Judgment upon Phoenicia
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Isaiah
22.
An expository study in Isaiah, chapter 23
History
of Tyre
Last year we studied the prophecies of Zechariah,
which were written about 200 years after those of Isaiah. I wrote that two
hundred years after Zechariah’s prophecy, Alexander the Great “invaded the
coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon, which received much diabolical influence,
according to Ezekiel 28. Tyre considered itself invincible, because it was
situated on an island and, even though Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian, was
able to destroy the city on the mainland, he couldn’t arrive at the island,
even though he tried for 13 years. No other enemy was able to reach it, but
Alexander did, because he had a mandate from God, which was the prophecy that
we are studying. He utilized the ruins that Nebuchadnezzar had left to build a
causeway in the sea, which reached the island (334-332 B.C.).”
Before we look at Isaiah’s prophecy concerning Tyre,
let us fill in some more details on this city’s history, quoting from a number
of different sources: “Tyrian merchants were the
first who ventured to navigate the Mediterranean waters; and they founded their
colonies on the coasts and neighboring islands of the Aegean Sea, in Greece, on the northern coast of Africa, at Carthage and other places, in Sicily and
Corisca, in Spain at Tartessus (the biblical Tarshish)”…
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| Phoenician trade routes, click for larger image |
“She grew wealthy
from her far-reaching colonies and her industries of purple-dyed textiles.
Founded at the start of the third millennium B.C., Tyre originally consisted of
a mainland settlement and a modest island city that lay a short distance off
shore. But it was not until the first millennium B.C. that the city experienced
its golden age.
In the 10th century B.C. Hiram, King of Tyre, joined two islets by landfill. Later he extended the city further by reclaiming a considerable area from the sea”…
In the 10th century B.C. Hiram, King of Tyre, joined two islets by landfill. Later he extended the city further by reclaiming a considerable area from the sea”…
“Hiram I ascended the throne in 969 BC and forged close relations with the
Hebrew kings Solomon and David. Hiram sent cedar wood and skilled workers to
help construct the famed temple in Jerusalem, as well as large amounts of gold... King Omri of Israel arranged for a marriage of state to
take place between his son Ahab and Jezebel, daughter of Itobaal I (887-856 B.C), called Ethbaal in the Bible.”
An
astounding fulfillment of prophecy
Now we will take a look at
the fulfillment of a prophecy in Ezekiel concerning Tyre:
“And
they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also
scrape her dust from her...and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy
dust in the midst of the water...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 (Ezekiel 26:4,12,14).”
“The destruction of Tyre could have been plausible.
However, the prophecy that Tyre would be thrown into the midst of the sea, and
its former location be scraped like the top of a rock seemed more than
implausible. Yet both these prophecies were fulfilled. Nebuchadnezzar of
Babylon besieged the city and conquered it in 586 B.C. The inhabitants of Tyre, however, escaped
to a nearby island. Nebuchadnezzar then rendered the city to ruins. For two
and-a-half centuries, these ruins were a mute contradiction of the Bible. Long after Nebuchadnezzar's siege, the
new island city of Tyre resisted the
advances
of Alexander the Great. Frustrated
by their efforts, Alexander ordered his troops to build a causeway to the
island by throwing the ancient ruins of mainland Tyre into the midst of the
sea, and using the dust to create a way for his troops, thus fulfilling the
prophecy that Tyre would be thrown into the midst of the sea. Alexander was so enraged at the Tyrians' defense and
the loss of his men that he destroyed half the city. The town's 30,000
residents were massacred or sold into slavery. The land bridge he created
became the permanent link between the old city and the mainland, and Tyre
became a peninsula.”
God is not
mocked
This is progressive prophecy once again. Tyre had frequently been besieged
before it finally fell to Alexander. This rich, proud port is singled out by
God for destruction and the same history lesson is repeated over and over.
