Isaiah 23: Health & Wealth, the Idols of Tyre & Sidon -- 2019/10/16

Rev. Mark Preus, pastor of St. Andrew Lutheran Church & Campus Center in Laramie, Wyoming, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 23. We take international commerce for granted today, but in BC times only certain coastal cities enjoyed the wealth and status that comes from doing business around the world. Tyre was the “bestower of crowns” as it facilitated the exchange of power and treasure between virtually every nation on earth, even as far off as Tarshish—possibly located in what is modern-day Spain! Despite all the wealth of Tyre and Sidon, God would use the Assyrians to humble them in subjugation. Their freedom would return somewhat when the Assyrian Empire began to disintegrate in civil war, but God would use them to care for His people. This pattern would repeat itself later with the Babylonians and again under the Romans. Their example is instructive for us, as health and wealth are idolized in America today. The two go hand in hand, commanding fear and trust even when we don’t realize it. Only Christ’s healing and riches can wake the human heart from its idolatry.