Westhill Church | Church in Auburn WA

The WEekly Word

A Blog of Encouragement from our Pastors

weekly word – 9/10/2026

God's Long-Term Politics - Isaiah 23

All of us who pay attention to gas prices know how one nation can affect trade for the whole world. As America battles Iran to secure the Strait of Hormuz, we see prices go up and down in response to periods of warfare and peace.

In Revelation 18, we see a similar dynamic. As the nation of Babylon collapses under God’s sovereign power, its demise is a catastrophe for the world’s merchants: “And the merchants of the earth cry and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo anymore” (18:11). Sin had run rampant, facilitated by Babylon, in a worldwide network. But as God prepares the earth for Christ’s return, all the merchants weep as He ends their trading network.

Isaiah 23 presents a similar catastrophe in an earlier period. But it’s a catastrophe God ultimately uses for Judah’s benefit. For Christians, this chapter unfolds an important principle that guides our perspective on current events.

In Isaiah’s time, Tyre and its sister city Sidon had become wealthy and powerful through merchant activity. These two coastal cities flourished for centuries because their ports on the Mediterranean connected trade between all the eastern and western nations of the world.

But this advantage would not last through Isaiah’s lifetime. God gave him the task of prophesying their downfall, beginning with a series of verbal attacks in verses 1–6: “Wail, O ships of Tarshish…Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland…Be ashamed, O Sidon…Wail, O inhabitants of the coastland.” This opening informs every key group in the Tyrian trading network that they will soon experience shock at what God is about to do.

God then taunts Tyre, “Is this your exultant city, whose origin is from days of old, whose feet used to lead her to sojourn in distant places?” Though Tyre had prospered as a trade hub, after Sennacherib conquered the mainland of Tyre in 701 BC, much of its wealth was redirected to Assyria. Later, God used Nebuchadnezzar to subjugate Tyre’s remaining island in 586–573 BC. Finally, Alexander the Great conquered the island in 332 BC.

What offended Yahweh, and why He sent these nations to attack it, is stated in verses 8–12: Tyre was viewed as a “bestower of crowns”, having “pride of all beauty”, and an “honored status” by which it controlled other cities (8–10). But Yahweh would not let this pride continue. In verses 11–12, Yahweh replies that He alone controls the sea, as well as the world’s powers. To prove His point, He will reduce them to being refugees with no place of refuge.

As the chapter ends, God shuts down any hope of Tyre and Sidon escaping Assyria. It will fall like other nations (13–14). God foretells that Tyre will return to earning “harlot’s wages” after Assyria falls, profiting again from sinful commerce with the nations (15–17).

Yet somehow, these sinful gains will be “set apart for Yahweh” (18). They will be “food and choice attire for those who inhabit the presence of Yahweh.” Tyre and Sidon’s evil gains would end up blessing the Temple of Yahweh. But how?

This was fulfilled over 150 years later in the book of Ezra. First, God used King Cyrus to return the Jews to the land of Judah. Through God’s blessing, Israel’s enemies became trading partners that helped them rebuild God’s temple. As Ezra 3:7 states, “they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and to the Tyrians, to bring cedar wood from Lebanon to the sea at Joppa, according to the permission they had from Cyrus king of Persia.” Ezra 6:3–8 states emphatically that, by royal decree, the treasury of Medo-Persia would finance Temple purchases, just as God had planned.

There’s something to be learned from this for Christians today: don’t get too caught up in day-to-day politics. Those who try to see God’s hand at work in such a short timespan will likely miss God’s larger plan of redemption which unfolds over hundreds and thousands of years.

Pastor David

9/3/2026 – Depend on Him - Isaiah 22:15-25 – David

8/27/2026 – A Leadership Lesson from Jesus – Bryan

8/20/2026 – Ahab's Fatal Flaw

8/13/2026 – The Valley of Vision - Isaiah 22:1-14

8/6/2026 – Details on the Legacy Standard Bible

7/30/2026 – The Aftermath of Babylon's Collapse - Isaiah 21

7/23/2026 – God's Prophecy for Egypt and Cush - Isaiah 20

7/16/2026 – Yahweh Destroys and Redeems Egypt, Part 2 (Isaiah 19)

7/9/2026 – Yahweh Destroys and Redeems Egypt, Part 1 (Isaiah 19)

7/2/2026 – God's Prophecy for Cush (Isaiah 18)

6/25/2026 – God's Destruction of Damascus (Isaiah 17)