Ezekiel 26:1-7 – What goes around always comes around.

We are amid our discussion on God’s messages of judgment on Judah’s surrounding nations. In Ezekiel 25, God’s messages were directed at Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia. Now from Ezekiel 26:1-28:19, the message of God’s judgment was directed at Tyre. Ezekiel 26:1-7 foretells Tyre’s impending destruction.  

Where is Tyre? Tyre had often been mentioned in conjunction with Sidon in the Bible. These two were ancient cities of Phoenicia (modern-day Lebanon) on the Mediterranean coast. Tyre and Sidon were Gentile cities north of Israel and Joshua 19:29 tells us that this region was assigned to the tribe of Asher. And Judges 1:31 tells us that Asher did not possess these twin cities. In the ancient world, Tyre was a leading commercial centre comprising two sections. One part was on the mainland coast and the other part was offshore on an island a short distance from the mainland.  

The message of God’s judgment on Tyre came to Ezekiel in “the eleventh year, on the first of the month.” It would be about two years into Nebuchadnezzar’s three-year siege of Jerusalem.  Verse 2 gives us the reason for Tyre’s destruction. She had rejoiced at Jerusalem’s plight. Their words in verse 2 were “Aha, the gateway of the peoples is broken; it has opened to me. I shall be filled, now that she is laid waste,” In other words, they were gloating over the fall to Jerusalem because it meant that they would take over the important trade route that passed through that fallen city.  

For gloating over Jerusalem’s woe, God through Ezekiel detailed the extent of their destruction in verses 3-6. In these four verses, the prophet specified the calamitous experiences that would destroy Tyre. Many nations would come against her breaking her walls and tearing down her towers leaving it a city of rock and debris. The destroyed city would become a place where fishermen would come and spread their nets. She would be plundered and become spoil for the nations and her citizens would be ravaged by the sword. Through the experience, the people of Tyre would come to recognise God’s sovereignty.   

Tyre was marked by two things. Instead of seeing the plight of Jerusalem as a warning, she gloated at her loss. Instead of being compassionate about what God’s people were going through, they gleefully cherished their advantage at Jerusalem’s expense. They not only gloat over Jerusalem’s misfortune but also selfishly seek to exploit Jerusalem’s downfall. From Proverbs 17:5, take a piece of advice not to mock someone going through calamity. It says, “Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.” What goes around always comes around!