:29, 6:38, 6:39, 6:40, 6:44, 6:57, 7:16, 7:18, 7:28, 7:29, 7:33, 8:16, 8:18, 8:26, 8:29, 8:42, 9:4, 10:36, 11:42, 12:44, 12:45, 12:49, 13:20, 14:24; 15:21, 16:5, 17:3, 17:8, 17:18, 17:21, 17:23, 17:25, 20:21).
(8) After the rulers saw the signs of his power and piety manifested they plotted his death...
<And immediately, in the early morning, the chief priests having created a plot with the elders and scribes and the whole High Council [or, Sanhedrin], having bound Jesus, they led [Him] away and handed [Him] over to Pilate (Mark 15:1).
(9) <And having stripped Him, they put around Him a scarlet cloak...And when they [had] ridiculed Him, they stripped the cloak off Him, and they put on Him His [own] garments, and they led Him away to crucify [Him] (Matthew 27:28-31; portions; his good tunic was also taken by the soldiers while being crucified -- John 19:23)...
(10) This exact expression, i.e., a pit with no water in it, appears a couple of times in Scripture (Zechariah 9:11; Jeremiah 38:6). The allusion is to the fact that the realm of the dead is void of the goodness of God (the sense is only partially applicable to the Lord; it was only Christ’s body that was among the dead for a few days, as his spirit was in Paradise for most of that time -- see Luke 23:43).
(11) <Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Fortified Palace. Now it was morning. And they themselves did not enter into the Fortified Palace, so that they should not be defiled, but so that they could eat the Passover (John 18:28).
(12) <Then Satan entered into Judas {anglicized Greek form of “Judah”}, the one being surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. And having gone away, he conferred with the chief priests and the captains [of the temple guard] [about] how he should betray Him to them. They were glad and agreed to give him money (Luke 22:3-5; the last verse is from the NASB).
(13) Christ being sold for pieces of silver is a very famous Messianic prophecy (cf. Zechariah 11:12; Matthew 26:15).
(14) Reuben going to the pit and not finding Joseph is reminiscent of the disciples (especially Peter) visiting the tomb of Jesus Christ only to find it empty.
(15) In two places the Messiah is said to wear a garment covered in blood (Isaiah 63:1-6; Revelation 19:13).
(16) Joseph was handed over to the gentiles and made to serve them (to include being thrown into a dungeon for two years over a false accusation). The Lord was given over to Rome to be killed and after his resurrection became “a light for the nations” (Isaiah 42:6).
Now one could be cynical and say that perhaps the writers of the New Testament constructed the biography of Jesus to fit that of Joseph. First, there would be little reason for them to do that. Rabbis weren’t expecting the Messiah to come and imitate Joseph meticulously. Second of all, the Gospel writings are complicated networks, bound up with the whole early church.
Mark worked with Peter (this is discussed more later), yet also had a friendship with Paul and spent some time with him (Acts 13:5; Colossians 4:10; 2 Timothy 4:11). Thus being a well-travelled believer, he had plenty of opportunity to verify by a variety of sources the information he wrote about.
Luke is similar. He travelled so much with Paul (as is evidenced in the book of Acts that he authored and also in 2 Timothy 4:11, Colossians 4:14, and Philemon 1:24) that he was probably conversant with an enormous amount of the early church, with people who saw the Lord and heard him speak and witnessed his mighty deeds.
Matthew was one of the original twelve disciples, although not in the inner circle (i.e., consisting of Peter, James, and John). He obviously knew enough to be sure that the stories he related were accurate and trustworthy.
Is it really possible that they all created these Gospels to mimic Joseph and then spread the message that many of them were thrown into prison and killed for? Also, since Peter and Paul probably had a large influence over the Gospels, if they devised a Joseph-motif, why does neither apostle in any of their letters ever mention him as a Christ-type?
Lastly, even if the New Testament was taken away it would be possible to verify the Joseph-like qualities of the Lord Jesus. For example, Pliny the Younger, a Roman ruler who reported to the Emperor Trajan, stated around A.D. 112 that the early Christians were in the habit of singing hymns to Christ as to a god.*1
Cornelius Tacitus, one of the greatest historians of ancient Rome, stated while commenting on Christians:
<...Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus...*1
Josephus, commenting on Jesus Christ, mentions his death by Pilate at the instigation of the religious authorities (Antiquities 18:63-64).
So thus we see that Jesus Christ made claims to divinity, was repudiated by domestic religious authorities, and killed by foreign rulers...
<For truly [there] were gathered together against Your Holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod [Antipas] and Pontius Pilate, along with [the] Gentiles and [the] people of Israel, to do as many [things] as Your hand and Your plan predestined to occur. -- Acts 4:27-28
By the way, may no one ever get bogged down by the question of who killed Christ. With all seriousness I can say that I killed him, as did every born-again Christian, when our sins were made over to his account.
