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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Eze_26:1
In the eleventh year, etc. The last date given (Eze_24:1) was the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year. We have now come to the eleventh year, on which, on the ninth day of the fourth month, Jerusalem was taken, while its destruction followed in the seventh day of the fifth month (Jer_52:6, Jer_52:12). Here the number of the month is not given in the Hebrew or the Vulgate, while the LXX. inserts the "first month." In Eze_32:17 we have a like omission, and in both cases it is natural to assume an error of transcription. The tidings of the capture may have reached both Tyre and Tel-Abib, and Ezekiel may have heard of the temper in which the former had received them, just as he had heard how the nations named in the previous chapter had exulted in the fall, imminent and, as they thought, inevitable, of the holy city.
Eze_26:2
Because that Tyrus, etc. As the nearest great commercial city, the Venice of the ancient world, Tyre, from the days of David (2Sa_5:11) and Solomon (1Ki_5:1) onward, had been prominent in the eyes of the statesmen and prophets of Judah; and Ezekiel follows in the footsteps of Joe_3:4; Amo_1:9, Amo_1:10; Isa_23:1-18; in dealing with it. The description in Isa_23:5 and Isa_23:14 points, not to the city on the mainland, the old Tyre of Jos_19:29, which had been taken by Shalmaneser and was afterwards destroyed by Alexander the Great, but to the island-city, the new Tyre, which was, at this time, the emporium of the ancient world. The extent of her commerce will meet us in Eze_27:1-36. Here, too, as in the case of the nations in Eze_25:1-17; Ezekiel's indignation is roused by the exulting selfishness with which Tyre had looked on the downfall (actual or imminent, as before) of Jerusalem. "Now," her rulers seem to have said, "we shall be the only power in the land of Canaan." Jerusalem, that had been the gate of the peoples, was now broken. The name thus given may imply either
(1) that Jerusalem was regarded as to a considerable extent a commercial city, carrying on much intercourse with the nations with which she was in alliance, (Eze_23:40, Eze_23:41; 1Ki_9:26-28; 1Ki_22:48; Isa_2:7; Herod; 3.5, of Cadytis, i.e. probably Jerusalem); or
(2) that its temple had, under Hezekiah and Josiah, drawn many proselytes from the neighboring nations, as in Psa_87:4-6, and was looking forward to a yet fuller confluence of men of all races, as in the prophecies of Mic_4:1, Mic_4:2 and Isa_2:2, Isa_2:3—expectations which may well have become known to a city like Tyro, in frequent intercourse with Judah. "Now," the Tyrians might say, "that hope is shattered." I shall be replenished. The interpolated "now" indicates what is, of course, implied, that Tyre expects her prosperity to increase in proportion to the decline and fall of Jerusalem.
Eze_26:3
As the sea causeth, etc. We note the special appropriateness of the comparison to the position of the island city.
Eze_26:5
It shall be a place for the spreading of nets, etc. The prediction is repeated in Eze_26:14, and after many chances and changes, apparent revival followed by another period of decay, the present condition of Tyre strikingly corresponds with it. The travelers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries report that "its inhabitants are only a few poor wretches that harbor in vaults and subsist upon fishing"; that the number of those inhabitants was "only ten, Turks and Christians"; that there were, a little later on, "fifty or sixty poor faro nee. During the present century there has been a partial revival, and Porter, in 1858, estimates its population at from three to four thousand. The present state of its harbor, as compared with that of Beyrout, is against any future expansion of its commerce ('Dict. Bible,' s.v. "Tyre").
Eze_26:6
The daughters in the field are, according to the usual symbolism of prophecy, the subject or allied cities on the mainland.
Eze_26:7
I will bring against thee, etc. There is a special emphasis of abruptness in the way in which Ezekiel brings in the name of the great Chaldean conqueror (we note, by the way, that he adopts the less common spelling of the name), of whom he speaks as "king of kings." The title is used by Daniel (Dan_2:37) of Nebuchadnezzar, and by Artaxerxes of himself (Ezr_7:12), by Darius in the Nakshi Rustam inscription ('Records of the Past,' 5.151), by Tiglatb-Pileser, with the addition of "lord of lords" (ibid; 5.8).
Eze_26:8-10
(For the usual operations of a siege, see notes on Eze_4:1, Eze_4:2.) The buckler was the roof of shields under which the besiegers protected themselves from the missiles of the besieged. For engines of war, read battering-rams; for wheels, wagons. The final result will be that the breach will be made, with results such as those described in Eze_26:1].
Eze_26:11
Thy strong garrisons; literally, the pillars of thy strength (Revised Version). So the Vulgate, nobiles statuae. So the word is used in Isa_19:19; Jer_43:13; 2Ki_3:2. The words probably refer to the two famous columns standing in the temple of the Tyrian Hercules, one of gold and one of emerald (possibly malachite or lapis-lazuli), as symbols of strength, or as pedestals surmounted by a statue of Baal (Herod; 2.44).
Eze_26:12
Thy pleasant houses; Hebrew, houses of desire. The palaces of the merchant-princes of Tyro, stately as those of Genoa or Venice. In the midst of the water. We are again reminded that it is the island city of which the prophet speaks.
Eze_26:13
The noise of thy songs. As in the imagery, of Isa_23:16, Tyre seems to have been famous for its music—the operatic city, as it were, of the ancient world—eminent no less for its culture than its commerce (romp. Eze_28:13). The description of the desolation of the captured city is summed up once more in the words of Isa_23:5. It shall be a place to "spread nets upon."
