The ancient city of Tyre is under God’s judgment for something they said too. Be very careful what you say. Let’s pray:
Lord Jesus, it’s so hard to read this when we know this city still exists, but there must be a difference is all I can think. Still Your words are what I trust so lead me Lord.
Judgment on Tyre
Read Ezekiel 26:1-2
1 Now in the eleventh year, on the first [day] of the month [after the capture of King Jehoiachin], the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, because [a]Tyre has said against Jerusalem, ‘Aha! The gateway of the people is broken; she is open to me. I will be filled, now that she is a desolate waste,’
If we learned anything last week it was do not say anything against God’s people. We get to see another one today. And if last week didn’t change the way you speak about others, maybe this one will.
Read Ezekiel 26:3-6
3 therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and I will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea makes its waves crest. 4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; and I will scrape her dust and debris from her and make her as bare as [the top of] a rock. 5 Her island in the midst of the sea will become a dry place to spread nets, for I have spoken,’ says the Lord God, ‘and she will become a prey and a spoil for the nations. 6 Also Tyre’s daughters (towns, villages) [b]on the mainland will be killed by the sword, and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.’”
As it happens they will know He is the Lord. Because this does happen. Just read the footnotes.What had they done? It appears to me that they said they would benefit by the judgement of Jerusalem. Filled as in what, people? I don’t know, but there are centuries in this. Yet what He said did happen.
Explanation of What Will Happen
Read Ezekiel 26:7-11
7 For thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will bring upon Tyre from the north [c]Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots and with horsemen and a great army. 8 He will kill your daughters on the mainland with the sword, and he shall make siege walls against you and build a siege ramp against you and raise [a roof of] large shields [as a defense] against you. 9 He will direct the [shocking] blow of his battering rams against your walls, and he will tear down your towers with his crowbars.
10 Because of the great number of his horses, their dust will cover you; your walls [O Tyre] will shake from the noise of the horsemen and the wagons and the chariots when he enters your gates as men enter a city that is breached. 11 With the hoofs of his horses Nebuchadnezzar will trample all your streets; with the sword he will kill your people, and your strong pillars (obelisks) will fall to the ground.
Destroyed, the people that survived will know, God is the Lord. He is judging them for likely more than what they said, but still, only what they said is here, so be very careful what you say. After this they get the time to repent, but they don’t, because in a few years, a few lifetimes, the final parts of this judgment happen.
Read Ezekiel 26:12-13
Singing a Dirge
12 Also they will take your riches as spoil and plunder your merchandise, and tear down your walls and your pleasant houses, and throw your stones and your timber and the debris [from your city] out in the water. 13 So I will silence your songs, and the sound of your lyres will no longer be heard. 14I will make you [Tyre] a [d]bare rock; you will be a dry place on which to spread nets. You will never be rebuilt, for I the Lord have spoken,” says the Lord God.
Ancient Tyre must have been a bad place. Idol worship and just very unGodly behavior. Which is likely all behind the judgement here. But you’ll notice the city still exists. I don’t know really how to explain this. Just know that today it’s Lebanon’s fourth largest city.
The Dirge
Read Ezekiel 26:15-18
15 Thus says the Lord God to Tyre, “Shall not the coastlands shake at the sound of your fall when the wounded groan, when the slaughter occurs in your midst? 16 Then all the princes of the sea will go down from their thrones and remove their robes and take off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit on the ground, tremble again and again, and be appalled at you. 17 They will take up a dirge (funeral poem to be sung) for you and say to you,
‘How you have perished and vanished, O renowned city,
From the seas, O renowned city,
Which was mighty on the sea,
She and her inhabitants,
Who imposed her terror
On all who lived there!18 ‘Now the coastlands will tremble
On the day of your fall;
Yes, the coastlands which are by the sea
Will be terrified at your departure.’”
There have been multiple times in history where conquerors have taken city after city and imposed rule on others. I imagine those dirge singers are saying the other coastlands will be terrified because they will think they’re next. But who knows. It’s sometimes difficult to understand Scripture in light of the present. Yet Scripture is important to read. So we will.
God’s Promise for Tyre
Read Ezekiel 26:19-21
19 For thus says the Lord God, “When I make you a desolate city, like the cities which are not inhabited, when I bring up the deep over you and great waters cover you, 20 then I will bring you down with those who descend into the pit (the place of the dead), to the people of old, and I will make you [Tyre] live in the depths of the earth, like the ancient ruins, with those who go down to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited; but I will set glory and splendor in the land of the living. 21 I will bring terrors on you and you will be no more. Though you will be sought, yet you will never be found again,” says the Lord God.