Ezekiel 26

Proclamation Against Tyre

This prophecy covers a large timeline up to Alexander the Great and including the present time, since Tyre has not been rebuilt on her original location.

5^TH Dated Message

Ezekiel 26:¹ And it came to pass in the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Ezekiel received the 5th dated message in 587 BC. In the next chapter of Ezekiel, Chapter Twenty Seven he records a previous message a year earlier. The years are switched. The previous year is called the 6th dated message which will be added to the chart in the proper order according to the year.

After Nebuchadnezzar’s siege against Jerusalem in 587 BC,
Tyre, less than a hundred miles from Jerusalem, believed they would
be able to take advantage of Jerusalem’s unfortunate situation with
her walls torn down and her city emptied. Jerusalem was prime real
estate, located at the crossroads of Egypt, Syria, and Babylon. But
God, through the prophet Ezekiel, announced that he was against
Tyre. Tyre would go the way of Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 26:² “Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, ‘Aha! She is broken who was the gateway of the peoples; now she is turned over to me; I shall be filled; she is laid waste.’

The fulfillment of this prophecy occurred when
Nebuchadnezzar engaged in a thirteen year siege of Tyre (586–573
BC) (after the fall of Jerusalem), which ended with the Tyrians
accepting Babylonian authority.

• ^{Isaiah 23:5 “When the report reaches Egypt, They also will be in agony at the report of Tyre.”}

• ^{The consequences of the great city Tyre falling to
  Nebuchadnezzar must have been a terrible blow to Egypt. With the
  pacification of Tyre, Nebuchadnezzar could turn his focus on
  conquering Egypt.
  “Nebuchadnezzar took all Palestine and Syria and the cities on the seacoast, including Tyre, which fell after a siege of 13 years (573 BC)” (E. A. Wallis Budge, Babylonian Life And History, p. 50). The inhabitants of Tyre fled to a rocky island half a mile offshore. http://www.padfield.com/1994/tyre.html}

Tyre was never rebuilt, The modern city of Tyre juts out
from the coast of the Mediterranean in Lebanon and is located about
50 mi south of the modern city of Beirut. The name of the city means
“rock.” However; its history is not finished.

Ezekiel 26:³ “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up.

First, Babylon beat against Tyre wave upon waver. Later their were others, especially Alexander the Great.

Ezekiel 26:⁴ And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.

• ^{Five centuries later (in 332 BC), Alexander the Great decided to add this well fortified island city to his Greek empire. When it resisted, the Greek army built a 200 feet wide causeway out to the island — using the sand and stones from the ruins of the original city to build the passage. They “scraped” Tyre’s remnants and cast them into ‘the midst of the sea.’” http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/08/archeology.htm}

Ezekiel 26:⁵ It shall be a place for spreading nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken,’ says the Lord God; ‘it shall become plunder for the nations.

Ezekiel 26:⁶ Also her daughter villages which are in the fields shall be slain by the sword. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.’

Ezekiel 26:⁷ “For thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses, with chariots, and with horsemen, and an army with many people.

Ezekiel 26:⁸ He will slay with the sword your daughter villages in the fields; he will heap up a siege mound against you, build a wall against you, and raise a defense (Lit. a large shield) against you.

Ezekiel 26:⁹ He will direct his battering rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers.

Ezekiel 26:¹⁰ Because of the abundance of his horses, their dust will cover you; your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen, the wagons, and the chariots, when he enters your gates, as men enter a city that has been breached.

Ezekiel 26:¹¹ With the hooves of his horses he will trample all your streets; he will slay your people by the sword, and your strong pillars will fall to the ground.

Ezekiel 26:¹² They will plunder your riches and pillage your merchandise; they will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses; they will lay your stones, your timber, and your soil in the midst of the water.

Ezekiel 26:¹³ I will put an end to the sound of your songs, and the sound of your harps shall be heard no more.

Ezekiel 26:¹⁴ I will make you like the top of a rock; you shall be a place for spreading nets, and you shall never be rebuilt, for I the Lord have spoken,’ says the Lord God.

The original Tyre was never rebuilt.

Ezekiel 26:¹⁵ “Thus says the Lord God to Tyre: ‘Will the coast lands not shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded cry, when slaughter is made in the midst of you?

Not much is known about Nebuchadnezzar’s attack; however details are given concerning Alexander the Great’s conquest of Tyre:

• ^{Alexander showed grace to the citizens who hid in the Temple of Melkart, which included Azemilcus, the King of Tyre , by pardoning them. Around 6,000 Tyrians were killed in the fighting with a further 2,000 crucified on the beach and 30,000 sold into slavery. https://backtothebattle.wordpress.com/2012/09/07/back-to-the-siege-of-tyre/}

Ezekiel 26:¹⁶ Then all the princes of the sea will come down from their thrones, lay aside their robes, and take off their embroidered garments; they will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit on the ground, tremble every moment, and be astonished at you.

Ezekiel 26:¹⁷ And they will take up a lamentation for you, and say to you:

“How you have perished,
O one inhabited by seafaring men,
O renowned city,
Who was strong at sea,
She and her inhabitants,
Who caused their terror to be on all her inhabitants!

Ezekiel 26:¹⁸ Now the coastlands tremble on the day of your fall;
Yes, the coastlands by the sea are troubled at your departure.” ’

Ezekiel 26:¹⁹ “For thus says the Lord God: ‘When I make you a desolate city, like cities that are not inhabited, when I bring the deep upon you, and great waters cover you,

Herodotus wrote that the city was originally founded as a walled place upon the mainland, known as Paleotyre (Old Tyre).

Ezekiel 26:²⁰ then I will bring you down with those who descend into the Pit, to the people of old, and I will make you dwell in the lowest part of the earth, in places desolate from antiquity, with those who go down to the Pit, so that you may never be inhabited; and I shall establish glory in the land of the living.

• ^{Ithobaal III (reigned 591–573 BC) who according to the list of kings of Tyre of Josephus was reigning contemporary with Ezekiel at the time of the first fall of Jerusalem. Ethbaal the king of Tyre, also known as Ithobaal I (or Ithobalus), [the father of the brazen, evil Jezebel in scripture] is mentioned in the First Book of Kings as the king of Sidonites. Ethbaal is the translation of the Hebrew word אֶתְבַּעַל (eth-bah’-al), which means “with Baal”.}

Azemilcus was the King of Tyre during its siege by Alexander the Great in 332 BC.

Ezekiel 26:²¹ I will make you a terror, and you shall be no more; though you are sought for, you will never be found again,’ says the Lord God.”

• ^{The historicity of the siege was supported by a cuneiform tablet discovered in 1926 by German archeologist Eckhard Unger that discussed food provisions for “the king and his soldiers for their march against Tyre.” Other cuneiform tablets also confirm that Tyre came under the control of Nebuchadnezzar II at some point during his reign.
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Tyre}

Now, historically, Nebuchadnezzar focuses on Egypt:

• ^{Jeremiah 44:30 “Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of
  Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who
  seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of
  Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy who sought his life.’”}