Isaiah 23:10-18
Isa 23:10
Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish:
there is no more strength.
Now that Tyre has no more power at this time, the people
of Tarshish can pass through it as easily as the Nile River flows through Egypt.
No more strength can be understood as no more restraint like a girdle
which points to the fact that Tarshish was subject to Tyre but no longer has any
authority over them.
Isa 23:11
He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the
kingdoms: the LORD hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to
destroy the strong holds thereof.
The LORD was the one who stretched his hand of judgment
over the sea which is speaking of Tyre which was called “the daughter of the
sea.” The kingdoms which he has
shaken were both Tyre and Sidon and maybe surrounding areas with them since
Sidon could no longer do business with Tyre as they were both brought to a
standstill especially as the Assyrian army was destroying Tyre.
The LORD gave a commandment not an option when it came to the destruction
of the city of pride along with all the strongholds of the city designed to
protect it. The word “merchant” in
the Hebrew is the word for “Canaan.”
Here God was destroying the pagan parts of Canaan which was a descendant
of Canaan who was a descendant of Ham.
And Canaan begat Sidon his
firstborn, and Heth, (Genesis 10:15)
Ham was cursed by Noah to be a servant of servants and that curse
included them to be idol worshippers where Tyre and Sidon both were comprised of
Baal worship.
Isa 23:12
And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed
virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou
have no rest.
Since Sidon was the city which gave birth to the colony
of Tyre which has grown to the point of outdoing the mother city.
They would have attempted to pass over to Chittim (Cyprus) but even if
they could escape from Tyre, their enemies would pursue them and continue the
persecution. This would happen
under the Medes and Persians or even the Romans when it was their time to rise
up as an empire. You cannot escape
the judgment of the Lord no matter where you go.
Isa 23:13
Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not,
till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set
up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought
it to ruin.
Then Isaiah is looking ahead to the destruction of the
land of the Chaldeans by Assyria which was accomplished in 710-709 B.C. by
Sargon when he razed the capital city of Dur-Yakin and took 90,000 captives.
Sennacherib in 703 B.C. also attacked Babylon and took 208,000 captives
and in 698 B.C. leveled it to the ground.
This was a warning to the inhabitants of Tyre that they would find no
rest wherever Assyria was in control.
Isa 23:14
Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid
waste.
This portion of Scripture ends as it started as a warning
to the ships of Tarshish that Tyre is no longer a fortress or a place of
strength that can supply any security or refuge for its ships.
Isa 23:15
And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be
forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of
seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
Tyre will be forgotten or fall into oblivion for seventy
years. There will be no life there
as the people will have escaped or were taken to Assyria.
The “days of one king” was referring to the fact that kings had kept
journals or chronicles of what happened during their reign for posterity.
The seventy years may have been accomplished between Sennacherib’s 701
B.C. campaign and 630 B.C. when Assyria’s power began to wane.
Tyre would then recover and attempt to rebuild their shipping industry
and their trading. Tyre would sing
as a harlot as a city which had been ravaged by sickness but regains her health
and begins to try and attract her lovers again which would mean Tyre would try
and attract her old business partners again.
Isa 23:16
Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast
been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be
remembered.
Then like the harlot who will go around the city and play
the harp bringing old songs to mind, Tyre will do the same thing as they attempt
to draw their old customers back into trading alliances again.
Like the harlot who feigns love to her clients, Tyre will not be in it
for love or for comradery or even concern for their clients, all they will be
concerned about is making a profit.
They will work among the businessmen a program of remembering how great Tyre
once was and that they could have a part in rebuilding her wealth while making
themselves wealthy.
Isa 23:17
And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years,
that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit
fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.
Then after seventy years of Tyre being in a condition of
ruin, the LORD will visit Tyre which means he will allow Tyre to be restored.
This seventy years of ruin would have completely eliminated the
generation which exalted itself in pride especially the king.
Unfortunately, Tyre will not have learned from their seventy year
judgment by God. As soon as she was
able she returned to her former hire.
She shall commit fornication with the kingdoms of the earth which means
she will not partake in legitimate business practices but will do behind the
scene deal making and no doubt will move contraband among the nations which are
bordering on the Mediterranean Sea.
One of the most prominent features of the kingdom of Satan is the fact that it
has caused sin and harlot like dealings with the people of the world thus
seducing them with all kinds of promises and delivering none.
For all 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 18:3)
Tyre is a foreshadow of the great harlot which covers the entire world.
Isa 23:18
And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the
LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for
them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.