Isaiah 23

The oracle concerning Tyre. Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor! From the land of Cyprus it is revealed to them. 2 Be still, O inhabitants of the coast; the merchants of Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you. 3 And on many waters your revenue was the grain of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile; you were the merchant of the nations. 4 Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying: “I have neither labored nor given birth, I have neither reared young men nor brought up young women.” 5 When the report comes to Egypt, they will be in anguish over the report about Tyre. 6 Cross over to Tarshish; wail, O inhabitants of the coast! 7 Is this your exultant city whose origin is from days of old, whose feet carried her to settle far away? 8 Who has purposed this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth? 9 The Lord of hosts has purposed it, to defile the pompous pride of all glory, to dishonor all the honored of the earth. 10 Cross over your land like the Nile, O daughter of Tarshish; there is no restraint anymore. 11 He has stretched out his hand over the sea; he has shaken the kingdoms; the Lord has given command concerning Canaan to destroy its strongholds. 12 And he said: “You will no more exult, O oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon; arise, cross over to Cyprus, even there you will have no rest.” 13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans! This is the people that was not; Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected their siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin. 14 Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your stronghold is laid waste. 15 In that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute: 16 “Take a harp; go about the city, O forgotten prostitute! Make sweet melody; sing many songs, that you may be remembered.” 17 At the end of seventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. 18 Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the Lord. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the Lord.

Target Date: Sunday, 7 July 2024

Thoughts on the Passage:

Jeremiah 27:3-11 - Send word to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the sons of Ammon, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon by the hand of the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 Give them this charge for their masters: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you shall say to your masters: 5 “It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me. 6 Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him. 7 All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time of his own land comes. Then many nations and great kings shall make him their slave. 8 “ ‘ “But if any nation or kingdom will not serve this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, declares the Lord, until I have consumed it by his hand. 9 So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10 For it is a lie that they are prophesying to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land, and I will drive you out, and you will perish. 11 But any nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave on its own land, to work it and dwell there, declares the Lord.” ’ ”

Also Ezekiel 26-28 speak of God’s judgment of Tyre and Sidon by the siege of Nebuchadnezzar.

For the Lord has an eye on mankind and on all the tribes of Israel, 2 and on Hamath also, which borders on it, Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise. 3 Tyre has built herself a rampart and heaped up silver like dust, and fine gold like the mud of the streets. 4 But behold, the Lord will strip her of her possessions and strike down her power on the sea, and she shall be devoured by fire. - Zechariah 9:1-4

When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload its cargo. 4 And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 5 When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city. And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed 6 and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home. - Acts 21:3-6

Tyre and Sidon were Phoenician city-states, merchants and traders, capitalists of the day. The Phoenicians had outposts all across the Mediterranean, particularly in Cyprus, Joppa, and Carthage.

The name “Phoenician” comes from the purpose cloth they made – the royal color because of the expense of the dye.

They dominated shipping on the Med.

They were mentioned for the quality of their goods by Homer in the Iliad.

These were the remnant Canaanites – they even called themselves Canaanite.

The Egyptians called them “Fenekhu” – “Carpenters.

The power of Tyre and Sidon was in their commerce, not in their military.

Often conquerors could not afford to destroy or curtail their trade, so they were absorbed and used for their trade.

Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon all received tribute at one time or another from Tyre.

1 – “Ships of Tarshish” may not refer to the origin or destination of the craft, but designate a type of merchant ship.

1 – From the land of Cyprus – the calamity of Tyre’s fall will not simply be a local catastrophe, but will be felt and talked about over the entire world.

Military power is not the only kind of power. Tyre remained independent for a long time through economic might.

But God is greater than the economics of this world power as well.

God demonstrates this again in the Revelation over Babylon:

The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud, 16 “Alas, alas, for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, and with pearls! 17 For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.” And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, “What city was like the great city?” 19 And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, “Alas, alas, for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been laid waste. - Revelation 18:15-19

Commerce is not evil or sinful in itself. We must beware not to sell ourselves to our commerce or customers.

The conquests are no less cruel or accountable to God than military conquests. Indeed, they can prove a harder heart and more cruelty than a soldier would.

God rules over economic power in the world, not just military power.

8-9 – The calamity upon Tyre was not simply a periodic economic downturn, a correction of the markets, or a natural event in the cycle of business – it was the judgment of God.

In our increasingly a-theistic society, these events are not seen for what they are – God’s hand working His unknowable will among the nations.

17 – Only two places in the prophecies of judgment in Isaiah do we find the Lord GOING to the nation: here and Egypt (19:1).

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” - Matthew 2:13-15

Matthew 15:21 – And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.

17 – Prostitute – even the entirely worldly commerce is under the control of Almighty God.

Even this sin and failure will be used to bring about the glory of God.

17 - The love of worldly wealth is a spiritual whoredom, and therefore covetous people are called adulterers and adulteresses (James 4:4), and covetousness is spiritual idolatry.

