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Ezekiel 25:1-17
J. Vernon McGee observed “…from here on
Ezekiel will not be giving any prophecies concerning the destruction of
Jerusalem, because he is not writing history; he is writing prophecy. So now he turns to the surrounding
nations.” [THRU THE BIBLE, Vol. III, p.
485, col.1, par.3] This prophecy was
written at the same time as chapter 24. In the two or three previous invasions carried out by Nebuchadnezzar in
Judea and Jerusalem the Moabites and Ammonites had been used like mercenaries
to bolster Nebuchadnezzar’s army. They
may have actually helped profane or rob God’s sanctuary in those previous raids
on Judah and Jerusalem they took part in as part of Nebuchadnezzar’s army
(605BC and 597BC). But as you remember,
Ammon and Moab had participated in that unwise alliance king Zedekiah of Judah
had made with Pharaoh Hophra. Now with
the final destruction of Judah and Jerusalem over with, the Moabites and
Ammonites---thinking they’ve been spared and their treasonous acts toward
Nebuchadnezzar forgotten by him, or not being held accountable for their part
in that alliance with Pharaoh Hophra against Babylon---are saying “Aha!” and
gloating over Jerusalem’s fall. What if
three boys, friends, had done something bad, and one got caught by the police,
and the others were gloating over the fact that “they got away with it,” and
yet a little later on the police learned the whole story? Well, Nebuchadnezzar knew the whole story,
even though the people of Moab and Ammon didn’t realize it, thought they’d gotten
away with it.
Proclamation
against Ammon
Verses 1-7, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
‘Son of man, set your face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against
them. Say to the Ammonites, Hear the
word of the Lord GOD: Because you said,
‘Aha!’ against my sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of
Israel when it was desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into
captivity, indeed, therefore, I will deliver you as a possession to the men of
the East, and they shall set their encampments among you; they shall eat your
fruit, and they shall drink your milk. And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels and Ammon a resting place for
flocks. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.’ For thus says
the Lord GOD: Because you
clapped your hands, stamped your
feet, and rejoiced in heart with all your disdain for the land of Israel,
indeed, therefore, I will stretch out my hand against you, and give you as
plunder to the nations; I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will cause
you to perish from the countries; I will destroy you, and you shall know that I am the LORD.’
Proclamation
against Moab
Verses 8-11, “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Because Moab and Seir say, Look! The house of Judah is like all the nations,’ therefore, behold, I will clear the
territory of Moab of cities, of the cities on its frontier, the glory of the
country, Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kirjathaim. To the men of the East I will give it as a
possession, together with the Ammonites, that the Ammonites may not be
remembered among the nations. And I will
execute judgments upon Moab, and they shall know that I am the LORD.’”
Proclamation
against Edom
Edom,
obviously, due to their continual hatred and harassment of the Jews and
Israelites, took part in the taking of Jerusalem’s spoils. The short book of Obediah gives us God’s
judgment against Edom, which had the rock-hewn city of Petra for its
capital. The reasons for God’s judgment
are listed here. Verses 12-13, “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Because of what
Edom did against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly
offended by avenging itself on them,’ therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘I will also stretch out my hand against
Edom, cut off man and beast from it, and make it desolate from Teman; Dedan
shall fall by the sword.” Then God’s judgment on the race of Edom looks
way into the future, to the end-times, in verse 14. This never happened during the time of
Nebuchadnezzar. Judah was in captivity,
and the House of Israel was living way off to the north of Asia Minor in
Scythia. Verse 14, “I will lay my vengeance on Edom by
the hand of my people Israel, that they may do in Edom according to my anger
and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance,’ says the Lord GOD.” This
potentially refers to Edom’s total destruction at Christ’s return. The modern descendants of Edom are thought by
some to be the Turks, the nation of Turkey, as well as the Palestinians, who
are a blended race who could be of the peoples mentioned in this chapter. The Moabites and Ammonites are the modern-day Jordanians, and
are the descendants of the two sons Lot’s daughters bore him, Ammon and Moab.
