-Transcript-
00:26 Amen. Glory to God. Welcome to the program.
00:29 Welcome to the cafe. Hopefully, you’re having a wonderful day, a wonderful week. My name is Pastor Clark Covington here from Heartland Community Baptist Church out of Kings Mountain, North Carolina.
00:39 Amen. So good to be here today. Today we are looking into God’s Word.
00:45 This is going to be the first part of a three-part series on a biblical place, on a place in the Bible that tells us a lot about the character of God, the magnificence of God, the power of God.
01:00 And that place is Tyre, T-Y-R-E. Now I was calling it Tyree for a while, then I heard another preacher call it Tyre or something to that extent.
01:15 And I know God up there in heaven probably chuckles at our pronunciations, or at least my pronunciations of these words. But God knows we’re giving it our best, and so we’ll go with Tyre. It’s a biblically important place.
01:27 And you know what’s interesting about this particular place is the more that I researched it, the more stuff came up. I mean, the more it was relevant in the Bible, the more it’s mentioned in the Bible, the more significant it becomes.
01:41 And even in my research, someone wrote that it wasn’t really a significant place in the Bible, but yet it actually really is.
01:52 Tyre is a place that Jesus went to. You’ll remember probably from Mark 7:24. Remember, that’s when he said, it’s not meat to cast children’s bread to the dogs.
02:02 And she said, yes, but even the dogs get the crumbs. And Jesus was really impressed with her great faith in him, saying, look, please, I know it’s not for us and that we’re Gentiles, but please heal my daughter. And he did.
02:29 That’s Mark 7:24-30. He did. That happened in Tyre, which tells you that there was devils there possessing people, for what that’s worth.
02:37 He also, Jesus Christ, also references Tyre in his earthly ministry in Luke 10:13-14. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you.
03:07 And so we see here that Jesus is remarking that Tyre and Sidon were wicked places, but even they would have repented if they had seen what Christ had done, the mighty works that he had done, the healing that he had performed on these areas of Chorazin and Bethsaida, the prophecy that he gave, the great wisdom that he taught with, the love that he showed, all of these things. They wouldn’t repent.
03:31 And even these other wicked places, Tyre being one of them, would have. And so where is Tyre? It’s in modern day Lebanon. It is on the coast.
03:39 It is a trade area. It was a big trade port. And it was a city that worshipped one God known as Melchor, who the Greeks called Hercules.
03:56 And Tyre, again, Jesus went there. Paul went there. Amen.
04:01 This is where David and then Solomon arranged to get and receive the wood from Lebanon, the cedars of Lebanon. They came from Tyre. This is where there was a very precious purple ink that was dye, I should say, that was taken from shells like little snail shells.
04:19 I forget the name of them. You can tell I’m not a scientist, but there were these little shells and a little bit of purple dye from each one. So you need a bunch of shells, maybe a hundred or a thousand shells just to dye the hem of a garment.
04:32 And that purple dye was so valuable. In fact, Tyre is part of Phoenicia and the Phoenicians are known as purple people. And so that dye was very important to their culture.
04:44 And Tyre was this modern day trade center. And I’ll say this here. Why is that so important? I like to put things in context.
04:51 You know, when we think of trade, we may think of airplanes or boats, but we think of things differently. I mean, if I need a new cup for my glass of water, I could just go to Walmart. I could go on my phone to any number of websites and order it.
05:09 I could go to the hardware store or I could go to the grocery store and buy the cup. Well, back in the day, it wasn’t like that. Maybe if you needed a potter to make a cup or a steelsmith or an ironworker to make a cup, especially if one was ornate.
05:24 Amen. And so you needed craftspeople. And also, too, you needed supplies.
05:30 And so what we have with Tyre is they had craftspeople there and you had supplies. You had both of what you needed. You had the supplies that they had.
05:40 Right. So they had this purple dye that was very valuable. They had glass and textiles, wood, spices, pottery, obviously great cedar trees, amazing cedar trees in Lebanon.
05:51 They’re written about with great acclaim in the Bible. And then they were able to trade in that port there with people coming in. So they had control.
06:00 They had a lot of control. And it’s hard to describe this other than to say, you know, if Walmart wants to do something or Amazon or one of these huge retailers, right?
06:09 Lowe’s Home Depot, if they want to do something, they kind of have the power and leverage to do it. That’s how Tyre was.
06:18 They were doing business with everybody and they had a lot of power. And so let’s see our text first here. What this all means, Isaiah 23:17-18.
06:24 And it shall come to pass after the end of 70 years that the Lord will visit Tyre and she shall turn to her higher and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth and her merchandise and her higher shall be holiness to the Lord. It shall not be treasured nor laid up for her merchandise shall be for them thatdwell before the Lord to eat sufficiently and for durable clothing.
06:48 And so Isaiah 23, this is the latter part of Isaiah 23, is telling us, hey, you know what? You are a harlot.
06:59 This area, they’re committing fornication. They’re an adulterous nation. They are wicked beyond wicked.
07:03 And by the way, I’m going to use what you make that’s so great for my people to eat sufficiently and for durable clothing. And I think it’s so unique because if we look at Isaiah 23, we see just how wicked God through the prophet Isaiah speaks of Tyre. Let’s just go ahead and look.
07:23 Isaiah 23, starting at verse one, the burden of Tyre, how you ships of Tarshish, for it is laid waste so that there is no house, no entering in from the land of Chittim, it is revealed to them.
07:33 Be still ye inhabitants of the isle, thou whom the merchants of Zidon that pass over the sea have replenished. And by great waters, the seed of Shihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue and she is a Mart of nations, a Mart of nations.
07:48 I mentioned Walmart. There you go. She’s a Mart of nations.