Nations arise and, because of natural resources and favorable conditions,
become prosperous. In arrogant mutiny, they claim independence from their
Creator, fill themselves with idols, and bask in their success. As the old
saying goes, “the bigger they are, the harder they fall”. This is the irony of
God’s judgments over all the lands that Isaiah’s prophecies reached.
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| Alexander siege... Image of Melqart As far as I can determine, the Baal of Jezebel |
The “divine couple”, of whom we hear so much in the Old Testament, Baal and
Astarte (Astaroth), had their roots in Phoenician Tyre and Sidon and were
propagated through Tyre’s trading power. Melqart, (Moloch in the Bible) was a
Phoenician form of Baal. This was the home of Jezebel and the religion of Baal
was strongly embedded in her during her childhood and youth. The daughter of
King Itobaal I (Ethbaal), she was the strong, rebellious wife of Ahab. Imagine
a princess, enjoying all the entertainment of a frolicking port town with
jewels, trinkets and goods from Africa, Spain, Egypt and places in between. Her
induction into Hebrew culture did not affect her religious beliefs in the least.
She became a fanatical missionary of Baal in northern Israel.
As Sodom and Gomorrah, Tyre and Sidon were twin cities, united under one
ruler, and their names are used interchangeably throughout the Bible. Over all
the sinful cities of the world, these were the ones, to which the Lord Jesus
pointed because of their infamy (Mt.11:20-24). Their destruction was well-known
throughout the Middle East.
Isaiah’s
prophecy
In the poetic language of Isaiah, an oracle, a heavy prophecy to be drunk
like a bitter cup, is proclaimed against Tyre. This is the last of these
oracles directed towards a particular foreign power, all of them closely
involved with Israel. Figuratively, the prophetic word speaks to the ships of
Tarshish and commands them to wail. Tarshish, Spain, was a colony and chief
trading partner of Tyre, sailing its ships across the entire Mediterranean Sea.
In the history of Judah, King Solomon, allied with Hiram of Tyre, traded with
Tarshish and King Jehoshaphat, who, for a time, allied with Ahab, husband of
Jezebel of Tyre, later tried to build ships to go to Tarshish. Thereby Israel
linked with Tarshish through Tyre. The Psalmist and the major prophets, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, all speak of Tarshish and Prophet Jonah tried to escape
there.
As the ship from Tarshish turned to port on the island of Cyprus, after its
long voyage, the news came to the crew of Tyre’s destruction, much to their
disappointment. Without inhabitant or harbor, there would be no more lucrative
trade between the two cities (v.1).
The following verses 2-8 tell of Tyre’s famous merchant trade and we see
from the beginning that, when God speaks, His word carries the power to bring
its fulfillment. God says, “Be still”, and
just as Jesus commanded the sea to be still, so the Phoenician populace, up and
down the coastland, who profited from Tyre’s commerce, are eyewitnesses of its
destruction, and they are dumbstruck. They
benefited from the continual supply of produce from Egypt, irrigated by the
Nile and other rivers. Egypt mourns the loss of its important trade partner
(v.3,5)
Sidon, the oldest of the two cities, who gave birth to Tyre, hangs her head
in shame, as a cursed Middle Eastern woman, because she has been left
childless, not only losing her elegant son, Tyre, but the numerous colonies
that he gained (v.4). Refugees cross the Mediterranean and settle far away in
Tarshish. The Word of the Lord poses the proper question that He might ask, not
only of Tyre, but the citizens of prosperous nations throughout the world. Will
your comfortable lifestyle, your ample income, your many means of entertainment
last forever? “Is this your exultant
city whose origin is from days of old?” It was enjoying its third
millennium of history, when disaster struck! (v.6,7) It had luxuriously rewarded its loyal colonies and partners.
The Lord’s
judgment
The Lord stamps His signature on this judgment; He is righteous and He
calls forth powerful armies to carry out His plans. The Bible faithfully warns
its readers to beware of the God, who rules from heaven. He will not be mocked!
