God’s Sovereignty: Understanding Tyre’s Judgment in History

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“This message came to me concerning Tyre: Wail, you trading ships of Tarshish, for the harbour and houses of Tyre are gone! The rumours you heard in Cyprus are all true. … The Lord held out his hand over the sea and shook the kingdoms of the earth. He has spoken out against Phoenicia, ordering that her fortresses be destroyed. He says, “Never again will you rejoice, O daughter of Sidon, for you have been crushed. Even if you flee to Cyprus, you will find no rest.” Look at the land of Babylonia— the people of that land are gone! The Assyrians have handed Babylon over to the wild animals of the desert. They have built siege ramps against its walls, torn down its palaces, and turned it to a heap of rubble. Wail, you ships of Tarshish, for your harbour is destroyed!
Isaiah 23:1, 11-14 NLT

In this oracle written against Tyre, the ancient Phoenician trading port located just South of Beirut, God’s presence was clear. In the natural, and without any sort of divine intervention, they would probably have continued to trade for many years, sinfully plying their maritime businesses from a city that was nearly impregnable, located as it was partially on an offshore island. But their pride was their downfall, and eventually God had to act in judgment, as we read in Isaiah 23:8-9, “Who has brought this disaster on Tyre, that great creator of kingdoms? Her traders were all princes, her merchants were nobles. The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has done it to destroy your pride and bring low all earth’s nobility”. But did God’s intervention apply in all the wars and skirmishes that took place in Old Testament times? The Israelites entered the Promised Land of Canaan, driving out the people who lived there, but they found no peace, as one nation after another fought them for land or plain hatred. But God couldn’t allow Tyre to continue because it was starting to use its economic strength to plunder the nations around it, and particularly God’s people. 

Ancient Tyre experienced something like the Wall Street crash of 1929, when the market collapsed almost overnight, leading to the Great Depression of the 1930s. In 1929, the stock market collapsed due to poor financial decisions and over-inflated share prices. Tyre experienced something similar with the collapse of its commerce. It relied on its immense economic power, its status as a maritime superpower, and its mighty sea fortresses to act with pride and arrogance, treating its renowned merchants like princes and forgetting God’s ultimate sovereignty.

We pilgrims live in a world driven and underpinned by capitalism. Nations trade with one another. Businesses buy and sell. But the message from Tyre is that capitalism on its own is a poor foundation for mankind’s future. The stock market can crash, and businesses can crash with it. Currencies can collapse, destroying buying power and bringing hardship over which ordinary people have no influence or control. Closer to home, we occasionally see houses lose value, putting the owners into what we call negative equity, where they are unable to realise sufficient value from their investments to repay the loans taken out to purchase the property in the first place. And then to compound the problems, health can be impacted, bringing uncertainty and misery in more extreme cases. But in all of this, we have a God who is unchangeable and who is immune to human systems and market crashes. Paul gave Timothy some great advice: “Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life” (1 Timothy 6:17-19). Regarding the future, the only sure and solid foundation is Jesus Himself. He never changes and is “… the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). 

One repeated emphasis throughout Isaiah is God’s rule over history. To their merchants, Tyre looked untouchable, but God simply announced its fall. And we know from history, and the ruins that we can see today, that what He said happened. The time we live in today is politically uncertain, with a war going on between the US, Israel, and Iran and its proxies in Lebanon and Yemen. Ever since it was established in 1948, Israel has been under attack from one source or another. Anti-Semitism is an ongoing problem in many nations. And then we have the war going on in the Eastern borders of Europe, and now in its fifth year. But these are just the headline conflicts. There are many other skirmishes going on as nations rise and fall, and leaders come and go. We could be tempted to think that God doesn’t care, but the story of Tyre says otherwise. God is always active in world events, and He will act when necessary because he is sovereign. For us pilgrims, we trust in Him, and we agree with Paul about what he wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:18, “Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen”. The Psalmist wrote, “The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever” (Psalm 121:7-8). And of immense comfort to believers everywhere is Psalm 46:8-10, “Come, see the glorious works of the Lord: See how he brings destruction upon the world. He causes wars to end throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and snaps the spear; he burns the shields with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honoured by every nation. I will be honoured throughout the world””. There will come a time when all wars will end, and many believers, looking at today’s world events, feel that this won’t be far off. 

