An Oracle Concerning Tyre and Sidon
The oracle concerning Tyre.
Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor!
From the land of Cyprus
it is revealed to them.
Be still, O inhabitants of the coast;
the merchants of Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you.
And on many waters
your revenue was the grain of Shihor,
the harvest of the Nile;
you were the merchant of the nations.
The book of Isaiah is a continuous unfolding story of God both revealing His plans and actually activating His plans for mankind. God interacts with mankind and the affairs of mankind. God has chosen to reveal Himself and these plans through prophets, like Isaiah. Prior to the above passage we read about the downfall of Babylon (chapter 21). After a short intermission about Jerusalem (chapter 22) we now read the downfall of Tyre and Sidon. To those in the Western world, the names are just historical hooks we remember from school days or old movies. But, in Bible times, Babylon, Tyre and Sidon were significant cites. We can understand this in our terms if we think of Babylon as New York and we think of Tyre and Sidon as Los Angeles and San Francisco. Babylon was the largest city next to the Persian Gulf and Tyre/Sidon were the cities that sat on the Mediterranean Sea (the “Great Sea” in the Bible). Like NY and LA, there was a major trade route from Babylon to Tyre. It would run near Jerusalem, capital city of Israel. Bagdad, Iraq would be the modern day equivalent of Babylon and Lebanon would be Tyre. What God is saying, through Isaiah, in these chapters, is that despite the power, prestige and prominence of mankind’s cities and strength and trade, God was completely in control. Isaiah, in the above passage (a poem) tells the citizens of Tyre and Sidon to “wail,” because of the coming destruction on them. Just as then, so too today, God is not ignorant of this world’s power and wickedness. God is not sleeping as the political and power structures of our world deteriorate around us. He has not closed His eyes to the evilness in our society. God is in complete control and throughout Isaiah we read of what He was doing in Isaiah’s day, Jesus’ day and, eventually, our day. Note one of the verses in this section. God will destroy those who act wickedly toward Him (entire cities). But, God will also redeem those who turn toward Him and wait in faith. We can rejoice that God is in complete control and will bring salvation to those who put faith in Him:
It will be said on that day,
“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
This is the LORD; we have waited for him;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
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