Ezekiel 27:22-36: a reflection

22“‘“The traders of Sheba and Raamah were your traders. They traded for your wares with the best of all spices, all precious stones, and gold. 23“‘“Haran, Canneh, Eden, the traders of Sheba, Asshur and Chilmad, were your traders. 24These were your traders in choice wares, in wrappings of blue and embroidered work, and in cedar chests of rich clothing bound with cords, among your merchandise. 25“‘“The ships of Tarshish were your caravans for your merchandise. You were replenished and made very glorious in the heart of the seas. 26Your rowers have brought you into great waters. The east wind has broken you in the heart of the seas. 27Your riches, your wares, your merchandise, your mariners, your pilots, your repairers of ship seams, the dealers in your merchandise, and all your men of war who are in you, with all your company which is among you, will fall into the heart of the seas in the day of your ruin. 28At the sound of the cry of your pilots, the pasture lands will shake. 29All who handle the oars, the mariners and all the pilots of the sea, will come down from their ships. They will stand on the land, 30and will cause their voice to be heard over you, and will cry bitterly. They will cast up dust on their heads. They will wallow in the ashes. 31They will make themselves bald for you, and clothe themselves with sackcloth. They will weep for you in bitterness of soul, with bitter mourning. 32In their wailing they will take up a lamentation for you, and lament over you, saying, ‘Who is there like Tyre, like her who is brought to silence in the middle of the sea?’ 33When your wares came from the seas, you filled many peoples. You enriched the kings of the earth with the multitude of your riches and of your merchandise. 34In the time that you were broken by the seas, in the depths of the waters, your merchandise and all your company fell within you. 35All the inhabitants of the islands are astonished at you, and their kings are horribly afraid. They are troubled in their face. 36The merchants among the peoples hiss at you. You have come to a terrible end, and you will be no more.”’”

Ezekiel sings a lament over Tyre, the great trading city, rich and glorious in its commerce. He catalogs its vast wealth, the spices, precious stones, gold, fine fabrics, the ships and merchants that made it prosperous, replenished and made very glorious in the heart of the seas. And then, in a moment, it is gone: broken by the seas, sunk in the depths of the waters, its riches, wares, merchants, and sailors all sinking together in the day of its ruin. The merchants of the world look on, astonished, at the sudden fall of so wealthy a city.

Notice the contrast the lament draws: immense wealth, and sudden ruin. Tyre had accumulated riches beyond measure, and it seemed secure, glorious, established in its prosperity. But all its wealth could not save it; in the day of its ruin, the riches sank with the ship, and the great commercial power came to nothing. The abundance it had trusted proved no security at all against the day of disaster.

That is a sobering word about the security we seek in wealth. Like Tyre, we are prone to feel secure when we have accumulated enough, to trust in our riches, our resources, our prosperity, as though they made us safe. But wealth cannot finally secure us; it can sink in a day, and it cannot save us from the disasters, or the death, that come to all. Do not build your security on wealth, which is as fragile as Tyre's glory. Riches that could sink in a day are no foundation. Build your security instead on God, who does not sink, and hold your wealth loosely, knowing it cannot finally save you.

Lord, Tyre was rich and glorious in its commerce, and yet all its wealth sank in a day, no security against the day of ruin. Guard me from building my security on wealth, from trusting my riches, resources, and prosperity as though they made me safe. Remind me that wealth can sink in a day and cannot save me from disaster or death. Help me hold what I have loosely, and build my security not on riches that can vanish, but on you, who do not fail. You alone are my sure foundation.