THE LORD WILL BRING DOWN THE PROUD

Isaiah 23:1-18 / Keywords 23:9

The LORD Almighty planned it, to bring low the pride of all glory and to humble all who are renowned on the earth.

 

23:1 A prophecy against Tyre:

Wail, you ships of Tarshish!

    For Tyre is destroyed

    and left without house or harbor.

From the land of Cyprus

    word has come to them.

2 Be silent, you people of the island

    and you merchants of Sidon,

    whom the seafarers have enriched.

3 On the great waters

    came the grain of the Shihor;

the harvest of the Nile[a] was the revenue of Tyre,

    and she became the marketplace of the nations.

4 Be ashamed, Sidon, and you fortress of the sea,

    for the sea has spoken:

“I have neither been in labor nor given birth;

    I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters.”

5 When word comes to Egypt,

    they will be in anguish at the report from Tyre.

6 Cross over to Tarshish;

    wail, you people of the island.

7 Is this your city of revelry,

    the old, old city,

whose feet have taken her

    to settle in far-off lands?

8 Who planned this against Tyre,

    the bestower of crowns,

whose merchants are princes,

    whose traders are renowned in the earth?

9 The Lord Almighty planned it,

    to bring down her pride in all her splendor

    and to humble all who are renowned on the earth.

10 Till[b] your land as they do along the Nile,

    Daughter Tarshish,

    for you no longer have a harbor.

11 The Lord has stretched out his hand over the sea

    and made its kingdoms tremble.

He has given an order concerning Phoenicia

    that her fortresses be destroyed.

12 He said, “No more of your reveling,

    Virgin Daughter Sidon, now crushed!

“Up, cross over to Cyprus;

    even there you will find no rest.”

13 Look at the land of the Babylonians,[c]

    this people that is now of no account!

The Assyrians have made it

    a place for desert creatures;

they raised up their siege towers,

    they stripped its fortresses bare

    and turned it into a ruin.

14 Wail, you ships of Tarshish;

    your fortress is destroyed!

15 At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the span of a king’s life. But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

16 “Take up a harp, walk through the city,

    you forgotten prostitute;

play the harp well, sing many a song,

    so that you will be remembered.”

17 At the end of seventy years, the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. 18 Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the Lord; they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the Lord, for abundant food and fine clothes.

Footnotes

a. Isaiah 23:3 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls Sidon, / who cross over the sea; / your envoys 3 are on the great waters. / The grain of the Shihor, / the harvest of the Nile,

b. Isaiah 23:10 Dead Sea Scrolls and some Septuagint manuscripts; Masoretic Text Go through

c. Isaiah 23:13 Or Chaldeans

1. Tyre was a Phoenician city on the Mediterranean coast. Because of her location and natural harbor, Tyre became a commercial trade center. Merchants came from Egypt, Cyprus, and as far as Tarshish (possibly in ancient Spain). Trade had made many of the inhabitants of Tyre rich and proud.

 

2. Isaiah prophesied that Tyre would be destroyed. He warned the people to run far away. Word of Tyre’s fall would spread all over the Mediterranean world. The nations would be in anguish. They would wail and tremble because of what would happen to Tyre. The LORD Almighty would do this because of her pride. Her world-renown business people were like princes but they would be greatly humbled. God would use the Babylonians and Assyrians as his instruments of judgment against Tyre. After seventy years of desolation, Isaiah prophesied that Tyre would again ply her trade with the nations, but her profits would go to those who live before God.

 

3. Money and worldly splendor can easily become idols and make us proud. But the fate of Tyre is the fate of all who take pride in earthly riches and splendor instead of seeking and honoring the LORD Almighty. May whatever earnings we’ve been blessed to receive be set apart for the LORD.

 

Prayer Father, thank you for this clear warning. Guard our hearts against pride and help us to honor you with our wealth.

One Word God humbles the proud