Proclamation
against Philistia
Verses 15-17, “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Because the Philistines dealt vengefully and
took vengeance with a spiteful heart, to destroy because of the old hatred [margin: perpetual],’ therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘I will stretch out my hand against the
Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the remnant of the
seacoast. I will execute great vengeance
on them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I lay my vengeance upon them.’” The Philistines
had been a constant enemy of first the united kingdom of Israel under Saul and David,
and continued to be a thorn in Judah’s side. They inhabited the coastal region we know now as the Gaza Strip. The time for Philistia’s destruction is not
stated here, but by the context it occurred at the same time of
Nebuchadnezzar’s conquest of Judah and Jerusalem, at the hands of the
Babylonian army, whose conquest went right to the Egyptian border.
Ezekiel 26:1-21
J. Vernon McGee has, “Chapters 26-28 give us
prophecies against Tyre and Sidon. Tyre
and Sidon belong together like pork and beans, or ham and eggs. You never think of one without the
other. These chapters are a marvelous
example of the exactness of the literal fulfillment of prophecy. Tyre was the
capital of the great Phoenician nation which was famous for seagoing
traders. They plied the Mediterranean
and even went beyond that. We know today
that they went around the Pillars of Hercules and the Rock of Gibraltar, and
into Great Britain, where they obtained tin. They established a colony in North Africa [Carthage or Kirjath-Hadeschath]. Tarshish in Spain was founded by these people
[modern-day Cadiz, Spain]. They were
great colonizers and went a lot farther than we used to think they did in their
explorations [see “America BC” by
Barry Fell]. Tyre was a great and proud
city. Hiram, king of Tyre, had been a
good friend of David and supplied him with building materials. Solomon and Hiram did not get along as well
as David and Hiram had. Apparently Hiram
was a great king. But also the center of
Baal worship was in Tyre and Sidon. Jezebel, the daughter of a king and former
priestess [of Baal], married Ahab, king of Israel, and introduced Baal worship
into the northern kingdom [see http://www.unityinchrist.com/kings/1.html]…”Her
daughters” (verse 6), I believe, [are] the colonies she established. She had established one on the island of
Cyprus, by the way. Cyprus means
“copper”, and she obtained copper from there. The Phoenicians were the traders who brought these metals into the
ancient civilized world. [THRU THE
BIBLE, Vol. III, col.1, par. 1-3, col.2 par.8] Again, for a very interesting read, see Barry Fell’s “America BC”, which documents that the
Phoenician’s had actually set up copper mines in Wisconsin and had been
transporting copper ingots down the Mississippi River. They combined the copper with the tin they
were mining in Wales to manufacture bronze for tools and weapons which they
then sold for a decent profit in the Middle East and elsewhere. They were a real mercantile empire. Halley has, “These visions of the doom of
Tyre were given to Ezekiel in the same year Jerusalem fell…a prophecy of
Nebuchadnezzar’s siege, and Tyre’s Permanent Desolation. Next year (585BC) Nebuchadnezzar laid siege
to Tyre. It took 13 years to conquer the
city (585-573BC). Tyre, located 60 miles
northwest of Nazareth, was a double-city, one part on an island, the other part
on the mainland in a fertile and well-watered plain at the western foot of the
Lebanon Mountain Range. It was the great
[Phoenician] maritime power of the ancient world, at its zenith from the 12th to the 6th centuries BC, with colonies on the north and west coasts
of Africa, in Spain, and Britain, controlling the commerce of the
Mediterranean, with the wares of all nations passing through its port. [Tyre]
was a city renowned for its splendor and fabulous wealth. With its subjugation by Nebuchadnezzar it
ceased to be an independent power…” [Halley’s Bible Handbook, p. 330] Again see http://www.unityinchrist.com/kings/1.html . Don’t forget, the Tyrian-Phoenician
Empire had combined it’s mercantile merchant marine-navy with that of the
northern House of Israel, plying the oceans of the world for wealth. As we saw in that commentary, from the 900s
BC to the 700s BC, this was a combined sea-going merchant-marine/navy. Most historians don’t realize that, due to
the stigma everyone seems to have against Israel, and everything to do with the
name Israel. Even Gentile Christianity
has this misguided concept that the House of Israel was this tiny little nation
in the Middle East that had no great influence outside of it’s own regional
area. What Halley fails to mention is
that Nebuchadnezzar only succeeded in conquering the mainland portion of this
powerful city-state, and that took him 13 long hard years of siege
warfare. The island portion of this
