Ezekiel 26-27

Chapters 26-28 contain prophecies against Tyre (and a short message against Sidon at the end of Ch. 28).  Ch. 26 announces the judgment on Tyre.  Ch. 27 laments the judgment on Tyre.  Ch. 28:1-10 announces judgment on the prince of Tyre.  Ch. 28:11-19 laments the judgment on the king of Tyre.

The reason for judgment on Tyre again has to do with her arrogant treatment of Israel (26:2).  The people are guilty of this arrogance (27:3-11), not just the King who is singled out later.  It is a historical reality that the Tyrians were a proud people.  Though essentially a city-state they occupied a strategic position on an island just off the mainland north of Israel.  They were the ruling maritime power.  And they were the great economic power of the day as Ch. 27:12-28 indicates.  Thus Tyre was a great financial center whose residents prospered as the middle-men moving everyone else’s merchandise.  Her fall from power would shake the world of that day (26:15-18 and 27:29-36). 

The result of this arrogance is the announcement of fearful words from God: “I am against you” (26:3).  God would initially use as His tool of destruction “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings” (26:7).  The judgment would leave Tyre desolate, never again to be rebuilt (26:14), never again inhabited and brought down to the pit (26:20).  Nebuchadnezzar did not finish the destruction as is indicated in Ezekiel 29:18, though he spent considerable time and effort between 585 and 573 BC.  Later Alexander the Great would besiege Tyre, building a ramp to the island city so his army could destroy them.  In the time of Rome Tyre made somewhat of a comeback until in 1291 she was destroyed, reduced to nothing.  Note in our passage the change from “he” (meaning Nebuchadnezzer) to “they” (26:12) and then “I” (referring to God in 26:13-14).  (For further study see WHEN CRITICS ASK, Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe, Victor Books, 1992, p. 287.)

This chapter is difficult in this regard.  Tyre existed in Jesus’ day (Mt. 15:21).  Ezek. 26:3 does speak of judgment on Tyre by several nations.  It is hard not to connect what we have read today with Rev. 18 and the destruction of “Babylon the Great,” the economic power in the last days.  

Ezek 27	Rev 18
v3: self-exalting	v1-8
v4-26: many trading partners; well-situated for trade	v9-14
v27-36: nations weep & wail at her demise	v15-20

As believers in Christ there are no more comforting words than those found in Rom. 8:31: “If God is for us, who can be against us?”  By the same token the words often seen in Ezekiel, “I am against you,” are the most ominous.  Even the world powers must consider their fate if they cause the Sovereign Lord to turn against them.  He is the God who can reduced the greatest to nothing!