Isaiah - Hope

 

Good morning Class,

Question of the week:  What is your favorite way to spend the day off work? 

23 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.

2 Be silent, you people of the island
    and you merchants of Sidon,
    whom the seafarers have enriched.
3 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.

4 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.”
5 When word comes to Egypt,
    they will be in anguish at the report from Tyre.

6 Cross over to Tarshish;
    wail, you people of the island.
7 Is this your city of revelry,
    the old, old city,
whose feet have taken her
    to settle in far-off lands?
8 Who planned this against Tyre,
    the bestower of crowns,
whose merchants are princes,
    whose traders are renowned in the earth?
9 The Lord Almighty planned it,
    to bring down her pride in all her splendor
    and to humble all who are renowned on the earth.

10 Till your land as they do along the Nile,
    Daughter Tarshish,
    for you no longer have a harbor.
11 The Lord has stretched out his hand over the sea
    and made its kingdoms tremble.
He has given an order concerning Phoenicia
    that her fortresses be destroyed.
12 He said, “No more of your reveling,
    Virgin Daughter Sidon, now crushed!

“Up, cross over to Cyprus;
    even there you will find no rest.”
13 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.

14 Wail, you ships of Tarshish;
    your fortress is destroyed!

15 At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the span of a king’s life. But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

16 “Take up a harp, walk through the city,
    you forgotten prostitute;
play the harp well, sing many a song,
    so that you will be remembered.”

17 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. 18 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.

This morning I want us to take a moment and look at where and what Tyre was.  It was quite the place.  

It had an island and a main land.  It had two protected ports and it became extremely wealthy.  Tyre is where the color purple was born and became so prized that it became the color of royalty.  

It is also where the famous "cedar from the forests of Lebanon" came from. 

It is also suggested that it was where men were first nailed to trees when they were being attacked by Alexander the Great, and later the Romans adopted this method of public execution which is called crucifixion.  

They had terrible practices, of ritual prostitution, infant sacrifice, and so much more.  It was a place where pride and wealth flourished.  

They also worshiped Baal, along with many other gods. 

So what can we take away from this? 

Checks against Tyre

1. Worship other gods

2. Greed

3. Pride

What do we take from this? What can we learn.  

1. This prophesy was fulfilled.  We won't go into all the details today, but it is clear that what the prophesy came true, contributing to the support of scripture. 

2. Do we fall into the trap of worshipping other gods?

3. Do we find ourselves suffering with greed?  What does greed look like in our lives? Is it just about wealth? 

4. How do we let pride impact us today? What are some ways that we stand against pride? What is humility?  What is it not?  

Tyre, was a place where people flocked from to listen to Jesus preach. Those people returned and built a community of believers who later supported Paul.  

This past week I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Michael Hasel.  It was so inspirational hearing how archeology is finding over and over again evidences of biblical historical accounts.  This passage also shows the beauty of prophesy and how it supports the validity of the word! It is beautiful to see how the bible marries history and inspiration that makes it all REAL! Our takeaway is so profoundly beautiful!  The FACT that Jesus Christ came and died for you so that one day very soon we can go home with him! Oh what a beautiful thought! 

God is so good!