This week, we shall continue the study of the book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament.
After some 5 years since his call, Ezekiel has received visions and messages largely focused on warning Jerusalem of her coming judgment through the first 23 chapters of the book. We have now come to the 24th chapter which marks the fulfillment of one of the most important warnings of his message—the destruction of Jerusalem.
(1) What is the exact day this message is received by Ezekiel? (v. 1; cross reference to 1:1 as well)
(2) What is the historical importance of this very day? (v. 2; see 2 Ki. 25:1)
(3) There is no way the
news of
the siege of Jerusalem could arrive right away to the exiles in
Babylon. In light of this, consider the following questions:
a. What would this message by Ezekiel mean to the Jews in exile?
b. How should they react to this news?
(4) The parable of destruction (vv. 3-5)
a. What does the pot represent?
b. What do the choice meat and best of the bones represent?
c. What is this parable about?
(5) Its interpretation (vv. 6-8)
a. While the pot (i.e. the city of Jerusalem) will be burnt, what will happen to her people? (v. 6)
b. What is meant by emptying it piece by piece, “without casting lots for them”? (v. 6b)
c. What kind of wickedness is depicted by v. 7? (see Note below)
d. What will be the deserved punishment? (v. 8)
(6) Parable of the pot extended (vv. 9-13)
a. What is the city of Jerusalem called? (v. 9)
b. To what extent will the pot and its contents be burnt? (v. 10)
c. When even the bones are charred, what is Ezekiel to do with the empty pot? (v. 11)
d. What does it mean? (vv. 11b-12)
e. What explanation is given? (v. 13)
(7) Time has run out (v. 14)
a. How does this message differ from all the previous ones?
b. What message is also conveyed to us and to the world today?
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Note:
Leviticus 17:13 stipulates that even animal blood is to be covered and laid bare as a sign of respect to life created by God. As a result, to leave human blood uncovered is to sin “in an insolent and shameless manner” (K&D, 197), showing total disrespect to human lives created by God.
“Son of man, record this date, this very date, because the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day.” (Ezek. 24:2)
Since the fifth year of their exile, Ezekiel was called to be the bearer of the bad news of judgment of Jerusalem to the exiles in Babylon. (1:2) For some four years, the people took his prophetic warning as nothing more than stories or parables (20:49). It must have been a rather frustrating experience for the prophet, but finally his prophecies are fulfilled right before the eyes of the people. It must be a very satisfying feeling for him. But more than that, the Lord wants the people to know, it is not the prophet but He Himself who has spoken and is now bringing the prophecies to completion. As a result, even though the siege of Jerusalem would last some 18 months (2 Ki. 25:1-2), He announced the news of the siege of Jerusalem on the very day it took place through Ezekiel to the exiles.
Thus, on the ninth year, in the tenth month of the day of their exile which was January 15, 588 B.C., the Lord announced through Ezekiel that Nebuchadnezzar had laid siege to Jerusalem and He asked Ezekiel to “record this date” (24:2). We have to understand that in those days, news did not travel that fast and there was no “live TV” reporting. So, these words from the Lord represented the latest news from the battle front not only for the exiles, but for the entire nation of Babylon.
Indeed, the Word of the Lord is not only faster than any news agencies in the world, but also is the most accurate and reliable. It was certainly the case on January 15, 588 B.C.; it is certainly the case today and will always be!
Following the message of the siege of Jerusalem, the Lord asks Ezekiel to deliver the ultimate message of death and destruction of Jerusalem through the death of his wife:
(1) What does his wife mean to Ezekiel? (v. 16)
(2) What is the Lord going to do to her?
(3) To use a visual aid to teach the people and to cause the messenger of God to personally experience the message are understandable, but to take away Ezekiel’s wife―is it necessary? Has the Lord gone too far? Will it really help the people to understand their sins and repent? What do you think?
