Isaiah 23:1-4, 6-9, 12-13, 17-18

Isaiah 23:1-4, 6-9, 12-13, 17-18 NIV

A prophecy against Tyre:

Wail, you ships of Tarshish! For Tyre is destroyed and left without house or harbor. From the land of Cyprus word has come to them. Be silent, you people of the island and you merchants of Sidon, whom the seafarers have enriched. On the great waters came the grain of the Shihor; the harvest of the Nile was the revenue of Tyre, and she became the marketplace of the nations.

Be ashamed, Sidon, and you fortress of the sea, for the sea has spoken: “I have neither been in labor nor given birth; I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters.” Cross over to Tarshish; wail, you people of the island. Is this your city of revelry, the old, old city, whose feet have taken her to settle in far-off lands? Who planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are renowned in the earth? The Lord Almighty planned it, to bring down her pride in all her splendor and to humble all who are renowned on the earth. He said, “No more of your reveling, Virgin Daughter Sidon, now crushed! “Up, cross over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest.”

Look at the land of the Babylonians, this people that is now of no account! The Assyrians have made it a place for desert creatures; they raised up their siege towers, they stripped its fortresses bare and turned it into a ruin.

At the end of seventy years, the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the Lord; they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the Lord, for abundant food and fine clothes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tyre and Sidon are port cities to the northwest of Israel. They are in modern Lebanon today. These cities flourished with wealth because of international trade. As Isaiah mentions in this oracle against the Phoenicians, Egypt sailed goods to these ports and took goods from there back to Egypt. European countries would use these places for trade as well.

Historians say that the Phoenicians were sea peoples. They traveled to the ends of the earth, in the ancients' minds, in order to trade. The name Tarshish is a way of saying "a long way away." These cities were wealthy, but now they will come to nothing. The Assyrians with demolish them. Look what they did to Babylon, Isaiah exclaims! The Assyrians will do the same to Tyre and Sidon. And why has God decreed their destruction?

Isaiah 23:9, 12a

The Lord Almighty planned it, to bring down her pride in all her splendor and to humble all who are renowned on the earth. He said, “No more of your reveling..."

Pride is the sin of the Phoenicians. Greed and luxurious indulgence are their hallmark. So now God is using Assyria to humble them. And after 70 years they will be restored, but this time they won't hoard their wealth. They will honor God with it. The poor will be clothed.The homeless will have shelter. The widow and orphan will be cared for. And the people of God will be blessed by the wealth of Phoenicia.

God promised Abraham to bless those who bless his descendants. Phoenicia will come to bless Israel with their wealth. They will do this because they honor the God of Israel. Through the humbling experience of the Assyrian invasion the people of Tyre and Sidon will learn to whom they must give glory. They will no longer give glory to themselves, but will give glory to the Lord of Heaven and Earth.

I wonder if my life as a privileged American will be humbled too, if I haven't humbled myself before the Lord and been a good steward of the wealth He has entrusted to me. I self indulgently enjoy many trivial things I don't need, like movies and music purchases. I often joke that I have an idolatrous DVD collection. I have near 1000 vinyl LPs; that and more CDs I've purchased over the years. I've squandered wealth and not saved much, nor given as much as I could.

The passing of time brings humbling challenges to us all. We usually get our moment of humiliation. The question is, "Will we learn or will we be stiff necked and refuse to gain a godly heart?" Will we honor God with our wealth? Set apart a tithe of 10% of your income and give it to honor God in some way. See if you will not be blessed for blessing others in His name.

Glory to God!