07:53 Verse four of Isaiah 23. Be thou ashamed, O Zidon, for the sea have spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children. Neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins.
08:05 As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre. Pass ye over to Tarshish, how ye inhabitants of the isle. Is this your joyous city whose antiquity is of ancient days? Her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.
08:21 Who hath taken this council against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth? The Lord of hosts hath purposed it to stain the pride of all glory and to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.
08:32 So let’s stop there for a minute. In Isaiah 23, we’re learning about this great Mart of nations is great trade port that I’ve been talking about in entire.
08:46 And then we’re looking at, um, it is, uh, full of the merchants, uh, that are princes traffickers are the honorable of the earth. This is the upper crust. This is the big stuff.
08:59 And here, uh, hypothetically the prophet Isaiah is asking who made, who, who set this in order to, to condemn them and to rid them and to blow them out. I mean, again, imagine New York city being gone, wiped out or San Francisco or LA. It’s hard to imagine.
09:16 And in verse nine, it says the Lord of hosts have purposed it. And here is why to stain the pride of all glory and to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth. And so we see two aspects of God’s character right here.
09:29 Number one, pride. God hates a proud look. He hates pride.
09:35 These people were obviously a very proud people. They were puffed up. They thought they were something in somebody.
09:39 And so God is going to bring them down many, many pegs to the point where they don’t even have any more pegs to go down on because he’s going to wipe them out.
09:48 And secondly, he’s going to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth. You know, our honor, um, our, our, our looking at ourselves as anybody of importance, looking at how many likes you got on social media, how people are looking and viewing you, our ego.
10:02 It is a abomination to God. We are to glory in nothing but the cross. The Bible speaks of, we are to love Jesus Christ and lift him up.
10:07 We are not to be holding ourselves in high regard, but oh, how people love to be honored. I took my kids to city hall the other day on a field trip, and there was pictures of all the mayors on the wall and they were all being honored. And, and, you know, I said, that’s, I kind of laughed as a people love to get their picture.
10:21 A portrait, excuse me, portrait. It wasn’t just a picture. It was a painting on the wall.
10:32 But then I thought to myself, yeah, if I was mayor, it’d be pretty nice to have my, my portrait up there too. I mean, it’s just human nature, right? So as things were then, they still are now. And what do we have here?
10:45 We have God saying, I’m going to bring y’all into judgment.
10:52 You guys are going to face judgment. Verse 10, pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish. There is no more strength.
10:52 He stretched out his hand over the sea. He shook the kingdoms. The Lord has given a commandment against the merchant city to destroy the strongholds thereof.
11:00 And he said, thou shalt no more rejoice. Oh, oppressed virgin daughter of Zidon arise, pass over to Chittim. There also thou have no rest.
11:10 Behold the land of the Chaldeans. That’s Babylon. This people was not till the Assyrians founded it for them.
11:17 Uh, the dwell in the wilderness. They set up the towers thereof. They raised up the palaces thereof and he brought it to ruin.
11:23 That’s God. Amen. How you ships of Tarshish for your strength is laid to waste.
11:27 And it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre shall be forgotten 70 years. According to the days of one King. After the end of 70 years, shall Tyre sing as a harlot.
11:37 The verse 16 year, take a harp, go about the city. Thou harlot that has been forgotten. Make sweet melody, sing many songs that thou mayest be remembered.
11:43 And it shall come to pass after the end of 70 years that the Lord will visit Tyre and she shall return to her higher, excuse me. And she shall turn to her higher and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth and her merchandise and her higher shall be holiness to the Lord.
12:02 It shall be treasured shall not be treasured nor laid up for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord to eat sufficiently and for durable.
12:13 Okay. So what do we see here a lot? And of course we don’t have too much time in this episode of KJV cafe, but what we’re going to do is hit some of the main points. Number one being this was a prosperous city that fell.
12:26 Amen. They had pride and they, they fell Babylon, took them down. Amen.
12:31 And then after 70 years they were allowed to return. Uh, they were allowed to return how, uh, uh, Babylon Nebuchadnezzar had taken them down, who allows them to return the Persians, uh, just same way.
12:37 The Persians allowed the Israelites to go back to their homeland that you remember King Cyrus, the siren cylinder, the artifact that shows that King Cyrus allowed them to go back.
12:52 Uh, so also the Persians allowed Tyree or tire, excuse me, to be rebuilt. Amen. Uh, and they were there for a season and, and came back to some level of power, maybe not the same power they had before Babylon invaded and God is saying, Hey, sing like a harlot because here you go again, don’t you want to be remembered? And God is kind of mocking them and they’re brought up for a season.
13:17 And then eventually Alexander the great and the Romans take them out completely and they’re gone. And so in the little bit of time we have, uh, we’re not going to have time to get to, to the main points, but a little bit of time we have, I want you to think about God’s ways, God ordained them to both be brought up and be brought down. And why would God do that? If not for us to learn something from it.
13:38 And so let’s study as we get into these episodes, what happened with tire, why it was so prosperous and then why God allowed it to fall and why in between there, the Lord allowed the goods there to go to those that love him.
13:53 Those that bow before him. That’s what we’re going to get into in the next two episodes.
14:00 Uh, so tune in next time for KJV cafe. If you haven’t already visit the website, KJV cafe.com. We’re also on Facebook, facebook.com forward slash KJV cafe. Hey, maybe you have a question.
14:11 Maybe you know how to pronounce tire or side on, or one of these. You can email me Clark at enduring promise.org CLARK at enduring promise.org. Happy to get an email or maybe you’re enjoying the program and you want to share that, or you have a complaint. I’ll hear all of it.
14:27 Thank you so much for listening. Take care of God. Bless and amen.