(4) In addition to her death, what is Ezekiel to do to suppress his grief? (vv. 16-17)
(5) How hard is it for him not to be able to express his grief?
(6) How did Ezekiel react to God’s command? Did he object? Did he ask “why”? Why not?
(7) Seeing what happened to Ezekiel’s wife and Ezekiel’s behavior, how did the people respond? (v. 19)
(8) Why could they recognize that this has something to do with them?
(9) What is God’s response concerning her death? (v. 21)
(10) What should the people do at the destruction of Jerusalem and the death of their sons and daughters? Why? (v. 22)
(11) How will this news of death and destruction be confirmed? (v. 26; 33:21-22)
(12) Why should the confirmation of the destruction of Jerusalem mark the opening of the tongue of Ezekiel? (3:26-27; see Note below)
(13) In what way(s) does Ezekiel serve as a sign for the people? (Please read today’s Meditative article.)
(14) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Note:
“Ezekiel remained dumb for seven and one half years until the fall of Jerusalem (cf. 33:22). Yet, between chapters 3 and 33 Ezekiel uttered many messages…(during which time) he never ministered in the streets and assemblies of the people as other prophets did…He ministered through a strange immobility…he only spoke when the Lord opened his mouth to proclaim…In other words, these verses declare that Ezekiel would spend the seven and one-half years until the fall of Jerusalem (cf. 33:22) withdrawn from the community of the exiles and muted by God except to announce the warnings of God’s judgment, which God would enable him to recite, to those who came to him.”
(Alexander, 18)
“…in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did as I had been commanded.” (Ezek. 24:18)
“…the message of God is proclaimed most powerfully when it is incarnate in the life of the messenger. While few will be asked to go to the length of this remarkable prophet, the implications of this oracle for those who are called to be agents of God are staggering. The cost of bearing in their bodies the message they proclaim is often high. In an earlier age God had tested Abraham by demanding of him his son Isaac, but that story had a happy ending (Gen. 22). It will not always be that way. The call to divine service cost Ezekiel his wife, the delight of his eyes. Although the text is silent on the struggle that must have raged in the prophet’s soul over Yahweh’s absurd demand, this was no less a test of faith for him than the sacrifice of Isaac had been for the patriarch. He could have rebelled against this intrusion into his personal affairs, but he did not waver. In his reaction to his wife’s death, he was a sign for his people; but in his responses to the hand of God, he is a model for all who follow in his professional train.
"But the bitter experiences of life are not always signs of God’s indignation toward the individual. Upon encountering a blind man, Jesus’ disciples asked, ‘Who sinned, this man or his parents?’ To which He replied, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that the words of God might be revealed in him’ (Jn. 9:1-4). Although it did not lessen Ezekiel’s personal pain in walking through the valley of deepest darkness, the knowledge that God was not angry with him could offer some comfort. The prophet could also take hope in knowing that his role as suffering servant would ultimately lead to the renewed knowledge of Yahweh among His people.”
(NICOT, Ezekiel, 797-8)
25:1-7—Oracle against the Ammonites
From chapter 25 onward Ezekiel receives a series of oracles from the Lord to “set his face” against the nations of the world, most of whom are traditional enemies of Israel. The first oracle is against the Ammonites (see Note 1 below):
(1) To what did the Ammonites say “Aha"? (v. 3)
(2) Why should they be judged because of this? (v. 6)
(3) Who will be used to punish to them? (v. 4)
(4) What will this nation, especially its capital city, Rabbah, turn into? (vv. 4-5)
(5) What will be its final destiny? (v. 7)
25:8-11—Oracle against Moab (see Note 2 below)
(6) What did the Moabites do at the fall of Judah? (v. 8)
(7) Why should they be judged because of this?
