Scripture Daily

Context No. 3968 of 4322 · Ezekiel

Context · Reflection

Ezekiel 27:1-11: in context

1The LORD’s word came again to me, saying, 2“You, son of man, take up a lamentation over Tyre; 3and tell Tyre, ‘You who dwell at the entry of the sea, who are the merchant of the peoples to many islands, the Lord GOD says: “You, Tyre, have said, ‘I am perfect in beauty.’ 4Your borders are in the heart of the seas. Your builders have perfected your beauty. 5They have made all your planks of cypress trees from Senir. They have taken a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you. 6They have made your oars of the oaks of Bashan. They have made your benches of ivory inlaid in cypress wood from the islands of Kittim. 7Your sail was of fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt, that it might be to you for a banner. Blue and purple from the islands of Elishah was your awning. 8The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers. Your wise men, Tyre, were in you. They were your pilots. 9The old men of Gebal and its wise men were your repairers of ship seams in you. All the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you to deal in your merchandise. 10“‘“Persia, Lud, and Put were in your army, your men of war. They hung the shield and helmet in you. They showed your beauty. 11The men of Arvad with your army were on your walls all around, and valiant men were in your towers. They hung their shields on your walls all around. They have perfected your beauty.

God tells Ezekiel to take up a lament over Tyre, the great trading city, and he pictures her as a magnificent ship, built of the finest materials from all over the world, cypress and cedar, ivory and fine linen, crewed by skilled sailors, a marvel of commerce and craftsmanship. And at the center of the portrait is Tyre's own boast: I am perfect in beauty.

Tyre gloried in her own splendor, her wealth, her achievement, her flawless craftsmanship, and she said so. There is a warning building in this lament, for as the chapter goes on, this glorious ship will be wrecked. The self-satisfied pride of Tyre in her own beauty and success was the prelude to her fall. There is a lesson here about the danger of glorying in our own achievements and beauty. Tyre had real accomplishments, genuine splendor, and there is nothing wrong with excellence. But she made her success the object of her boast, saying, I am perfect in beauty, forgetting the God to whom all glory is due. When we admire our own accomplishments, wealth, or beauty as though they were our own glory, we walk the way of Tyre, the way that ends in a fall.

Am I tempted, like Tyre, to glory in my own achievements, wealth, or beauty as though they were my own perfection, or do I hold every good thing as a gift and give the glory to God?

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