We pilgrims rest in God’s loving arms, secure and trusting that He will bring us safely home. Isaiah 26:4-5, “Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock. He humbles the proud and brings down the arrogant city. He brings it down to the dust”. There may be much dust in the world around us, but we stand firm on the solid Rock, God Himself. No dust there.

Dear Father God. Thank You for Your presence in our lives. In these uncertain times, we look to You as the Source of all that we need, confident in our salvation, and sure that one day You will welcome us home. Thank You. Amen.

Solid Ground

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Don’t let me suffer the fate of sinners. Don’t condemn me along with murderers. Their hands are dirty with evil schemes, and they constantly take bribes. But I am not like that; I live with integrity. So redeem me and show me mercy. Now I stand on solid ground, and I will publicly praise the Lord.”
Psalm 26:9-12 NLT

David was sure of his footing in God when he wrote the final verse to Psalm 26. Of course, he was referring to his spiritual standing, but I’m sure he felt it extended into his natural world as well. David was going through an euphoric state of mind at that time and all was lovely. His glasses, if he had any in those days, would have been tinted with a wonderful shade of rose. He felt so good about things that he wrote that he would “publicly praise the Lord”. David wrote other Psalms, and the first two verses of one of them read, “I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along” (Psalm 40:1-2). Another time, another place, perhaps, but another occasion when God came through for him. God was always there for David, regardless of his circumstances, and his relationship with the Lord was strong and vibrant, every minute of his days. 

Solid ground is something we humans take for granted. There is no obvious first hand experience of hurtling around a star we call the sun, other than the periods of light and darkness, sunrise and sunset. We build our houses on ground that we assume will be solid and immovable for the years ahead. We compare old photos with those taken today and the same landscape features are still in place. We walk in places with rocks and packed earth and our senses tell us that we are in the presence of “solid ground”. But that is all in line with our local natural world. Things get a bit wobblier, however, when we consider the state of the world and news reports of wars and famines, earthquakes and fires. In these circumstances we become a bit less sure. There is a tendency to stick our heads in the sand and hope things will blow over, and that is a human trait also present in the Old Testament times. In the days of Amos, one of the Minor Prophets, the Israelites were ignoring the political situation of the world immediately around them. Amos 6: 1, 3, 7, “What sorrow awaits you who lounge in luxury in Jerusalem, and you who feel secure in Samaria! You are famous and popular in Israel, and people go to you for help. … You push away every thought of coming disaster, but your actions only bring the day of judgment closer. … Therefore, you will be the first to be led away as captives. Suddenly, all your parties will end“. The people in Israel denied anything bad was going to happen and continued to behave in the sinful and evil way that was their norm. Yes, the ground wasn’t literally shaking but their society was, and soon after Amos’ prophetic messages, God allowed them to be led away into exile. 

Jesus told the parable of a rich and successful businessman farmer, who had enjoyed a bumper crop that year and had to build new barns to hold it all. His conclusion was that this gave him “solid ground” for his retirement and he was going to spend it all partying. He said to himself, “ … My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!” (Luke 12:19). Unfortunately for him, though, something was about to happen that would disrupt his plans. The next verse in Jesus’ story is, “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’” The “solid ground” underpinning his retirement plans suddenly imploded and he found himself in a place in Sheol where he could not access the fruits of his labours. 

In our natural world we know statistically that the ground we assume is solid is most likely going to still be solid tomorrow and the next day. Yes, there may be an impact from an asteroid, or something else may fall from the sky disrupting our assumptions, but these are unlikely events, not to be considered by even the most paranoid amongst us. We have enough to worry about in our daily lives. What we should be concerned about, though, is the ground we are standing on in the spiritual world we live in. Regardless of what will happen to this planet, our souls will survive and go on living for all eternity. So we need to ensure that we are standing on the ground God has supplied for us. The Bible talks about God being our Rock. David wrote, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my saviour; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety” (Psalm 18:2). He repeats this theme in Psalm 62:2, “He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken“, referring of course to the Lord, His God. 

