Isaiah 23
AS in the burdens of Babylon, Philistia, Moab, Damascus, Egypt, Dumah, Arabia and Jerusalem, which have on previous occasions been before us, there had been a partial fulfilment of the prophecy, and the final development will be seen in the coming day.
Tyre was a very ancient city; it is even said to have been founded as early as the flood which engulfed the world in Noah’s time. However, that may be, it was a fortified city, when the children of Israel under Joshua took possession of the land God had designed for them.
Tyre was within the boundaries of the tribe of Asher, but the Asherites settled down among, instead of driving out, the inhabitants of the country (Joshua 19:2929And then the coast turneth to Ramah, and to the strong city Tyre; and the coast turneth to Hosah; and the outgoings thereof are at the sea from the coast to Achzib: (Joshua 19:29); Judges 1:3131Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob: (Judges 1:31)).
But it is from Ezekiel 27, verses 1 to 25, that we get our knowledge of the importance of Tyre in that day. Its trade was with countries near and far, to the east and north, and the south and west, by land and sea. The builders of the city had adorned it with costly wood and ivory, fine linen with broidered work, blue and purple, and the city’s boast was “I am perfect in beauty.”
With devotion to commerce and the adornment of their city, the citizens had not neglected the arts of war; an army was maintained, besides the walls and towers of defense around the place.
Tyre thus very fully represents the world and its ways, upon which judgment is soon to fall, and not the less severely because long delayed. When in Ezekiel 26-28 the judgment of Tyre is pronounced, it will be noticed the prophecy goes on to include the judgment of Satan (28:11- 19) since he is the ruler and god of this world.
Judgment fell on Tyre in a 13 year siege by Nebuchadnezzar, lasting from B. C. 585 to B. C. 572. They would have escaped it, had they heeded the word of Jeremiah the prophet (chapter 27:1-11), but they were full of self-confidence and rejoiced over Jerusalem’s fall (Ezekiel 26:1-141And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste: 3Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up. 4And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. 5It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God: and it shall become a spoil to the nations. 6And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the Lord. 7For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people. 8He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field: and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee. 9And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers. 10By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach. 11With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground. 12And 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. 13And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard. 14And 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. (Ezekiel 26:1‑14)). Serious are the consequences of warnings despised.
The ancient Tyre has disappeared, both the original main land city and its later island site, but Tyre will be found a city in the day to come, for Psalm 83:77Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; (Psalm 83:7) numbers it among the enemies which will unite with Assyria in the attack upon the Holy Land which we have before considered, and Jeremiah 25:2222And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea, (Jeremiah 25:22) includes it as one of the kingdoms to come under the judgments of the last days which will take in the whole world. Then Isaiah 23 will be fulfilled.
Nevertheless, the Millennium will bring in a restored Tyre, for her merchandise and her hire shall be holy to Jehovah (verse 18 of our chapter). Psalm 45:1212And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favor. (Psalm 45:12) sees the “daughter of Tyre” coming with a gift then, and Psalm 87:44I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there. (Psalm 87:4) includes Tyre with Egypt, Babylon, Philistia and Ethiopia as enjoying the blessing of God in that day.
The Lord in Matthew 11:21, 2221Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. (Matthew 11:21‑22) and Luke 10:13, 1413Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you. (Luke 10:13‑14) spoke of the past judgment on Tyre and its neighbor, Sidon, saying that if the mighty works He had done in Chorazin and Bethsaida of Galilee had been done in them, they would have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
It is pleasing to note the present work of grace in such a scene of judgment, connecting together Mark 3:88And from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him. (Mark 3:8); Luke 6:1717And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; (Luke 6:17) and Acts 21:3, 43Now when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left hand, and sailed into Syria, and landed at Tyre: for there the ship was to unlade her burden. 4And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem. (Acts 21:3‑4) with its record of disciples found, perhaps to the surprise of the travelers, at Tyre.
ML 08/13/1933