B. A Holy Reunion
As touched on above, Joseph faithfully served in the home of his new master until the man’s wife falsely accused him of rape. The response of his owner was to throw him into a dungeon. While there, Joseph met two servants of the king and correctly foretold how they both would be brought out of the pit, one to death and one to life. This again alludes to the fact that the Lord Jesus is the judge of the living and the dead.
These predictions, which came true on the third day, directly resulted in Pharaoh bringing Joseph up from the dungeon in the third year and making him ruler over all of Egypt...
<And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God {1}?” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are {2}. You shall be over my house {3}, and all my people shall order themselves as you command {literally, “on/at your mouth shall all my people kiss”} {4}. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you {5}.” And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt {6}.” Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand {7}, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, “Bow the knee {8}!” Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt (Genesis 41:38-43).
(1) <There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse {David’s father, forefather of Jesus}, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him (Isaiah 11:1-2)...
(2) <Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities (Isaiah 53:10-11).
(3) <And Moses on the one hand as a trusted servant [was] faithful in all his house, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken [later], on the other hand Christ as a Son over His [own] house, whose house we are (Hebrews 3:5-6).
(4) <Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him (Psalm 2:12).
(5) and (6)
<For “He put all [things] in subjection under His feet.” [Psalm 8:6] But when He says that all [things] have been subjected, [it is] evident that [this is] except for the One subjecting all the [things] to Him. Now when all the [things] are subjected to Him, then the Son also Himself will be subjected to the One having subjected all the [things] to Him, so that God shall be the all in all (1 Corinthians 15:27-28).
(7) <{Jesus said}...And I am no longer in the world, yet these are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, which You have given to Me, so that they shall be one just as We [are] (John 17:11).
(8) <…At the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of heavenly [ones] and of earthly [ones] and of [ones] under the earth, and every tongue [fig., person] shall confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord to [the] glory of God [the] Father (Philippians 2:10-11).
Later during a great famine the brothers would venture to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph without knowing who he was. Eventually the family would be reunited after this “Egyptian” lord made his identity known...
<So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life...And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him (Genesis 45:4-5, 15).
So it is that Israel will eventually be reconciled to her Messiah…
<O to see the sight, next to Christ’s Coming in the clouds, the most joyful!...The Jews and Christ fall upon one another’s necks and kiss each other! They have been long asunder; they will be kind to one another when they meet. O day! O longed-for and lovely day-dawn! O sweet Jesus, let me see that sight which will be as life from the dead, thee and thy ancient people in mutual embraces (Samuel Rutherford, writing in 1633).*2
C. Joseph the Branch/Shoot
Joseph is likened to Christ through a description given to him by his father Jacob...
<Joseph is a fruitful bough [Lit son], a fruitful bough [Lit son] by a spring; [its] branches [Lit daughters] run over a wall. -- Genesis 49:22 [NASB]
Perhaps the most familiar prophecy of the Messiah as a “branch” is that which is found in the beforementioned Isaiah 11:
<And a rod has come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch from his roots is fruitful. Rested on him has the Spirit of Hashem, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and fear of Hashem; to refresh {or, "delight/smell"} him in the fear of Hashem...And {he} has smitten earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he puts the wicked to death. And righteousness has been the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness -- the girdle of his reins...And there has been, in that day, a root of Jesse that is standing for an ensign of peoples; unto him do nations seek, and his rest has been -- honour. -- verses 1-5, 10; portions; [mYLT]
Another familiar prophecy is Jeremiah 23:
<Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The LORD is our righteousness.” -- verses 5-6
But someone may say that this is surely a Messianic prophecy which states a credential that Jesus of Nazareth didn’t meet. This is where it helps to keep Joseph in mind; there will be a second visitation of Israel. Besides, there are two types of Messianic prophecies -- those which can be fulfilled later, and those which cannot. For example, when the Lord Jesus comes again Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely; but note a prophecy of the other variety...
<...The word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes?...The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former,’” says the LORD of hosts. “And in this place I will give peace,” declares the LORD of hosts. -- Haggai 2:1-3; [NASB]
After the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity they began rebuilding the Temple at Jerusalem; only they didn’t have the money and skill that was at Solomon’s disposal, so the second Temple was much more humble. Amazingly, God promises here that its glory would actually exceed that of Solomon’s Temple. Yet there was never an Ark of the Covenant placed in its midst, nor did a Shekinah cloud fill its corridors; only the advent of Messiah could explain the words of the LORD. It was because the Messiah would visit the Temple that its glory would be great. Indeed, this is just what Malachi (who prophesied around the time of Haggai) declared:
<“Behold, I am going to send My messenger [Or angel], and he will clear [Or prepare] the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and [Or even] the messenger [Or angel] of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts. -- Malachi 3:1 [NASB]
Given these prophecies and the ones found in the book of Daniel, it is doubtless that the Messiah had to come before the second Temple was destroyed; thus we have a time-sensitive prophecy that no one can fulfil now.
