Isaiah 23
Sunday Morning Bible Study
July 4, 1999
Introduction
We’ve been in a section of Isaiah known as the "burdens", heavy, serious prophecies intended at getting people and nations to turn around.
:1-14 Tyre’s destruction
:1 The burden of Tyre
You might not know that much about Tyre today, but in its day, it was one of the chief cities of the world. It would be something comparable to New York City today. Tyre was the capital of the ancient Phoenician empire.
The Phoenicians were world famous sailors in their days. They ruled the waters of the Mediterranean for a long time, establishing colonies all along the Mediterranean.
They were the chief merchants of the world as well. All the world’s trading seemed to go through Tyre. They were both "UPS" and the World’s mall, all rolled into one.
They had two main cities, Tyre and Sidon. Sidon was the older of the two, and was famous for its skilled glass craftsman. Tyre was eventually (by 1000 BC) the capital of Phoenicia, and was famous for its purple dye, made from a sea snail, a rare dye so expensive it was only used to dye cloth for kings.
The Phoenicians actually had many connections with Israel, including contact with David, Solomon, and even wicked King Ahab (2Sam. 5:11; 1Ki. 5:1f; 10:11,22; 16:31).
In Isaiah’s day, the city of Tyre consisted of two parts. There was the "Old City", which was located on the mainland, on the coast. But the newer part of the city had been built out on a small rocky island about ½ mile off the coast.
:1 Howl, ye ships of Tarshish
Tarshish – comes from a word meaning "to melt or be melted" and might refer to any place that had smelting operations or to any land that contained mineral deposits. One possible location is a place called Tartessus, near the southwest coast of Spain.
Apparently, Tarshish was a place that had great natural resources. Solomon’s joint merchant marine adventures with the Phoenicians brought great wealth back from Tarshish, including gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks (2Chr. 9:21).
Tarshish would be very upset because their greatest trading partner had been ruined.
:1 from the land of Chittim it is revealed
Chittim – the island of Cyprus. Most of the cities on Cyprus were Phoenician. The ships from Tarshish are on their way to Tyre, when they stop at Cyprus and hear the news of what has happened.
:2 merchants of Zidon
Zidon – or, Sidon. This was the other major city of Phoenicia, 25 miles to the north. The idea is that the merchants of Sidon are hushed in silence at the news of Tyre.
:3 the seed of Sihor … a mart of nations
Sihor – another name for the Nile River. Part of the Phoenician trade routes involved the great wheat fields of Egypt. They would take their wares to Egypt and trade them for grain, them come back and trade the grain for more things, like wine, oil, and glass.
mart of nations – We could call Tyre "K-Mart to the ancient world". Actually, it would probably be more like the "Nordstrom" of the ancient world.
It’s interesting that just a week or so (6/24/99) in the news there was a report of a discovery off the coast of Israel. Dr. Ballard, who found the Titanic, found two ancient Phoenician cargo ships, dating back to 750 BC, more than 1500 feet down, incredibly preserved. They were carrying ceramic canisters of wine on their way to Egypt, presumably to trade for wheat.
:4 Be thou ashamed, O Zidon …I travail not
Sidon is addressed as representing all the Phoenicians. The Phoenicians were often called "Sidonian" because Sidon was their oldest city. The idea here is that the sea is talking to Sidon as if to say that it had never had any children, there never was a Tyre.
:5 As at the report concerning Egypt …
When the Egyptians here what has happened to Tyre, they’ll be worried too.
:6 Pass ye over to Tarshish
Under its various sieges, many citizens of Tyre fled to their distant colonies.
:7 Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days?
The Tyrians boasted (whether true or not) in the time of the historian Herodotus (450 BC) that they had already been in existence for 2300 years.
:8 Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city … whose traffickers are the honourable
crowning city – the city that hands out crowns, that establishes other kingdoms.
traffickers – literally, "Canaanites", the Phoenicians were a branch of Canaanites. Referring to the traders it had sent around the world.
:9 The LORD of hosts hath purposed it
God had planned the ruin of Tyre. He has two things in mind when He did it.
:9 to stain the pride of all glory
(Isa 23:9 NLT) The LORD Almighty has done it to destroy your pride and show his contempt for all human greatness.
stain
– chalal – to profane, defile, pollute, desecrate; to wound (fatally), bore through, pierce, bore. To "defile their pride" or perhaps to "wound their pride".pride of all glory – It could possibly be a reference to the Tyrian temple of Hercules, which claimed to be the oldest in the world. It could just be a reference to their great pride in general.
