Chapter 23 - Oracle Against Tyre

Chapter 23 of Isaiah is an oracle against Tyre, a trade center on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea through which much of the trade from Europe found entry into what we now call the mid-east.  As this chapter opens, we see how people of the world treasure the things of this world.

Isaiah 23:1-3 (HCSB) An oracle against Tyre: Wail, ships of Tarshish, for your haven has been destroyed. Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus. Mourn, inhabitants of the coastland, you merchants of Sidon; your agents have crossed the sea on many waters.

I want you to note how the verse numbers were assigned here. Look at where "3" is - smack in the middle of a phrase. These numbers make it easy for us to be at the same place, but they often distract us from reading as intended.

More importantly, take note of how the people wail and mourn because mechanisms of transferring wealth have been destroyed. Ships from Tarshish - a trade center in Spain - unable to dock in Tyre. Side note - Jonah was trying to run from God by booking a trip on ship from Joppa (south of Tyre) to Tarshish - a long route. Jonah didn't get to Tarshish and, in our passage - ships from Tarshish cannot get to Tyre. This bad news reached Cyprus - an island 75 miles off Tyre's coast and the last port before Tyre, described as "the merchant among the nations" (verse 3). When Tyre's harbors were destroyed, people of the world mourned and wept.

Isaiah 23:4 (HCSB) "Be ashamed Sidon, the stronghold of the sea ..." Sidon - another port (north of Tyre) who is brought to shame when her trade is decimated. Verses 5 - 8 describe the anguish in Egypt when they hear the news of Tyre's demise, the wailing of Tarshish - asking with sarcasm, Is this your jubilant city, which has been around since ancient times? And this: Isaiah 23:8 (HCSB) Who planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose traders are princes, whose merchants are the honored ones of the earth?

 Verse 8 reveals carnal man's view of disaster - Who did this? regarding the unthinkable. Who destroyed Tyre? She was the one who gave crowns, is higher than others, bestowing prestige on traders and merchants. When man denies God, shaking his fist at the One he refuses to submit to, he cannot fathom why bad things happen.

Isaiah 23:9 & 11 (HCSB) The LORD of Hosts planned it, to desecrate all ⌊its⌋ glorious beauty, to disgrace all the honored ones of the earth. ... He stretched out His hand over the sea; He made kingdoms tremble. The LORD has commanded that the Canaanite fortresses be destroyed.

I remember when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and thousands of people fled to Houston. I heard several well-known Baptist preachers assert that God had nothing to do with that, betraying their own temporal view of good and a cotton-candy view of God. In addition to our current passage, there are myriad passages that refute this view. Psalm 135:7, for example: "He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and brings the wind from His storehouses." If your view of God is that He only does what carnal man thinks is good, you have a false view of God. Like the people in our text.

Isaiah 23:12 (HCSB) He said, “You will not rejoice anymore, ravished young woman, daughter of Sidon. Get up and cross over to Cyprus— even there you will have no rest!”

Creator God - the God of the Bible - is not worried that man might think He is unloving. If God didn't judge sin, He would not be God. He loves truth so He must hate sin. He taunts the people who are suffering - and goes on (vs 13) to chide the Chaldeans and Assyrians and people of Tarshish for trusting in their "horses and chariots."

Isaiah 23:15-16 (HCSB) On that day Tyre will be forgotten for 70 years—the life span of one king. At the end of 70 years, what the song ⌊says⌋ about the prostitute will happen to Tyre: Pick up ⌊your⌋ lyre, stroll through the city, prostitute forgotten ⌊by men⌋. Play skillfully, sing many a song, and you will be thought of again.

Here's an instance where the phrase "on that day" does NOT refer to the Day of Judgment. In this case, it refers to a limitation of Tyre's demise, after a perfect, complete time of 70 years. The prostitute's song would be a reminder that the core of Tyre is hedonism.

Isaiah 23:17 (HCSB) And at the end of the 70 years, the LORD will restore Tyre and she will go back into business, prostituting herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.

It was YHWH that humbled Tyre; it was YHWH that restored Tyre. The city would be back in business, serving the traders and merchants in a way normally associating with Babylon.

Isaiah 23:18 (HCSB) But her profits and wages will be dedicated to the LORD. They will not be stored or saved, for her profit will go to those who live in the LORD’s presence, to provide them with ample food and sacred clothing.

Here's the end of it. God restores Tyre, doesn't change her M.O., but He does change who benefits. Rather than saving and storing her profits and wages, Tyre will give to the Levite priests who serve YHWH, providing them food and fine linen for their priestly garments.

Saints - at the end of this age, God will not change the way this world and its corrupt systems work. He will feed us with good food every month and will clothe us with His righteousness. Even while some of us are disappointed with the recent events in the USA, this nation is not our home and her wages are not our wealth. Our God will provide what we need and He tells us not to worry about these things (Matt 5:25-34), and He is our righteousness, having made peace with God for us. Sleep well - Jesus is King!