18 – May not be a promise of the “holy” uses of her wealth, meaning “dedicating” a portion of it “for God”.

Tyre had a long history of providing timber for the temple, and for David’s palace in Jerusalem. They would again provide timber for the temple built in the time of Ezra.

The “holy” uses of their wealth did not gain them anything in God’s holy judgment against them.

Thus is the situation of all who would try to “bribe” God by proposing to return a portion to Him in exchange for His abundance on them.

18 - In the future, Tyre will have a new status, a new spirit, and a new allegiance (cf. Ps. 87:4). She will join the Ethiopians, Egyptians, Assyrians (18:7; 19:18–25), and many other Gentiles in uniting to fulfill God’s predicted glorification of Israel.

What is the Good News of this passage – Where is Jesus Christ? (if you can’t answer this question, are you finished?)

There is no economic situation God is not sovereign over, unaware of, or apathetic to.

Our Lord makes provision for His people.

Teachings:

1. God is sovereign over economic realities just as much as natural events and military conquests.

2. There is a spiritual purpose for every material blessing God bestows on His people and on unbelievers.

What interest does God have in your comfort here if it jeopardizes your eternal rest?

Those who would declare to you that God will prosper you here on earth are lying to you.

3. The purpose of all God’s temporal judgments are the salvation of His people and their gathering.

Applications:

We could take a great deal of time to review the history and the fulfillment of the prophecies against Tyre, but really, the greatest importance of this passage is not to simply show that God can predict things. There are much greater applications.

Sermon Text:

This morning we will take a look at this prophecy of Isaiah concerning Tyre.

And before we get into the text of the passage, I would like to share with you an observation from these ten chapters of judgment in Isaiah.

I include it here because it doesn’t fit properly in the main point of the text, but I do feel it is important.

We have spent the last quarter-year looking at these chapters, and if you take the time to re-read those chapters, you will find, I think, only two nations outside of Judah that it is said that the Lord will go to.

All the other judgments, we may see God coming AGAINST them.

But two nations say specifically that the Lord will come to them.

The first was Egypt: 19:1 - Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt;

The second is Tyre, here in verse 17: At the end of seventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre

Now these are not necessarily Messianic prophecies, but look at the beautiful perfection of God’s plan in the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ.

The two non-Jewish nations our Lord visited in His lifetime?

Egypt and Tyre.

In Matthew 2, we see the flight of Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus into Egypt.

Notice, it is usually called a “flight” – kind of like “riding on a swift cloud”?

And then in Matthew 15, out of the blue, Jesus goes to the region of Tyre, where He meets the Syro-Phoenician woman.

A short time, just a visit.

And while Matthew doesn’t quote Isaiah 23 in these cases, I felt like the fulfillment was one more example of the intricate perfection of Jesus’s life in obedience.

But now, on to the main discussion of this chapter.

Tyre, and the related cities of Sidon, Joppa, and Byblos, were Canaanite people who had become great traders, shipping goods all across the Mediterranean.

The Greeks named them “Phoenicians” after the purple dye they made.

This dye was literally worth more than its weight in gold, commanding more than three times its weight in gold to buy.

All these cities bordered the Mediterranean Sea, and they sent ships everywhere to trade goods.

They were one of the first true ECONOMIC powerhouse nations of the world.

The other nations that God is pronouncing judgment on are military powers, even military threats to Judah,

But Tyre and the other Phoenician cities are generally trading partners with everyone else that is mentioned.

Even when they were attacked, they were not often destroyed;

The conqueror needed their ships and trade to support his economy.

They couldn’t AFFORD to destroy Tyre – they needed them.

So they would generally get from them what Tyre had the most of: gold.

When Tyre was conquered, they usually had to pay an annual tribute to the conqueror.

This is why we see them described in this way:

the bestower of crowns, whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth (v.8)

But in this chapter, God is declaring His judgment on Tyre, and that judgment will have an effect on everyone.

That is why this oracle begins: Wail, O ships of Tarshish.

In prior chapters, we saw Isaiah and even the Lord God weeping over the judgment.

No one else was weeping over Babylon, or Assyria, or Egypt.

But here, the whole world is weeping over Tyre.

Tarshish, you may remember, was where Jonah was trying to escape to before being brought to Nineveh.

It was the other side of the known world, all the way across the Mediterranean in what is now Spain.

And even THEY are wailing over the disruption of trade from the great Tyre.

This judgment may remind you of the description of the great city’s judgment in the book of Revelation:

The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud, 16 “Alas, alas, for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, and with pearls! 17 For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.” And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, “What city was like the great city?” 19 And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, “Alas, alas, for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been laid waste. - Revelation 18:15-19

God’s sovereignty and judgment doesn’t just work politically or militarily.

It doesn’t just work in nature and calamities.

God’s providence is just as evident in economics.