(8) What will their punishment be? (vv. 9-10)
(9) For both Ammon and Moab, what is God’s ultimate desire in inflicting punishment on them? (vv. 7, 11)
(10) How is it going to be fulfilled? (see Jer. 48:47; 49:6)
(11) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Note 1:
Gad was allotted
the Trans-Jordan territory that belonged to the Ammonites, and it was not until the deportation of part of
Israel by Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria in 733
B.C. (2 Ki. 15:29) and the subsequent collapse of Israel that enabled the
Ammonites to retake Gad’s territory. Historically Ammon’s relationship with Israel was unfriendly (Jdg. 11:
4-33; 1 Sam. 11:1-11; 2 Sam. 10; 1 Ki. 4:13-19; 2 Ki. 24:2). Note in particular Amos’ rebuke of Ammon
(Amos 1:13-15). Ammon eventually fell
victim to the Arabs before the middle of the 6th century B.C. and
ceased to exist as an independent nation.
(see NICOT, Jeremiah, 716).
Note 2:
Moab was traditionally an enemy of Israel and hostility between the two nations went back to the days of the Exodus. The end of Moab as an independent nation seems to have come in 582 B.C. when Nebuchadnezzar, no doubt because of a rebellion, marched against Moab and Ammon (see NICOT, Jeremiah, 701). It is worth-noting that Ruth, the wife of Boaz, the forefather of David and our Lord Jesus Christ (in His earthly genealogy) was a Moabite (Matt. 1:5; Ruth 1).
“Look, the house of Judah has become like all other nations.” (Ezek. 25:8)
It is interesting to note that the charge against the Moabites at the fall of Judah (and Jerusalem) by the Lord through Ezekiel is that they said, “Look, the house of Judah has become like all other nations” (25:8). One has to wonder what is the meaning of this statement made by the Moabites?
We have to understand that the Lord has certainly demonstrated not only His power, but also His choosing of the nation of Israel through the miracles He performed in leading His people out of Egypt (Jos. 2:8-11). The Moabites, in particular, have also witnessed the mighty power of the Lord and were terrified (Num. 22:1-4). Therefore, to say that because of its fall, Judah has become like all other nations of the world was a direct insult to the God of Israel, implying that He, too, was like the gods of other nations—not to be feared any more, not to be revered as the Almighty God.
Such an insult to God by the Moabites, apart from their many sins, including the immoral seduction of the men of Israel (Num. 25), has drawn the punishment from the Lord. As the “spiritual Israel”, the Lord also looks upon every insult on us in His name as an insult to Him. Saul, before he became Paul, knew this first-hand, as he persecuted the church of Jesus Christ (Acts 9:4).
However, God’s ultimate desire in inflicting punishment even on these nation is that “they will know that I am the Lord” (25:7, 11) and He has promised to restore both the Ammonites and the Moabites in the Last Day (Jer. 48:47; 49:6).
25:12-14—The Oracle against Edom (see Note 1 below)
(1) What is Edom guilty of? (v. 12)
(2) How did they take revenge on the house of Judah? (see Amos 1:11; Ezek. 36:1-5, especially v. 5)
(3) What will their punishment be? (v. 13, see Note 1 below as well)
(4) However, v. 14 speaks of a future revenge by the hand of God’s people. What does it mean? (see Isa. 11:14; Amos 9:11-12)
25:15-17―The Oracle against Philistia (see Note 2 below)
(5) What are the Philistines guilty of? (v. 15; cf. Zeph. 2:10)
(6) What aspects of their sins are being emphasized by the Lord? (v. 15)
(7) What will their punishment be? (vv. 16-17; see Note 2 below)
(8) What is the message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Note 1:
Edom was also a long-term adversary of Israel (see Num.
20:14-21; Jdg. 11:17; 2 Sam. 8:13-14; 1 Ki. 11:14-22; 2 Ki. 8:20-22; 14:22;
16:5-6; 2 Chr. 25:14), but Israel was forbidden to ill-treat them since they
were their brothers (Deut. 2:4; 23:7-8: Gen. 36:1ff).