Eze_26:15
Shall not the isles, etc.? The Hebrew word is used in a wider sense, as including all settlements on the sea-coast as well as islands. So it is used of Philistia (Isa_20:6), and of the maritime states of Asia Minor (Dan_11:18), of the east and south coasts of Arabia (Eze_27:15). Looking to the extent of commerce described in Eze_27:1-36; it probably includes all the Mediterranean settlements of the Tyrians, possibly also those in the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf. The report of the fall of Tyre was to spread far and wide.
Eze_26:16
The princes of the sea are not the kings of the isles, but the merchant-princes of the city (Isa_23:8). They shall lay aside their robes of state—Tyrian purple embroidered with gold and silver—and shall put on the garments of mourners. Jon_3:6 presents an interesting parallel. The word thrones is used, as in 1Sa_4:13, for any chair of state, as that of priest or judge (Pro_9:14; Est_3:1), as well as for the specifically kingly throne. For the, most part, however, the later meaning is dominant.
Eze_26:17
Inhabited of seafaring, etc.; Hebrew, from the seas. The sense is the same, but we lose the poetry of the original in the paraphrase. Possibly, however, the phrase may represent the position of Tyro as rising out of the sea or as deriving its wealth from it. Ewald adopts a conjectural reading, which gives "destroyed from the seas;" or, with another conjecture, "She that was settled from the days of the remote past."
Eze_26:18
It is noticeable that the commercial policy of Tyre is not represented as having been oppressive. The isles do not exult in their deliverance, but mourn over the captured city whose commerce had contributed to their prosperity. The "terror" of Eze_26:17 is rather the impression of awe and wonder made on all who came to it.
Eze_26:19
When I shall bring up the sea. The picture of desolation is completed. The sea washes over the bare rock that was once covered with the palaces of the merchant-princes.
Eze_26:20
When I shall bring thee down, etc. The pit is sheol, Hades, the unseen world of the dead. The image may have been suggested by Isa_14:9, where it is used of Babylon. It was obviously one on which the mind of Ezekiel dwelt, and is reproduced in Eze_32:17-32. Here, apparently, the sinking in the depth of the waters (Eze_32:19) is thought of as leading to that world of the dead that lay beneath them. The people of old time may possibly include the races of the old world that were submerged in the waters of the Flood. The imagery of Psa_88:3-7 seems to have been floating before the prophet's mind. I shall set glory; better, will set. The contrast drawn is that between the shadow-world of the dead, and the earth with its living inhabitants. There Jehovah would establish his glory, would, sooner or later, manifest his kingdom, while Tyre and its pomp should be no more, belonging only to the past. Conjectural readings and renderings have been suggested as follows:
(1) Hitzig, "And thou no longer shinest with glory in the land of the living."
(2) Havernick and Kliefoth, "That I no longer produce anything glorious from thee in the land of the living."
(3) Ewald," That thou mayest not remain (or stand) in the laud of the living." I have adopted Keil's interpretation of the Anthorized Version.
Eze_26:21
I will make thee a terror. Ewald translates, "To sudden death will I bring thee," which corresponds with the margin of the Revised Version, I will make thee a destruction.
I. THE SIMILAR PROSPERITY OF TYRE AND ENGLAND.
1. In wealth. Tyre was one of the richest cities of the East, if not the very richest. Her splendor was renowned, and the wealth of her merchants was proverbial. Like England today, she was envied by other peoples for her worldly prosperity.
2. Through commerce. The wealth of Tyre was not drawn from rich mines or fertile soil of her own territory. It was not booty taken in war, like that of Babylon. Her riches came by trade. Her princes wore merchants. Thus she was like our "nation of shopkeepers."
3. By seafaring. The early commerce of Syria was carried on by Midianites over the desert (Gen_37:28); but the later and more profitable commerce was over the waters westward, round the coast of the Mediterranean and to as far as Cornwall in Britain, perhaps even to the distant Azores. Like Venice in the Middle Ages, like Spain later, like the Netherlands after the Reformation, like England today, Tyro in ancient times was the mistress of the sea. Hence a certain cosmopolitan character.
4. With constructive art. The vast foundations of Baalbec tell of the building powers of Tyro. Solomon's temple was a grand specimen of Tyrian architecture, built with Tyrian art. We do not equal those great builders in originality. But inventive genius and manufacturing energy are characteristic of our race. Thus the material splendor of Tyro has passed to England.
II. THE FATE OF TYRE A WARNING FOR ENGLAND. The splendor and prosperity of Tyro did not save her from ruin. Can we see in her fall any hint of a similar danger threatening our own country? Consider both its immediate cause and the providential necessity that lay behind.
1. The immediate cause. Tyro was overthrown by Babylon (Verse 7). She was not able to withstand the terrific onward march of the Eastern power. She was strong at sea, but feeble ashore. She was not a military power. She proves that wealth will not protect from ruin, but will rather invite it. The wealth of London is a temptation to the invader. Prosperity is not its own security.
2. The providential necessity. Wealth enervates, and no doubt Tyro was weakened by luxury. But behind such natural operations God, the Judge of all the earth, saw the sin of Tyro. She was greedy and selfish (Verse 2). Commerce does not always win friends. By competition it stirs up jealousy. When deceptive or overreaching, it rouses the antagonism of those on whom it preys. Tyro was a most wicked city. Her very religion was shamefully immoral. Though the temple of Jehovah was built by Tyrian artists, the worship of Jehovah was not accepted by the Tyrian citizens. Like Tyro, we may build a temple for others, and never worship in it ourselves. We may patronize religion, and be none the better for it. We may send the gospel to the heathen, and become pagans at home. The temple they built for the Jews did not save the Tyrians. Nothing can save England but the uprightness and the personal religion of her people.