Jesus also taught about having a solid foundation to our faith. Matthew 7:24-25, “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock“. We pilgrims are believers with a faith founded on Jesus’ teaching, a faith that will survive everything and anything that comes against us. There is plenty of troubles in human lives but through God and His promises we will survive all of them. Regardless of what we are going through, God is there with us, step by step. Sharing our pain. Feeling our sorrows. Empathising with our needs. We are like the Israelite slaves, fearing the pursuing Egyptian army, but listening to Moses as he said, “ .. Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again” (Exodus 14:13). Paul referred to Moses and the Israelites’ miraculous journey through the wilderness when he wrote, “All of them ate the same spiritual food, and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that travelled with them, and that rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:3-4).

The Lord is our Rock because we can trust in Him. He is also our strength (Ephesians 6:10), and we who believe in Him find a place of safety in Him, just as David did all those years ago. Can I ask a question, dear fellow pilgrims? What ground are you standing on today? Let us not be complacent and instead continue our journey in fear of the Lord, trusting in Him and His promises.

Dear Father God. Only You are the Rock worth standing on. All other ground is nothing more than quicksand. Thank You for Your strength and presence. Amen.

Prostitute No More

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Then the angel said to me, “The waters where the prostitute is ruling represent masses of people of every nation and language. The scarlet beast and his ten horns all hate the prostitute. They will strip her naked, eat her flesh, and burn her remains with fire. For God has put a plan into their minds, a plan that will carry out his purposes. They will agree to give their authority to the scarlet beast, and so the words of God will be fulfilled. And this woman you saw in your vision represents the great city that rules over the kings of the world.””
Revelation‬ ‭17:15-18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Oh dear! It seems as though something has gone wrong with the world religious cult, referred to as the “great prostitute”. All of a sudden, it seems, the “scarlet beast and his ten horns” have fallen out with this religion followed by the “masses of people of every nation and language” and have decided to destroy it. The angel’s description is graphic, and what it means symbolically amounts to a brutal put down of all who diligently follow then “great prostitute“. Perhaps, the devil finally realised that the cult’s worship had replaced what he really desired, which was worship of himself. But God had a plan, and you can just imaging Him whispering in the devil’s ear, “Look out – you’re being side-lined here, they don’t want to worship you anymore”. But God’s plan was profound. He was setting up the beast for annihilation, which we will read about in the next chapter in Revelation.

We read in Psalm 119:89, “Your eternal word, O Lord, stands firm in heaven.” Isaiah 40:7-8 says, “…. And so it is with people. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.” The problem with anything built on a God-less foundation is that it will eventually collapse and disappear. In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus taught that anything built on other than His teaching will eventually collapse. We read, “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.” (Matthew‬ ‭7:24‬). I’m writing this just after watching the late Queen Elizabeth’s funeral service, held on 19th September 2022 in Westminster Abbey, London. Here was a monarch whose passing, after over seventy years, has left people feeling bereft and a bit insecure. But she was human – still a remarkable and dedicated servant of course – but someone who cannot provide the security we have in our Heavenly Father. He is the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow.

On what foundation are we pilgrims building? We are servants of the Most High, dedicated to His service in an increasingly secular world. And our foundation is God Himself. Psalm 18:31 reads, “For who is God except the Lord? Who but our God is a solid rock?”. Hebrews 12:28 says, “Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.”

There is an old hymn entitled, “My hope is built on nothing less” and the chorus goes;
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand,
all other ground is sinking sand.

There is no other foundation that will endure like God’s.

Dear Father. We praise and worship the solid Rock. You watch over us and the affairs of men and we can rest secure in Your protection and love. Amen.