“The threatened devastation of the land of Edom was brought about by the Chaldeans, as is clear from Mal. 1:3; but the annihilation of the people was commenced by the Maccabeans, and completed by the Romans, about the time of the Jewish War.”
(K&D, Jeremiah, 412-3).
Note also that Teman literally means “south”, Dedan likely refers to the Dedanites who may have settled in Edom.
Note 2:
The Philistines were sea people who came into Palestine in the 12th and 11th centuries B.C. from Crete, their original home (Amos 9:7). The Philistines had long been enemies of Israel even since the time of their settlement in the Promised Land. Some of the well-known conflicts between them include that of Samson in the time of the Judges (Jdg. 13-16) and David and Goliath (1 Sam. 17). Their five major cities often mentioned in the Bible were Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron (see Jos. 13:3 for example). The prophecy was fulfilled in 604/3 B.C. when Nebuchadnezzar overran Ashkelon after a siege.
“I will take vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they will deal with Edom in accordance with my anger and my wrath and they will know my vengeance, declares the Sovereign Lord.” (Ezek. 25:14)
Edom and the other nations have taken their revenge on Judah at the fall of Jerusalem. They were totally ignorant of the fact that it was God’s punishment of the sins of Judah and that they were just as sinful as Judah. Edom’s guilt was compounded by the fact that they were related to Judah in that Esau was the twin brother of Jacob. (Amos 1:11)
As a result, Ezekiel prophesies along with other prophets the punishment of Edom and other nations with words of devastations and destruction which they would suffer in the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. However, Ezekiel says that Edom would also suffer vengeance by the hand of Judah (25:14). “Certainly Judah, destroyed and taken captive by Babylon, did not execute judgment upon Edom immediately after her fall, nor is there any record that she ever did. The reference undoubtedly pertains to the future end times when Isaiah 11:14 and Amos 9:12 declare that Israel shall possess Edom at the time of the Messiah’s reign” (Alexander, 83). More specially, Amos 9:11-12 says,
“In that day I will restore David’s fallen tent. I will repair its ruins, and build it as it used to be, so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name.”
In other words, upon the second coming of Christ who is not only the promised King of Israel, but the King of kings and the Lord of lords, His Kingdom will possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear His name. Therefore, as much as we continue to have a hostility-filled situation in the Middle East and the hostility of the Arab nations are directed toward Israel and Christians, one day, at least a remnant of the Arab nation as symbolized by Edom in this prophecy will come to acknowledge Christ their Lord and Savior as well.
As previously noted, from chapter 25 onwards, Ezekiel’s prophecies are directed against various nations, but the bulk of the prophecies concern two nations, namely Tyre and Egypt—the only two nations which continued to resist the dominance of Babylon. Chapters 26-28 are devoted to prophecies and messages against Tyre and Sidon (see Note below).
26:1-17—The Prophecy Proper
(1) When did this oracle come to Ezekiel about the destruction of Tyre? (v. 1)
(2) When was Jerusalem conquered by Nebuchadnezzar? (2 Ki. 25:3)
(3) What is Tyre guilty of? (v. 2)
(4) What is the motive behind its rejoicing over the misfortune of Jerusalem? (v. 2)
(5) What lesson can we learn from this? (See Isa. 23:9 for the reason for God to bring down a nation like Tyre.)
(6) Because the fulfillment of this prophecy spans across some 250 years in history, it is important to pay attention to the details of this prophecy, with vv. 3-6 being a more general description of the punishment of Tyre:
a. Who will be used to punish Tyre? (v. 3)
b. What will happen to her walls and her towers? (v. 4a)
c. What will (eventually) happen to the rubble (the rocks and wood)? (v. 4b)
d. How will her prosperity be changed? (v. 5)
e. What will happen to her possessions? (v. 5b)
f. What will happen to her people? (v. 6)
(7) Specific details of her destruction (vv. 7-14)
a. Who will be the invaders? (v. 7)
b. What will happen to her residents and how will the city be destroyed? (vv. 8-11)
c. What will happen to their possessions and goods? (v. 12)
d. What will happen to the rubble? (v. 12b)
e. What will her fortune and prosperity be changed into? How? (vv. 13-14)
f. How final will their fate be? (v. 14b)
(8) From
the brief information given below (gathered mainly through secular historical
records), consider these questions:
a. What is the most amazing part of this prophecy?
b. How does it help affirm your belief in the credibility of the Bible as the Word of God?