Eze_26:2
(last clause, "I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste")
I. IT IS WICKED TO HOPE FOR GAIN THROUGH THE DISTRESS OF OTHERS. Tyre should have sympathized with her old ally in the time of adversity. But her commercial greed bears down all thoughts of friendship and all feelings of commiseration. She only looks at the direful event as an opportunity for enlarging her trade. Nations are guilty of this wickedness when they exult in the downfall and misery of their neighbors, expecting to reap a harvest of gain for themselves. Thus while two peoples are in the agonies of war, a third may be delighted at the opportunity of coining wealth by seizing the ground for commerce which the belligerents have been forced to relinquish. It may come more nearly home to us to see the same greedy spirit in the shopkeeper who inwardly rejoices over the bankruptcy of his rival, believing that now the custom will be all in his own hands. The same miserable, mercantile selfishness is even witnessed in ecclesiastical regions, when one Church takes pleasure in the misfortunes of a neighboring Church, expecting thus to have grist brought to its mill. In this case there is far less excuse, for Christians profess brotherhood, and a true Church exists for the glory of God, not for the pomp and aggrandizement of its members. God is not glorified when one Church fattens on the wreck of another Church.
II. THIS UNWORTHY ANTICIPATION IS DOOMED TO ULTIMATE FAILURE. Tyre did not gain by the overthrow of Jerusalem; on the contrary, she was swept away by the same besom of destruction that she had greedily rejoiced to see turned against her ancient ally, We are members one of another. What is hurtful to one part of the body injures the whole body. War brings nothing but loss in the long run. Selfish commerce does not ultimately pay. Greedy competition overreaches itself and reaps a Nemesis of general commercial depression. It is often found that the ruin of one house of business is followed by that of others. A market is injured, and all concerned with it suffer. Selfishness, envy, jealousy, and greed destroy mutual confidence. They introduce a condition in which every man's hand is against his fellow. This must be one of general disaster, because it is one of general distrust. We do not suffer in the end by being magnanimous. Assuredly these considerations apply with double force to religious communities. The Church that exults in the downfall of its rival cannot truly prosper. Here, indeed, what hurts a member of the body hurts the whole body. Far wiser as well as higher was the spirit of St. Paul, who rejoiced in the preaching of the gospel by all means, even though, in some cases, it involved enmity to himself (Php_1:18).
Eze_26:3
II. SIN PROVOKES THE ANTAGONISM OF GOD. God was angry with Tyre for its wickedness, and his anger was not mitigated by the fact that the greedy were rejoicing over the calamities of their neighbors. All sin rouses the anger and active opposition of God. He is not opposed to any one from prejudice, as men are too often opposed to their neighbors. But sin, which is opposition to the will of God, must needs be opposed by him if that will is to be done on earth as it is in heaven. This, then, is not a question for a few rare souls in the awful condition of victims of Divine displeasure. Every sinner has God for his opponent. The fatal punishment of others ought to be a warning. It was not so taken by Tyre. Instead of seeing a dreadful lesson in the ruin of Jerusalem, the Tyrians rejoiced over it. Such wickedness the more stirred up the antagonism of God. Now, these Tyrians were heathen people, judged only according to their light. Yet they were condemned, for the ground of judgment was moral evil, not defective theology. But much more must God be in antagonism to those who have fuller light and yet rebel against him. "Therefore thou art inexcusable," etc. (Rom_2:1).
III. CHRIST HAS COME TO PUT AN END TO THE DIVINE ANTAGONISM. This does not mean that God is reluctant to sheathe his sword, till Christ succeeds in persuading him to do so; for our Lord was sent by his Father for the express purpose of making peace. But the cause of the antagonism had to be removed, and Christ came to effect that end by making his great atonement for sin. Through this also he brought men into a new state of repentance, and reconciled them to God. Now, we are under the doom of Divine antagonism, so long as we live in unrepented sin. But the offer of the gospel shows the way of escape from it in free forgiveness and perfect restoration to the favor of God.
Eze_26:7
II. GOD EMPLOYS AS HIS AGENTS MEN WHO DO NOT KNOW HIM. This is the singular fact brought before us in relation to the use of Nebuchadnezzar as a minister of Divine judgment. The King of Babylon was a heathen monarch, who did not acknowledge the true God (see Dan_3:15). Yet he was impressed into the Divine service. We may serve God unconsciously. It is possible to be an instrument for effecting his purposes even when we are thinking that we are resisting them. The Jews who crucified Christ were unconsciously the means of leading his work on to completion. Thus God controls men. He claims all; he uses all. For he is the God of all, though all do not own or even know him.
III. GOD EMPLOYS BAD MEN AS HIS AGENTS. The worst thing about Nebuchadnezzar was not his paganism, for which he was not responsible, as he had inherited it from his ancestors; but his wickedness, his cruelty, his ambitious greed and intolerant despotism. Yet not only was this than unconsciously enlisted in the service of God. His very wrath was made to praise God, and the very exercise of his wicked disposition was just the thing that carried out the Divine purpose. The nations were chastised according to the ends of Divine justice by the unjust and wicked scourge of Nebuchadnezzar's invasions. This wonderful fact does not solve the enigma of evil, but it helps to lighten the burden of that great mystery. We see that evil itself may be turned into a ministry of good.
