365 Reflections

In Ezekiel 29, the prophet is in full force calling out the nations around Israel who disparaged or harmed them during their slide into abandoning God. Here, the target is Egypt.  Ezekiel 29:1–3 (ESV) In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt; 3 speak, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams, that says, ‘My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.’ Egypt had a long relationship with Israel. It was her captivity, her incubator as she grew, and eventually the first triumph upon her birth at the Red Sea. But there was always a forlorn desire in some to return or to trust this former captor when facing challenges from other nations. Some people can leave Egypt without letting Egypt leave them.  Many of Israel's pagan kin...

Paul asked in 1 Corinthians 1:20, "Where is the wise man?" referring to his age and acknowledging that Christ Jesus and the simple Gospel message have superseded human wisdom beyond our rational thought. Who would have thought that to save the world, God would enter it, not in prominence but in poverty, and who would have thought that to save the world, God would die on a cross and rise instead of killing His enemies?  The wisdom of every age is eventually undone by the truth of God's Word. This is the case for Tyre's king, who, perhaps at the time of Ezekiel's writing, was the wisest, noblest man on Earth. But his pride brought him down. Ezekiel 28:1–2 (ESV) The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “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— Thi...

Ezekiel 27 is a funeral dirge of prophecy against Tyre, a coastal city that had become the linchpin of ancient commerce. Every nation imaginable, including Judah and Israel, did business with this city. So the dirge opens with poetic language referring to Tyre as a ship.  Ezekiel 27:6–9 (ESV) Of oaks of Bashan they made your oars; they made your deck of pines from the coasts of Cyprus, inlaid with ivory. 7 Of fine embroidered linen from Egypt was your sail, serving as your banner; blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah was your awning. 8 The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers; your skilled men, O Tyre, were in you; they were your pilots. 9 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. Then, the prophet enumerates all the nations with whom Tyre did business.  Ezekiel 27:12–16 (ESV) “Tarshish did business with you because of your great wealth of every ...

The nation of Israel had a complicated relationship with the ancient people of Tyre, or at least their kings. David and Hiram, the king of Tyre, cooperated at one time.  2 Samuel 5:11 (ESV) And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, also carpenters and masons who built David a house. But Tyre, as an ancient people, was interested in its own glory far above anything else. Bible historians point out that Tyre was a political mastermind, playing Assyria and Egypt off each other to enrich itself, becoming one of the great merchant marine nations of ancient times.  Ezekiel spends a lot of time addressing this nation. Later, he will refer to the king of Tyre in satanic imagery in Eden, which elevates the content of his prophecy against this people even more.  Ezekiel 26:1–3 (ESV) In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, ‘Aha, the gate of the peoples is brok...