city-state remained free right up to is siege and destruction by Alexander the
Great in 332 BC. The city-state of Tyre
did grudgingly pay homage to Nebuchadnezzar, and their royal family was taken
to Babylon (cf. Jeremiah 28). Verse 3
says that Tyre, and by extrapolation the whole Phoenician Empire, would be
destroyed, and this destruction not all at once, but coming in successive
waves, like the waves of the sea. When
Nebuchadnezzar couldn’t finish the job, God sent Alexander the Great to do
it. During both of these sieges, especially
the later one of Alexander all the wealthy Phoenicians along with their entire
maritime merchant-marine/navy migrated westward to their colonies in Carthage
(Kirjath-Hadeschath), Sicily, Tarshish on the Atlantic side of
Duality
of part of this prophecy
Is there a duality to these prophecies? We saw there was a duality between ancient
Babylon and Babylon the Great mentioned in the Book of Revelation (chapters 13,
17 and 18), where key elements of the Babylonian Mystery Religion have been
transferred into Rome and then on into the Roman Catholic Church. It is an
interesting fact of history that the Phoenicians dwelling on the island portion
of their capital city of Tyre had built huge 160 foot retaining walls around
it, even placing these walls out into the sea well below sea-level, and then
pumping out the sea-water so that now part of this island city was well below
sea-level. Huge tall buildings, ancient
sky-scrapers, towered above these walls. Interestingly enough an unknown race of people with knowledge of
hydraulic engineering and construction like this settled in northern Italy,
creating a huge city in the middle of a river, the city of Venice. Also the northern Italians are called
Tyroleans, and look entirely different from the normal Italians to the south of
them in the rest of Italy. The Romish or Holy Roman Empire system prophecied to arise in
Europe during the end-times could then very well fit the Bible’s prophetic
reference as being Babylon or as Tyre, both powerful pagan mercantile systems. The huge future sea-going mercantile system
symbolized by Tyre and Babylon will soon supplant that of America and the
English speaking nations. But in the
duality of the prophecy in Ezekiel 26, we see God saying this evil
Babylonian-Tyrian mercantile system will fall, never to rise again. “And
after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great
power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice,
saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of
devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and
hateful bird. For all the nations have
drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth
have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed
rich through the abundance of her delicacies.” (Revelation 18:1-3). This huge future sea-going mercantile system
symbolized by Tyre and Babylon will soon supplant that of America and the
English speaking nations. But in the
duality of the prophecy in Ezekiel 26, we see God saying this evil
Babylonian-Tyrian mercantile system will fall, never to rise again. We are now on the very door-step of seeing
this evil system which is about to arise out of Europe.
Verses 1-6, “And it came to pass in the
eleventh year, on the first day of
the month, that the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
‘Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, Aha! She is broken who was the gateway of the peoples; now she is turned over to me; I
shall be filled; she is laid waste.’ Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘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, for I have spoken,’ says the Lord GOD; ‘it shall become
plunder for the nations. Also her
daughter villages which are in the fields shall be slain by the
sword. Then they shall know that I am
the LORD.’ The King James has for verse 6, “And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the LORD.” These “daughters which are in the field” would be Tyre’s
major colonies, such as Carthage and Tarshish, Carthage being the
strongest. History has shown us what
happened to Carthage.
First
“Wave” of Conquest to Come Against Tyre, from Babylon
Verses 7-11, “For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the
north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses, with
chariots, and with horsemen, and an army with many people. He will slay with the sword your daughter villages in the fields; he will heap up
a siege mound against you, build a wall against you, and raise a defense
against you. He will direct his
battering rams against your walls, and with his axes break down your towers. Because of the abundance of his horses, their
dust will cover you; your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen, the
wagons, and the chariots, when he enters your gates, as men enter a city that
has been breached. With the hooves of
his horses he will trample all your streets; he will slay your people by the
sword, and your strong pillars will fall to the ground.”