IV. GOD'S EMPLOYMENT OF HUMAN AGENTS IS NO JUSTIFICATION OF THEIR CONDUCT. The use of their action is no defense for it. God does not approve of Nebuchadnezzar because he seizes that cruel monarch's plans and makes them to fall in with his own holy purposes. Nebuchadnezzar must be content to be judged by the moral character of his deeds, not by the unsuspected Divine issue of them. It is no excuse for sin that God may overrule it for good. The Jews were not exonerated from blame in rejecting Christ because this rejection was the means of the world's redemption. We may be used by God to high ends, and then cast away as worthless souls unless we serve him consciously and do his will from our hearts.
Eze_26:13
I. SONGS ARE SILENCED BY THE DISCOVERY OF THEIR UNWORTHINESS. The songs of Tyre were not like those of Zion. Heathen songs are too often degrading to the singers of them, because false religion and immoral conduct are therein celebrated. There are pleasures of sin which it is a shame to permit unchecked. The awakening of conscience necessarily extinguishes such pleasures and stills their accompanying songs. In this way the thoughtless world may be brought to regard religion as a gloomy, repressive influence, inimical to joy, and therefore very unattractive. We should look a little deeper. The wicked song must be stopped at any cost. But it need not be followed by a reign of perpetual silence. A new song may follow, and this may be as joyous as it is innocent. Christianity is not the enemy of gladness, it is only the enemy of wickedness; and when joy is purged from evil, joy is found to be deeper, stronger, and sweeter than ever it was while intoxicated with the old corruption.
II. SONGS ARE SILENCED BY SORROW. There is a time for everything, and singing is not always seasonable. Nothing can be more unnatural than a forced song. Now, there are sorrows that quench the most vigorous soul's delights, as there are storms that beat down the strongest wings. Such were the calamities that accompanied Nebuchadnezzar's invasion. Such too were the troubles of the Jewish captives when they hung their harps upon the willows, and refused to sing the Lord's song in a strange land (Psa_137:2-4). But there will be worse causes of the silence of old songs in God's future judgments on sin. Pleasure is no refuge from trouble. It tempts to hopes that are delusive. No one is safe just because he feels himself happy. Cheerful people may be in as great danger as despondent ones.
III. SONGS ARE SILENCED TO SAVE THE SINGER. Type is made desolate utterly and eternally. The songs of her gay citizens are no more heard. Her very rocks are scraped bare, and the fisherman spreads his nets on her once populous places. Thus cities are doomed to irretrievable ruin. But it is not so with souls. There are restoration and redemption for individual men. At all events, though a dark shadow of mystery hangs over the grave, this is the case on earth. Now, it would be best for the singer to silence his old thoughtless song in the sober reflection of repentance. The silence may be a first step to better things. We are too noisy and too superficial. The hush of demonstrative life gives us an opportunity of hearing the still small voice of God. When our songs are silenced we may listen to the songs of the angels. Then that heavenly music may teach us to tune our harps to its higher melody and inspire our souls with new songs of redemption (Rev_5:9).
Eze_26:16
I. THE PRINCES OF THE SEA GATHERED RICHES, The merchants of Tyre were princes. Wealth was got by industry, daring, and enterprise. Thus the Tyrians anticipated the good fortune of the English. Prosperity is not often won except by means of energy and adventure. When the spirit that urges on daring attempts is enervated by luxury, the success that it once achieved is surely doomed. It is happy when that spirit is transformed into a higher character, and seeks for better returns than bales of merchandise. We cannot but feel that the voyages of the Beagle and the Challenger are nobler in this respect, as their aim was to gather treasures of knowledge. But better still is it when the command of the waters is used for the promotion of peace, the extension of liberty, and the check of the slave trade, and above all, the propagation of Christianity.
II. THE PRINCES OF THE SEA UNITED RACES. In ancient times the Tyrians were the great link of connection between the East and the West. Through them the venerable civilization of Asia woke up the genius of Europe, as yet slumbering in unconscious barbarism. Tyre gave the alphabet to Europe. Thus she laid the foundation of Greek culture and started European literature on its wonderful course. She gave more than she took. Immense and untold good comes from the peaceful intercommunication of races.
III. THE PRINCES OF THE SEA RAN GREAT RISKS. They trusted their wealth to the treacherous waves. The Merchant of Venice finds himself beggared by unexpected calamities. The greatest wealth is usually won by the most uncertain means, i.e. by foreign trade and home speculation. This is a warning to the prosperous not to put their trust in riches which so easily take wings and fly away. The fate of Tyre should drive us further to seek those better riches in the heavenly treasury, where neither moth nor rust corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal (Mat_6:20). If even the princes of the sea were ruined, who can be satisfied to rest in the greatest earthly success?
IV. THE PRINCES OF THE SEA LIVED LOW LIVES. Princes they were, but not saints. Their mercenary character was not hidden by all the splendor of their surroundings. In their gorgeous palaces, among their well-stocked bazaars, with their heavy-laden ships on many waters, they were the cynosure of every eye. Yet in God's sight they were "miserable, and blind, and naked," for they were but mammon-worshippers. More enlightened than the Tyrian merchants, Englishmen will be guilty of greater sin and folly if they fall down and worship the same image of gold.
