Ezekiel 27: Tyre
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Tyre is also famous as the hometown of Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, who convinced her husband to take over the vineyards of the peaceful man Naboth, who persecuted prophets, lured her husband into worshiping the gods of the Baals, and who came to an ugly death . . . just as had been predicted by prophets. (1 Kings Chapters 16, 18, 19, 21 and 2 Kings 9) Hers is a fascinating story of meteoric beauty, power and fame. She was a princess of Tyre, rising and falling in a quick but dramatic arc across ancient history.
In today’s reading we read a lament for Tyre and a prediction of her downfall, with the wreck of the ship and all she carries as allegory. The HARPER COLLINS COMMENTARY describes this oracle as beautifully crafted, and Ezekiel laments the anticipated destruction of Tyre at the hands of the Babylonians. This perfect, proud and stately beauty is lost to the storm and settles forever at the bottom of the sea. Thou art brought to nothing, and thou shalt never be anymore.
So much pride lost, so much sorrow experienced, so much pain endured. Yet in today’s MAGNIFICAT Meditation we read: The heart of man, so deep for misery, is deeper far for happiness! Misery comes to him from accident, happiness from his nature and his predestination. Father Henri-Dominique Lacordaire
We are creatures meant for joy, not for sorrow. We are children meant for resurrection, not for darkness. We brothers and sisters of the same father meant for life, not for death.
Written on April 12, 2008 and posted today as a Favorite.
To learn more about ancient Tyre click on the image above or go to: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/611914/Tyre
Mays, James L., ed. HARPERCOLLINS BIBLE COMMENTARY. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1988. 1203. Print.
Cameron, Peter John. “Meditation for the Day.” MAGNIFICAT. 4.12 (2008): 129-130. Print.
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