When we see the four horsemen of God’s judgment unsealed in Revelation 6, we see:

Military Conquest

Civil Unrest

Pestilence and Famine

And Economic Collapse.

God is sovereign over every sphere of earth, and of every sphere of your life.

There is nothing that does not come from His hand.

And the judgment He is declaring for Tyre, and the rest of the world through them, is certain.

As we read through the chapter earlier, you may have noticed the lack of a call to change,

A warning of “unless you do this…”

And like we have talked about in prior chapters, like Jonah happily proclaiming the destruction of Nineveh in 40 days, the fact that God sent a prophet implies some call to repentance.

Except Isaiah was not sent to Tyre. He is preaching in Jerusalem.

So the judgment being declared will come to pass.

Now, I could go full-on history nerd and describe to you the ways this prophecy occurred, but I don’t think that would be the best use of our remaining time.

Because knowing how Tyre was conquered doesn’t really give me much insight into how I may incorporate this precious chapter of God’s word into my life.

This side of heaven, the Bible is all we get of the unerring word of God, and so every word is precious and valuable.

We find much of that application in the final two verses of the chapter.

Up to that point, Tyre is called a prostitute. And there is a period of God’s judgment represented by the term “seventy years” that she will be unable to sell herself or her goods.

Then after the time is complete, she will pick up where she left off.

And then we see the strange promise: Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the Lord. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the Lord. (v. 18)

But I want to suggest to you this morning that this promise parallels that of the other nations: that God will call His people out from Tyre as well.

That even as the nation returns to its commerce, God’s people will be found there.

And they will look at what He has given them differently than they did before.

Brothers and sisters, there is a SPIRITUAL purpose behind every MATERIAL thing God gives you.

[Repeat]

There are a lot of people out there who will tell you that God blesses you materially when you obey Him, and I honestly am not sure there is anything outside the specific promises to Israel regarding the Promised Land that could make anyone think that.

I think a more accurate description of the truth is that God gives you material things in their types and amounts by His own providence, for His own reasons, and that they may sometimes appear to correspond to your assessment of your own obedience.

The people of Tyre, as soon as they were providentially allowed, went back to their commerce, their prostitution.

No matter how good or right they felt like they were,

No matter how much they felt like they had paid their debt to God,

They were still as sinful as they had been.

So if I get what I deserve for my obedience, I am unfortunately measured by God’s holy standard, not by my sliding scale.

And so what I receive will be all from His grace not from my worth.

So why does God give us things – or why does He withhold things?

For His own spiritual purposes.

And even more – for our spiritual good.

This may be hard for some people, because we like to think that when we are in Christ, we are better people.

After all, we DO try to obey better than we did.

I would have to question my own commitment to Jesus Christ if I didn’t WANT to follow Him more than I did before I was converted.

But just because we strive to obey, and we should desire more and more to obey, doesn’t mean we are good enough at it to earn anything but God’s mercy, which was free to begin with.

Forgive me if this is indelicate, but it would be like if you got a new puppy, a golden retriever, and it had a #2 accident in the middle of your kitchen floor.

And as you are rushing out of the house, you asked your teenager to clean up the accident.

And so the teen gets your broom and sweeps the pile onto the dustpan, and taps it over the trash can. Then puts the dustpan and broom up and tells themselves “Job well-done.”

Nothing is done about the brown streak along the floor.

The dustpan and broom still have residue.

And the trash can didn’t have a liner in it.

Can you see how the standards might be different?

That is why it is ludicrous to try to convince someone that God’s blessings are directly tied to my obedience.

So very quickly, I would like to touch on some of God’s SPIRITUAL purposes for MATERIAL things.

1. When God withholds material things, it can be for two reasons: repentance or faith.

For unbelievers, when you find that you have a lack of something, it is wise to ALWAYS see it as a call to repentance toward God.

Not just putting away a single sin, but turning from sin to God in faith in Jesus Christ.

For believers, sometimes God does discipline us by causing us to lack something.

But even in those cases, He is calling us to greater FAITH in Him to overcome that sin.

And if there is not some besetting sin, He can providentially give us lack to make us rely more fully on Him.

2. When God provides material things, we see in verse 18 two primary uses:

The first is worship.

I will be honest with you: I feel like I have done a poor job in helping us as a church understand the need to be generous in our offerings to God through the church.

In one way, we have to pay the bills.

But more importantly, giving is an act of worship.

We made the decision early on that we would not pass the offering plate during the service, and I still think there are good reasons to keep from that.

But I don’t feel like I have done a good job of reminding you that offerings to your local church are an important part of your worship of God, as important as prayer and singing.

Offerings demonstrate love, faith, and devotion to God, who gives us everything in the first place.

The second reason God abounds us with material things is to be generous with others.

I think sometime in the future we may need to have a separate study just on the doctrine of worshipful offerings.

But we see this demonstrated here in the unhoarding of the goods and money, and the generosity toward others.

It is the very thing the offering Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians, for the relief of the Jerusalem church, was for.