“He”
changes to “They”, Next Wave of Conquest to Follow---from Alexander the Great
Verses 12-14, “They will plunder your riches
and pillage your merchandise; they will break down your walls and destroy your
pleasant houses; they will lay your stones, your timber, and your soil in the
midst of the water.” The personal pronoun has changed from “he” representing Nebuchadnezzar to “they” representing the next wave of conquest, which Alexander the
Great brought on Tyre. Nebuchadnezzar
had conquered the mainland portion of the city-state of Tyre, but the Tyrians
had merely moved to the island portion of the city when Nebuchadnezzar finally
breached the walls of the mainland portion of the city after 13 years of siege
warfare. How could even the mainland
portion of Tyre hold out so long against Nebuchadnezzar and his forces? They were being supplied by the vast
Phoenician merchant marine/navy with food and weapons and personnel. Tyre, in that sense, wasn’t an isolated city,
she was connected by a powerful merchant marine/navy to a powerful network of
sister colonies, such as Carthage and Tarshish, just to name the two major
ones. When the mainland portion of Tyre
finally did fall, everyone not captured merely moved to the heavily fortified
island portion of the city. Naturally,
they had lost all the surrounding farmland on the mainland, so food had to be
imported to the island city of Tyre, a more expensive prospect. Tyre was still the shipping and trading
capital of the world. But a lot of their
business and manufacture of ships, now cut off from their source of the
Lebanese forests, shifted as well to Kirjath-Hadeschath or Carthage. But in 332BC Alexander the Great came along,
and built a huge mole out to the island, and then brought huge battering rams
and siege towers on wheels which towered just above the height of their
walls. From these towers masses of
archers could shoot down on those manning the walls. Also ramps could be lowered, where Greek
troops could surge down onto the top level of the walls of Tyre. The verse says “they will lay your stones, your timber, and your soil in the midst of
the water.” (verse 12). Remember I
said the Tyrians had built huge retaining walls out into the harbor, in the
ocean, and then pumped out the sea-water, making part of the city of Tyre below
sea-level? The Greeks destroyed those
walls, flooding that portion of Tyre, sending it underwater. That is what that verse was predicting, and
it happened just as it was prophecied in verse 12. “I
will put an end to the sound of your songs, and the sound of your harps shall
be heard no more. I will make you like
the top of a rock; you shall be a place
for spreading nets, and you shall never be rebuilt, for I the LORD have spoken,’ says
the Lord GOD.”
The
Mediterranean reverberates at the news of Tyre’s fall
Verses 15-18, “Thus says the Lord GOD to Tyre: ‘Will the coastlands not shake at the sound
of your fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of
you? Then all the princes of the sea
will come down from their thrones, lay aside their robes, and take off their
embroidered garments; they will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit
on the ground, tremble every moment,
and be astonished at you. And they will
take up a lamentation for you, and say to you:
‘How you have perished, O one inhabited by
seafaring men, O renowned city, who was strong at sea, she and her inhabitants,
who caused terror to be on all her
inhabitants! Now the coastlands tremble
on the day of your fall; yes, the coastlands by the sea are troubled at your
departure.’
Verses 19-21, “For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘When I make you a desolate city, like cities
that are not inhabited, when I bring the deep upon you, and great waters
cover you, then I will bring you down with those who descend into the Pit,
to the people of old, and I will make you dwell in the lowest part of the
earth, in places desolate from antiquity, with those who go down to the Pit, so
that you may never be inhabited; and I shall establish glory in the land of the
living. I will make you a terror, and
you shall be no more; though you are sought for, you will never be found again,’
says the Lord GOD.” The underlined part of the verse did literally happen,
when Alexander’s forces destroyed and broke down the huge sea-retaining walls
which flooded the lower section of the island-city of Tyre. But even further, like historic waves, the
Phoenician maritime empire was destroyed as well. In September 480BC the Greek navy under
Themistocles won a huge sea-battle against the Persian navy, which was made up
chiefly of Phoenician naval vessels from Tyre, Sidon and Carthage. From then on, the Greek navy slowly but
steadily drove the Phoenicians from the eastern Mediterranean. Then Rome came along, and destroyed Carthage
in the Punic Wars, driving the remaining merchant-marine/navy of the
Phoenicians for shelter in their far-flung colonies in the British Isles and along
the western coastlands of Europe. Those
Phoenician trading outposts and colonies in North America were absorbed into
the Native American races or driven away, we’re not sure. But God’s Word stands. The Phoenicians are no longer an independent
race of people. If they do continue to
exist, it is in pockets of ethnic groups, perhaps as the Venetians of Venice
and the Tyroleans of northern Italy. That a
Tyrian-Babylonian mercantile system will arise in the end-times is sure, it’s
prophecied in the Book of Revelation. And it too will meet its final demise, just as the city of Tyre did.