26:15-18—A Shock to the Nations
(9) Why would Tyre’s destruction be such a shock to the coastal nations?
(10) How does their lament show what kind of a city Tyre was?
26:19-21—Her Banishment to the Underworld
(11) Beyond her extinguishment from the surface of the earth, why is her judgment described in language that resembles the judgment of those in Noah’s time? (see 2 Pet. 2:5)
(12) What is the message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Note:
The history of Tyre has been traced to the early 3rd millennium B.C., but the city’s significant contacts with Israel began under the united monarchy. In secular history, the other city within its kingdom, Sidon is often referred to and according to Homer is synonymous with “Phoenician”. However, politically the seat of power appeared to be transferred to the city of Tyre and thus the “king of Tyre” is often used to reflect this reality. Thus, Tyre and Sidon denote the same territorial state, with Tyre being looked upon as the queen of the sea merchants — a very prosperous and wealthy city with its mainland protected by an almost impregnable fortress which took Nebuchadnezzar 13 years (from 586-583) to eventually conquer (Ant. 10:11.1), at which point the king of Tyre and his noblemen escaped to its island about a mile to the west. With many of their treasures still coveted by Alexander the Great, he eventually scraped all the rocks and woods, which remained after the old city was torn down by the Babylonians, into the sea to form a pathway to conquer the city on the island some 240 years later (in 332 B.C.). Also consult today's Meditative Article.
“I will make you a bare rock, and you will become a place to spread fishnets. You will never be rebuilt again.” (Ezek. 26:14)
The prophecy of Ezekiel 26 about the fall of Tyre is considered one the most remarkably fulfilled prophecies in the Bible and it certainly is.
The time in which the prophecy was revealed to Ezekiel is clearly stated as “the eleventh year, on the first day of the month” (26:1). While the month is not mentioned, the year, as in other oracles revealed to Ezekiel, refers to the year after they had gone into exile (1:2), and thus this prophecy can be dated clearly in 587 B.C., the same year that Jerusalem fell in the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.
Historically, according to the historian Josephus, the siege of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar began after the fall of Jerusalem in the same year, and thus some skeptics opine that Ezekiel could have composed his prophecy after the siege had begun. However, the siege lasted 13 years and the fulfillment of every detail of this prophecy covers a span of some 250 years.
As much as it took some 13 years for Nebuchadnezzar to conquer the city, destroying her walls and pulling down her towers and turning the city into rubble, the king and his nobles were able to escape to the island city about a mile west of the old city, and presumably carrying quite a bit of their treasures. Further, the “stones, timber and rubble” remained in the old city and were not thrown “into the sea” (26:12). Indeed, the city continued to prosper for another 200 years until the time of Alexander the Great. This prophecy by Ezekiel appeared to be only partially fulfilled, and we know that the Word of the Lord will not return in vain.
It was in February of 332 B.C. that the
king of Tyre who had already submitted to Alexander
the Great enraged him by refusing to let him offer sacrifice to his own god on
the soil of the island city.
“Strategically this (the attack on Tyre) was unnecessary. Tyre, like Celaenae, could have been left supervised by a garrison on the mainland and held in check by her neighbors’ enmity. Eventually she would have to make peace with the invader. But Alexander’s sovereignty had been frontally challenged and he was not prepared to leave the contumacy unpunished.“
(The Conquest and Empire — The Reign of Alexander the Great, Cambridge University Press, p. 65)
Since Tyre had a formidable defense at the time, “Alexander began the construction of a vast siege mole demolishing Old Tyre for the fill” (ditto; italics, mine), thus the prophecy by Ezekiel that they would “throw your stones, timber and rubble into the sea” (26:12) was literally fulfilled. Although the city of Tyre put up stubborn resistance, it eventually fell to the Greeks in July, 322 B.C. and “a gruesome massacre followed as the Tyrian military population was systematically slaughtered” (ditto, p.66).
