Prophecy Against Tyre
In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, ‘Aha, the gate of the peoples is broken; it has swung open to me. I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste,’ therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. They shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers, and I will scrape her soil from her and make her a bare rock. She shall be in the midst of the sea a place for the spreading of nets, for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD. And she shall become plunder for the nations, and her daughters on the mainland shall be killed by the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
Unlike some of the other prophetic utterances in Ezekiel, Tyre was not a country. Ezekiel said much against the countries that tried to take advantage of Judah during her discipline by God. Many were punished for just celebrating the fall of Israel. That was enough to incur God’s wrath. This is an important lesson in and of itself: God does not tolerate those who mock and take advantage of His people, whether they are being blessed by Him or disciplined by Him. In the above passage we read exactly that about this city-state, Tyre. They rejoiced over Judah’s downfall and would experience a devastating destruction of their own as a result. God would see their pride and bring rebuke for it. The city of Tyre had two locations. One was on the mainland of the coast of the Mediterranean and just north of Galilee. About one-half mile into the Mediterranean was the other part of the city. It was an island with fortified walls standing 150 feet into the air on the main-land side. Tyre controlled most of the sea. Their ships were famous for what they supplied to the rest of the nations (the main subject for chapter 27). During the days of King David and King Solomon, it was the King of Tyre who supplied them with material to build the Temple and, eventually, Solomon’s house. But the pride of Tyre paved the way for their destruction. It was because they controlled the sea and felt impregnable, that God would bring them down. Their location of being protected by the sea and the fortress they built around them gave them a sense of invincibility. Yet God would bring them low. Tyre is seen as a type of Satan in God’s Word. Like Tyre, Satan elevated himself and thought invincible enough to try a coupe against God. Tyre, like many nations today who reject God, think they are unable to be touched by God. However, God brings about His power and discipline on all who reject Him. Tyre gives us an example of what can happen when our pride overtakes us and we believe we are an island onto ourselves. We are not. God controls every aspect of the lives of those who reject Him. They just don’t realize it until it is too late. Ezekiel wrote this prophecy about Tyre around 590-570 B.C. Historians record that Alexander the Great attacked Tyre in 332 B.C. He destroyed their strongholds and caused their humiliation to become public. God brings down the pride of mankind.
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