Finally, let’s close this section with one of the richest branch/shoot quotes:
<Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made; and he sent out a {literally, “the”} raven, and it flew here and there [Lit went out, going and returning] until the water was dried up from [Lit from upon] the earth. Then he sent out a {literally, “the”} dove from him {literally, “from with him”}, to see if the water was abated from the face of the land; but the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the surface [Lit face] of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took her, and brought her into the ark to himself. So he waited {anxiously} yet another seven days; and again he sent out the dove from the ark. The dove came to him toward evening [Lit the time of evening], and behold, in her beak [Lit mouth] was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth. Then he waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; but she did not return to him again. -- Genesis 8:6-12 [NASB]
Here the dark bird is released to cover the earth and then the dove {Hebrew ‘yonah/Jonah’} is sent forth three times...
During Messiah’s first mission he didn’t touch the ground in flesh, but spoke to the patriarchs via angelic manifestations and via the Holy Spirit, as it is written:
<...As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that [would come] to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking [Or inquiring] to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow [Lit after these]. -- 1 Peter 1:10-11 [NASB]
Then 2,000 years ago the begotten Son came and took back to Heaven the plucked-off branch, the crucified righteousness of God. Soon the Messiah will be sent out “in the glory of His Father” (Matthew 16:27) to destroy his enemies and reign as king forever.
Recall the Beginning-darkness-light pattern of Genesis 1, the Zerah-Perez-Zerah pattern of Genesis 38, and the hand-leprosy-hand pattern of Exodus 3. All these things highlight the foreordained Messianic dispensations: a pre-incarnate Christ, then a sin-bearing Christ, and then a victorious king; i.e., first a prophet, then a priest, and then a king. Or better put -- first a prophet, then a prophet-priest, and then a prophet-priest-king. Notice how he never ceases to be the Word...
<As to the likeness of their faces, the face of a man, and the face of a lion {king; see Revelation 5:5}, toward the right [are] to them four, and the face of an ox {priest} on the left [is] to them four, and the face of an eagle {prophet; as the Spirit of God is said to have “brooded” over the waters in Genesis 1:2} [is] to them four. -- Ezekiel 1:10; [mYLT; this is a very odd rendering but it does literally represent the Hebrew]
D. The Raven and Salvation History
So again, Joseph has helped unfold Biblical mysteries. For example, having seen the patriarch as irrefutably being patterned after the history of Jesus Christ, we can see more clearly and understand more certainly the future restoration of the Jews to their Messiah. I can’t stress how important it is to have a proper outlook regarding the election of Israel. Many reputable preachers now-a-days, having been affected by the theological anti-Jewish bent of some Reformation-era teachers, make a complete mockery of chapters like Romans 11, and flowing from this they don’t understand prophecy and contemn any who speak of it. What a shame that the church is being bullied into abandoning eschatology at the end.
Moreover, patterns always overlap other patterns, as we see here with the raven. We were following the trail of Joseph, which led us to branches, which in turn has led us to this mysterious bird. Any student of the Bible will find a strong semblance between its description and the description of the arch-villain of humanity, Satan...
<...And he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there [Lit went out, going and returning] until the water was dried up from [Lit from upon] the earth...>
<Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason?” -- Job 1:6-9
Just as Cain was barred from his homeland upon sinning against Abel and was forced to be a wanderer (see Genesis 4:9-14), so we see both the raven and Satan being global amblers...
<Be of sober [spirit,] be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. -- 1 Peter 5:8 [NASB]
His malicious work necessitated the advents of the dove, the Spirit-filled Christ...
<...The devil has sinned [Lit sins] from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. -- 1 John 3:8 [NASB]
The fall of Satan isn’t completely related in a definitive way. Most expositors who are spiritually minded recognize that there is much in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 that excels the condemnation and description due to any world ruler (although I believe some of it will be fulfilled literally by the Beasts), and therefore best depicts this dark prince. It’s hard to know where the satanic verses begin and end for sure, yet there are a few things from each that I’d like to relate which appear to speak of the Devil...
<How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit. -- Isaiah 14:12-15
<In Eden, the garden of God, you were, of every precious stone was your covering -- sardius, topaz, and diamond, chrysolite, beryl, and jasper, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald -- and of gold was the work of your timbrels and your flutes within you, in the day you were created were they prepared: you were the anointed cherub that covered -- when I appointed you, in the holy mount of God you were, amid stones of fire you did walk to and fro: complete, were you in your ways, from the day you were created, -- until perversity was found in you. By the abundance of your traffic, they filled your midst with violence, and you did sin, -- so I cast you as profane out of the mountain of God, and destroyed you, O covering cherub, from amid the stones of fire... -- Ezekiel 28:13-16 [REB]
Satan seems to have been a covering cherub, a regent who rendered some type of service in an Eden-like environment (like Lewis Sperry Chafer I do not see how this could refer to the Eden as we know it; it probably refers to a heavenly realm) to the angels. His service must have been pretty important, for the only other time we see a covering cherub it is shading the Ark of the Covenant...
<And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub o