Friday, January 24, 2014

Friday, January 24th

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Genesis 47-48; Psalm 19; Matthew 19.
Today's scripture focus is Ezekiel 26-27

Ezekiel 26-27

English Standard Version (ESV)

Prophecy Against Tyre

26 In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, ‘Aha, the gate of the peoples is broken; it has swung open to me. I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste,’ therefore thus says the Lord GodBehold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. They shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers, and I will scrape her soil from her and make her a bare rock. She shall be in the midst of the sea a place for the spreading of nets, for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. And she shall become plunder for the nations, and her daughters on the mainland shall be killed by the sword. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
“For thus says the Lord GodBehold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, and with horsemen and a host of many soldiers. He will kill with the sword your daughters on the mainland. He will set up a siege wall against you and throw up a mound against you, and raise a roof of shields against you. He will direct the shock of his battering rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers.10 His horses will be so many that their dust will cover you. Your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen and wagons and chariots, when he enters your gates as men enter a city that has been breached. 11 With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground. 12 They will plunder your riches and loot your merchandise. They will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses. Your stones and timber and soil they will cast into the midst of the waters. 13 And I will stop the music of your songs, and the sound of your lyres shall be heard no more. 14 I will make you a bare rock. You shall be a place for the spreading of nets. You shall never be rebuilt, for I am the Lord; I have spoken, declares the Lord God.
15 “Thus says the Lord God to Tyre: Will not the coastlands shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when slaughter is made in your midst? 16 Then all the princes of the sea will step down from their thrones and remove their robes and strip off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit on the ground and tremble every moment and be appalled at you. 17 And they will raise a lamentation over you and say to you,
“‘How you have perished,
    you who were inhabited from the seas,
O city renowned,
    who was mighty on the sea;
she and her inhabitants imposed their terror
    on all her inhabitants!
18 Now the coastlands tremble
    on the day of your fall,
and the coastlands that are on the sea
    are dismayed at your passing.’
19 “For thus says the Lord God: When I make you a city laid waste, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I bring up the deep over you, and the great waters cover you, 20 then I will make you go down with those who go down to the pit, to the people of old, and I will make you to dwell in the world below, among ruins from of old, with those who go down to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited; but I will set beauty in the land of the living. 21 I will bring you to a dreadful end, and you shall be no more. Though you be sought for, you will never be found again, declares the Lord God.”

A Lament for Tyre

27 The word of the Lord came to me: “Now you, son of man, raise a lamentation over Tyre, and say to Tyre, who dwells at the entrances to the sea, merchant of the peoples to many coastlands, thus says the Lord God:
“O Tyre, you have said,
    ‘I am perfect in beauty.’
Your borders are in the heart of the seas;
    your builders made perfect your beauty.
They made all your planks
    of fir trees from Senir;
they took a cedar from Lebanon
    to make a mast for you.
Of oaks of Bashan
    they made your oars;
they made your deck of pines
    from the coasts of Cyprus,
    inlaid with ivory.
Of fine embroidered linen from Egypt
    was your sail,
    serving as your banner;
blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah
    was your awning.
The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad
    were your rowers;
your skilled men, O Tyre, were in you;
    they were your pilots.
The elders of Gebal and her skilled men were in you,
    caulking your seams;
all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you
    to barter for your wares.
10 “Persia and Lud and Put were in your army as your men of war. They hung the shield and helmet in you; they gave you splendor. 11 Men of Arvad and Helech were on your walls all around, and men of Gamad were in your towers. They hung their shields on your walls all around; they made perfect your beauty.
12 “Tarshish did business with you because of your great wealth of every kind; silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your wares. 13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech traded with you; they exchanged human beings and vessels of bronze for your merchandise. 14 From Beth-togarmah they exchanged horses, war horses, and mules for your wares. 15 The men of Dedan traded with you. Many coastlands were your own special markets; they brought you in payment ivory tusks and ebony.16 Syria did business with you because of your abundant goods; they exchanged for your wares emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and ruby. 17 Judah and the land of Israel traded with you; they exchanged for your merchandise wheat of Minnith, meal, honey, oil, and balm. 18 Damascus did business with you for your abundant goods, because of your great wealth of every kind; wine of Helbon and wool of Sahar 19 and casks of wine from Uzal they exchanged for your wares; wrought iron, cassia, and calamus were bartered for your merchandise. 20 Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding. 21 Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your favored dealers in lambs, rams, and goats; in these they did business with you. 22 The traders of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; they exchanged for your wares the best of all kinds of spices and all precious stones and gold. 23 Haran, Canneh, Eden, traders of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad traded with you. 24 In your market these traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of blue and embroidered work, and in carpets of colored material, bound with cords and made secure. 25 The ships of Tarshish traveled for you with your merchandise. So you were filled and heavily laden in the heart of the seas.
26 “Your rowers have brought you out
    into the high seas.
The east wind has wrecked you
    in the heart of the seas.
27 Your riches, your wares, your merchandise,
    your mariners and your pilots,
your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise,
    and all your men of war who are in you,
with all your crew
    that is in your midst,
sink into the heart of the seas
    on the day of your fall.
28 At the sound of the cry of your pilots
    the countryside shakes,
29 and down from their ships
    come all who handle the oar.
The mariners and all the pilots of the sea
    stand on the land
30 and shout aloud over you
    and cry out bitterly.
They cast dust on their heads
    and wallow in ashes;
31 they make themselves bald for you
    and put sackcloth on their waist,
and they weep over you in bitterness of soul,
    with bitter mourning.
32 In their wailing they raise a lamentation for you
    and lament over you:
‘Who is like Tyre,
    like one destroyed in the midst of the sea?
33 When your wares came from the seas,
    you satisfied many peoples;
with your abundant wealth and merchandise
    you enriched the kings of the earth.
34 Now you are wrecked by the seas,
    in the depths of the waters;
your merchandise and all your crew in your midst
    have sunk with you.
35 All the inhabitants of the coastlands
    are appalled at you,
and the hair of their kings bristles with horror;
    their faces are convulsed.
36 The merchants among the peoples hiss at you;
    you have come to a dreadful end
    and shall be no more forever.’”

