Thread: Ezekiel 36 and the Destruction of Tyre

Eze 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,
Eze 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.'
Eze 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.
Eze 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.
Eze 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.
Eze 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.'
Eze 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.
Eze 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 against you.
Eze 26:9 'He will direct his battering rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers.
Eze 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.
Eze 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.
Eze 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.
Eze 26:13 'I will put an end to the sound of your songs, and the sound of your harps shall be heard no more.
Eze 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. Eze 26:15 "Thus says the Lord GOD to Tyre: 'Will the coastlands not shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded cry, when slaughter is made in the midst of you?
Eze 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.
Eze 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!
Eze 26:18 Now the coastlands tremble on the day of your fall; Yes, the coastlands by the sea are troubled at your departure."'
Eze 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,
Eze 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.
Eze 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."

Here is a picture of Tyre today:


How do we reconcile this if God promised to destroy it forever?

Apparently God changed his mind.

Thats a good question I think I askedd the same thing a while back I cant remember the answer.

Eze 29:18
"Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was rubbed bare, yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against her.

Verses 3-14 of chapter 26 might be pointing to a two-stage judgement. Verse 12 has an unspecified "they", who make a spoil of her riches. Gleason Archer points out that Alexander The Great actually did destroy the entire island of Tyre in 322BC.

Perhaps the paralell between the city of Tyre being symbolic of Satans kingdom, and the King of Tyre being likened unto Satan, are a type of the crushing defeat of the crucifixion.

[Edited on 10-12-2005 by Saiph]

Does this prophecy require that there be no city built there again, or only that ancient Tyre be rebuilt? Many biblical cities (Babylon,Thessalonica) no longer exist per se but they do have modern counterparts.

Just a thought...

Interesting point.

what about sodom and gomorah?

blade

Tyre has been destroyed and it never has been rebuilt.

We mistake a city, solely to mean buildings, but City in the Bible references, not only the buildings, but the collective psychology and mentality of the people that embodies themselves in their particular culture, whether this culture is righteous or wicked.

If I'm not mistaken, the Zionist state of Israel now occupies the land, not the state of Tyre, hence any city built will be accrued to the Israel since Israel is the state, and not Ancient Tyre.

Same way, Babylon cannot be rebuilt, eventhough buildings can be constructed on the particular site. Why? The Nebuchadnezzer government has been completely destroyed, the unique culture does not exist, there are no heirs to the throne etc. Same with Rome, and Israel. Jews can mimic an Old Testament polity but it wouldn't be genuine, because Jesus the rightful heir of the throne, is not accepted.

[Edited on 10-12-2005 by Slippery]

Good point Keon.

Originally posted by Saiph
Good point Keon.

Any other thoughts?

The photo that you posted was interesting. Note the water on either side of the buildings. This was not the original location for the city because this location was underwater in the days of Ezekiel. On the other hand, the site of the original city is still in ruins and expected to remain that way in light of the archaological artifacts that abound in the area.