Sermon Tone Analysis

So tonight we continue in Isaiah at Chapter 23, the burden or “masa” heavy message against Tyre.

Tyre with sister city Sidon where what we would call Phoenician seaport cities that were known for their skill and superiority at seamanship and moving cargo all over the world.

The were a symbol of materialism and wealth.

As we begin we see Isaiah for prophesying the destruction of Tyre and the sailors of Tyre agonizing over it.

23:1 -5 The burden against Tyre.

Wail, you ships of Tarshish!

For it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no harbor; from the land of Cyprus it is revealed to them.

Be still, you inhabitants of the coastland, you merchants of Sidon, whom those who cross the sea have filled.

And on great waters the grain of Shihor, the harvest of the River, is her revenue; and she is a marketplace for the nations.

Be ashamed, O Sidon; for the sea has spoken, the strength of the sea, saying, "I do not labor, nor bring forth children; neither do I rear young men, nor bring up virgins."

When the report reaches Egypt, they also will be in agony at the report of Tyre.

Notice the name Tarshish.

You might remember that Jonah took a ship, to get away from his mission from God to preach to Nineveh, to go to Tarshish.

But where is Tarshish?

I had heard it was Spain but there is no concensus.

Some believe an Island in the Mediterranean or some believe Britain.

Interestingly Britannia means source of Tin and according to Tin is listed as one one of its goods.

In some ways you can say that Tyre was the Babylon of the seas and it prefigures “Commercial Babylon” of .

Compare with the list of goods is very similar.

i. Tyre was the "Babylon of the Sea."

Because of their excellent harbor and seamanship, they established a commercial empire far greater than one would expect given their size and military power.

ii.

Tyre was a city in two parts - an inland city, and an island city.

The inland city was conquered by the Assyrians and the Babylonians, just as Isaiah prophesied.

The island city was conquered later by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C..

iii.

Tyre was a mixed bag for Israel.

King Hiram of Tyre supplied David and Solomon great timbers for the building of the temple and other projects.

Hiram gave Solomon sailors so Israel could build their commerce by sea.

But later, Tyre gave Israel one of the worst rulers Israel ever had: Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab of Israel.

23:6 - 9

Cross over to Tarshish; wail, you inhabitants of the coastland!

Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is from ancient days, whose feet carried her far off to dwell?

Who has taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are the honorable of the earth?

The LORD of hosts has purposed it, to bring to dishonor the pride of all glory, to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.

Remember that the famous passage in , we see as referring to Lucifer is against the King of Tyre.

Pride is what God indicts.

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Isaiah continues, 23:10-14

Overflow through your land like the River, O daughter of Tarshish; there is no more strength.

He stretched out His hand over the sea, He shook the kingdoms; the LORD has given a commandment against Canaan to destroy its strongholds.

And He said, "You will rejoice no more, O you oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon.

Arise, cross over to Cyprus; there also you will have no rest."

Behold, the land of the Chaldeans, this people which was not; Assyria founded it for wild beasts of the desert.

They set up its towers, they raised up its palaces, and brought it to ruin.

Wail, you ships of Tarshish!

For your strength is laid waste.

Video - The prophecy of Tyre 7:32

A promise of restoration to the city of Tyre.

() Seventy years of desolation for the city of Tyre.

Now it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king.

At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot: "Take a harp, go about the city, you forgotten harlot; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that you may be remembered.

Tyre will be forgotten 70 years and then remembered.

He quotes what may have been a song at that time.

"Take a harp, go about the city, you forgotten harlot; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that you may be remembered.

Now Isaiah states Gods purpose for restoration.

23:17-18

And it shall be, at the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre.

She will return to her hire, and commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.

Her gain and her pay will be set apart for the LORD; it will not be treasured nor laid up, for her gain will be for those who dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for fine clothing.

The LORD will visit Tyre: Many commentators think this refers to the presence of Christianity in Tyre in the days of the early church.

17

"Tyre, after its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, recovered, as it is here foretold, its ancient trade, wealth, and grandeur; as it did likewise after a second destruction by Alexander.

It became Christian early with the rest of the neighboring countries.

St. Paul himself found many Christian there, .

It suffered much in the Diocletian persecution.

It was an archbishopric under the patriarchate of Jerusalem, with fourteen bishoprics under its jurisdiction.

It continued Christian till it was taken by the Saracens in 639; was recovered by the Christians in 1124; but in 1280 was conquered by the Mamelukes and afterwards taken from them by the Turks in 1517.

Since that time it has sunk into utter decay; is now a mere ruin, a bare rock, 'a place to spread nets upon,' as the Prophet Ezekiel foretold it should be, chapter 26:14."

(Clarke)

Now we move into an interesting section where Isaiah changes his message from the various burdens against individual nations to a message for the entire world.

Some call this, 24 -27, the “little apocalypse”.

As in Revelation...

24:1 - 3

Behold, the LORD makes the earth empty and makes it waste, distorts its surface and scatters abroad its inhabitants.

And it shall be: As with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor.

The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered, for the LORD has spoken this word.

So here it seems obvious that we are looking into the future to the time of the Great Tribulation.

In the days of the Great Tribulation, the earth will not be literally empty, but Isaiah's poetic description applies, because the earth will seem empty in many places.

More than one-third of humanity will die in the judgments of the great tribulation (), making the areas hardest hit seem as if the earth were empty.

In Isaiahs comparisons of the people in different stations of life, i.e. the servant and the master, it indicates that no matter ones power or money that there is no escaping Gods judgement.

24:4 - 6

The earth mourns and fades away, the world languishes and fades away; the haughty people of the earth languish.

The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell in it are desolate.

Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.

The word for ordinance here is Torah, it often is used for the law of God.

To change the ordinance is to make it into something more “acceptable to our culture, something lighter or easier.

Every time a preacher soft-peddles the gospel, every time a politician twists the Scriptures to rise in the opinion polls, every time a counselor wrenches the context of God's word to make it fit a crazy psychological theory, they have changed the ordinance, and are ripe for judgment!

Because they have … broken the everlasting covenant: God has entered into covenant with man, and man has turned his back on His covenant.

Instead of receiving God's everlasting covenant, man wants to make up his own way with God!

There is no single covenant known as the everlasting covenant, because the title applies to several different covenants.

The covenant God made with mankind after the flood, never to judge the world again by water is called an everlasting covenant ().

The covenant God made with Abraham and his descendants is called an everlasting covenant (, , ).

The covenant God made with Israel and the priesthood is called an everlasting covenant ().

The covenant God made with David, to bring the Messiah from his line, is called an everlasting covenant ().

The New Covenant is called an everlasting covenant, both prophetically () and after its establishment ().

i.

There is no single covenant known as the everlasting covenant, because the title applies to several different covenants.

The covenant God made with mankind after the flood, never to judge the world again by water is called an everlasting covenant ().

The covenant God made with Abraham and his descendants is called an everlasting covenant (, , ).

The covenant God made with Israel and the priesthood is called an everlasting covenant ().

The covenant God made with David, to bring the Messiah from his line, is called an everlasting covenant ().

The New Covenant is called an everlasting covenant, both prophetically () and after its establishment ().

Isaiah continues 24:7 - 13

The new wine fails, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted sigh.