Tyre
After four short prophesies of destruction against the ancient
enemies of the Hebrew people, we now turn to a series of prophesies against
Tyre. Tyre and Sidon were leading cities
of the Phoenicians. These cities were
the principle powers north of Judah. We
know historically that the Phoenicians we incredible sailors. They reached far and wide as they built their
empire based on trade with culture around the Mediterranean Sea.
What is interesting about this prophecy is that it comes in the
eleventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin.
We know that the prophecy happens on the first day of the month, but we
are not told which month. The reason
that this is interesting is because the eleventh year of the captivity of
Jehoiachin was 587-586 B.C. We know
Jerusalem fell permanently to Babylon in 586 B.C. Therefore, it is likely that the imminent
collapse of Jerusalem – or perhaps the actual collapse of Jerusalem – brings
about the prophecy. It is as though God
is saying through Ezekiel, “What I promised would happen to Jerusalem has
happened. So Tyre, you’re up next.”
I find it fascinating to know that God can speak to us and through
us anytime He wants. Yet, He always
picks precisely the right time to send precisely the right message. Now, if only we could hear that message as
clearly in foresight as we can in hindsight!
Prophecy Against Tyre
Notice that Ezekiel
continues in the “because,” “therefore,” “so that” style that we spoke about
yesterday. Because the people of Tyre
rejoiced when Jerusalem fell, God would tear her down so that the people will
know that God is the Lord.
The question is, what is the great sin of Tyre other than
rejoicing at the calamity of another?
The answer lies in economics.
I’ve already mentioned that Tyre was the elite merchant on the
water. The Phoenicians were incredible
sailors and they made a huge profit transporting goods all around the
Mediterranean. However, they always
played second fiddle to Judah with respect to land trade. The land of Judah provided a very natural trading
route from the Middle East (Babylon, Persia, Assyria) to Africa (specifically
Egypt). The Hebrew people were quite
skilled at making money off of land based trade through the Promised Land. In fact, this is one of the primary reasons
that Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon were so interested in conquering the
land! It is also why the Greeks and the
Romans were so interested in controlled the land as well. The Promised Land was a natural route for
caravans of trade heading north to south.
So, when Judah is conquered by Babylon the people of Tyre see
their opportunity. They know that it is
likely that their sea trading will increase due to the turmoil and unrest – and
more likelihood of bandits along the way.
They also think that it might be possible to expand their land based
trade further south and take over what the people of Judah had been doing. For Tyre, the downfall of Jerusalem is seen
as a huge potential for economic gain!
Greed.
It’s the old enemy of humanity.
We want. The more we have, the
less we’re satisfied. The less we’re
satisfied, the more we want. Soon it
doesn’t matter who we have to step on or over to get it. That is why the people of Tyre are
guilty. They saw the destruction of
Jerusalem and didn’t even mourn. They
were there, ready to pounce. They
skipped human decency and went straight for the bottom dollar.
Of course, I now have to think about the modern era. How quick are we to capitalize on the failure
of another? How quick are we to step in
and prosper rather than be concerned over the loss of another? I’m not saying we should go the opposite
route and bail out bad decision after bad decision. But I am saying that we do need to take time
and allow human decency to run its course as well.
Wrath
So what would happen to Tyre?
Well, for one thing, the people on the mainland would be ravaged. Tyre was really a split city. It had a mainland harbor as well as a town on
an island about a half mile off of the coast.
Like modern cities, the town on the mainland had many satellite
suburbs. We know historically that
Nebuchadnezzar did ravage the mainland of Tyre.
He attacked the island, but it surrendered and became a vassal state to
Babylon before it could be completely destroyed.
The people of Tyre saw the destruction of Jerusalem as a time for
their personal gain. They didn’t realize
that it meant that Babylon could focus on them next.
In fact, the destruction of Tyre continues on through history much
as Ezekiel says. When Alexander comes
through the region claiming it for the Greeks, he builds a causeway from the
mainland out to the island so that he could destroy the fortress and plunder
the land. Literally, Alexander threw
stone and lumber into the sea as verse 12 indicates. While the town and the people were not
obliterated, Tyre never regained the splendor that it once had.
Tyre’s Neighbors
You will note that Tyre’s neighbors will mourn the destruction of
Tyre, unlike how Tyre treated the destruction of Jerusalem. They will mourn the loss of naval trade. The destruction of Tyre would not only mean
judgment on Tyre but also a diminished ability for people to trade all across
the Mediterranean coast.
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