Isaiah 23:8-14 – Pride will guarantee one’s fall

Having pronounced the destruction of Tyre in verses 1-7, Isaiah asked a rhetorical question in verse 8. He asked: “Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants were princes, whose traders were honoured of the earth?” This question was aimed to stir his audience to ponder how Tyre, which was once a prosperous and significant city, ended up in such a predicament. Didn’t it once play a key role in the success of nations around the Mediterranean region? Why then did it become so undone?

The prophet set out in verse 9 to answer his own rhetorical question. He asserted that it was the plan of the Almighty God to bring an end to their pride. Isaiah’s message clearly asserted that God alone deserves the glory. Any nation, regardless, which sought to exalt itself and grab the glory that rightly belongs to God, would be brought to naught. Isaiah’s hope was for Judah and Jerusalem to note what he was saying. He wanted them to know that if they proceeded down the same route as prideful Tyre, and would not turn to rely on God, they too would suffer the same consequence.

Verses 10-11 show that in the judgment of Tyre and Sidon, God had commanded the sea to bring about its destruction. Though the people of Sidon sought to take refuge in Cyprus they could not find rest there. To erase all doubts concerning God’s ability to do it, the prophet in verse 13 asserted that God had done it before to Babylon. Indeed God had once brought down that great Babylon and reduced its cities to ruins. Isaiah’s point was if God had done it before to Babylon, He could also do the same to Tyre and Sidon, and even Judah.

We cannot get away from the issue of pride that Tyre and Sidon displayed. Pride is a stubborn attitude that causes one to lose one’s ability to accurately appraise oneself. It’s an attitude that causes one to inflate one’s importance, wisdom, and ability. Hence, it will make trusting God impossible. So Proverbs 18:12 says, “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, but humility goes before honor.” True wisdom begins when we acknowledge that we are nothing without God. Remember to always stay humble and pliable before God!