Image: "Golden Glow", 2020, Severna Park, Md
Ezekiel 25:17 I will execute great vengeance on them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I lay My vengeance upon them.” ’ ”
Ezekiel 26:14 14 I will make you like the top of a rock; you shall be a place for spreading nets, and you shall never be rebuilt, for I the LORD have spoken,’ says the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 26:20–21 then I will bring you down with those who descend into the Pit, to the people of old, and I will make you dwell in the lowest part of the earth, in places desolate from antiquity, with those who go down to the Pit, so that you may never be inhabited; and I shall establish glory in the land of the living. 21 I will make you a terror, and you shall be no more; though you are sought for, you will never be found again,’ says the Lord GOD.”
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The great ancient civilizations hold a certain fascination for me. I love reading about their culture, military organization and tactics, politics, cities, and, well, their history as a whole. At the top of the heap, of course, is Rome who bestrides ancient history like the colossus it was. But the "lesser" civilizations, though world powers in their time, also are deeply interesting. I think a study of history readily leads one to see that each had their own "personality". Even when nations generally had the same ethnic foundation (e.g. Greece & Macedonia, Assyria & Babylon) something transpired to make them different.
So, if we "go" with the idea of a nation having a certain "personality", we begin to approach the Biblical idea of "national angels." In Revelations 1-3, the churches of Asia Minor are represented as having "angels" before Christ. I think these "angels" are the spiritual essences of each church (in this case). In Daniel, the angel Michael appears to be the "prince" overseeing the Jews.
If such is the case we might think of God exercising judgment on the "angels" of the nations mentioned in these chapters. In chapter 25 there is a litany of judgment against Ammon, Moab, Edom and Philistia. God deals with each of them somewhat differently, and I would propose, according to their "personality." Edom is singled out to be destroyed by "My people Israel", and unlike the judgment on the other three, it is not specifically stated that "they shall know that I am the LORD..." Edom was related to Israel through their common ancestor Jacob. As "kinfolk", Edom's treachery toward Israel was particularly egregious.
Another special case is Tyre, the subject of all chapter 26. Tyre was another fascinating culture. Its main city, Tyre proper, was on an island in the Mediterranean a relatively short distance from the mainland. It was (and is) one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. It literally was a rock in the ocean and when Ezekiel states that it will only be good for drying nets, he is most likely referring to it being brought back to its origins when local fishermen started living there in relative safety from the terrors of the mainland. It became a tremendous maritime power. It is credited with giving the name "Europe" to the larger continent. From Tyre a people arose, called Phoenicians, who, ultimately founded Carthage.
Here was wealth, power, and glory in the ancient world. Tyre, by virtue of controlling the sea, was able to maintain its autonomy even against the great powers of Egypt and Assyria. One can think of it as being somewhat like Elizabethan England, an island with its own ways, its own gods, and a somewhat smug, superior, dismissive view toward all the other nations.
God, through Ezekiel, said that was all going to change. God says that Tyre will be totally destroyed... it will never be rebuilt (26:14). The arrogance of the Phoenician people will fall. Their great trading network will not save them. Their island location will not prove inviolable. God says "I will make you a terror, and you shall be no more; though you are sought for, you will never be found again." (26:21)
It took Alexander the Great, somewhere in the 300 bc era to accomplish this feat. Hundreds of years after Ezekiel recorded this prophecy, Alexander built a causeway from the beach out to the island-city. That causeway essentially solidified over time and is now dry land. The ancient site of Tyre is no longer an island but is just one sub-division in the modern city.
"Wait a minute", you might say, "if God destroyed the city, never to be built again, why is there a modern Tyre?"
That's where that "angel" thing comes into play in my opinion. The "personality" / "angel" of ancient Tyre was literally wiped out. Alexander's rage at the Tyronians was so great (they held out so long) that he massacred the people, raped their possessions, and essentially the great "light" of Tyre was annihilated. Never again would she be anything other than a subordinate, though sometimes prosperous, vassal city under other great powers. The island city was rebuilt ashore (mostly I think for logistics reasons... there was no water or wood or stuff like that on the island... it had to be supplied from the mainland.) Today, Tyre stands as being a site of archeological interest and an abiding historical study for people like me.
But as far as God is concerned, the judgment was rendered and the "lamp" and the "angel" of ancient Tyre was no more.
God speaks of "angels" and "lamps" for peoples and there is no reason to not think, that our nation and the Christian Church within our nation, have their own "angel" and "lamp" before God now. There is a distinct "personality" associated with these things. As a people and as Christ's Church we need to be attentive to the example of Tyre and those of the seven churches in Revelations. God is not Someone to disregard. May He show mercy and give us more time to repent. May He, through His Holy Spirit, so bring about repentance so that Tyre's fate does not happen again to us.
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