Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste.

Isaiah 23:13-14

Explanation:

“Behold the Chaldeans”- God is pointing to a people who had also received his judgement by the Assyrians, the Chaldeans. Who are the Chaldeans? They were a people tied to the Babylonians that were prominent at one time. They had fortresses. They had palaces. God had allowed the Assyrians to lay waste to their nation in such a way that it became a wilderness. For those who may not believe that such a thing would happen, God points to the fact that it had happened before.
“Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste”- The ships of Tarshish were ships used by the colonies and merchants of Tyre and Sidon to do commerce throughout the known world. God is telling them that their strength, the society that made the commerce possible, is laid waste.
God was active in what Tyre would have seen as its past, and he would be active in their future as well because of their arrogance and oppression.

Application:
We live in a culture and day that is not much different than Tyre. In the U.S. we have historically had a strong economy. We are a proud people. We have much of our history that is good in which we can be proud. We have also sinned and should be penitent for much of our history as well. Tyre became arrogant and lived as if there was no God, and God brought judgement to them because of their pride. He pointed to them that the Chaldeans had experienced the same thing. As believers in Christ in the United States, we must recognize that we are not immune from the judgement of God. We are not above the law of God. We must not be prideful. We must pray for our land, and our people. We must exemplify humility before God. We must exemplify repentance. We must recognize that God is active in the affairs of men.

Response:
• Are you personally humble and repentant before God?
Will you take some time today to pray for our nation to repent and turn back to God?