He will bring down every proud heart. See how forcefully it is portrayed… “To defile the pompous pride of all glory,
to dishonor all the honored of the earth” (v.8,9). Over all other sins and
attitudes of the heart, it is the high-minded thoughts of self-exaltation that
the Lord will surely punish. He will not share His glory with another.
Tyre is no longer a burden to its colonies; it has no strength to put
restraint upon Tarshish anymore (v.10). The word of the Lord has spoken to Canaan,
the country on the eastern side of the Mediterranean, and its prominent places have
lost their power. Phoenicia was part of Canaan, but, of course, not a part of
Israel (v.11).
The phrase quite frequently used in the Old Testament, “virgin daughter”, addresses the carefree, dependent, fun-loving
part of society that will most strongly feel the coming oppression, especially
in a prosperous area. He is specifically speaking to the city proper of Sidon
in this case, as it has survived this far, but its time is coming. The outcasts
will find no asylum (v.12). God has given them an example that they should
seriously take into account, as we all should learn from the lessons of
history. “Behold the land of the
Chaldeans!” Behold the fall of Rome! Behold Germany and Japan at the end of
World War II! Babylon, also, came under the power of the Assyrian Empire (v.13).
The word of the Lord is heard again in the ships anchored in Cyprus. They
have no destination and no place to trade their cargo. “Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your stronghold is laid waste” (v.14).Their
protector has been stripped of its power.
The 70 years of oppression upon the Tyrians is possibly the same period of
time given to the captivity of the Jews in Babylon. When Cyrus conquered the
Babylonians, he gave liberty, not only to the Jews, but to all the captive
people to return to their native lands.
What is clearly seen in the following verses (v.15-17) is that Tyre is trying
to recover its prestige. In studying for this article, I ran across a web site
from the tourist department of modern Tyre, giving a short history of the city,
telling of its antiquity and its former glory, I think accurately carrying out a
similar task, as in Isaiah’s prediction. The time came for Tyre to make an
effort to recover, willing to do whatever was necessary, selling herself
shamelessly to reestablish her identity. Certainly, to this day it has not
regained its former glory. A city called Tyre lies on the Peninsula created by
Alexander the Great, to be sure, but modern Tyre cannot be compared to the
great world-renowned Phoenician port.
God’s wonderful
restorative power
Ah people, once again we are going to see the goodness and mercy of God to
all people in His wonderful power of restoration. He is going to get something
good from the middle of all the destruction: “Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the Lord. It will not be
stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine
clothing for those who dwell before the Lord” (v.18). We have been seeing
in the last ten chapters, as God warns and deals with the different nations, he
provides a way of escape and a future for those who will take heed to His word.
We noticed, that is what He did in the days, when Israel escaped from Egypt,
saving the Egyptians who feared Him. Many of them joined the Israelites and
crossed the wilderness with them. In Esther’s time, “many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for
fear of the Jews had fallen on them” (Esther 8:17).
John Wesley comments: This is a prophecy concerning the
conversion of the Tyrians to the true religion. Not Laid up, stored or hoarded - Either out of covetousness, or for their pride and luxury, as they
formerly did; but now they shall freely lay it out upon pious and charitable
uses. Shall be - For the support and encouragement of the ministers of holy
things, who shall teach the good knowledge of the Lord.
I don’t want to leave this chapter without taking into
consideration the comments from Jamieson, Fausset and Brown: Her traffic and gains shall at last
(long after the restoration mentioned in Isa_23:17) be consecrated to
Jehovah. Jesus Christ visited the neighborhood of Tyre (Mat_15:21); Paul
found disciples there (Act_21:3-6); it early became a Christian
bishopric, but the full evangelization of that whole race, as of the Ethiopians
(Isa_18:1-7), of the Egyptians and Assyrians (Isa_19:1-25), is
yet to come (Isa_60:5). Isaiah has taken us again to the Millennium!
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