Now it is time for Tyre to be lamented. When I read the words of this lamentation what I hear is Tyre being very full of herself.
[4] Your borders are in the heart of the seas;
your builders made perfect your beauty.
….
[7] Of fine embroidered linen from Egypt
was your sail,
serving as your banner;
blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah
was your awning.
[8] The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad
were your rowers;
your skilled men, O Tyre, were in you;
they were your pilots.
[9] The elders of Gebal and her skilled men were in you,
caulking your seams;
all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you
to barter for your wares.
All these beauty and perfection that comes with loads of peoples from other nations in service to her. Elishad, Arvad, Sidon, Persia and Lud and so many other places. All these places working for her and giving her beauty. Such was Tyre. Even Judah and Israel traded with her.
So much of Tyre was caught up in the peoples that came to her and her beauty. The seas were hers. But all this is to be destroyed.
your mariners and your pilots,
your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise,
and all your men of war who are in you,
with all your crew
that is in your midst,
sink into the heart of the seas
on the day of your fall.
…..
[31] they make themselves bald for you
and put sackcloth on their waist,
and they weep over you in bitterness of soul,
with bitter mourning.
[32] In their wailing they raise a lamentation for you
and lament over you:
‘Who is like Tyre,
like one destroyed in the midst of the sea?
[33] When your wares came from the seas,
you satisfied many peoples;
with your abundant wealth and merchandise
you enriched the kings of the earth.
[34] Now you are wrecked by the seas,
in the depths of the waters;
your merchandise and all your crew in your midst
have sunk with you.
[35] All the inhabitants of the coastlands
are appalled at you,
and the hair of their kings bristles with horror;
their faces are convulsed.
[36] The merchants among the peoples hiss at you;
you have come to a dreadful end
and shall be no more forever.’”
Tyre is mourned. Her ships are lost, her merchandise destroyed, her power over the seas… gone.
She was part of the lives of so many.
It is time of mourning for all who dealt with her.
Sadness and lamentations.
But we are not told why this happened to Tyre? Was it her pride and greatness that caused her destruction? She was of use to so many peoples and nations. And now she is gone and “shall be no more forever.”.
Makes me feel sad.
Why were they destroyed?
The implication is they trusted in their ability to be excellent merchants and travellers of the seas.
That they put their trust in their own beauty, and abilities to trade with so many different people groups above that of anything. They gave no thought to matters of faith or of the Lord.
Tyre is a warning to us. We need to see beyond our daily life here. We need to see to matters of faith as well.
Faith matters. It matters more than our smarts, more than our beauty, more than our ability to turn a clever buck, more than our ability to provide goods and services that others want to have. Faith matters and we forget that at our peril.
