April 19-23, 2010

Your wealth, your wares, your merchandise, your sailors, and your pilots, your repairers of seams, your dealers in merchandise, and all your men of war who are in you, with all your company that is in your midst, will fall into the heart of the seas on that day of your overthrow.
Ezekiel 27:27

I trust you have been overtaken by the view as we have sailed the Mediterranean for the last couple of days and looked at the Island capital of Tyre. Why was God so enraged with Tyre, and why on a map does Tyre look more like a costal city than an island? Ahhhh, good questions!!! To give you a better understanding of what you have been reading, it may help to have more information on this “Mistress of the Mediteranean.”

The city of Tyre was actually a two-part metropolis. There was the city of Tyre, which was part of the main coastland, and the island of Tyre about 2,600 feet (800 metres) off the coast. God’s prophetic word through Ezekiel paints us a clear picture of the richness and supremacy of this Phoenician island city. Besides their rich trade of lumber, silver, copper, and tin, one of their greatest exports was purple dyes produced from two different species of shell fish, which when combined created the deep purple-red dye called “phoinix,” meaning “purple-red.” It was from this word the name Phoenician was derived. This rich color was said to be “worth more than its weight in gold,” and became the symbol of wealth and royalty worn only by the wealthy, royal and the aristocratic classes.

Tyre’s early connections with Jerusalem and the Temple give us insight into its connection with her fall.

Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David with cedar trees, masons, and carpenters, to build a house for him. (I Chronicles 14:1)

David’s relationship with the king of Tyre was once peaceful and pleasant. This rich king on Israel’s border recognized God’s hand on King David and treated him with true respect and friendship. We see this even more clearly after David dies and Solomon takes his place on the throne.

Now Hiram king of Trye sent his servants to Solomon, when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram had always been a friend of David. (I Kings 5:1)

Because of David’s relationship with Hiram, Solomon requested Hiram to send him cedar and cypress timber. Not only did Solomon use the wood for the structure of the Temple, he called for a man from Tyre to craft the beauty of the Temple.

Now King Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre. He was a widow’s son from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze; and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill for doing any work in bronze. So he came to King Solomon and performed all his work. (I Kings 7:13-14)

What Bezalel was to the construction of the Tabernacle, Hiram was to the building of the Temple! If you go back and read all of I Kings 7, you can only stand amazed at this man’s God-given talent and ability. Tyre was not just another Phoenician city, it was a city whose king once recognized the God of Israel, the Temple where He dwelt, and the king God had placed on the throne!

We continue to see the connection of Jerusalem’s fall when we examine the chief god of the Phoenician’s. Baalism was always a prostitute in Israel’s path that constantly caused her to stumble. Baalism got its strongest foothold in the land of Israel when King Ahab married the Phoenician princess named Jezebel who was the daughter of Ethbaal, king of Tyre and Sidon!

God promised Tyre’s destruction. His word declared that those on ships, as well as those on the coast would stand and witness her devastation. Tyre had survived for centuries although it had been subject to several kingdoms. Assyria, Egypt, and Persia all claimed Tyre at one time or another. It was only when Alexander the Great set his sights on her that she was humbled and broken once and for all. After he had completely destroyed the mainland city, he used the rubble to build a causeway to the island. Seven months after the beginning of his siege, Alexander captured the island. He had 10,000 inhabitants put to death, and 30,000 sold into slavery. The city never recovered from its mortal wounding. The causeway, which had been built on a naturally formed sandbar, remained after the battle. The man-made bridge trapped the silting and eventually caused the island to connect to the mainland resulting in a peninsula.

By the end of the week, we see the great structure that Tyre helped to build come to complete ruin. Tyre had been there to help build her Temple, and through the introduction of her gods, she had been instrumental in tearing it down! And if we look at the hidden image in the picture, we see Satan’s face behind the mask!!! It is no wonder that God promised to pour out His fury on the city that was once called “The Queen of the Sea!”