Today’s passage: Ezekiel 27
Helpful thoughts:
- The poetry in this chapter likens the city of Tyre (Surrounded by water) to a beautiful merchant ship.
- No matter how beautiful the ship, no matter how wonderful the goods it contains, it is no match for the sea. God would bringing judgment on Tyre and there was no beauty, wealth or international coalition that could stop it.
- The final verses speak of the dread of all the surrounding peoples who had done business with Tyre. As Tyre fell, so would the economies of all these other nations who relied so heavily on her.
Questions to consider:
- We often view the quality of our own lives by these economic circumstances, but what would 2 Corinthians 5:9 or Matthew 6:33 lead us to focus on? If my definition of “blessing” is wrapped up in prosperity and ease, how will I begin to evaluate what is a good or evil action?
- If our hearts hold God in the right regard, why would the fall of an economic center like Tyre not result in the same “horror” as felt by the people in that region whose hopes were centered around their prosperity?
- In what ways has what God promised us in Christ through the Gospel so much better that what we may desire in present prosperity? How do these truths help us to better handle earthly prosperity should it come?