A Lament over the King of Tyre

 

Ezekiel 28:11-19

 

January 3, 2024

 

A Lament over the King of Tyre

Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God: “You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created, they were prepared. You were an anointed guardian cherub.  I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire, you walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you.  In the abundance of your trade, you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you.  By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade, you profaned your sanctuaries;
so I brought fire out from your midst; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you.  All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever.”

 

Pride, the Scriptures have a lot to say on that subject.  Proverbs 11:2 “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” Proverbs 16:5 “The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.” Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”

 

This is much greater than a lament of the King of Tyre, it is the source of how pride always put self before God.  We like the king of Tyre or the devil, believe our accomplishments, our beauty, and our clever minds are a product of self.

 

Yes, this is about the King of Tyre, but he was not an anointed guardian cherub.  The King of Tyre was not a signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings.  But Lucifer was, and like the King of Tyre, they allow pride to be their downfall.

 

As a follower of Jesus Christ, are we exempt from pride?  If you believe that you are, it is time to do some serious evaluation, of your life.  You and I live in a world full of pride, of fear, and self.  It is so easy to become prideful; that you do not have the problems others have, and it is always because you do not do such foolish things as they do.  Did you get that, you are smarter and more resourceful, you, yes you and I can take credit for our accomplishment.  Is that prideful, unless you give the glory to God for the Wisdom, that He has bestrode on each of us to bless others, and help them, looking to our Lord, who is the source of all wisdom, Truth, and understanding? 

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Prophecy Against the Prince of Tyre

 

Ezekiel 28:1-10

 

January 2, 2023

  

Prophecy Against the Prince of Tyre

The word of the Lord came to me:  “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord God:  “Because your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas,’ yet you are but a man, and no god, though you make your heart like the heart of a god- you are indeed wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you;  by your wisdom and your understanding you have made wealth for yourself, and have gathered gold and silver into your treasuries; by your great wisdom in your trade you have increased your wealth, and your heart has become proud in your wealth-therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you make your heart like the heart of a god, therefore, behold, I will bring foreigners upon you, the most ruthless of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and defile your splendor.
They shall thrust you down into the pit, and you shall die the death of the slain in the heart of the seas.  Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’ in the presence of those who kill you, though you are but a man, and no god, in the hands of those who slay you?  You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of foreigners; for I have spoken, declares the Lord God.”

As we begin this paper, I am reminded of a quote from Buell H. Kazee, in his book “Faith is the Victory.”  “God creates man in His image, and man creates God in his image.  It depends on who is doing the creating as to what kind of being we have in either case.  Man left to himself, will always have a god; and that god will always be like himself.”

The prince of Tyre had done the creating and believed he was a god, his wealth and ability to acquire great wealth had made him proud.  He believed he was untouchable, but God showed him He was not a god but a man.

That bring up a thought in my small mind, the danger of putting trust in the blessing of God.  If you have been given a great mind to solve problems, or if you were blessed with the skill to make wealth, have you become proud, believing it was your skills and not the blessing of God?  There is great danger in doing so, you may need to examine yourself to see if you are in the faith.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

 

 

 

All the Nations depended on Tyre

 

Ezekiel 27:12-25

 

December 31, 2023

 

“Tarshish did business with you because of your great wealth of every kind; silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your wares.  Javan, Tubal, and Meshech traded with you; they exchanged human beings and vessels of bronze for your merchandise. From Beth-togarmah they exchanged horses, war horses, and mules for your wares.  The men of Dedan traded with you. Many coastlands were your own special markets; they brought you in payment ivory tusks and ebony.  Syria did business with you because of your abundant goods; they exchanged for your wares emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and ruby. Judah and the land of Israel traded with you; they exchanged for your merchandise wheat of Minnith, meal, honey, oil, and Balm.  Damascus did business with you for your abundant goods, because of your great wealth of every kind; wine of Helbon and wool of Sahar and casks of wine^[ from Uzal they exchanged for your wares; wrought iron, cassia, and calamus were bartered for your merchandise. Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding.  Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your favored dealers in lambs, rams, and goats; in these, they did business with you. 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.  Haran, Canneh, Eden, traders of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad traded with you.  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.  The ships of Tarshish traveled for you with your merchandise. So you were filled and heavily laden in the heart of the seas.

If you wanted to trade for the best of goods and materials, you went to Tyre.  All of these nations depended on Tyre, to trade for all kinds of goods.  But all they were doing was making Tyre rich and becoming dependent on it.  Both David and Solomon had a good relationship with the King of Tyre.  

 

God blessed Tyre to be a blessing to His chosen people, as He has the USA, and yes, they both grew in power and wealth, and became proud arrogant, and evil, believing they were the source of their success.

 

God brought His wrath on them; they are no longer a nation that the other nations look to.  Will the USA follow that same path?

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

A Lament for Tyre

 

Ezekiel 27:1-11

 

December 30, 2023

 

A Lament for Tyre

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 pine 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.

“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. 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.

 

We see Tyre depicted as a beautiful ship, on the coastline, she was the pride of a merchant fleet of ships.  She was a very prosperous and very proud city, on the Mediterranean Sea.  Tyre was so prosperous that she would go to great expenses to see that all her ships and buildings were of the best materials and it was all about looks.

 

She only used the best, in all areas of workmanship and construction materials.  In that her fleet of ships did business in all ports, she had the best of everything.   When you have that kind of resources you not only believe you are in charge and you become proud and arrogant.  The nations she did business with were impressed to say the least, at her beauty, she was what all people wanted to be like.