Accompanying Robert Rayburn sermon

The main point of this long passage is the fact that God controls the destinies of all nations.

Rayburn: Such a sermon preached to Ezekiel’s contemporaries in the immediate aftermath of Jerusalem’s catastrophic destruction was meant to comfort and console them. The Lord was at work in the world judging his people and judging their enemies. No one can escape his judgment and no one shall. But that means that he is able to restore his people whenever he is ready to do so. No nation, no political situation, no alliance of human power can stand in his way. The nations are a drop in the bucket before him. Even the most powerful of nations is but an instrument in his hand to accomplish his will.

Tyre was a very wealthy city.  And that wealth led to her downfall, drawing the attention of the Babylonian empire.  Wealth almost always corrupts - we see this all the time.  And prosperity is blinding - it makes it that much more unimaginable that judgment or destruction could come.  We shudder when we hear of catastrophes such as tsunamis and hurricanes, but they don't impact our everyday lives and we are unaffected in any lasting way.  Even 9/11 did not result in lasting spiritual change (for the majority).  We certainly don't relate any of those events to God's judgment - and if we did, there would be intense opposition or even hatred towards anyone even considering such a preposterous idea.

we think as we do because we are so prosperous. Our hearts have become knitted to this world. We think very differently about life than do people in other parts of our world who have little and who live in constant danger that what they have may well be taken from them. There is a reason why Jesus said that it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. And there is a reason why Zacchaeus, as soon as he became a follower of Christ, gave away half of his wealth....

prosperity knits the soul to this world and make it uninterested in questions about the world to come.
Make no mistake, wealth and prosperity is no protection against the judgment of God.

It was important for Ezekiel’s contemporaries to hear that and to reflect on that. There had been far too much caring about money and the things money buys in the generations leading up to the exile and it was time now to purge the people of that foolish desire for things that do not last and to set them once again seeking after treasure in heaven.

And we cannot hear that message too often ourselves. Don’t lay up for yourselves treasures here, my friends. Even if you succeed, you will regret it. Lay your treasures up in heaven where they will delight you forever. Heavenly treasures make for happier, wealthier people here, already, and then are never lost. So says Ezekiel, so says Jesus Christ, and so says every Christian who has ever lived in this world and left it for heaven.



Tomorrow's scripture focus: Ezekiel 28
Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Genesis 49-50, 
Sunday's passage: Exodus 1-2
Monday's passage: Exodus 3-4, Psalm 20, Matthew 20

1 comment:

Miriam said...

Excellent post! "prosperity knits the soul to this world and make it uninterested in questions about the world to come." - So true.