Did you know God destroys AND restores? Isaiah 23-28

Isaiah 23:17-18 (NASBStr)

It will come about at the end of seventy years that the Lord will visit Tyre. Then she will go back to her harlot’s wages and will play the harlot with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. Her gain and her harlot’s wages will be set apart to the Lord; it will not be stored up or hoarded, but her gain will become sufficient food and choice attire for those who dwell in the presence of the Lord.

Restoration!!  There is no better word!    In chapter twenty-three of Isaiah we have the destruction of the ancient city of Tyre foretold.   In the first verse of the chapter we are told the destruction is to be so bad there won't be one home to live in and no harbors to enter the city for the boating world.  This is significance because Tyre was known as the "Babylon of the Sea."   In those days when you thought about sea merchants you thought about Tyre.  As Carnival Cruise Lines epitomizes and even symbolizes the cruising industry, so, too, did Tyre to the sea merchants of the day.   Yet, because of their pride and lack of the fear of The Lord, God would destroy them (Isaiah 23:9).   But, unlike some of the other nations mentioned in Isaiah and scheduled for destruction (Babylon, as one example), Tyre was going to be restored.  Specifically seventy-years after this destruction Tyre would be restored.  The restoration so complete and so awesome they would supply food for those "who dwell in the presence of The Lord."   (You can see places in the New Testament where Tyre was visited by Christ and Paul and became a place for the early church to grow.)    In this chapter we can see that God has the power to destroy but also the mercy and strength to restore.  God is the God of restoration.   He might discipline and correct but it is for the purpose of restoration and rejoicing in Him.   This chapter starts off with destruction of every home in Tyre and ends with the country becoming a home to the future believers.   There is even more restoration in the future, but the lesson for us here is obvious: Despite destruction, restoration is found in God's mercy and grace.