I. THE FACT UPON WHICH THIS JEALOUSY WAS BASED, i.e. THE FORMER PROSPERITY OF JERUSALEM. According to the poetical language of the prophet, Jerusalem had been "the gate of the peoples." In the reign of Solomon especially, and to some extent subsequently, the metropolis of the Jewish people had been an emporium of commerce. Its situation in some degree fitted it to be the center of communication between the great Eastern countries, and Egypt on the south, and the Mediterranean and its traffic Westwards. We are not accustomed to think of Jerusalem in this light; but this verse in Ezekiel's prophecies brings before our minds the unquestionable fact that there was a time when this city was a mart in which the surrounding nations were wont to exchange their produce and their commodities.
II. THE REJOICING TO WHICH THIS JEALOUSY LED, i.e. IN THE DOWNFALL OF JERUSALEM. "She is broken," was the exulting exclamation of Type upon beholding the distress of her rival. That Jerusalem deserved her fate there is no room for doubting; yet it was not generous in Type thus to triumph over the misfortunes and calamities of her neighbor. The wealth and prosperity of the Jewish capital was about to end; the days of her glory were over; her streets were to be forsaken; the caravans of the merchants were no more to thread their way through the proud gates of the city. And in this change, in these disasters, Type rejoiced.
III. THE HOPE WITH WHICH THIS JEALOUSY WAS ASSOCIATED, i.e. THE EXTENSION OF THE PROSPERITY OF TYRE. The Phoenician city anticipated that she would gain what Jerusalem was about to lose: "I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste." The greatness, opulence, and renown of Tyre were such that it seems scarcely credible that her prosperity could be affected by anything which could happen to a small and inland capital such as Jerusalem. Yet it is evident that the Tyrian spirit was a spirit of selfishness, exclusiveness, and grasping. Nothing was too great for Tyre's ambition, nothing too small to be beneath her notice and cupidity.
IV. THE MEANNESS WHICH THIS JEALOUSY REVEALED. In what follows Ezekiel displays the pomp, splendor, and magnificence of the great seaport of Phoenicia; it is strange that he should put in the forefront of his address to Tyre this imputation of littleness. There is a reason for this; it may be that the prophet spoke, not only as a patriot who resented Type's jealousy, but as a religious teacher for whom moral distinctions were all-important, and for whom a moral fault was of more consequence than all material splendor.
V. THE DISPLEASURE WHICH THIS JEALOUSY EXCITED IN THE MIND OF THE DIVINE KING AND JUDGE. "I," says God—"I am against thee, O Tyre!" The city which had envied and hated his own Jerusalem, the seat of his worship, and the metropolis of his chosen; the city which was pained by Jerusalem's prosperity, and which rejoiced in Jerusalem's fall,—incurred the indignation as well as the disapproval of the Most High. For dispositions were revealed discreditable to human hate, ire, and repugnant to Divine purity. Because Tyre was against Jerusalem, the Lord God was against Tyre.—T.
Eze_26:3-6
I. THE GREATNESS OF TYRE. The elements of this greatness, the causes which conspired to produce it, were many and various. There may be noticed:
1. Its commanding maritime situation. Partly upon a rock, partly upon the mainland, Tyre sat—a queen. To the east, the north, the south, were countries which poured their produce into the Phoenician port; before her, to the west, were the waters of the great sea, upon whose shores lay the great states and cities of the ancient world. Tyre was thus the highway of the nations.
2. Its commerce. This was carried on with all the known countries accessible to the Tyrian fleets. Her supremacy upon the sea gave Tyre a foremost position among the nations; her adventurous mariners not only visited every port of the Mediterranean, they passed the Pillars of Hercules, and traded with "the islands of the West."
3. Its wealth. Every nation paid tribute to Tyre. The exchange, the mart, of the world, it acquired and retained riches scarcely equaled.
4. Its splendor—such as is described by Ezekiel—was the natural result of the opulence of its enterprising merchants and sea-captains.
5. Its political power was out of all proportion to its territory, its population; its alliance was sought, and its hostility was dreaded.
II. THE ENEMIES OF TYRE. These were many and formidable. It is a sad symptom of human depravity that unusual prosperity should excite general dislike, jealousy, envy, and ill will. "Many nations came up against Tyre, as the sea causeth his waves to come up." But some of these adversaries Tyre could treat with derision or contempt. This was not so, however, with Babylon. A different type of civilization and national life was no doubt exhibited in the great kingdom of the East; but the population and armies of Babylonia were enormous, and the resources of the kingdom all but inexhaustible. When the King of Babylon turned his arms against Tyre, brave and powerful as was the regal city by the sea, there was no disguising the fact that the time of trial and of danger had come.
III. THE SIEGE AND CONQUEST OF TYRE. It is matter of history that the prophet's predictions were fulfilled. Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon came up against Tyre, and, notwithstanding its boasted impregnability, laid siege to it, and directed against it all the vast military resources of his kingdom. For long years the siege was maintained. The besieged, having open communication by sea, were able to withstand the assaults of the enemy; and it was only the patience and indomitable perseverance of the Babylonians that gave them the final victory.
