In The Word
Read: Ezekiel 27-28
Grief over Tyre
27 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “And you, son of man, take up a song of mourning over Tyre; 3 and say to Tyre, who sits at the entrance to the sea, merchant of the peoples to many coastlands, ‘This is what the Lord God says:
“Tyre, you have said, ‘I am perfect in beauty.’
4 Your borders are in the heart of the seas;
Your builders have perfected your beauty.
5 They have made all your planks of juniper trees from Senir;
They have taken a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.
6 Of oaks from Bashan they have made your rudders;
With ivory they have inlaid your deck of boxwood from the coastlands of Cyprus.
7 Your sail was of colorfully embroidered linen from Egypt
So that it became your flag;
Your awning was violet and purple from the coastlands of Elishah.
8 The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers;
Your wise men, Tyre, were aboard; they were your sailors.
9 The elders of Gebal and her wise men were with you repairing your leaks;
All the ships of the sea and their sailors were with you in order to deal in your merchandise.
10 “Persia, Lud, and Put were in your army, your men of war. They hung up shield and helmet on you; they presented your splendor. 11 The sons of Arvad and your army were on your walls, all around, and the Gammadim were in your towers. They hung their shields on your walls all around; they perfected your beauty.
12 “Tarshish was your customer because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth; with silver, iron, tin, and lead they paid for your merchandise. 13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were your traders; with human lives and vessels of bronze they paid for your merchandise. 14 Those from Beth-togarmah gave horses, war horses, and mules for your merchandise. 15 The sons of Dedan were your traders. Many coastlands were your market; they brought ivory tusks and ebony as your payment. 16 Aram was your customer because of the abundance of your goods; they paid for your merchandise with emeralds, purple, colorfully woven cloth, fine linen, coral, and rubies. 17 Judah and the land of Israel, they were your traders; with the wheat of Minnith, cakes, honey, oil, and balsam they paid for your merchandise. 18 Damascus was your customer because of the abundance of your goods, because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth, because of the wine of Helbon and white wool. 19 Vedan and Javan paid for your merchandise from Uzal; wrought iron, cassia, and spice reed were among your merchandise. 20 Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding. 21 Arabia and all the princes of Kedar, they were your customers for lambs, rams, and goats; for these they were your customers. 22 The traders of Sheba and Raamah, they traded with you; they paid for your merchandise with the best of all balsam oil, and with all kinds of precious stones, and gold. 23 Haran, Canneh, Eden, the traders of Sheba, Asshur, andChilmad traded with you. 24 They traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of violet and colorfully woven cloth, and in blankets of two colors, and tightly wound cords, which were among your merchandise. 25 The ships of Tarshish were the carriers for your merchandise.
And you were filled and were very glorious
In the heart of the seas.
26 “Your rowers have brought you
Into great waters;
The east wind has broken you
In the heart of the seas.
27 Your wealth, your wares, your merchandise,
Your seamen and your sailors,
Your repairers of leaks, your dealers in merchandise,
And all your men of war who are in you,
With all your contingent that is in your midst,
Will fall into the heart of the seas
On the day of your overthrow.
28 At the sound of the cry of your sailors,
The pasture lands will shake.
29 All who handle the oar,
The seamen and all the sailors of the sea
Will come down from their ships;
They will stand on the land,
30 And they will make their voice heard over you
And cry out bitterly.
They will throw dust on their heads,
They will wallow in ashes.
31 Also they will shave themselves bald for you
And put on sackcloth;
And they will weep for you in bitterness of soul
With bitter mourning.
32 Moreover, in their wailing they will take up a song of mourning for you
And sing a song of mourning over you:
‘Who is like Tyre,
Like her who is silent in the midst of the sea?
33 When your merchandise went out from the seas,
You satisfied many peoples;
With the abundance of your wealth and your merchandise
You enriched the kings of the earth.
34 Now that you are broken by the seas
In the depths of the waters,
Your merchandise and all your company
Have fallen in the midst of you.
35 All the inhabitants of the coastlands
Are appalled at you,
And their kings are horribly afraid;
They have a troubled look.
36 The merchants among the peoples hiss at you;
You have become terrified
And you will cease to be forever.’”’”