Ezekiel 27:1-36
J. Vernon McGee has, “The preceding chapter
gave us the prophecy concerning the destruction of Tyre, and we saw that the
prophecy was literally fulfilled. The
ruins of Tyre stand today as a witness to the accuracy of the Word of God. This was an impressive city in Ezekiel’s
day. Even though he may never have been
there, he gives a lamentation for Tyre in this chapter. He laments the fact that this great city will
fall. It was a great city---I
don’t want to minimize its beauty and magnificence. This is a sad and beautiful chapter in which
Ezekiel likens Tyre, the capital of the Phoenician Empire, to a great ship that
is wrecked. I cannot think of a better
picture for a seagoing people. What
brought Tyre down? The same thing that
brought down the rock-hewn city of Petra also brought down the great city of
Tyre: “The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee…” (Obed. 3). Pride in the glory, pomp, and prosperity is
the thing that has brought down many great nations of the world and reduced
them to ruins. This chapter speaks of
how extensive the kingdom of Phoenicia was. It beings with Chittim (Cyprus), meaning copper, which was one of their
colonies, and extends all the way to Tarshish, which means smelting plant or
refinery. Tarshish was sort of a
jumping-off place for the Phoenicians [as they sailed from there to Wales for
tin, and America for furs and copper, mined in Wisconsin and transported down
the Mississippi (see Barry Fell’s “America BC”)]. Jonah bought a ticket to that city, but he
never saw it---instead he saw the interior of a big fish! Tyre was a great commercial center. Merchants came from all over the world to buy
and sell. You could find just about
anything you wanted in Tyre. In verse 17 it says that Israel traded in her
markets. “Minnith” was perhaps olives or
figs made into some kind of preserves. You could buy anything and everything in the markets of Tyre. If you want a picture
of Tyre as the great commercial center, you will see it depicted in a prophecy
of Babylon in the future when it will become the commercial, religious and
political center of the [western] world. It will be the capital of the Antichrist. “The merchandise of gold, and silver, and
precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and
scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner
vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon,
and odours, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and
horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after…”
(Revelation 18:12-14). This is also a
picture of London, Paris, Rome, New York City, and Los Angeles. You can buy anything you want in these
cities. If you have the money, you can buy it. Today is the age of materialism, just as it was in the days of Tyre. Tyre was like a
great ship. Everything the people needed
was on board, and the music was playing. There was laughter, and the wine and champagne flowed. It was all there. Then it all disappeared [just like the HMS
Titanic, very good analogy]. God judged
it. Now here is a lamentation and the
weeping over that great city [just like everybody has wept and lamented over
the fate of the Titanic]. That is exactly what is going to happen in the last
days. In those last days the stock
market will fail, and everything you have in your safe deposit boxes won’t be
worth a dime, and everything you thought was valuable will suddenly become dust
and ashes in your hands. What a tragic day it was when Tyre fell; what a tragic day it will be when the same thing happens in
the future!...Tyre was like a great ship that
had gone down at sea.” [THRU THE BIBLE,
Vol. III, pp. 489-490] See http://www.unityinchrist.com/evangelism/tools.htm for a good HMS Titanic analogy and facts about her sinking.