IV. THE DESTRUCTION AND DESOLATION OF TYRE. A more striking and detailed prediction than this was never uttered; and never was prediction more strikingly and literally fulfilled. The downfall of Tyre was complete. The walls and towers of the city were broken down. The rock upon which she stood—a stronghold of defiance—was left bare and desolate. The nets of the solitary fisher were spread where magnificence and revelry had reigned. Tyre became a spoil to the nations. Her dependencies were vanquished and destroyed with her; in her they had trusted, in her favor they had basked, and in her ruin they were overwhelmed. The destruction and desolation were in awful contrast to the light and glory, the splendor and power, of bygone days.
APPLICATION. The time of national greatness and prosperity is to any people a time of trial. Then especially does it behoove a nation to beware of pride and self-confidence. For the rebellious, contumacious, and ungodly there is assuredly retribution prepared. The King of all is God of hosts, and he never wants means and agencies to carry out his own righteous and judicial purposes. Resistance to God is vain; it can last but for a short time. And every nation must learn that the Lord is God alone.—T.
Eze_26:7-14
I. THE ENEMY—THE KING OF BABYLON. Tyre had many foes, but at most of them she could afford to laugh, for they had no power to carry their hostility into effect. But Nebuchadnezzar, the king of kings, was an enemy that none could despise. His power and his resources were such as to render him formidable even to the mightiest. Flushed with previous successes, confident in the irresistible force of his arms, this puissant monarch, in unconscious obedience to Divine behests, turned his sword against the proud mistress of the seas.
II. THE HOSTILE ARMY AND THE APPARATUS OF WAR. Ezekiel describes, with the accuracy and minuteness of one who beheld it, the force which the King of Babylon directed against Tyre. We see the dreaded conqueror of the nations advance from the north-east "with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and a company of much people." The undertaking was only possible to a power which commanded abundance of military resources, and which was able to bring up successive reinforcements, and to continue warlike operations through the changing fortunes and the long delays often incident to ancient campaigns. All that was necessary for his purpose, Nebuchadnezzar knew, before he commenced operations, that he could command.
III. THE SIEGE. The several stages of this enterprise are described as by an eyewitness. First, engagements take place with the neighboring powers dependent upon and in alliance with Tyre. These are defeated, and their opposition is subdued. Then forts are constructed and a mount is raised from which the besiegers can direct their attack against the beleaguered city. Further, battering-engines are brought forward to play against the walls, and the towers are assaulted by the battle-axes of the besiegers. The dust raised by the galloping horses marks where the cavalry repel the sally from the garrison. The sights of warfare rise before the eye, its sounds salute and deafen the ear. Through long years these military maneuvers go forward with changing fortune; yet leaving the city weaker and less able, even with the open communication seawards, to sustain the siege.
IV. THE ASSAULT, CONQUEST, AND SUBJUGATION. At length the fatal breach is made in the city wall, and we seem to see the victorious army rush forward to overpower the gallant but now disheartened defenders. The walls shake at the noise of the horsemen, the wagons, and the chariots, as the conquerors pour into the streets of the city. The conquering troops, mad with long-delayed success, ride over and cut down every armed man they meet, and even slay the defenseless inhabitants with the sword. The famous city, which had boasted itself invincible and impregnable, is taken and occupied by the Babylonian forces.
V. THE SPOILING AND DESTRUCTION. The riches and merchandise fall a prey into the hands of the victors, who are satiated with booty. The monuments of Tyrian pride and grandeur are leveled in the dust. The fortifications are demolished, the pleasant houses, luxurious abodes of merchant-princes, are pulled down, and the stone and timber are flung into the sea. Precious goods are appropriated or wantonly destroyed. As ever in warfare, so here, the spoils go to the conquerors, Vae victis!
VI. THE DESOLATION AND WASTE. In those palaces and halls were once heard the songs of joy and of love, of feasting and of mirth—the strains of music vibrating from harp and lyre, and breathing from the tuneful flute. Now a mournful silence reigns, broken only by the cry of the sea-bird or the plash of the wind-smitten waves. In those harbors rode but lately the fleets laden with the commerce of the world, and Tyrian merchants gazed with pride upon their noble and richly laden argosies. Now the fisherman spreads his nets upon the deserted rocks, and looks wistfully over the forsaken roadsteads and the waste of waters where no sail curves before the wind or glitters in the sunshine. "The Lord has spoken it," and what he has said has come to pass. The Tyrian splendor and opulence were of this world, and they are no more. Sic transit gloria mundi!—T.
Eze_26:15-21
I. THE GRIEF AND LAMENTATION OF THOSE WHO SHARED IN THE CITY'S PROSPERITY AND GREATNESS, AND WHO LOSE AND SUFFER BY ITS FALL. Some survived the destruction of Tyre, to cherish the memory of days of wealth and feasting, haughtiness and boasting. Some escaped with life, but with the loss of all which to them made life precious. And others, who had brought their merchandise to the great Phoenician emporium, now found no market for the commodities they produced. For all such material loss gave sincerity and even bitterness to their mourning and woe.
II. THE GRIEF AND LAMENTATION OF THOSE WHO WITNESSED THE CITY'S DESTRUCTION, AND WHO WERE IMPRESSED AND APPALLED BY THE SPECTACLE. Ezekiel himself was one of these. Even the conquerors could scarcely fail to feel the pathos of the situation, and to cherish some sympathy for the city whose splendor and power their arms had brought to an end. The ruin of Tyre was a loss to the nations of the world. Embodying, as the city did, the world-spirit, civic and commercial greatness, it must needs have awakened poignant feelings of desolation in the hearts of many who had no personal, material interest in Tyrian commerce. The lesson of the frailty and perishableness of earthly greatness, even if its moral side was missed, could not but impress the historical imagination.