The very things the people of Tyre took pride in, God would mess up. Kind of like when you’re all dressed up and you spill something on your nice clothes.
Lesson #1
God is against pride.
God is not thrilled when we live our lives in a way that says that we are more important than others.
(1 Pet 5:5-6 KJV) Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. {6} Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
When we find ourselves fighting to make sure we stay on top, we fill find ourselves fighting with God. When we give up and are willing to take the last place in line, we will find God standing there right beside us.
Charles Swindoll retells a TV skit in Come Before Winter,
Carl Reiner, as an airport reporter, is interviewing Sid Caesar as Professor Von Houdinoff, an expert on magicians.
REINER (confused): As I understand what you’re trying to explain, your book is saying that there’s a connection between the illusions of magicians and what happens to people in real life.
CAESAR: You got it fella.
REINER: Can you give me an example?
CAESAR: You vant an example of great illusionary power? Hans Schnorkel, a Frenchman. He vas working on a trick mit a shark. So he got this shark – a two-thousand pound tiger shark – und he put that shark in a tank mit over a million gallons of sea vater. Und then he stood on the side of the tank und he had himself handcuffed, behind his back. There he vas, handcuffed mit just a bathing suit. Und then, Hans threw himself into the tank mit the shark. And soon as Hans hit the water, the shark spun around und started svimming slowly, slowly toward Hans. Und Hans, he just stood there in the tank and looked the shark right in the eye. Und the shark just slowly stopped and looked Hans right back in the eye. Und then, all of a sudden, the shark just rolled right over on his belly – und ate ‘im.
REINER (incredulous): He ate him? What kind of illusion is that?
CAESAR: It’s a very good illusion. But you gotta do it right. You see, don’t start off rehearsing mit a shark. You start with a guppy, a gold-fish, a nice herring, a piece of salmon is not bad – don’t get crazy mit a shark right away.
REINER: That’s an interesting story, Professor, but how does it apply to real life?
CAESAR: How? You can’t see? You don’t make the connection?
REINER: Sorry, Professor, I don’t
CAESAR: If you start out too big, you could let yourself be eaten up.
J. Oswald Sanders (Spiritual Leadership) writes,
Nothing is more distasteful to God than self-conceit. This first and fundamental sin is essence aims at enthroning self at the expense of God… Pride is a sin of whose presence its victim is least conscious … If we are honest, when we measure ourselves by the life of our Lord who humbled Himself even to death on a cross, we cannot but be overwhelmed with the tawdriness and shabbiness, and even the vileness of our hearts.
Isaac Watts said it this way in a famous hymn:
When I Survey The Wondrous Cross – Isaac Watts
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down:
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Instead of trying so hard to get on top of others, try looking to the cross and His love for you, and turn around to serve others instead.
:9 and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.
bring into contempt – qalal – to be slight, be of little account, be light
honourable – kabad – to be heavy, be weighty
God will make a joke about all the things they consider to be serious stuff.
Lesson #2
God isn’t impressed with your worldliness.
We spend a lot of time trying to impress each other.
The things that the world looks at as impressive, don’t impress God. In fact, sometimes we have things exactly backwards to what impresses God.
James 2:1-9
My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. {2} For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; {3} And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: {4} Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? {5} Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? {6} But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? {7} Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? {8} If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: {9} But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.Sometimes we look at people on the outward appearance, when God is looking at the heart. We can look at someone who is pretty important in the world, or smart, or influential, or wealthy, or good-looking, and we say, "Boy, wouldn’t God be able to do great things through them!"
Wrong.
God loves to use weak, foolish things.
(1 Cor 1:26-27 KJV) For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: {27} But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
I’m not trying to say that we all ought to try real hard to be stupid and ugly. But I’m saying that we ought to be putting our focus on what pleases God, and not what pleases people. Don’t be concerned about what others think of you. Be concerned about what God thinks.
:10 O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength.
It could be that this is talking about the people of Tarshish now being free from the bondage they were under by Tyre. Tyre kept the inhabitants of Tarshish working as slaves, now they were free.
