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October 19 Bible in a Year: Isaiah 56-58; 2 Thessalonians 2 The Lesson in the Ruins Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us . . . worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. Hebrews 12:28 [READ Ezekiel 26:1-6, 17-18] “You have to be careful about the snakes, insects, jaguars and everything else,” said archaeologist Ivan Šprajc. Wielding chainsaws and machetes, he and his team slashed through thick jungle to try to reach the lost city of Ocumtún. The ancient metropolis had disappeared along with the rest of the once-vibrant Mayan civilization on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. No one knows why. “The study of history is, in large measure, the study of ruins,” says author George Will—an apt testimony to our human inability to do things that last. In the Bible, we read a prophecy about a thriving city. “They will destroy the walls of Tyre and pull down her towers,” God said through His prophet Ezekiel (26:4). “Out in the sea she will become a place to spread fishnets” (v. 5). Tyre had been “a power on the seas” who put “terror on all who lived there” (v. 17). They’d also celebrated Jerusalem’s fall (v. 2). A companion prophecy says of Tyre’s destruction, “The Lord Almighty planned it, to bring down her pride in all her splendor” (Isaiah 23:9). Tyre fell because of its pride. Working hard to create new things is one way we reflect God’s image. But beware the fatal trap of pride. Whatever we do, let’s do it for our eternal God and in His strength. He promises us “a kingdom that cannot be shaken” (Hebrews 12:28). By Tim Gustafson REFLECT & PRAY What city or civilization do you admire and why? How do you think of it when you consider that one day it will no longer exist? Dear God, please help me serve You well as a citizen of Your kingdom, which can never be shaken. Amen.