Ezekiel 26:1 - Meaning and Application

This prophecy is dated in the eleventh year, the year Jerusalem was captured, and on the first day of the month. The month is not named. Some think it was the month in which Jerusalem fell, the fourth month, while others think it was the month after. It may even have been the first month, which would make it the first day of the year.

Here we are to notice, first, the pleasure the people of Tyre felt at Jerusalem’s ruin. Ezekiel was far away in Babylon, but God told him what Tyre was saying against Jerusalem (Ezekiel 26:2). They said, in effect, “Aha, she is broken to pieces. She was the gate of the peoples, where many nations gathered for trade and business. Now I will profit from it. I hope Jerusalem’s wealth, power, and influence will come to Tyre, and I will be filled up with what she has lost.”

The Tyrians were not usually as hateful toward Jerusalem as the Ammonites and Edomites were, or as eager to harm the Jews. They were practical people, busy with trade and used to dealing with many kinds of people. That made them less narrow-minded and less likely to have a harsh, persecuting spirit. Their main concern was to make money and grow their commerce. They saw Jerusalem not as an enemy, but as a rival.

Hiram, king of Tyre, had once been a friend to David and Solomon, and we do not read of open quarrels between the Jews and the Tyrians. But Tyre hoped Jerusalem’s fall would help its trade. The city expected to gain Jerusalem’s customers and the important people who used to go there from many places to improve themselves and spend their money. It also expected that people who had brought their property into Jerusalem for safety, like the Rechabites did, would now bring it to Tyre. Since Tyre was surrounded by the sea, it would seem safer than Jerusalem. In this way, Tyre hoped to rise by Jerusalem’s ruins.

This is a sin that comes easily to us. We may secretly be glad when others lose their place, die, or fall into disgrace, if we think we will benefit. We may even say, “Now that they are gone, we will be filled up.” But that comes from selfish greed and from wanting to be alone in the center, as if we begrudged others the right to live near us. It also comes from failing to love our neighbor as ourselves, which God plainly commands, and from loving the world too much, which God forbids. God is right to ruin the plans of those who try to build themselves up on other people’s collapse, and we often see Him do so.

Second, we are to notice God’s anger against Tyre for this. God had dealt kindly with Tyre. It was a rich and pleasant city, and it might have stayed that way if it had mourned with Jerusalem in her trouble and sent words of sympathy. Instead, it showed pleasure at its neighbor’s fall, and perhaps even congratulated the victors. Then God said, “See, I am against you, O Tyre” (Ezekiel 26:3). A city cannot long prosper if God is against it.

God would bring powerful enemies against Tyre. Many nations would come against her, either a coalition of nations or one nation strong enough to count as many. When God is against someone, all creation may seem against them too, for what peace can those have with whom God is at war? They would come like waves of the sea, one after another, with unstoppable force. The leader named for this attack is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, a king over many kings, since many rulers were his dependents or tributaries (Daniel 2:37-38). He is the head of gold. He would come with a huge army of horses and chariots and other land forces. He does not seem to have had a naval force for an attack by sea, which made the siege harder and is why it is called a great service against Tyre (Ezekiel 29:18). He would besiege the city in full form, build a fort, raise a siege mound, and set war machines against its walls (Ezekiel 26:8-9). His troops would be so many that they would raise dust over the city (Ezekiel 26:10). Their noise would shake the walls, and they would shout as they stormed the city. Their horses would move with such fury that they would trample the streets, even if they were well paved.

They would also do terrible damage. They would take the city’s defenses and destroy its walls and towers (Ezekiel 26:4). No wall is strong enough to keep out God’s judgments. Her strong garrisons would fall to the ground, and the walls would be broken down (Ezekiel 26:11-12). The city held out for a long siege, but it was captured in the end.

Much blood would also be shed. Her daughters in the field, the cities on the mainland that depended on Tyre as their mother city, would be killed with the sword (Ezekiel 26:6). The attackers would begin with those nearest at hand. God says that Nebuchadnezzar would also kill Tyre’s people with the sword (Ezekiel 26:11). This would include not only soldiers found fighting, but also the citizens of the city. The king of Babylon was deeply angry with them for resisting so long.

The wealth of the city would become spoil for the conqueror (Ezekiel 26:12). Their goods and trade would be plundered. The city was attacked so fiercely partly because there was so much to seize. This shows the emptiness of riches. They are often kept by their owners only to bring them harm. They attract thieves and repay them, and instead of helping those who worked for them, they are turned over to enemies who use them to do even more damage.

The city itself would be left in ruins. All its pleasant houses would be destroyed (Ezekiel 26:12). Those well placed, beautifully built, and richly furnished homes would become piles of rubble. No one should trust too much in a pleasant house, because no one knows how soon it may be laid waste.

Tyre will be utterly ruined. The enemy will not only tear down the houses, but also carry away the stones and timber and throw them into the water, where they can never be recovered or used again. Even more, God says, “I will scrape her dust from her” (Ezekiel 26:4). That means not only the loose dust, but the very ground beneath the city will be torn up by the attacking army and cast into the sea (Ezekiel 26:12).

The city’s foundation lies in the dust, and once that dust is gone, the city must fall. When Jerusalem was destroyed, it was plowed like a field (Micah 3:12). But Tyre’s destruction will go even further. Its soil itself will be scraped away, and the site will be made like the bare top of a rock (Ezekiel 26:4, Ezekiel 26:14), with no earth left to cover it. It will be nothing more than a place where fishermen spread out their nets to dry and mend them (Ezekiel 26:5, Ezekiel 26:14).

All its joy will also come to an end. God says, “I will stop the sound of your songs” (Ezekiel 26:13). Tyre had been a happy, lively city (Isaiah 23:7), and through its songs it had drawn customers to trade with it. But now all its profitable trade and pleasant gatherings will be gone. Tyre will no longer be a place for business or for pleasure.

Finally, it will be built no more as it once was, with the same grandeur, and not again in the same sea-bound place, or for a long time anywhere else (Ezekiel 26:14). The present people will be destroyed or scattered, so that this Tyre will be gone. God has spoken it (Ezekiel 26:5, Ezekiel 26:14), and when it comes to pass, people will know that he is the Lord, not a man who lies or changes his mind.