:11 a commandment against the merchant city
merchant city – again, literally, "Canaanite". The Phoenicians called their land "Canaan", even on their coins. The strong parts of the land would be destroyed.
:13 the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it
Chaldeans – an ancient name for the Babylonians.
It would be humiliating to Tyre that such a "new" city as Babylon would conquer such an "ancient" city like Tyre.
In Isaiah’s day, Tyre had already survived a major siege by the awesome Assyrian empire. For five years, the Assyrians came against the city, and were able to conquer the portion of Tyre located on the mainland, but were unable to conquer the island city.
But a little over a hundred years in Isaiah’s future, it would be a Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, who would once again put the Phoenicians under attack. He not only conquered the entire coastline, but leveled it as well. Yet he was still unable to touch the island city. They were able to survive a 13 year siege by Nebuchadnezzar, but only barely.
:15-18 Restoration
:15 forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king:
Tyre would go into decline after Nebuchadnezzar would conquer the mainland. The Babylonian empire’s strength lasted seventy years.
:15 after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
After Babylon was conquered by the Persian Empire, Tyre began to court the Persians.
It was under the Persians, who conquered the Babylonians, that Tyre would again become stronger. When the Persian emperors tried to conquer Greece, they contracted with the Phoenicians to build their navy. But they picked the wrong side in that war. It was the Greeks who won. In fact, it was a Greek, Alexander the Great, who finally, totally conquered Tyre in 332 BC. He wiped out the city by building a peninsula out to the island, and then leveled it. He did it in seven months. Even after Alexander, Tyre rebuilt itself again, only to be conquered by the Romans. The city was finally wiped out by the Saracens in 1291 AD. Today, there is only a small village near the site of the once great city.
:16 sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
As someone who has lost their business and is going about drumming up new business, Tyre would be back in business under the Persians.
:17 the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire
God would give Tyre seventy years to think about what its life had been like. At the end of the seventy years, God would give Tyre another chance.
But instead of choosing a new life, Tyre went back to her old ways.
Lesson
Learn your lessons.
It seems that Tyre wouldn’t learn the lessons it was supposed to learn. Every time it went through a time of judgment, it would rebuild, and then go back to it’s old ways.
This is what Peter meant when he said:
(2 Pet 2:20-22 NLT) And when people escape from the wicked ways of the world by learning about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up with sin and become its slave again, they are worse off than before. {21} It would be better if they had never known the right way to live than to know it and then reject the holy commandments that were given to them. {22} They make these proverbs come true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and "A washed pig returns to the mud."
We’ve been free for a little while from our sin. Then a perverse curiosity seems to set in and we kind of dabble a little. A dog returning to its vomit is a pretty gross, but true picture.
Talking about pigs …
Illustration
Farmer Jones got out of his car and while heading for his friend's door, noticed a pig with a wooden leg. His curiosity roused, he ask, "Fred, how'd that pig get him a wooden leg?" "Well Michael, that's a mighty special pig! A while back a wild boar attacked me while I was walking in the woods. That pig there came a runnin', went after that boar and chased him away. Saved my life!" "And the boar tore up his leg?" "No he was fine after that. But a bit later we had that fire. Started in the shed up against the barn. Well, that ole pig started squealin' like he was stuck, woke us up, and 'fore we got out here, the darn thing had herded the other animals out of the barn and saved 'em all!" "So that's when he hurt his leg, huh, Fred?" "No, Michael. He was a might winded, though. When my tractor hit a rock and rolled down the hill into the pond I was knocked clean out. When I came to, that pig had dove into the pond and dragged me out 'fore I drownded. Sure did save my life." "And that was when he hurt his leg?" "Oh no, he was fine. Cleaned him up, too." "OK, Fred. So just tell me. How did he get the wooden leg?" "Well", the farmer tells him, "A pig like that, you don't want to eat all at once!"
Just like the farmer, we don’t always get the lessons down right, do we? It’s hard to break old habits. We end up hurting the very ones who have done so much for us.
:18 her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD …
(Isa 23:18 NLT) But in the end her businesses will give their profits to the LORD…
There will be a time in Tyre’s future when the things it did would be turned toward the Lord.
Lesson
Nobody is beyond hope.
It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve failed Him. He is in the business of giving second chances. He died on a cross for the purpose of paying for your sins. If you are still alive and breathing today, it’s not too late to turn to Him for help.