TYRE
One of my favourite archaeological destinations is Lebanon. In the north you have the huge cedar trees. This is where many of the great rulers of antiquity like Nebuchadnezzar, Thutmosis III, Sennecherib and Solomon got their wood.
In the south you can visit the tomb of the famous king Hiram who was a friend of King David and King Solomon. Here we look at very important history.
Another one of my favourite sites is Baalbek in the El Bekaa valley. Some of the largest heathen temples in the world can be seen here.
Three stones in the west corner of the Temple known at the Trilithon are among the largest ever hewn. They weigh in access of 1000 tons each.
Because of a little crack one of them called Hajar el Quibly were left behind in the quarry. According to the scholars more than 40,000 men were needed to move this stone.
Before the Greeks and the Romans worshipped their gods like Jupiter and Bacchus, the Canaanites worshipped Baal here at Baalbek.
TYRE
Every time I visit the coastal city of Tyre, I allow the history of this harbour city to flash through my mind.
While an exile in Babylon, the prophet Ezekiel prophesied that the entire city would be dumped into the sea:
Ezekiel 26:12 They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise; they will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones, timber and rubble into the sea.
I think the Tyrians laughed at this prophecy. Tyre was much more illustrious than Baalbek. How could the entire city be dumped into the sea? Let me tell you what happened.
King Nebuchadnezzar besieged the mighty Tyre. Only after 13 years did he conquered the city destroyed it. This was only the first part of the prophecy.
For more than two centuries the ruins of the destroyed city challenged the authenticity of Bible prophecy.
In the meantime the Tyrians built another city on an island, one kilometer off-shore. When Alexander the Great came to Phoenicia in 333 BC. the entire region surrendered to him, except the new Tyre in the sea.
This great world conqueror ordered his soldiers to build him a road to the island. How? By dumping the ruins of mainland Tyre into the sea.
While I took a few pictures of the ruins of ancient Tyre, I thought of the reliability of our God. If He said that an entire city would be dumped into the sea, you can believe him.
If He says that the He can forgive you for pain you have caused yourself and other people, you can believe Him.
He is eager to dump the ruins of your sinful failures into the ocean of His loving forgiveness. Please allow him to do this demolition for you.
Micah 7:19 You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
Looking at the fulfillment of one of the most amazing prophecies in the Bible a thought came to me. I have a way of remembering my past mistakes and take them from the ocean of God’s forgiveness. But then this beautiful verse came to my mind:
Hebrew 8:12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
While looking at the sunset at Tyre, a thought came to me:
My God give us spiritual Altsheimers so that we too, like God, no longer remember our confessed sins.