Do I Live in Tyre?

 

As I read through Ezekiel 28-31, one thing becomes very clear.

The judgment God predicts through Ezekiel over Tyre and Egypt comes because of one basic sin – pride.  

For Tyre, it was because of their wealth and success as key traders and merchants with all the countries of the known world at their time.  Tyre was a leading city in the height of their existence. 

Their success made them so proud they said, “I am god.” (see Ezekiel 29:2).

As for Egypt, their pride came from their ability to use their natural resources such as the Nile River to enhance their power and influence in the world.  

In Ezekiel 29:3, Egyptian rulers were saying, "My Nile is my own; I made it for myself."

I do not think the important message to me from these chapters in Ezekiel have much to do with the specific national entities named although those prophecies did come true for Tyre and Egypt.

It is as easy for a nation to become over-confident as it is for an individual.  When either nation or individual allows themselves to become so proud of their accomplishments that they forget why they are successful, they have crossed the line with God and become vulnerable to judgment.   

We see that repeated throughout history, nations that led the world in wealth and power in their days, but are no longer world leaders.

The world leaders of the 21st century are just as vulnerable to the sin of pride in what they can do, what they know, what they have. My own nation and those of us living here now must live cautiously, recognizing the power of the sin of pride.

I must not allow myself to forget that what I have is all a part of God's blessing on me. What my nation has and has been able to do is only ours until we begin to say "I am my own god. I can do whatever I wish."

Unfortunately, I think we in the United States are not alone in the world as having arrived at the point when God may have to act, as He did with Tyre and Egypt so many years ago.