For thus saith the Lord Jehovah When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I bring up the deep upon thee, and the great waters cover thee
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
then will I bring thee down, with them that go down to the pit, to the people of old time, and will cause thee to dwell in the lower parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I will set glory in the land of the living.
Ezekiel's word against Tyre ends with the world's great trading city sinking out of sight, down among the dead of ages past, while God sets glory somewhere else. Two questions shape the verse: what is this "pit," and whose is the "land of the living"?
Tyre was a rich trading city built out on an island. The sentence is that no one will live there again. One commentator sets that against every reason to expect a rebuild:
The destruction of Tyre was to be complete. Whatever the importance of its position — and its past success seemed to invite the rebuilding of such a commercial centre — all hope on man's part would be vain, for the Lord says, "I will make you terrors, and you shall be no more. Though you are sought for, you shall never be found again, says the Lord Jehovah."
The fulfilment came long after Ezekiel spoke:
About 240 years later, this prophecy came literally true. Alexander the Great came against the city built on the island. After seven months he took it by building a causeway, which let his forces enter. To build it, Alexander used the ruins of the old city. He laid the stones, timber and the very dust of the destroyed city into the sea.
Tyre watched a trade rival fall and counted her gain:
Jerusalem has been judged — Jerusalem, in many ways a centre of attraction for the people around, "the gate of the peoples," as Tyre calls her. The rejoicing at her fall is Canaanite enough. She says against Jerusalem: "Aha, she is broken, the gate of the peoples; she is turned to me. I shall be replenished now that she is laid waste." How naturally we understand it! How common such rejoicing is among merchants at all times! Habitually getting rich out of the need of others hardens the heart. So it was with Tyre, and for this she is judged.
These are the Bible's words for the unseen state of the dead. Scripture leaves them vague, and Ezekiel uses them more than any other book:
Scripture is vague about Sheol. Sight stops at the grave, and all is dark and silent beyond… Some uses of "lower parts of the earth" belong to Sheol, and some to the earth itself: Psalm 63:9; 139:15; Isaiah 44:23. The phrase is most common in Ezekiel (Ezek. 26:20; 31:14, 16, 18; 32:18, 24).
The same scene opens out later in Ezekiel. It shows what "those who go down to the pit" means for a proud nation:
Here judgment sweeps them off the earth after long patience and sends the boastful down to the pit. There lie the fairest, without a token of relationship to God, "with the uncircumcised." There lie Assyria, Elam, Meshech and Tubal, Edom, Sidon and other nations north of Palestine. They lie in helpless weakness and humiliation, ashamed of the might they were once so proud of.
The verse turns from the grave to a living land. Older translations read "I shall set glory in the land of the living"; the ESV has "I will set beauty." Either way, the clause points away from Tyre:
The last sentence of verse 20, "And I shall set glory in the land of the living," means the coming glory of the earthly Zion, the glory in store for Israel.
So the ruin serves a purpose beyond punishment. God clears away what man calls glory to make room for something that lasts:
The sentence of God is upon it; but, as He says here, so that He may set true glory in the land of the living. The earth today is little like this. It is more like a graveyard of the dead… All this has to pass away. Everything that can be shaken must go, so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Our kingdom is in what cannot be shaken.
Tyre stands against Jerusalem all through the chapter. One writer traces the same rivalry to the end of the Bible:
Ezekiel 26:2 shows that Tyre, the merchant city of the world, was the rival of Jerusalem, the city of God. So Babylon (compare Ezek. 27 with Rev. 18) is the rival of the new Jerusalem. God was known in the palaces of Jerusalem — the god of this world in Tyre. There a man could satisfy the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.
- Cause — gain. Tyre profited from a neighbour's ruin. Getting rich from other people's need hardened her heart, and for this she is judged.
- Sentence — the pit. She goes down among the dead of long ago, to the "lower parts of the earth." There proud powers lie stripped of the strength they boasted in.
- Proof — history. Alexander finished the work, sweeping the city's own stones, timber and dust into the sea.
- Contrast — glory relocated. Tyre loses her glory, but glory itself is not lost. God sets it in the land of the living — the coming glory of Zion and Israel.
