Today’s reading is mostly about the city of Tyre.  It was one of the most influential cities of the time.  They possessed great wealth and power.  And as is usually the case, their great success led them to become proud.  And God’s word is quite clear about how He feels about pride.  Tyre was not only prideful about their great accomplishments but also about their great wisdom.  They believed they knew more than anyone else in the world.  This kind of belief can lead to great arrogance and other very harmful attitudes.  Once you start believing that you are wise, you begin viewing others in relation to your wisdom and you begin to put others down.

God resists the proud and He confounds the wise.  Tyre was completely and utterly destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar.  All of their success, wealth, and wisdom got them nowhere.  With everything they had, they were missing the one thing that would have saved them; a relationship with God.

The times we live in today are not that much different than they were in the days of Ezekiel.  There are still people, organizations, and countries that are experiencing great wealth and success.  There are people who believe they are wiser than anyone around them.  There are people and organizations that believe their wealth and wisdom will protect them.  There are countries that believe they are invincible.  Without God, these people, organizations, and countries will experience the same fate as Tyre.  While there may not be a King Nebuchadnezzar marching on their gates, God is preparing someone or something to humble and confound them.

Churches and ministries are not immune to this disease.  Some believe that because they represent God, that they can behave the same way that Tyre was with arrogance and pride.  God will not hesitate to humble a church or ministry leader that behaves in this manner.  We cannot even begin to believe that because we are in the church that we are immune to this kind of correction.

God is looking for strong leaders who are humble and meek.  He wants His leaders to be people who know that without God they would have nothing and that compared to God they know nothing.  Only this type of attitude and behavior can assure God’s protection and provision.  The moment we look to ourselves for anything that we do or have is the moment that God stops being able to work fully in our lives, ministries, and churches.  God doesn’t need us but He wants to use us to reach out to the whole world to reveal Jesus to the lost.  Staying humble and meek opens the door to our heart for Him to do that.  Jesus, teach us to know nothing except You and to need nothing but You.

 

Read: Ezekiel 27:1-28:26; Hebrews 11:17-31; Psalm 111:1-10; Proverbs 27:15-16