Corrupted by Materialism
Isaiah 23 SCC 6/16/13
Ancient Persia is modern Iran.
Ancient Babylon is modern Iraq. Aremean Empire is
modern Syria. Though the conflicts were ancient in some way they have continued
throughout history. The players are basically the same and the conflicts are
basically the same.
With these oracles we are
reminded of at least three things about our God:
1. The sovereignty of God. These conflicts
and wars are within the purview of God. Modern day players are the same as
ancient ones. God works sovereignly with the nations. He will judge some
nations and choose others in the process. Individuals could always come to the
Lord like Rahab in Jericho.
2. The idea of Gods faithfulness to his
covenant. Even though judgment there is always reminders
of his promises. A remnant will always turn to the Lord and find his
grace.
3. Reminds us of gods
eternal plan to draw gentiles to himself. Israel was to be a blessing and God
would use his people to be a witness to the world.
This is a burden on Tyre. Both Tyre and Sidon were
cities up on the Phoenician coast. These cities were influential throughout
Israel’s history of commercialism and a source of idolatry and corruption. These
cities were the northern gateways into Israel so Assyria and other rampaging
empires would first meet these cities before entering south into Israeli
territory. Tyre and Sidon were about 20 miles apart
along the northern coast of Israel.
GOD’S
JUDGMENT IS SO THOROUGH IT PROVOKES WITH LAMENT 1-14
ALL IS LOST 1-7
A Command to Cry Out
Verse 1: There is a miserable
destruction laying ahead for Tyre. ‘Wail O ships…’ as far away as the island
of Cyprus. These ships that normally dock in Tyre
will find it devastated. Tarshish is on the
Mediterranean coast of Turkey with ships that ply the ocean, great sailors and
merchants. What is being told to them, while off during the merchant marine
business in Cyrpus, is that their
home, Tyre, has been destroyed. They have no home to
return.
A Command to Be Silent
Verse 2: even the cities of the coasts
(v 2 v 6) are called to howl because of the destruction coming. They trade and
have all of this revenue from Egypt to the Greek isles but it’s all going to
come to an end. The recipients of the trade, the islands of the Mediterranean,
are to be silent. They will no longer be receiving goods and produce from these
merchants. They are shocked at this.
Verse 3: Tyre
had been the marketplace for the large wheat crops that came from Egypt and
were distributed to other Mediterranean lands. Their business was to bring the
goods of the Nile basin to the others locations but now that cannot happen. So the ones housing the merchants are to be shocked since the
merchants have lost their home and thus the business.
A Command to Be Ashamed
Verse 4: Isaiah also gave voice to the
sea, the mother of Tyre, which bewailed its loss at Tyre’s demise. Its children were the ships that plied its
waters because of Tyre’s commercial activity, or
perhaps its outlying colonies. This loss would be a source of embarrassment to
Sidon since it was a sister city in Phoenicia. Now conquered, you use to be so proud
of your little ones.
Verse 5: sorrow over the news of Tyre’s downfall would be in Egypt. Tyrian
ships transported Egyptian products all over the Mediterranean region. Tyre’s destruction would have far-reaching effects. But though
not a global problem, it is a problem for Egypt and they are stressed out
hearing the armies are coming. What good are lots of produce if there is no one
to trade with if there are no merchants and to customers who want them?
A Command Get Up to Tarshish and Wail
Verse 6: Isaiah advised refugees to flee
from Tyre to Tarshish. How
the course of Tyre’s fate would change! Leave to the Asian
city of Tarshish. She had for centuries been a world
power, not as an empire but as a broker of international trade. Her ambitions
were not political, to rule others, but commercial, to grow rich. As such, Tyre symbolizes one aspect of worldly endeavor.
Verse 7: Here is a question of shock and
surprise. They simply cannot believe what they hear and see. Tyre was a source of joy for centuries but now must pick up
her legs to escape rather than use them to merchandize. No longer can she
establish new trading destinations to increase her influence in the region.
THE BATTLE OF THE GODS 8-12
Verse 8: no national god like Baal could
prevent any judgment God brings upon Tyre and Sidon. Not
when the Lord speaks. Who is responsible for this? They are the most honored of
nations and everybody comes down and bows to them because they have the goods.
Everyone recognizes the beauty of the place. Here is a sense of the ego brought
on by the unique position as a trading hub. If you were from Tyre, in the business community you were coddled and
acknowledged.
Verse 9: The reason for Tyre’s death was the plan of the Lord Almighty. He desired
to humble the proud and to humiliate the admired. He wanted to show the
transitory nature of human glory and the folly of depending on such glory. God
does not object when worthy people receive the credit due them. What He opposes
is pride that seeks to live independent of Himself.
This is who orchestrated this. But we do not know yet why. God is cutting them
down to size the need of which was their ego through the merchandizing and
aggrandizement it brought the city and its inhabitants.
Verse 10: Tarshish
are invited to expand freely, as the Nile overflowed in Egypt, because God had
removed her main competitor, Tyre. The merchant
shippers could ply their wares anywhere. There is nothing now to hold them
back. The people sailing in these great ships have no home to go to.
Verse 11: the Lord has given the command
through Canaan to destroy the strongholds. Canaan is used to remind us that
this land is the ancient battleground of the faith. This is the territory that
had worshipped Baal but they will be destroyed because of their corruption,
their sin, and their idolatry. So other nations are negatively influenced
because the trade routes are disrupted. Tyre a
stronghold is overwhelmed by Assyria. Sin has repercussions.
