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THE
DESTRUCTION OF TYRE
"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. 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. It shall be a place for spreading nets in the
midst of the sea,... and you shall never be rebuilt, for I
the Lord have spoken" (Ezekiel 26:3-5, 14).
Ancient
Tyre was a great seaport and the import-export capital of
Phoenicia. It had been in existence for a very long time.
In fact, it had been in existence for about 2,000 years when
the prophecy in Ezekiel 26 was given.
In the
prophecy there are several specifics given. First of all,
more than one nation would attack Tyre. Secondly, Tyre would
be destroyed and broken. Third, Tyre would be scraped clean
like the top of a rock and would be dumped into the sea. Fourth,
fishermen would spread their nets on the very spot where old
Tyre once stood. Fifth, it would never be built again.
What
happened? Nebuchadnezzar, about 600 years before Christ, came
to Tyre and laid siege to the city. It took him thirteen years,
but finally he broke through the wall, burned the city and
took its citizens captive. But this only fulfilled part of
the prophecy.
For 200
years Tyre lay in ruins until Alexander the Great came to
that area. Alexander saw the Phoenicians living on a little
island off the coast and very wealthy. He commanded his army,
"Build a road out to that island. I want to take the
city." And that's exactly what he did. His soldiers became
construction workers and they took the ruins of ancient Tyre,
the Tyre that Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed and burned, and
dumped the ruins into the sea to make a causeway out to the
island. Alexander took and destroyed the island. Zechariah
prophesied, "For Tyre built herself a tower, heaped up
silver like the dust, and gold like the mire of the streets.
Behold, the Lord will cast her out. He will destroy her power
in the sea, and she will be devoured by fire" (Zechariah
9:3, 4).
The prophecies
regarding Tyre have been fulfilled in elaborate detail. Today,
you can drive on Alexander's causeway. Columns of ancient
Tyre may still be seen lying in the sea. Fishermen dry their
nets where Tyre once was a thriving seaport. It has not been
rebuilt.
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