“Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, ‘Aha! She is broken who was the gateway of the peoples; now she is turned over to me; I shall be filled; she is laid waste.’” Ezekiel 26:2
Ezekiel was ordered to take up a lamentation for the city of Tyre. Tyre was a very prosperous city, a city of wealth and beauty. Yet Ezekiel had to prophesy against her because her prosperity had become her snare. Her prosperity had made the city proud and blinded with a false sense of security. While God wants us to prosper, we must always be careful not to take our eyes off Him and end up worshiping our prosperity. Pride can easily creep in without us realizing. What caused the downfall of Tyre?
1) Her pride. “O Tyre, you have said, ‘I am perfect in beauty.’” (Ezek. 27:3). Tyre had called herself “perfect in beauty” because she was well-built and well-filled with money and trade. It is folly for any man to value himself based on the pomp and pleasure he lives in, and to consider himself perfect simply by the material possessions he owns. God takes notice of the vain conceits in men’s hearts and the result is often destruction. Proverbs has much to say concerning pride. “When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom” (11:2), and “by pride comes nothing but strife, but with the well-advised is wisdom” (13:10).
2) Her prosperity. Ezekiel had nothing to say of Tyre’s charity; her being a refuge to the distressed or her doing good to her neighbors. But she had viewed her greatness as something independent of God’s grace and favor. Instead of trusting in the living God, she trusted in her prosperity. Jeremiah 17:5 states, “Thus says the LORD: Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD.”
Decide today that you will not allow material wealth, fame or beauty to stand between you and God. Pride can stealthily grow in your life without you even noticing it. Sometimes, it takes others to speak a word into areas in your life where you have allowed pride to dwell. “Open rebuke is better than hidden love! Wounds from a friend are better than kisses from an enemy” (Prov. 27:5-6, TLB). Therefore, let us surrender every area of our life to God again and allow Him to speak to us through others. Stay open and remain humble at all times and God will exalt you.
Ezekiel was ordered to take up a lamentation for the city of Tyre. Tyre was a very prosperous city, a city of wealth and beauty. Yet Ezekiel had to prophesy against her because her prosperity had become her snare. Her prosperity had made the city proud and blinded with a false sense of security. While God wants us to prosper, we must always be careful not to take our eyes off Him and end up worshiping our prosperity. Pride can easily creep in without us realizing. What caused the downfall of Tyre?
1) Her pride. “O Tyre, you have said, ‘I am perfect in beauty.’” (Ezek. 27:3). Tyre had called herself “perfect in beauty” because she was well-built and well-filled with money and trade. It is folly for any man to value himself based on the pomp and pleasure he lives in, and to consider himself perfect simply by the material possessions he owns. God takes notice of the vain conceits in men’s hearts and the result is often destruction. Proverbs has much to say concerning pride. “When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom” (11:2), and “by pride comes nothing but strife, but with the well-advised is wisdom” (13:10).
2) Her prosperity. Ezekiel had nothing to say of Tyre’s charity; her being a refuge to the distressed or her doing good to her neighbors. But she had viewed her greatness as something independent of God’s grace and favor. Instead of trusting in the living God, she trusted in her prosperity. Jeremiah 17:5 states, “Thus says the LORD: Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD.”
Decide today that you will not allow material wealth, fame or beauty to stand between you and God. Pride can stealthily grow in your life without you even noticing it. Sometimes, it takes others to speak a word into areas in your life where you have allowed pride to dwell. “Open rebuke is better than hidden love! Wounds from a friend are better than kisses from an enemy” (Prov. 27:5-6, TLB). Therefore, let us surrender every area of our life to God again and allow Him to speak to us through others. Stay open and remain humble at all times and God will exalt you.
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