 

Tyre was a strong nation with a strong military and the best of everything, but God.  The Phoenician people had little need of God, they had become gods in their pride, and as my dad often said we learn nothing from history or we would not keep repeating it.

 

I see our nation is a lot t like Tyre, we have been so blessed by God following in the footprint of Tyre.  Arrogant, sinful, full of self, with wealth, and very prideful.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

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 pine 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.

“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. 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.

 

We see Tyre depicted as a beautiful ship, on the coastline, she was the pride of a merchant fleet of ships.  She was a very prosperous and very proud city, on the Mediterranean Sea.  Tyre was so prosperous that she would go to great expenses to see that all her ships and buildings were of the best materials and it was all about looks.

 

She only used the best, in all areas of workmanship and construction materials.  In that her fleet of ships did business in all ports, she had the best of everything.   When you have that kind of resources you not only believe you are in charge and you become proud and arrogant.  The nations she did business with were impressed to say the least, at her beauty, she was what all people wanted to be like.

 

Tyre was a strong nation with a strong military and the best of everything, but God.  The Phoenician people had little need of God, they had become gods in their pride, and as my dad often said we learn nothing from history or we would not keep repeating it.

 

I see our nation is a lot t like Tyre, we have been so blessed by God following in the footprint of Tyre.  Arrogant, sinful, full of self, with wealth, and very prideful.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

The Father's Relationship to the Son

 

God as Father

 

The Father's Relationship to the Son

 

 

Do you recall The Healing at the Pool on the Sabbath, where Jesus healed the man who had been lying there for 38 years?  John 5:2-16, verse 17 is Jesus’ reply to the Jews who were upset that He did this on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. John 5:18

John 5:19,  So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.

John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.”

John 1:1-5, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 17:1-5, When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,  since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.  And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.  I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.  And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”

 

Our Relationship to the Father and the Son

 

 John 15:5

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing.”

Matthew 6:33

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Hebrews 4:12

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

 Colossians 3:16

“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”

Philippians 4:6-7

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

God is called "Father" 184 times in the New Testament, 64 times in the first three Gospels, and 120 times in the fourth Gospel. God is also referred to as the "Father of mercies" in 2 Corinthians 1:3, the "Father of glory" in Ephesians 1:17, and the "Father of lights" in James 1:17. In Romans 8:15, God is referred to by the Aramaic word Abba, which is an intimate term for father. 

 

Old Testament

God is called "Father" about 20 times in the Old Testament, including in Deuteronomy 14:1-2, Isaiah 63:16, 64:8, and Jeremiah 3:19. In the Old Testament, God is referred to as the Father of Israel, and the relationship between God and his chosen people is described as special and tender. However, the Old Testament also emphasizes the distance between God and humans and the reserve one should feel before him. 

 

God as Father

In the Old Testament, God is the Father of Israel (and Israel is his son) in the context of God forgiving and redeeming Israel. While the Jews of Jesus’s day were hesitant to call God their Father (and angry at Jesus for doing so), Jesus claimed God as his Father and taught his followers to do the same. God is the Father and is also the Son, whom the Father sent to carry out his plan of redemption. What distinguishes the Son from the Father is not the quality of his being, which is just as divine as the Father’s is, but the functioning of their relationship, according to which the Son had come into the world to do the Father’s will. We relate to God as Father, therefore, through Jesus the Son, sharing in his sonship through the adoption we receive through Christ’s redeeming work for us.

Christians today take it for granted that God is our Father, but few people stop to think what this name really means. We know that Jesus taught his disciples to pray “Our Father” and that the Aramaic word Abba (“Father”) is one of the few that Jesus used and that it has remained untranslated in our New Testament. Nowadays, hardly anybody finds this strange, and many people are surprised to discover that the Jews of Jesus’s day, and even his own disciples, were puzzled by his teaching. This is because the deeper meaning and the wider implications of the term “Father” are largely unknown today. So widespread and generally accepted has the name become that we no longer question it, and so we often fail to realize how important it is for our understanding of God. (Taken from The Gospel Coalition)

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

God's Judgment on Tyre

 

Ezekiel 26:15-21

 

December 28, 2023

 

“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?  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.  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!  Now the coastlands tremble on the day of your fall, and the coastlands that are on the sea are dismayed at your passing.’  “For thus say 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,  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.  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.”

 

Tyre, had become like Sodom and Gomorrah with no fear of God, much like many of the nations of the Western world we live in.  We in the USA have told God to say out of our government, our schools, and higher education, and it is very clear He has, and we see the product they have turned out. 

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Prophecy Against Tyre

 

Ezekiel 26:1-14

December 27, 2023

Prophecy Against Tyre

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 God: Behold, 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 God: Behold, 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.  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.  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. 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.  And I will stop the music of your songs, and the sound of your lyres shall be heard no more.  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.

 

If one looks at Scripture to find something that they believe never happened it might be a false belief that God said Nebuchadnezzar would destroy Tyre.  Verse three states that many nations.  King Nebuchadnezzar was just the first, of several, and he attacked the mainland, it was Alexander the Great that did a lot of harm, and the Romans.

Tyre was destroyed and this Phoenician city was never rebuilt, and it was known for its famous purple dye.  Most of it population lived on the small Island about a half-mile off the coast. When Alexander the Great built a ramp from the mainland to the Island.

Often on things like this, I look at what others have said and Got Questions is very good, they state that in 1291, Tyre was completely destroyed by the Saracens, fulfilling Ezekiel 26’s prophecy.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice