Another "thus saith the Lord." The Philistines dwelt on a narrow strip on the seashore and were the long continued enemies of the people Israel. Jeremiah speaks of them (chapter cxlvii). See also Amos i:6-9; Joel iii:4; Isa. xiv:29-32. The vengeance of the Lord fell upon the coast of Palestina, the Philistines; and they experienced the fury of the Lord. He dealt with them who had corrupted His people. And so God will deal in due time with all His enemies.
PROPHECIES CONCERNING TYRUS.
Chapter xxvi.
A lengthy prophecy concerning Tyre is contained in this and the following chapters. It is of much interest. The divinely given predictions against that once powerful city have seen a literal fulfillment; certain periods of Tyre's downfall and overthrow are made known by the prophet. History confirms all that is written here. In subsequent chapters we find much information on the riches and the greatness of that ancient city, while the description of the King of Tyre, which fits only the prince of this world, Satan, who governed Tyre's King, is of intense interest and much importance. Here are also many spiritual lessons, and a good deal which finds a ready application to present day world-conditions.
I. The Overthrow of Tyrus Announced.
And 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, Son 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: Therefore 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. And 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. It 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. And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the Lord. For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people. He 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. And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers. By 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. With 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 do down to the ground. And 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. And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard. And 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 (verses 1-14).
The City of Tyrus (which means rock) was partly built upon an island off the mainland in the Mediterranean Sea. It was an ancient Phoenician city and is mentioned in Scripture for the first time in Joshua xix:29, where it is called "The strong city." It had a wonderful commerce, a description of which in its variety, we find in the twenty-seventh chapter. It was inhabited by seafaring men, and the prophet Isaiah describes this wealthy and influential city as "the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth" (Isaiah xxiii:8). We read in the next chapter how Syria, Persia, Egypt, Spain, Greece and every quarter of the ancient world laid their choicest and most precious things at the feet of Tyre, who sat enthroned on Ivory, covered with blue and purple from the isles of Elishah. Her beauty was perfect (Ez. xxvii:11). During the reign of David and Solomon, Tyre came into great prominence, playing an important role in the commercial, political and religious history of Israel. Hiram, King of Tyrus sent cedar trees to Jerusalem, as well as workmen, who built David a house (2 Sam. v:11). How Tyrus aided in the construction of the temple and the palace under Solomon's reign, may be learned by consulting the following passages: 1 Kings v:1-12; vii:13-14; 1 Chronicles xiv:1; 2 Chronicles ii:3, 11. When the ships of Solomon sailed away to Ophir, "Hiram sent in the navy his servants, ship-men that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon, and they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to King Solomon" (1 Kings ix:27-28). The Tyrians were great voyagers, the masters of the sea, and founded colonies, among them Carthage. Israel's close relations with Tyrus continued probably for centuries. The wicked wife of King Ahab, Jezebel, was the daughter of Ethbaal, King of Tyre. She fostered successfully the vile Phoenician idolatry among Israel. Tyre also sent messengers to King Zedekiah, probably to form an alliance against the approaching Babylonian conqueror (Jere. xxvii:3). She was a proud, luxurious and wicked city, which defied God. She sinned against Jerusalem and the people Israel. Joel and Amos speak of her sins (Joel iii:4-6; Amos i:9-10) and announced her judgment. So did the prophet Isaiah (chapter xxiii) and Jeremiah (xlvii:4). Ezekiel gives us the completest description of this city, her resources, her luxuries and far reaching influence, her King under Satanic control and also the details of her judgment.
In the third verse of our chapter we read the divine announcement of Tyre's fate. "Behold I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causes its waves to come up. And 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." It was to become a place for the spreading of nets and a spoil to the nations. This great judgment was not all at once carried out. Nebuchadnezzar came first against her as predicted in verses 7-11. He besieged the Tyre on the mainland and after thirteen years took the city; while that part of Tyrus which was built upon the island in the sea, protected by the fleet of Tyrus, escaped. Then came for her seventy years when she was forgotten, as predicted by Isaiah (xxiii:15). After these years had passed Tyrus saw a startling revival. The island city became more powerful and wicked than before, "she committed fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth" (Is. xxiii:17). The continental Tyrus, however, remained in ruins.
Centuries passed and it seemed as if Ezekiel's prophecy concerning Tyre's complete overthrow would remain unfulfilled. It was about 240 years after when the literal fulfillment of this prophecy was accomplished. Alexander the Great came against the city built on the island. After seven months the city was taken by means of a mole, by which the forces of Alexander could enter the city. In constructing this mole, Alexander made use of the ruins of the old city. The stones, timber and the very dust of the destroyed city was laid into the sea to erect the causeway which accomplished the utter ruin of the wealthy city. And thus Ezekiel's prophecy was fulfilled. "And they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water." The complete end of Tyrus had come. "And thou shalt be no more, though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again" (verse 21). So completely was the work done by Alexander, depositing the debris of the ruins of Tyrus on the mainland into the sea, that its exact site will remain undeterminable. And Alexander the Great fulfilled still another prophecy. Before he came on his mission, directed by God, to make an end of the proud and wicked city, Zechariah, the great post-exilic prophet, had once more announced the fate of Tyrus. "And Tyrus," said the Lord through Zechariah, "did build herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the ruin of the sheets." This was after Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the Tyrus on the mainland and she became the great island city. "Thus," said Zechariah, "behold, the Lord will cast her out, and He will smite her power in the sea, and she shall be devoured with fire" (Zech. ix:3-4). Alexander did this; he laid proud Tyrus in ashes.
What an evidence that all these words are the Word of God! God looks to the fulfillment of all He revealed to His prophets. It may appear often as if visions were in vain and prophecies remain unaccomplished. God does not need to be in a hurry; He can afford to take His time. But finally every prophecy contained in the Holy Scriptures will be fulfilled. Proud and boasting, like Tyrus, are the great nations of our age. Wealth and luxuries are seen on all sides and with it moral evil and every form of wickedness. Judgment is surely in store for the nations that forget God. As we know from the book of Revelation this present age will culminate in the formation of Babylon the Great. Much in Revelation xviii reminds us of Tyrus in this chapter of Ezekiel and the next chapter.
II. The Effect of Tyre's Fall and the Lamentation.