A French traveler in the 19th century reported that he saw fishnets being dried on the shore of the old city of Tyre, just as it was prophesied (26:5, 14).
In the eighties, I was watching a US TV news reporter reporting from the war-torn area in Palestine. At the time Israel, wanting to create a buffer zone to prevent being shelled by the PLO, invaded the Palestinian territory. The reporter was standing before a city basically demolished by bombshells from both sides, and he made his remark to the viewers, “what you see behind me is the old city of Tyre”. What he said sent chills down my spine as I immediately recalled these words of Ezekiel: “You will never be rebuilt, for I the Lord have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.” (26:14)
Ezekiel’s second oracle against Tyre is in the form of a lament which incidentally shows the magnificent glory and pride of the city.
27:1-11—The Glory of Tyre—manifested in the ships (those who love boats would have a deeper appreciation of this message, no doubt)
(1) How strategically is the city located? (v. 2; see Note below)
(2) How does Tyre see herself and how has her beauty come about? (v. 4)
(3) Four kinds of wood are mentioned here (vv. 5-6: note that Senir is the name for Hermon in the OT)
a. What are the four kinds?
b. What is each kind used for?
c. What does Ezekiel seek to portray here?
(4) Mast and awnings (v. 7)
a. What kinds of materials are used for their sails and awnings?
b. What does the use of world-famous linen from Egypt and highly valued Laconian purple even for sails and awnings indicate?
(5) Crew members and soldiers (vv. 8-11)
a. The ships are manned by famous Phoenician seamen, including those from Tyre (v. 8)
b. The ships are maintained by skilled craftsmen from Gebal (Byblos) who were famously used by Solomon. (v. 9; see 1 Ki. 5:18)
c. Her mercenaries are drawn from far and wide — from Africa to their northern neighbors (vv. 10-11)
d. How have all these “brought her beauty to perfection”? (v. 11)
27:12-24—Her International
Trade—Describe the kind of trade done with Tyre by the peoples in (6)-(17):
(6) The people from the far west city of Tarshish (likely Spain) (v. 12). Why?
(7) The Greeks (v. 13)
(8) The people to the far north, men of Beth Togarmah (Ezekiel 38:6; the Armenians) (v. 14)
(9) The men of Rhodes (a region north of Tyre) (v. 15)
(10) Aram (more likely the hinterland of Syrians than Edomites) (v. 16)
(11) Judah and Israel (v. 17)
(12) Damascus (v. 18)
(13) The Danites (likely Arabian tribe) and Greeks (v. 19)
(14) Dedan (a central Arabian oasis) (v. 20)
(15) The Arabian princes (v. 21)
(16) The merchants of Sheba and other south-western Arabian people (v. 22)
(17) Haran and other Mesopotamian people (vv. 23-24)
(18) What kind of a picture is painted by Ezekiel of Tyre?
(19) Which modern city can you think of that might be comparable to Tyre?
(20) How would you describe the people of such a successful city?
(21) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Note:
“Insular Tyre possessed two harbors, a northern one called the Sidonian, because it was on the Sidonian side, and one on the opposite or south-eastern side, which was called the Egyptian harbor from the direction in which it pointed. The Sidonian was the more celebrated of the two, and consisted of an inner harbor, situated within the wall of this city and an outer one, formed by a row of rocks which lay at a distance of about three hundred paces to the north-west of the island, and ran parallel to the opposite coast of the mainland, so as to form a roadstead in which ships could anchor.“
(K&D, 219)
“You say, O Tyre, ‘I am perfect in beauty.’ Your domain was on the high seas; your builders brought your beauty to perfection.” (Ezek. 27:3-4)
Presumably, the city of Tyre did not have much natural resources, and yet because of her excellent harbors, it had become a center of international trade and transshipment to the point that it was perhaps the busiest port of the ancient world. All these had made Tyre a very coveted city, a city known for her extravagance, entertainment and pride.
