Isaiah 23:1-18

We have all heard about stories of people who have gone from rags to riches.  Today’s is a story of a nation that would go from riches to rags.  Wealth and prosperity are very dangerous because they tend to foster pride and independence from God.  The key to our well-being is humility and dependence upon God so it is easy to see why prosperity can be very dangerous.  I find it very ironic that there is so much teaching today about the blessings of prosperity when the Scriptures know nothing of this doctrine. 

TYRE WILL BE FALLEN: Tyre was a wealthy and powerful nation.  Her relationships with the surrounding nations were great and notorious.  Isaiah foresees the fall of Tyre as well as the lament of the nations who were trading with her and prospering with these trade agreements.  There are many people and nations that are affected by the prosperity or the demise of another nation.  Our lives and the decisions that we make in our lives have consequences that are far beyond ourselves and our immediate family.  Tyre was prosperous, powerful and prideful but soon she would be brought down.  Prosperity and power are not wrong in and of themselves but they become very dangerous when we allow them to lead us into pride.

TYRE WILL BE FORGOTTEN:  The Lord would use the Chaldeans to defeat Tyre.  They would be taken captive, the nations would be destroyed and they would simply be forgotten.  Pride builds a sense of immortality to our lives.  We think that we are so important and that we will be remembered forever.  The truth is that people live in the present and have very little interest or recollection of the past.  Nations and rulers who were once great but then fell are soon forgotten.  Isaiah speaks of the nation being forgotten for 70 years.  This is a time that is similar to the captivity that Israel would experience so it seems like the conquest of Tyre and Israel would coincide with one another.  It is delusional to think that we will be immortal or that our memories will be immortal.  The only means by which we can attain immortality is through faith in Christ and He grants us eternality.


TYRE WILL BE FORGIVEN: Perhaps the most glorious truth in all of Scripture is the promise that we have of forgiveness.  God delights in forgiving His people and He loves us very deeply.  The 70 years of being forgotten would be followed by forgiveness and restoration and Tyre would then use the blessings of her prosperity for the purpose of worshiping God.  God is in the business of transforming lives.  He takes that which is broken and hurting and restores it so that He will be glorified through it.  We were all created to worship the Lord and we can only find true joy and fulfillment in life when we are accomplishing this purpose.

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