Isaiah 23: 11-14

¹¹ He has stretched His hand out over the sea,
He has made the kingdoms tremble;
The Lord has given a command concerning Canaan to demolish its strongholds.

¹² He has said, “You shall exult no more, O crushed virgin daughter of Sidon.
Arise, pass over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest.”

¹³ Behold, the land of the Chaldeans—this is the people which was not; 
Assyria appointed it for desert creatures—they erected their siege towers, 
they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin.

¹⁴ Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
For your stronghold is destroyed.

As far as prophecies go, this one that we've been reading about in Isaiah 23 is fairly complete. The beginning set the scene for whom the word was about (Tyre), as well as the response to that word (by the surrounding trade nations). We learned last time why the city was poised for demise (pride) as well as who originated that call (God, of course). Today, we learn more about who would handle the actual devastation. Next week, the chapter concludes.

Verse 11 picks up from last week's passage in which God is established as the one "who has planned this against Tyre." (vs. 8) "He has stretched His hand out...made the kingdoms tremble." One of the cross-reference passages for this verse is Exodus 14, in which Moses stretches out his hand over the Red Sea, and God creates the path that would lead the Israelites to safety. Where God's hand makes a way, it also disciplines others (meaning, Pharaoh and the Egyptians, or, in Isaiah's prophecy, Tyre). The Hebrew for 'stretch' beyond the literal definition means "to bend away (including moral deflection)." [Strong's] I see this as God bending this city away from Himself, because He cannot be in the midst of the pride He has witnessed.

"For Tyre built herself a fortress
And piled up silver like dust,
And gold like the mire of the streets.
Behold, the Lord will dispossess her
And cast her wealth into the sea;
And she will be consumed with fire."

--Zechariah 9: 3 and 4

At the end of verse 11, we read that God has issued a command against Canaan. No confusion here. Tyre and its motherly city of Sidon were both a part of the territory of Canaan. You see the command in verse 12. There will be no more jubilance in Tyre. To whomever remains in the city, the order is given to evacuate. "...Pass over to Cyprus...." Even though Tyre will become, largely, unpopulated, it does not mean that the burden brought upon the city will leave the hearts of those who leave it, and this is an interesting take-away point. "...Even there you will find no rest."

"Note, We deceive ourselves if we promise ourselves rest any where in this world. Those that are uneasy in one place will be so in another; and, when God’s judgments pursue sinners, they will overtake them."

--Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible

Try to outrun or outfox or just plain ditch your troubles? Doesn't work, does it? You will find yourself as did one of my favorite movie characters--Maria from The Sound of Music. She tries to flee a big life decision by seeking refuge back in the abbey from whence she came. She learns with some Reverend Mother-ly guidance that you can't "escape your troubles. You have to face them." Tyre was absorbed in its own pride--a state of the heart that was not left behind, even as its inhabitants fled to supposedly safe havens.

"And man, being a part of Thy creation, desires to praise Thee, man, who bears about with him his mortality, the witness of his sin, even the witness that Thou 'resistest the proud,'--yet man, this part of Thy creation, desires to praise Thee. Thou movest us to delight in praising Thee; for Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee...."

--from The Confessions of St. Augustine

We have an alternative to being on the lam, having our hearts constantly condemn us. Why does God discipline? To turn His creation back to Him! He is full of mercy and patience, but, there is a time of divine intervention at His will, which can take the form of discipline. Discipline--out of love, out of grace.

"Have you been walking on a surface that's uncertain?
Have you helped yourself to everything that's empty?
You can't live this way too long.
There's more than this, more than this....You can rest, you will find rest. Let this old life crumble, let it fade.
Let this new life offered be your saving grace...."

--Lyrics from "Let it Fade" by Jeremy Camp

With verse 13, we are given a picture of the depth of the earthly force Tyre will be facing. God says, "Behold, the land of the Chaldeans—this is the people which was not...." The Chaldeans are also known as the Babylonians. At this time, Assyria was the nation of highest dread. Per my study Bible, Assyria "ravaged" Babylon in 689 B.C. We already know from Isaiah's earlier prophecies of Assyria's conquest of Israel and its take-down of most of Judah (God sparing Jerusalem, under Hezekiah).

"Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger
And the staff in whose hands is My indignation....
Yet it does not so intend,
Nor does it plan so in its heart,
But rather it is its purpose to destroy
And to cut off many nations."

--Isaiah 10:5 and 7

As with the Assyrian conquest of Babylon, the plan for Tyre was to turn the bustling harborfront into a place "for desert creatures." (vs. 13)

"...And their houses will be full of owls;
Ostriches also will live there, and shaggy goats will frolic there."

--Isaiah 13:21

As if to end with a poetic finish, Isaiah returns to his opening call upon the merchant cities of the world, to grieve and mourn over the loss of Tyre. "Wail, O ships of Tarshish...."

"The ships of Tarshish were the carriers for your merchandise. 

And you were filled and were very glorious
In the heart of the seas."

--Ezekiel 27:25

But, Isaiah is not quite finished. We will look at a sort of epilog next week. Had the Tyrians only been able to accept the picture--like that featured above--that the prophet was offering. Had they only been able to see beyond their pride to the sole means of, not escape but, true freedom....

"Look up on the ruins of Tyre, and see all this glory stained, and sullied, and buried in the dust. The honourable ones of heaven will be for ever such; but see the grandees of Tyre, some fled into banishment, others forced into captivity, and all impoverished, and you will conclude that the honourable of the earth, even the most honourable, know not how soon they may be brought into contempt."

--Matthew Henry

The end of Tyre? For certain, the end of Chapter 23. ....'Til next time!

Photo: chestofbooks.com

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Next time:  Isaiah 23: 15-18
 
Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation,
specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).
I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
(with notes from the King James Version).

Isaiah 23: 1-5

The Fall of Tyre

¹ The oracle concerning Tyre.

Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
For Tyre is destroyed, without house or harbor;
It is reported to them from the land of Cyprus.
² Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland,
You merchants of Sidon; Your messengers crossed the sea
³ And were on many waters.

The grain of the Nile, the harvest of the River was her revenue;
And she was the market of nations.
⁴ Be ashamed, O Sidon;
For the sea speaks, the stronghold of the sea, saying,
“I have neither travailed nor given birth,
I have neither brought up young men nor reared virgins.”
⁵ When the report reaches Egypt,
They will be in anguish at the report of Tyre.

On the far right-hand corner of the map above, you will see the word Phoenicia. You will then see the two noted cities of that territory--Sidon and Tyre. Chapter 23 of Isaiah is the prophecy concerning the fall of Tyre. Today, through our opening verses, we piece together some background about this major trade city.

"Zidon [Sidon] was the more ancient city, situated upon the same sea-coast, a few leagues more to the north, and Tyre was at first only a colony of that; but the daughter had outgrown the mother, and become much more considerable. It may be a mortification to great cities to think how they were at first replenished."

--Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (addition, mine)

Tyre may have started out as Sidon's child, but it grew to be one of the most important trade route locales on the Mediterranean Sea. This is one of those passages that requires a full read of the text, with supporting background, to appreciate why this is even here in the Bible. Tyre had a perfect location--the far-eastern part of the Mediterranean. Goods from that region would be loaded onto large cargo vessels and sent off to major ports westward, like Cypress, Crete, points in Greece and Italy, and over to Spain, which is where Tarshish may have been located. [The commentaries are all over the place on this one!] Being situated close to Egypt also meant Tyre had access to that country's resources, which we read about here in the text. The young, vibrant, bustling, economically minded city earned its title of "the market of nations." (vs. 3)

 

"'Tarshish was your customer because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth; with silver, iron, tin and lead they paid for your wares.... Judah and the land of Israel, they were your traders; with the wheat of Minnith, cakes, honey, oil and balm they paid for your merchandise....'"

