Wages of Tyre’s Sin

Isaiah 23:1-18 

1 The burden against Tyre.
Wail, you ships of Tarshish!
For it is laid waste,
So that there is no house, no harbor;
From the land of Cyprus it is revealed to them.

2 Be still, you inhabitants of the coastland,
You merchants of Sidon,
Whom those who cross the sea have filled.
3 And on great waters the grain of Shihor,
The harvest of the River, is her revenue;
And she is a marketplace for the nations.

4 Be ashamed, O Sidon;
For the sea has spoken,
The strength of the sea, saying,
"I do not labor, nor bring forth children;
Neither do I rear young men,
Nor bring up virgins."

5 When the report reaches Egypt,
They also will be in agony at the report of Tyre.
6 Cross over to Tarshish;
Wail, you inhabitants of the coastland!

7 Is this your joyous city,
Whose antiquity is from ancient days,
Whose feet carried her far off to dwell?

8 Who has taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city,
Whose merchants are princes,
Whose traders are the honorable of the earth?
9 The LORD of hosts has purposed it,
To bring to dishonor the pride of all glory,
To bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.

10 Overflow through your land like the River,
O daughter of Tarshish;
There is no more strength.

11 He stretched out His hand over the sea,
He shook the kingdoms;
The LORD has given a commandment against Canaan
To destroy its strongholds.

12 And He said, "You will rejoice no more,
O you oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon.
Arise, cross over to Cyprus;
There also you will have no rest."

13 Behold, the land of the Chaldeans,
This people which was not;
Assyria founded it for wild beasts of the desert.
They set up its towers,
They raised up its palaces,
And brought it to ruin.

14 Wail, you ships of Tarshish!
For your strength is laid waste.

15 Now it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot:

16 "Take a harp, go about the city,
You forgotten harlot;
Make sweet melody, sing many songs,
That you may be remembered."

17 And it shall be, at the end of seventy years, that the LORD will deal with Tyre. She will return to her hire, and commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. 18 Her gain and her pay will be set apart for the LORD; it will not be treasured nor laid up, for her gain will be for those who dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for fine clothing.

The great port city of commerce, Tyre, was called to account for her sins by God through the prophetic message which has many parts difficult to interpret and understand fully.  It begins with the fall of the proud and sinful city, most likely as sinful as Nineveh (Jonah 1:2) also slated for destruction.  The difference is that Tyre continued to boast of her wealth and loved her harlotries with other gods and lustful lifestyle.  He fall shocked the Mediterranean world from Egypt to Cyprus and beyond to Tarshish at the far western part of that great sea (where Jonah was running away from God to as well).  The joy of that ancient city was no more.  The merchants and traders all stood in shock and awe at her fall by the hand of the Lord.  He had determined and end to Tyre because of her pride and self-seeking glory over God’s, and demonstrated His contempt on all the honorable powerful and wealthy who used her as well.  Yes, the Lord God shakes kingdoms and their cities when they put them above Him, and makes their strongholds of power and might fall as quickly as they rise.  This is a warning to other nations and towns to not pridefully boast and pursue immortality and self-importance over godliness and righteousness.  The result of Tyre’s fall was seventy years of anonymity to the world, a distant memory for a generation to remember and not repeat those sins while the recollection of her power and importance faded from memory.  After seventy years, they sang ballads to awaken the old memories in song, yet the Lord dealt with her fornication with the kingdoms of the world as He will in the end (Revelation 17:1-2) with her sister Babylon.  Any gain from the resurrected Tyre would be set apart for the Lord instead and for His people who serve and worship Him alone, not those of sinful Tyre.  This is a picture of our provision in Christ at the end when the sinful world is judged and we reap eternal benefits for believing and following Him over sin and selfish pride.  He alone is the way, truth, and life.  In Him there is victory over sin and death and the judgment to the lake of fire we all are headed to.  May we learn from the judgment on Tyre and Babylon.  The wages of Tyre’s sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life (Romans 6:23)!