Tyre’s King Overthrown
28 The word of the Lord came again to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre, ‘The Lord God says this:
“Because your heart is haughty
And you have said, ‘I am a god,
I sit in the seat of gods
In the heart of the seas’;
Yet you are a mortal and not God,
Although you make your heart like the heart of God—
3 Behold, you are wiser than Daniel;
There is no secret that is a match for you!
4 By your wisdom and understanding
You have acquired riches for yourself
And have acquired gold and silver for your treasuries.
5 By your great wisdom, by your trade
You have increased your riches,
And your heart is haughty because of your riches—
6 Therefore this is what the Lord God says:
‘Because you have made your heart
Like the heart of God,
7 Therefore, behold, I am going to bring strangers against you,
The most ruthless of the nations.
And they will draw their swords
Against the beauty of your wisdom
And profane your splendor.
8 They will bring you down to the pit,
And you will die the death of those who are killed
In the heart of the seas.
9 Will you still say, “I am a god,”
In the presence of one who kills you,
Though you are a mortal and not God,
In the hands of those who wound you?
10 You will die the death of the uncircumcised
By the hand of strangers,
For I have spoken!’ declares the Lord God!”’”
11 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 12 “Son of man, take up a song of mourning over the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord God says:
“You had the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The ruby, the topaz and the diamond;
The beryl, the onyx and the jasper;
The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald;
And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets,
Was in you.
On the day that you were created
They were prepared.
14 You were the anointed cherub who covers,
And I placed you there.
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 You were blameless in your ways
From the day you were created
Until unrighteousness was found in you.
16 By the abundance of your trade
You were internally filled with violence,
And you sinned;
Therefore I have cast you as profane
From the mountain of God.
And I have destroyed you, you covering cherub,
From the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Your heart was haughty because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.
I threw you to the ground;
I put you before kings,
That they may see you.
18 By the multitude of your wrongdoings,
In the unrighteousness of your trade
You profaned your sanctuaries.
Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you;
It has consumed you,
And I have turned you to ashes on the earth
In the eyes of all who see you.
19 All who know you among the peoples
Are appalled at you;
You have become terrified
And you will cease to be forever.”’”
Judgment of Sidon
20 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 21 “Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, prophesy against her 22 and say, ‘This is what the Lord God says:
“Behold, I am against you, Sidon,
And I will appear in My glory in your midst.
Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I execute judgments against her,
And I will reveal Myself as holy in her.
23 For I will send a plague to her
And blood to her streets,
And the wounded will fall in her midst
By the sword upon her on every side;
Then they will know that I am the Lord.
24 And there will no longer be for the house of Israel a painful thorn or a hurtful thorn bush from any surrounding them who despised them; then they will know that I am the Lord God.”
Israel Regathered
25 ‘This is what the Lord God says: “When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and show Myself holy among them in the sight of the nations, then they will live on their land which I gave to My servant Jacob. 26 They will live on it securely; and they will build houses, plant vineyards, and live securely when I execute judgments upon all around them who despise them. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.”’”
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
You all have heard the saying, “Like father, like son.” John Maxwell says that leadership can be defined as “influence.” To be a leader you must have followers, and these followers are influenced by you. As leaders, sometimes we forget the type of influence we have on those around us. In Chapters 27 and 28, we see how the nation of Tyre took on the attitude of its leader. In verse 27:3, it says, “O Tyre you have said, I am perfect in beauty.” In verse 28:2, the Lord God said of the leader of Tyre, “…you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the seas.’”
As a leader, you have much more power than you imagine. You have the power to influence a group in either a negative or a positive way. You can lead negatively by leading with arrogance, fear, or neglect. You can lead positively by nurturing, encouraging, or serving. We are all leaders in some capacity. Some people are parents of a family, a boss of a company, or a leader of a nation. Whoever you lead will take on your personality. Followers learn what’s important and what isn’t. Followers also learn how to treat others.
In the case of Tyre and its king, its arrogance would be its down fall. God doesn’t accept any man’s boasting of being god. He doesn’t appreciate our ingratitude for all of the great things He provides for us. Study yourself: do you lead as Christ or as the Tyre king?