--Ezekiel 27: 12 and 17 (Chapters 26 and 27 of Ezekiel also prophesy the fall in addition to giving many more details of Tyre's splendor and resources)

 

Knowing that Isaiah is always speaking to Judah, even when it seems like he isn't, it is helpful to understand the relationship between Judah and Tyre. It had been a very good relationship. We read in I Kings 5 how Solomon had struck an alliance between Judah and Tyre, through its king, Hiram. "...Hiram had always been a friend of David," it says in verse 1. Solomon arranged for his servants to work with Hiram's servants in constructing the Temple. There was also the marriage of the Phoenician Jezebel to Judah's King Ahab. Not that this was a good idea, nor was Ahab a righteous king in the eyes of God. But, this kept the alliance between the nations intact--the prophet, Amos, going so far as to call it "the covenant of brotherhood."

"We seldom find it [Tyre] a dangerous enemy to Israel, but sometimes their faithful ally, as in the reigns of David and Solomon; for trading cities maintain their grandeur, not by the conquest of their neighbours, but by commerce with them."

--Matthew Henry (addition mine)

Yet, the burden, the oracle, has come from Isaiah to Tyre. Let's look at the nations mentioned in today's text and their response to this news:

Tarshish: "Wail, O ships of Tarshish...." (vs. 1) As mentioned, Tarshish was believed to be a city in Spain, located at the southernmost tip, right on the Mediterranean--a logical westernmost point for trading ships headed east or around the peninsula and up to the north. You will recall that Tarshish was the intended destination of a runaway prophet named Jonah. With Tyre destroyed, a major trading post would, literally, be taken off the map. "...Without house or harbor" implies that not only would the traders of the city be unavailable to work commerce, but there would be no rest stop at which the sailors could enjoy a furlough.

Cyprus: From the text, sailors coming from Tarshish, who had stopped at Cyprus as part of their journey, would hear the news about Tyre. Compared to other stops on their journey, Cyprus to Tyre was one of the shorter legs of the trip. I would imagine emotions ranging from disappointment, as in, "I was hoping to enjoy a delicious meal and get off the water for awhile," to fear, as in, "It's been destroyed?! Why are we going to Tyre? Who's going to be there to greet {{gulp}} us?...."

Sidon: God's word for the older, established trade city of Phoenicia was, "Be silent...," and, "Be ashamed...." The Amplified Bible begins verse 4 this way: "Be ashamed, O Sidon [mother-city of Tyre, now a widow bereaved of her children], for the sea has spoken...." Sidon is left speechless, as her "daughter" will not be in the same position of spawning another successful trade city, much less any kind of city. Verse 4 is a lament of things that will never be known. The dreams of one with more to offer, snatched. Of course, there is another side to this story, which we'll unravel as we continue in Isaiah 23. But, for Sidon, the word of the loss is coupled with weightier thoughts: "What now? Is this a time to step in? Is this a time to run?" God says "Be silent. Be ashamed." There is worry, here.

Egypt: "...They will be in anguish...." Recall some of our earlier reading in Isaiah concerning the prophecy against Egypt. (Chapters 19 and 20) Egypt was certainly a key player on the world's trade front. Talk about location! Perfect conditions for growing and perfect avenues by which to export their products. See verse 3: "The grain of the Nile, and harvest of the River was her [Tyre's] revenue...." We learn that Egypt was not the sole exporter of her own crops. For all the wealth and sublime conditions for commerce that Egypt sported, Tyre still held some critical reins in the worldwide marketplace that would be advantageous for Egypt's status.

"Egypt indeed was a much larger and more considerable kingdom than Tyre was; and yet Tyre had so large a correspondence, upon the account of trade, that all the nations about shall be as much in pain, upon the report of the ruin of that one city, as they would have been, and not long after were, upon the report of the ruin of all Egypt...."

--Matthew Henry

 

Given all of this, why Tyre, Isaiah? 

"Who has planned this against Tyre?" (vs. 8) You can probably guess. ....'Til next time!

Photo: www.newworldencyclopedia.org

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Next time:  Isaiah 23: 6-10
 
Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation,
specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).
I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
(with notes from the King James Version).