Tyre and Wall Street: An Interestng Comparison

This fall I have had the privilege of teaching a class titled, "Isaiah: Comfort My People." We are going through the book paragraph by paragraph, trying, as much as possible, to ignore chapter and verse divisions. (I must admit that this is easier said than done. And I have come to appreciate those divisions for normal study).

Last night we entertained thoughts from Isaiah 23. This is the final "burden" or "oracle" Isaiah directs against one of the nations of his day. The target in this chapter is Tyre, a city located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea in what is today Lebanon. It was a city established by the Phoenicians, a group of people who became famous for their seafaring trade. One commentator said of Tyre that is was comparable to Wall Street of today. It was the business center of the world. It was the capital of the financial markets of the world. It was the hub for the commercial enterprises that traded around the world.

In this chapter, Isaiah sees the collapse of Tyre, crushed by the invading Assyrians. Isaiah is pretty straight forward when he writes in verse 14: Your fortress is destroyed! The response of the world is one of panic and grief. The grain markets of Egypt suffer because the ships of Tyre sail no more, thus providing no means for the grain to be shipped. Ships, waiting to be unloaded along Tyre's piers, now ponder what to do with their cargoes. All seems so hopeless. All seems so lost.

As our class dialogued through this chapter last night, we were struck with the parallels with our current financial disasters. Wall Street has been the "king of the hill" in the financial world. It has been the hub of the financial world. Other countries had patterned their financial institutions after those of Wall Street. As Wall Street succeeded so did other financial markets around the globe. But, in recent weeks we have seen the collapse of Wall Street. Bankruptcies and bailouts have become synonymous with Wall Street endeavors today. This week we began to see the collapse and panic within the financial sectors of other nations. The Russian financial market even stopped trading. Both Britain and Germany have taken steps to nationalize some of their financial institutions in order to keep them solvent. Quite literally, the economy of the world is teetering on the brink of a chaotic collapse.

Why is this happening? I believe Isaiah gives us an answer. It is found in verse 9: The LORD Almighty planned it, to bring low the pride of all glory and to humble all who are renowned on the earth. God "knocked Tyre off its perch" by having it destroyed. Could this present financial unrest be God's way of awakening us to the errors of our prideful judgments and prideful dependencies upon the government and dollars for our security? Certainly this should be a time for national examination. Upon whom or upon what are we depending? Unfortunately, these are not the questions driving our current election debate.

I invite you to carefully read Isaiah 23. Then ask God how you might be used to testify to your neighborhood that God is in control and that we need to place our confidence in Him.