Verses 1-11, “The word of the LORD came again to me, saying, ‘Now, son of man, take up a
lamentation for Tyre, and say to Tyre, You who are situated at the entrance of
the sea, merchant of the peoples of many coastlands, thus says the Lord GOD: O Tyre, you have said, I am perfect in beauty. Your
borders are in the midst of the seas. Your builders have perfected your beauty. They made your planks of fir trees from Senir; they took a cedar from Lebanon to make you a
mast. Of oaks from Bashan they made your oars;. The company of Ashurites have inlaid your planks with ivory
from the coasts of Cyprus. Fine
embroidered linen from Egypt was what you spread for your sail; blue and purple
from the coasts of Elishah was what covered you. Inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your
oarsmen;. Your wise men, O Tyre, were in you; they became your pilots. [Comment: Sidon was the other major city-state that
made up the Phoenician Empire when it was centered at Tyre. Carthage and Tarshish were merely large
colonies.] Elders of Gebal and its wise men were in you
to caulk your seams; all the ships of the sea and their oarsmen were in you to
market your merchandise. Those from
Persia, Lydia, and Libya [Hebrew: Lud] were in your army as men of war; they
hung shield and helmet in you; they gave splendor to you. Men of Arvad with your army were on your walls all around, and the men of Gammad [men of daring] were in your towers; they hung their shields on your
walls all around; they made your
beauty perfect.” Ashurites are
mentioned, men of Ashur or Assyria. As
there was Assyrian involvement then, so will
there be Assyrian involvement in the Babylonian-Tyrian mercantile system during
the end-times. Sizeable elements of
ancient Assyria, in defeat to Babylon, moved northwestward up the Danube River
into northeastern and northwestern Europe to what is now Germany.
The
Extensive Mercantile Trade System of Tyre
Verses 12-24, “Tarshish was your merchant because of your many luxury goods. They gave you silver, iron, tin, and lead for
your goods. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were your traders. [Comment:
Javan, the Hebrew word used elsewhere for Greece, listed in the table of
nations in Genesis 10 as the son of Noah’s son Japheth, yellow-skinned
Mongoloid peoples of the Far East, but also of the white and olive-skinned
people of the Mediterranean, such as southern Europeans, Greeks, Cypriots,
Italians and Spaniards, traditionally traced back to Javan’s sons Elishah,
Kittim and Tarshish, all listed in Ezekiel 27 (verses 6-7, 12). Tarshish originally settled in Asia Minor
(city of Tarsus), with some migrating to Spain, giving their name to Tartessus,
the city of Tarshish of the Bible which Jonah tried to flee to. Tubal, Meshech and Togarmah (verses 13-14) in
ancient times lived near the Black Sea. Today these peoples live in central, western and eastern Russia.] They bartered human lives and vessels of bronze for your
merchandise. Those from the house of
Togarmah traded for your wares with horses, steeds, and mules. The men of Dedan were your traders; many isles were the market of your hand. They brought
you ivory tusks and ebony as payment. Syria was your merchant
because of the abundance of goods you made. They gave you for your wares emeralds, purple, embroidery, fine linen,
corals, and rubies. Judah and Israel were your traders. They traded for your merchandise wheat of
Minnith, millet, honey, oil, and balm. Damascus was your merchant
because of the abundance of goods you made, because of your many luxury items,
with the wine of Helbon and with the white wool. Dan and Javan paid for your wares, traversing
back and forth. [Comment: in verse 19 here, the tribe of Dan is
associated with Javan or Greece, probably because the Danites for a brief time
settled in Greece. The Danites were
known as a sailing tribe, and plied the seas in their ships, the Danites later
becoming the Celts, found throughout BC Europe, Ireland, Denmark, and traveling
as far as BC America with the Phoenicians [see Barry Fell’s America
BC]. Presently Dan may be found
in Ireland (and Scotland, though they don’t like to admit it) and Denmark. See http://www.unityinchrist.com/jeremiah/jer9.html , http://www.unityinchrist.com/jeremiah/jer11.html , http://www.unityinchrist.com/kings/3.html and http://www.unityinchrist.com/jeremiah/jer12.html] Wrought
iron, cassia, and cane were among your merchandise. Dedan was your merchant in saddlecloths for riding. Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your regular merchants. They traded
with you in lambs, rams, and goats. The
merchants of Sheba and Raama were your merchants. They traded for your
wares the choicest spices, all kinds of precious stones, and gold. Haran, Canneh, Eden, the merchants of Sheba,
Assyria, and Chilmad were your merchants. These were your merchants in choice items---in purple clothes, in embroidered garments, in
chests of multicolored apparel, in sturdy woven cords, which were in your
marketplace.” Here we get a true
picture of the maritime and overland greatness and diversity of the Phoenician
Empire, which after the time of David and Solomon, was closely allied, almost
as one with the northern ten tribes of Israel, in a prosperous maritime
alliance, where the sailors on their ships were manned by both Phoenicians and
Israelites, especially Danite/Celtic. But what God was angry about, and taking vengeance over was how the
Phoenician Empire during this alliance had polluted first the House of Israel,
and then the House of Judah to the south with Baal-worship, with it’s evil
child-sacrifice rituals. The House of
Israel was punished severely for those practices, was conquered and sent into
deportation and captivity, then the House of Judah suffered the same divine
punishment. So wouldn’t it stand to
reason, since God is fair and just, that the very ones who had been responsible
for polluting and infecting God’s people with evil child-sacrificing
Baal-worship, should face a similar fate and punishment? God wouldn’t be fair to not punish the
Phoenicians for their part in the spiritual mess they had caused. God’s judgment is fair and just. And what is the modern equivalent of
Baal-worshipping child sacrifice? It’s
abortion. Since the beginning of legalized
abortion in the 1960s to now an estimated 45 million babies have been killed,
murdered, through this modern equivalent of their evil practices. Do you think we will escape God’s judgment,
in the end?
