By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries; so I brought fire out from your midst; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you.
This verse closes a lament over the king of Tyre, whose dishonest trade defiled even his sanctuaries. The fire that destroys him comes out of himself, and commentators have long asked whether the words reach past a human ruler to the fall of Satan.
Who Is Addressed
Earlier in the chapter God speaks to "the prince" of Tyre. From verse 12 the title changes to "king." One writer takes both titles for the same man, with a second subject behind him:
William KellyThere is more difficulty with verses 11-19. Is it the same person or a different one? In history I am inclined to think it is the same person. But the passage also carries a deeper reference to Satan's fall. This may be one reason why the Spirit of God changes "prince" into "king."
Commentators differ here. Others read the change of title as a change of person altogether:
An Outline of Sound WordsIn this chapter God is speaking through the prophet to the wicked prince of Tyre, but from verse 12 the King of Tyre, another person, is addressed.
The Root: Beauty Admired
The fall began inside, in a creature taken with his own beauty:
The Christian's FriendA great moral fall took place in one who held one of the highest places in the universe. His heart was lifted up because of his own beauty, and he was cast to the ground. To make self the object of the heart, to fall in love with one's own beauty, is the certain sign that a turning away from God is coming. In this bright and exalted creature the fall was terrible, and the consequences, which still continue, are even more terrible.
Sanctuaries Profaned by Trade
The verse ties the profaning of the sanctuaries to unrighteous trade. One writer traces that link inward, to the sanctuaries of the soul, and to the fire that breaks out from within:
Numerical Bible NotesHow men can be taken with their own beauty, when it is only artificial! It is a glory that circumstances alone have thrown around a person, like the halo of a traditional saint. The God of truth cannot spare it, since the heart lifted up by this outward beauty is corrupted by it. All the sanctuaries of the soul, or what ought to be such, become profaned. It is the image of man that appears in them instead of God. Covetousness shows itself as idolatry. Out of it comes the fire that will certainly, in the end, sweep it all away.
Ashes: The Picture Explained
In the Bible ashes are a sign of grief. They also picture what is left when everything is gone:
Morrish Bible DictionaryAshes, mostly from burnt wood, were a sign of sorrow or mourning. People put them on the head, 2 Samuel 13:19, or on the body with sackcloth, Esther 4:1... To eat ashes expresses great sorrow, Psalm 102:9. To be reduced to them is a figure of complete destruction, Ezekiel 28:18; Malachi 4:3.
The Trade Behind Tyre
The rivalry here runs deeper than two cities competing for trade:
Morrish Bible DictionaryEzekiel 26:2 shows that Tyre, the merchant city of the world, was the rival of Jerusalem, the city of God: "I shall be replenished now she is laid waste."... God was known in the palaces of Jerusalem; the god of this world was known in Tyre. There people could satisfy the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. So the destruction of Tyre, Ezekiel 28:12-19, shows the king of Tyre closely tied to the abuse, through Satan, of the wisdom and beauty given at creation.
The Same Spirit Now
The same appetite that ruined Tyre is still at work in the cities of today:
The Bible TreasuryThe trade that made that city famous has spread its wings over the cities of our day. They follow in the steps of Tyre. With the same unrighteousness they await the same doom... The spirit of Mammon — the love of money — rules the age. Under its influence men twist the truth. It becomes the profession of greedy men, who suppose that gain is godliness.
Where the Fall Ends
If the passage looks past Tyre to Satan, his end is already fixed:
W. W. FeredayGod created Satan "full of wisdom and perfect in beauty," and set him on the holy mountain of God as the anointed covering cherub — so the Prime Minister of the Universe, the guardian of the rights of God's throne. Yet Satan will finish in the Lake of Fire (Ezekiel 28:12-17). He will not be sent there as king, but as the chief offender and the greatest sufferer.
Summary
- Height. The one addressed held one of the highest places in the universe. Commentators differ on whether one person or two are in view.
- Heart. The fall started with a heart lifted up over its own beauty. Self-admiration is the sure sign that a break with God is coming.
- Hands. What began in the heart came out in the trade. Covetousness worked as idolatry, until the inner sanctuaries showed the image of man instead of God.
- Fire. The fire comes from inside him, out of the covetousness he fed, and it sweeps everything away in the end.
- Ashes. To be reduced to ashes is the Bible's picture of complete destruction. The enemy behind Tyre ends in the lake of fire — not as its king, but as its chief sufferer.