Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Ezekiel 26-28: Woe to Tyre

The Lord didn't just speak to Ezekiel about the sins of Israel and Jerusalem.  He gave word to Ezekiel about the Phoenician city of Tyre as well.  The two kingdoms were closely aligned.  Solomon received cedars from Hiram, the King of Tyre, who had always been friends with David.  Just as Jerusalem would be subjected to God's wrath by being destroyed by the Babylonians, the citizens of Tyre would meet the same fate.  It's one thing to sin in God's eye, but another to laugh at or try to take advantage of those whom God chooses to punish. 

After God spoke to Ezekiel about the destruction of Jerusalem, the Lord then gave him this message about Tyre:  'because Tyre has said of Jerusalem, 'Aha! The gate to the nations is broken, and its doors have swung open to me; now that she lies in ruins I will prosper,' therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea casting up its waves. They will destroy the walls of Tyre and pull down her towers; I will scrape away her rubble and make her a bare rock. Out in the sea she will become a place to spread fishnets, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD. She will become plunder for the nations, and her settlements on the mainland will be ravaged by the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD. - Eze. 26:2-6 NIV

As with Israel, Tyre's rulers had forgotten the source of all power.  They thought it was of their own doing. 

"'In the pride of your heart
you say, "I am a god;
I sit on the throne of a god
in the heart of the seas."
But you are a man and not a god,
though you think you are as wise as a god. - Eze. 28:2 NIV
 
Woe to Tyre.  Woe to any of those who think they can profit from the disaster brought on by God's hand.  Woe to anyone who thinks they are god.

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