Verse 12: The Phoenician coastal cities
would have no more joy, peace, or security. Their residents would flee to even
to the island of Cyprus but would not be able to find rest. So there is no more
reason to be happy. You think you may be able to run away too Cyprus but even
though you will not be safe from those who destroyed you in the first place.
THEY ARE DESTROYED BY INVASION
13-14
Verse 13: the Tyrians
were looking to Babylon for deliverance but Babylon is destroyed and Assyria did
so with siege towers, stripping the palaces, and making Babylon in southern
districts of the empire a ruins. An invader, an opportunist had been left alone
by Sargon king of Assyria. Sargon hds his eye set on
the Levant. Sennachreib, the next king, has nothing to do with games and turns
to Nineveh, southern day Mesopotamia and wipes him out. After wiping him off of
the map he turns eyes back to the coastline of the Fertile Crescent. Tyre is warned. They are in the crosshairs. That will be
your fate. Assyria will now turn her site back on the coastline of the Fertile
Crescent and invade from the northern approaches. No alliances would stop this
advance. There will be no protection because it is the Lord who has determined
they would be destroyed.
Verse 14: Even though Tyre’s
demise would give Tarshish more control, Tarshish would suffer because Tyre
determined the prosperity of the Mediterranean world. The ships of Tarshish would have no port to enter at Tyre
v 1, and they would have no security for their enterprise. How foolish it would
be, then, for the Jerusalemites to pin their hopes on Tyre.
Here is the lament. But why does this take place?
LESSON:
There
is no place in our lives for ego. Ego is birthed through self-sufficiency. When
we look at our accomplishments and their outcomes and take the credit. When we
exploit our position of influence to our advantage at the expense of another
and feel justified because of an inflated sense of self. This will get you
nowhere with God. It incites God to act against you. There is no room for ego
in a devoted follower of Jesus.
GOD’S JUDGMENT PROVIDES LESSONS
THAT PRODUCE LASTING CHANGE 15-28
A FUTURE RESTORATION 15-17
Verse 15: they will go into captivity but
the Lord will bring them back and they shall return to their merchandizing. In
the day that the Lord would execute His plan against Tyre,
there would be a period of 70 years when Tyre would
experience relief from her oppressors. The length of a life will be the length the
city will be forgotten but then the song of the prostitute applies to her
future.
Verse 16: the imagery of
a ‘harlot’ throughout is not used to conjure immorality but as a merchandizing
term to say that the Tyrians trade and sell with
everybody. They make a lot of money through anyone who comes into their city to
sell to trade or to buy and become wealthy. Theoretically a prostitute has been
forgotten and so she picks up an instrument in the streets to ply her wares for
customers. But the prostitute here is the city that has been forgotten. But
with the case of the merchant and the prostitute, they are not makers of their
own wares but essentially are selling something the market desires and making a
profit on the movement of those goods. Tyre has
prostituted herself as all coming to her for what they desire and the merchandise
she is trading.
Verse 17: Tyre would attract interest in herself again, and what she
did was selfish and strictly for money. At the end of 70 years the Lord would
restore Tyre to her former position of playing the
materialistic harlot among the nations. She will reestablish her trading but she
will also prostitute herself to these nations once again. God will remember
her. She will return to her profits specifically made by a materialistic prostitute.
But there is now a very surprising turn around in her future:
A PERMAMNENT CHANGE OF LIFE
Verse 18: The solution to
this is to take the goods she prostitutes and give them to God. She will not
accumulate for herself but rather she will give her profits to those who set
before God. The profits a prostitute makes will now be given to God. Now they
are good wholesome products of high quality clothes for those who have none.
This lowers her ego, and her status of overwhelming wealth. Going back into
business the wealth becomes sanctified and everyone survives.
But the change in the Tyrians’ attitude that this verse promises did not mark
them then; they still engaged in commerce for selfish ends. Thus this verse
looks beyond the history of ancient Tyre to a time
yet future when God will transform hearts and cause Gentiles worldwide to come
and worship Him. In the future Tyre will have a new
status, a new spirit, and a new allegiance (Ps 87:4). She will join the
Ethiopians, Egyptians, Assyrians (18:7; 19:18-25) and many other Gentiles in
uniting to fulfill God’s glorification of Israel.
LESSON:
The
Judeans should not envy the Tyrians, nor should God’s
people of any age envy materialistic idolaters. Ultimately God’s people will
enjoy all the wealth of Tyre that will come to her
God. The oracles then of Chapters 13-23 seem to be saying that since the glory
of the nations in 13-14 equals nothing, and since the scheming of the nations
in 14-18 equals nothing, and since the vision of this nation in 21-22 equals nothing, and since the wealth of the
nations in 23 equals nothing, don’t trust
the nations!
So What?
The
same is true today. If we believe that a system of alliances can save us, we
have failed to learn the lessons of Isaiah and of history. God alone is our
refuge and strength. Don’t establish connections to get you by. Don’ think that ingenuity will be the answer. Don’t consider who
can come through for you. Look up not out. Look up not in. Look up not down.
Look up not around. Look up not back. You are not master of your fate. God is
in charge and you are responsible to live your life. God will do his job and
you must do yours while never forgetting that God is doing His.