- Lesson — what cannot be shaken. False glory goes so that true glory can stand. Tyre is the merchant city of the world, Jerusalem the city of God — and only one of them has a future.
And I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no [more]; and thou shalt be sought for, and shalt never be found again, for ever, saith the Lord Jehovah.
Ezekiel 26 ends with God's last word over Tyre, a rich trading city on the coast north of Israel. Two questions press: why is a trading city judged so completely, and did it really happen?
Tyre sat where trade gathers, so an ordinary ruin would have invited rebuilding. One writer weighs that against the sentence itself.
The destruction of Tyre was to be complete. Its position was important, and its past success seemed to invite the rebuilding of such a commercial centre. Even so, all hope on man's part would be vain, for the Lord says, "I will bring you to a dreadful end, and you shall be no more. Though you be sought for, you will never be found again, declares the Lord GOD." … Such would be the doom of those who meddle with Israel even in their desolation, for their own lust of gain.
The charge against Tyre was not conquest or cruelty. One writer points to what Tyre said when her neighbour fell.
Jerusalem has been judged — Jerusalem, in many ways a centre of attraction for the people around, "the gate of the peoples," as Tyre calls her. Tyre says against Jerusalem: "Aha, she is broken, the gate of the peoples; she is turned to me. I shall be replenished now that she is laid waste." There is little need to say that the habit of gaining riches from other people's need hardens the heart. So it was with Tyre here, and for this she is judged.
One writer traces how the judgment fell, and the detail of the final stroke is striking.
This great judgment was not carried out all at once. Nebuchadnezzar came against her first. He besieged Tyre on the mainland and took the city after thirteen years. Tyre's fleet protected the part of the city built on the island in the sea, and that part escaped… Centuries passed, and it seemed as if Ezekiel's prophecy about Tyre's complete overthrow would stay unfulfilled. About 240 years later the literal fulfilment came. Alexander the Great came against the city built on the island. After seven months the city was taken by means of a causeway, which let Alexander's forces enter. In building this causeway Alexander used the ruins of the old city. The stones, timber and the very dust of the destroyed city were laid into the sea… The work was done so completely that no one will ever be able to identify its exact site.
Travellers went to see the place. One writer reports what they found, down to the people still living there.
They are convinced that the waves of the sea now roll where the vast and magnificent palaces of Tyrian wealth and luxury once stood. The monuments of commercial enterprise and prosperity have been overwhelmed by the storm of divine indignation, and are as if they had never been… Its present inhabitants are only a few poor people sheltering in the vaults and living mainly by fishing. Divine Providence seems to keep them there as a visible argument of how God has fulfilled His word about Tyre — that it should be "like the top of a rock; you shall be a place to spread nets upon."
There is a purpose behind the tearing down. One writer draws out the lesson, and it reaches past Tyre.
The lessons of God's school are too humbling for man to welcome. He may have to accept the sentence of condemnation on himself, and the passing away of all the false glory he would like to make true, but cannot. The sentence of God is on that glory. But, as He says here, it falls so that He may set true glory in the land of the living… All this has indeed to pass away. What can be shaken is to be removed, so that what cannot be shaken may remain, and our kingdom is in what cannot be shaken.
Tyre is gone, but one writer sees her trade repeated in a city still to come.
The description of her great commerce reminds us of a coming world-system. The last book of the Bible, Revelation, describes it. Babylon the Great will be a world centre for both religion and trade. Her commerce is just like the commerce of Tyre (Rev. 18:12-13).
- Cause. Tyre cheered when Jerusalem fell and counted her own gain. Riches taken from other people's need hardened her, and that is the sin named in the judgment.
- Sentence. The end is not damage but erasure. Tyre would not be rebuilt and would not even be found again, however good the site looked to traders.
- Fulfilment. Nebuchadnezzar began it. Alexander finished it by dumping the old city's stones, timber and dust into the sea.
- Evidence. Fishermen spreading nets on bare rock became the standing proof that God's word about Tyre came true to the letter.
- Purpose. God removes false glory to set true glory in the land of the living. What can be shaken goes, so the kingdom that cannot be shaken remains.