Ezekiel, surprisingly, took his time to
highlight the success of the city in these ways:
- The building of the most luxurious boats, made and decorated with pine, cedar, oak and cypress wood (27:5-6)
- Even their sails were made of world-famous linen from Egypt and their awnings were of Laconian purple (27:7)
- They had the best seamen in the world from the various Phoenician cities (27:8-9)
- They hired the best fighting men money could buy, even from Persia, with impressive weapons (27:10-11)
- They did business even as far west as Tarshish (likely Spain) in metal trade (27:12)
- Other international trades included (27:13-23)
- Slave trade (a symbol of wealth in the ancient world)
- Horses
- Ivory
- Precious stones and fashion
- Wheat and other food products
- Fine wine and wool
- Saddle blankets
- Sheep
- Spices of all kinds
The list goes on and on. Places like Hong Kong and Singapore come to my mind right away where money, entertainment, fine wine and cuisine, licentiousness and pride are marks of the city lifestyle where people live as if there were no tomorrow. It was with such a background that Tyre drew the punishment of God for her pride and indifference to the plight of Jerusalem which should have been a signal to warn her of her own sins.
27:25-31—The Imminent Shipwreck
(1) With her unparalleled prosperity and impregnable fortresses, do you think Tyre would think of the day of her destruction?
(2) Would the world think she will suddenly disappear from the face of the earth? (v. 25)
(3) What will cause the ship to break into pieces? (v. 26)
(4) What does the “east wind” refer to? (v. 26)
(5) Who and what will be brought down along with her? (v. 27)
(6) What impact would her shipwreck have on those who have been reaping the prosperity of Tyre and why? (vv. 28-31)
27:32-36—The Lament of the Sailors
(7) How do they compare the shipwrecked Tyre with her former glory? (v. 32)
(8) How do they remember the former glory of Tyre? (v. 33)
(9) How do they depict the demise of Tyre? (v. 34)
(10) How does Ezekiel describe the response to her demise by the following?
a. Her coastal neighbors, especially their kings. Why? (v. 35)
b. The Merchants who used to do business with them. Why? (v. 36)
(11) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“All who live in the coastlands area appalled at you; their kings shudder with horror, and their faces are distorted with fear.” (Ezek. 27:35)
Yesterday, we were going through “the list of pride” of Tyre, and I am sure we all are greatly impressed with how a small city like Tyre could be such a model of success for the world, not just for her time, but for all times. No wonder she took pride in her success and achievements. As a result, the prophecy of Ezekiel about her imminent destruction must have come as a surprise to her, and also to the world, not only of the totality of destruction which seemed almost impossible for her impregnable fortresses and her fearless troops of mercenaries, but also about how her fortune will be changed:
- She would become a place to spread fishnets (26:14). Can you imagine that all the skyscrapers of Hong Kong or Singapore or for that matter New York will be completely gone and that what you will see instead are fishermen drying their nets on bare rocks along the waterfront?
- Her noisy songs and music of harps will be heard no more (26:13). Can you imagine, all the concert halls, opera houses, night clubs and karaoke are silenced, without customers, without performers?
But, unlike the prophecies against Judah which took many years to fulfill, we know that the invasion of Tyre by Babylon came within a year of this prophecy, and although Tyre put up a fight for 13 years, she was eventually reduced to rubble. Given another 250 years, even her island stronghold fell to Alexander the Great, and Tyre and her glory became history.
A lesson for all the prideful cities in the world which have little concern for God and the souls of the people.