The
Fate of Tyre, Capital City and Jewel of the Phoenician Empire
Verses 25-36, “The ships of Tarshish were
carriers of your merchandise. You were
filled and very glorious in the midst of the seas. Your oarsmen brought you into many waters. [Comment: The actual ships of Tarshish were reputed to
have been large ocean-going ships based out of Tarshish, a seaport on the
Atlantic side of Spain, what is now the seaport of Cadiz, Spain. It is historic fact that the Phoenicians,
embarking from Tarshish in these ships, had ports of call throughout the
British Isles, mining tin in Wales, and as Barry Fell brings out in his book America
BC mining and transporting copper from mines they had in Wisconsin, and
then smelting the tin and copper together into farming implements and weapons
of sturdy, durable bronze and reselling these implements throughout their
worldwide mercantile trading sphere of influence. These “ships of Tarshish” were an integral
part of this worldwide mercantile system they had set up. They had to be large and very seaworthy to
ply the North Atlantic between Europe and the North American continent, as well
as the North Sea between the British Isles and the shores of western Europe
where all their other trading colonies had been set up. Any sailor, whether those in fishing
trawlers, or sailors in one of this world’s major navies (US, British, French,
German, Russian) would know these ships had to be very sturdy and seaworthy,
and probably larger than most would suspect. See http://www.unityinchrist.com/kings/1.html and http://www.unityinchrist.com/kings/3.html,
and for further proof, you can purchase Barry Fell’s book America BC at http://www.amazon.com.] But
the east wind broke you in the midst of the seas. Your riches, wares, and merchandise, your
mariners and pilots, your caulkers and merchandisers, all your men of war who are in you, and the entire company which is in your midst, will fall into the
midst of the seas on the day of your ruin. The common-land will shake at the sound of the cry of your pilots. All who handle the oar, the mariners, all the
pilots of the sea will come down from their ships and stand on the shore. They
will make their voice heard because of you; they will cry bitterly and cast
dust on their heads; they will roll about in the ashes; they will shave
themselves completely bald because of you, gird themselves with sackcloth, and
weep for you with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing. In their wailing for you
they will take up a lamentation, and lament for you: What city is like Tyre, destroyed in the midst of the sea? When your wares went out by sea, you
satisfied many people; you enriched kings of the earth with your
merchandise. But you are broken by the
seas in the depths of waters; [Comment: When Alexander the Great brought the final destruction to the island
portion of the glorious city of Tyre, the portion Nebuchadnezzar could not
conquer, Tyre’s huge sea retaining walls, many stories high, were destroyed,
flooding all of the portion of this city that had been built below sea-level.] your merchandise and the entire company will fall in your midst. All the inhabitants of the isles will be
astonished at you; their kings will be greatly afraid, and their countenance will be troubled. The merchants among the peoples will hiss at you; you will
become a horror, and be no more
forever.” This last verse, verse 36 describes, as seen in Revelation
chapters 13, 17 and 18, none other than the Babylonish-Tyrian mercantile system
which will be set up in Europe, and spanning the globe in a truly global
mercantile system rivaling ancient Tyre’s mercantile system, which will also
come to its end, at the 2nd Coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
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