III. THE GRIEF AND LAMENTATION OF THOSE WHO IN AFTER-TIME INQUIRE FOR THE CITY WHOSE GREATNESS AND SPLENDOR ARE RECORDED IN TRADITION AND IN HISTORY. The traveler who, impelled by curiosity or by historical interest, seeks for the site of Tyre the magnificent, learns that every trace of the city has vanished. Some ruined, deserted cities, famous in story, leave behind them some ruin, some memorial, to which imagination may attach the traditions of the past. But for Tyre the traveler can only inquire from the waves that beat upon the shore, from the rocks where the fishermen spread their nets. "Though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord God."
IV. THE TEMPORARY AND DEPARTED SPLENDORS OF EARTH SUGGEST BY CONTRAST ETERNAL AND UNFADING GLORY. Who can contemplate the ruin of such a city as Tyre without being reminded of "the city which hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God"? which the glory of God illumines with nightless splendor, and into which are brought the glory and honor of the nations?—T.
I. NATIONAL SELFISHNESS IS SIN. Nations have their vices as well as individual persons. If the leaders of a nation cherish evil purposes or pursue evil plans, unchecked by the subjects of the realm, the whole nation contracts guilt. Yet if one person or more, moved by better feelings, discountenances the national deed, that person is exculpated from the common blame, and shall be owned by God. The protection of Noah and his family, of Lot and his daughters, amid the general destruction, proves the fatherly care of God for individuals. The single grain in a heap of chaff shall be cared for by God.
II. AN OFFENSE DONE TO A NATION IS AN OFFENSE AGAINST GOD. Tyre had rejoiced in Jerusalem's overthrow. Instead of lamenting Israel's sins, the people of Tyre had room only for one thought-their own selfish advantage. The trade of Jerusalem would flow to Tyre. This calamity in Israel would bring a talent or two of gold into the pockets of Tyrian traders. What base ground for jubilation! No matter what suffering or humiliation the Jews may endure, Tyre would add to the smart by taunt and triumph. But God is not deaf. Into his ears every sound of selfish boasting came. He weighs every thought and word of man in his balances of justice. That selfish taunt will not float idly on the summer gale. It is a grief to Jehovah, and he will repay. "The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. In all human affairs, individual or national, God has a real interest. He will never be left out of the account.
III. SELFISH PLANS ABE DOOMED TO REVERSE. Tyre had said, "I shall be replenished." God said, "I will make her like the top of a rock." Tyre had "reckoned without her host." Instead of security, she was to be inundated with invasion. Instead of wealth, there should be want. Instead of glory, desolation. Her selfish hope should burst like a bubble. The golden eggs she expected soon to be hatched proved to be the eggs of a cockatrice. Selfish greed is a bad investment. The desire to promote our national interests, to the injury of another nation, is not patriotism; it is selfish envy and pride. Triumph over another's fall is base, is diabolic.
IV. SECULAR LOSSES OFTEN BRING REAL GAIN. "They shall know that I am the Lord." This is a gain of the noblest kind—a gain that is abiding and permanent. Such knowledge is better than rubies. The bulk of men will not learn this lesson in the day of prosperity, but in the cloudy days of adversity, when all earthly good has vanished, the lesson stands out clearly before their eyes. Some earthly sciences are best learnt in the dark. This knowledge of God is best learnt in the dark hour of affliction. For when all human calculations have failed, and all human plans have collapsed, men are compelled to feel that an unseen hand has been working, an unseen Being has been presiding in their affairs. Of a truth, "the Lord reigneth."—D.
Eze_26:7-14
I. DIVINE PREDICTIONS ARE ALWAYS RIGHTEOUS IN THEIR SUBSTANCE. The predictions of pretentious men are usually trivial—the effect of a prurient curiosity. God's revelations of the future are always concerned in the rebuke of sin and in the furtherance of righteousness. As in the manufacture of cordage in our Government arsenals a worsted thread of a distinct color runs through every yard of rope, so through all God's dealings with men this principle of righteousness is ever prominent. What does not serve a righteous end is not of God.
II. DIVINE PREDICTIONS ARE CLEAR IN THEIR ANNOUNCEMENTS. There is no ambiguity, no double meaning, here. No one is left in doubt whether the event to happen is to be favorable or unfavorable. No one is left in doubt what place or people is the subject-matter of the prophecy. In this case every circumstance is narrated with as much minuteness of detail as if it were a piece of history acted before the eye of the speaker. The place to be overthrown, its peculiar situation and structure, its former greatness and splendor, the name of the invader, all his military enginery and tactics, the steps by which he should proceed, and the extent of his triumph, are announced beforehand with a dearness and definiteness that can only come from a superhuman source. The contents of the prophecy are often so unlikely in themselves that no human foresight, however shrewd, would conceive such issues; and the fulfillment of such improbable predictions most plainly indicate the operation of a Divine mind.
III. DIVINE PREDICTIONS ARE CERTAIN IN THEIR FULFILMENT. "I the Lord have spoken it, saith the Lord." The true prophet of Jehovah is modest and self-oblivious. He does not speak in his own name. He keeps himself in the background. His object is to exalt his Master and to gain homage for him. The predictions of God always take effect. For with God there is no future. He sees things distant as though they were near. Looking along the vista of ages, he perceives how every event unfolds from preceding event. The history of men and of nations is, to his eye, drawn out in long perspective. And his word is the mightiest force in the universe. "He spake, and it was done;" "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made;" "By the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked."
