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14 She is like the merchants'
ships; she bringeth her food from afar. (Prov 31:13-14)
4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be
ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for
thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach
of thy widowhood any more. 5 For thy Maker is thine husband;
the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God
of the whole earth shall he be called. 6 For the LORD hath called thee as
a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast
refused, saith thy God. 7 For a small moment have I
forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. 8 In a little wrath I hid my face
from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on
thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer. 9 For this is as the waters of
Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go
over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke
thee. 10 For the mountains shall depart,
and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither
shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on
thee. 11 O thou afflicted, tossed with
tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours,
and lay thy foundations with sapphires. (Isaiah 54:4-11)
God presents us with the perfect picture of a wife and mother in Proverbs
31:10-31. She is like a Merchant Ship bearing her wares to many lands. The use
of the term for woman here is polysemous – having more than one meaning – and
may also be applied to the true Church just as the woman of Revelations 12 is
so designated.
We have highlighted before the similarities of the Church to a ship at sea, and
I will rehearse those similarities in today’s devotion. You may recall that the
Church may be compared to a ship in several particulars. Let’s review some of those
particulars below:
1 A ship is designed to always move FORWARD.
Its bow and rigging will only afford a forward movement. This compares
precisely with the Church. It is conceived for forward movement only and should
never move to flank or rear.
2 A ship is intended only to
remain for a brief period in port. Its greater function is to sail the pelagic
waters of the ocean seas. The Church, too, lingers for short periods in worship
and fellowship, but then must weigh anchor and sail into the sometimes
turbulent and stormy waters of the sea.
3 A ship is designed and
constructed for the sea. Its very concourse are the deep waters of the sea. Its
hull is pitched and polished to glide through those waters. But when the sea
gets into the ship – instead of the ship into the sea – the results will always
be tragic. The same is true of the Church. It is made to navigate the ocean
seas of humanity. It is intended to proceed to all ports of call carrying its
precious cargo of the Word of God to those who have walked in darkness. The
Church is made to be IN the world; but when the world seeps into the Church,
ruin and mayhem will follow. As an example, simply look at the uncertain
message being propagated by the modern church today concerning marriage,
homosexuality, abortion, promiscuity, obedience to parents, respect of others,
decency of apparel, music of worship, manner of worship, use of apostate Bible
versions, etc.
4 The Tall Ships of the past
relied upon the winds for propulsion through the waters. The main, and lesser,
sails were set to catch the wind from every angle – and sometimes even to sail
against a contrary wind. When the wind died, the ship remained dead in the
water. The sails of the Church are designed to catch the Winds of the Holy
Ghost and propel the Church where it should go. If we navigate in the wrong
direction, the Winds of the Spirit will cease and we, too, will be dead in the
waters of the world. 8 The wind
bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not
tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of
the Spirit. (John
3:8)
5 A ship at sea without means of
navigation will end in shipwreck. If the clouds obscure the stars, and there is
no compass, how shall the crew know the way? The Church has the Great North
Star of Christ upon which to rely, and it is the brightest Star in the Heavens
– the DAYSTAR! 19 We have also a more sure
word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that
shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your
hearts. (2
Peter 1:19) But
every well-engineered craft has a double assurance of its systems. In addition
to that DayStar, we have the Word of God which is also illuminated and
personified by that DayStar. So we have a sure Chart and Compass by which to
navigate the mysterious waters of the ocean seas of life. A ship needs a means
of directional control so that it may comply with the navigators commands. That
means of directional control is afforded by the Helmsman’s control of the
RUDDER. Our Helmsman, too, is Christ; and the RUDDER is His Word. If we do not
know the Way, we resort to the One who is the Way,
the Truth, and the Life. The RUDDER can be the greatest tool
for proper navigation, but a false RUDDER and Helmsman can lead to sudden ruin:
4 Behold
also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds,
yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor
listeth. 5 Even so the tongue is a little
member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire
kindleth! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a
world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the
whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of
hell. 7 For every kind of beasts, and of
birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed
of mankind: 8 But the tongue can no man tame;
it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. (James
3:4-8) A false
teacher, or preacher, can do far more damage than no teacher at all. A false
Bible (NIV, NASB, NRSV, NKJV) can likewise turn the ship from its course
leading to almost certain destruction. A ship navigating the Pacific from Long
Beach Harbor to Manila Bay will not reach its destination if the course
navigated is off by one degree for those thousands of miles.
6 The worthy seagoing vessel is
made to withstand the most terrific of gales and gusts of the sea. In unusually
heavy storms, the great ship may turn its bow directly into the wind, cast
anchor, and hold fast until the storm subsides. The Church has seen moments in
its history when it must ‘weather the storm’ by casting anchor and facing the
storm head-on. That Anchor which holds our position and prevents drift in the
church is the Rock of our Salvation – Jesus Christ. He is the anchor of our
soul as well as the Church. 17 Wherein God, willing more
abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel,
confirmed it by an oath: 18 That by two immutable things, in
which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who
have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: 19 Which hope we have as an anchor
of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that
within the veil. (Heb 6:17-19) The modern church has no anchor
at all.
7 The great ship provides carriage
for much and varied merchandise, but also for every different tribe, race, and
nation of passenger. So the Church is to teach and preach the Gospel to all the
world. To those who disbelieve still, it will result in damnation; but to those
who believe and are called, it is salvation. But, like the church, if the ship
navigates the waters poorly and with an uninformed navigator, all passengers
are subject to the same fate of being lost at sea. We are either One with
Christ, or one with the Dark Prince of the Air. There is no middle ground at
sea – we are either on the ship, or overboard. 2 Wherein in time past ye
walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of
the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as
others. (Eph 2:2-3)
The
modern church might be compared with the great sea power of the ancient world –
Tyrus. They were very wealthy and increased with the riches of the known world.
Ezekiel 26 & 27 gives a full account of the doom of that rich sea power.
Their ships had beautiful and multi-colored sails. They were a proud gathering
of seaman. Much of their military defense grew to be mercenaries of other
regions. But God said that He would utterly destroy the seaport of Tyre making
its foundations so flat that fishermen would dry their nets thereon. God warned
that great seaport that He would bring Nebuchadnezzar against it to destroy its
proud walls. This God did: 12 And they shall make a spoil of
thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break down thy
walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy
timber and thy dust in the midst of the water. 13 And I will cause the noise of
thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard. 14 And I will make thee like the
top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built
no more: for I the LORD have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD. (Ezek
26:12-14) This was
fulfilled in detail. they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust
in the midst of the water. When Alexander the Great passed by, Tyre had
moved to an island about one mile from shore. They believed themselves
invulnerable there, but Alexander had the stones from the walls cast into the
sea, along with even the dust, and made a causeway therewith out to the island,
and Tyre was the victim of a terrible destruction. Fishermen today dry
their
nets
on Tyre’s old foundation.
Conclusion
I
fear the sea power of Tyre (or Tyrus) is much like the modern church. It has
established itself as a prostitute of false doctrine and built for herself
impressive structures and opulent garments, but they have not opted for that
simple and pure White Robe of Righteousness that is the offer of the Bridegroom
to which she tentatively aspires. Better to have a Man-o-War of the DAYSTAR
LINE sailing flank speed in constant search of the pirates of the sea as our
Ship of the Church than the lavishly accommodated RMS Titanic of the White Star
Line. We are engaged in a war for the souls of men. Rather than lose those
souls by prideful and erroneous navigation, we should rather seek to find and
save that which was lost.