IV. DIVINE PREDICTIONS ARE MERCIFUL IN THEIR INTENTIONS. Wherefore did God declare beforehand this coming suffering and disaster? Was it not enough to endure the calamity when the destined hour came? As the main design was to promote righteousness, this shall be done, if possible, in a way of mercy. The prediction would serve to instruct and console the Jews in captivity. It would be beneficial for them to be convinced that Jehovah ruled in all the affairs of men. If the prophecy reached the ears of the King of Babylon, it would serve a good purpose for him to know that he was a servant of the King of heaven, that his army was under the control of God, and that the success of his military expeditions depended on the good will of Jehovah. And if the prophecy should be repeated in the ears of the Tyriaus, who can tell that some among them may repent and opportunely escape from the catastrophe? To foreshadow the dread event is an act of kindness, which the humble and teachable would appreciate.—D.
Eze_26:15-21
I. THERE IS MUTUAL INTERDEPENDENCE OF NATIONS. Nations, like individuals, have been incarnations of selfishness. They have tried to aggrandize for self alone, but they have failed, and in most cases the failure has been a disaster. In respect to material property obtained through commerce, it is emphatically true that the prosperity must be shared by others. God will not allow any nation to retain every particle of its riches within itself. To be most prosperous, it must make others partakers of its wealth. The real welfare of one nation may be the welfare of all. Stable prosperity is diffusive.
II. MATERIAL PROSPERITY IS POWER. It brings position, honor, and extensive influence. The isles and lands with which Tyre traded held her in high repute. Many of the traders in other parts grew rich, gained powerful influence, became in their circles princes, and sat upon thrones. It is power, less potent than knowledge—power of an inferior sort—yet it is a perceptible power. It gives leisure for investigation and discovery. It can purchase stores of good. It can be converted into various forms of utility.
III. MATERIAL PROSPERITY KS VERY INSECURE. It often awakens the envy and the cupidity of others. It germinates pride in its possessor, and not pride only, but also arrogance and oppressiveness. In the natural course of things reaction appears. The oppressed classes combine and rise. Offence given to another nation in a spirit of overbearing arrogance awakens resentment, provokes vengeance. The wealthy nation is over-confident in its security and in its natural defenses. But a little shrewdness or contrivance undermines every natural defense, or else confidence in men disappoints, and in an hour the fancied security is dissipated.
IV. THE FALL OF ONE NATION IS A GRIEF TO MANY NATIONS. "They shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city!" Some selfish peoples would rejoice that a rival and a menace was overthrown. But others would be plunged into profound grief. Their traffic would be diminished, perhaps destroyed. Still worse, if Tyre, so mighty, so well-defended, be overthrown, what security have we? The downfall of Tyre shook the foundations of other empires, shook the hearts of many thoughtful men. It was evident that every kind of material defense was a broken reed.
V. TRUE LIFE IS THE ONLY TRUE GLORY. "I shall set glory in the land of the living." The only permanent life is a righteous life. Other life is ephemeral. This abides, this is eternal. Righteousness not only "exalts a nation," it consolidates and establishes it also. The" land of the living" is the empire of righteousness—the true holy land. The kingdom which is built on righteous principles is the kingdom of Christ. Every other kingdom has wood and hay and stubble intermixed with the gold and silver of sterling goodness. So far as righteous life prevails in any land on earth, so far will true and permanent glory abide there. All other foundations, all other defense, can and will be shaken.—D.
I. THE SIN OF TYRE. "Son of man, because that Tyre hath said against Jerusalem, Aha! she is broken that was the gate of the peoples; she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste." The sin which is here charged against Tyre is extreme and cruel selfishness. There is no evidence in this chapter that the Tyrians were animated by any hostile feelings towards the Jews, as the Ammonites, Edomites, and Philistines were. But Tyre was a great and prosperous commercial city, and the inhabitants thereof rejoiced in the destruction of Jerusalem because they thought that they should profit thereby. This is made quite clear in the verse before us. The Tyrians are represented as speaking of Jerusalem as "she that was the gate of the peoples." The plural expresses the fact, says the 'Speaker's Commentary,' "that many peoples passed through Jerusalem as the central place on the highway of commerce. This was eminently the case in the reign of Solomon, when for the time Jerusalem became the mart to which was gathered the trade of India and of the far East. The fame of its early greatness as the emporium of Eastern commerce still clung to Jerusalem, and this city, even in decadence, kept up enough of its original trade to be viewed with jealousy by Tyre, who owed her greatness to the same cause, and in the true spirit of mercantile competition exulted in the thought that the trade of Jerusalem would now be diverted into her markets." Their greed of gain had rendered them unfeeling and even cruel in their attitude towards their suffering neighbors, with whom in former times they had been in friendly relations. They rejoiced at the calamity of others because they believed it would contribute to their prosperity. They exulted in the downfall of others if it was likely to promote their own rise. This spirit is unbrotherly, selfish, mean, cruel. It is utterly opposed to the Divine will, and awakens the stern displeasure of the Almighty. Here is solemn admonition to persons, companies, societies, and nations, who would secure prosperity without regarding the means which they employ to do so. Are there not many today who care not who is impoverished if only they are enriched, who suffers if only they succeed, or who sinks provided that they rise? However their spirit may be tolerated or even approved by men, it is abhorrent unto God.
II. THE JUDGMENT OF GOD.
1.