Ezekiel 29:18-20
Son
of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service
against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had
he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served
against it:
Therefore
thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her
spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army.
I
have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it,
because they wrought for me, saith the Lord GOD.
I am currently watching a
series of lectures done on Coursera.org by Tel Aviv University. The course is
called "The Fall and Rise of Jerusalem" and covers the era
· Previous to
· During, and
· Just after
the capture of Jerusalem by
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
In this series I have learned
that Nebuchadnezzar's first impulse, as ruler of the area, was to leave the
smaller kingdoms along the Mediterranean alone. They were under his dominion,
but he would have preferred to put most of his energies into subjugating Egypt.
However, after a revolt by Askelon, Nebuchadnezzar realized that, in order to
concentrate on Egypt, he would first have to get a handle on these smaller
kingdoms in between.
Nebuchadnezzar defeated
Jerusalem and next laid siege to the city of Tyre (which at this time was on
the mainland). The siege lasted 13 years and ended in more of a compromise when
Tyre agreed to Babylonian authority. By this time Tyre had successfully eliminated
anything of great value in their city so that the Babylonian armies gained no
spoils. God's Word through Ezekiel says that God would give Babylon Egypt as
payment for their service to Him against Tyre. What had Tyre done that God
would so want to defeat them? Matthew Henry writes, "They were
men of business, and … All their care was to get estates,
and enlarge their trade, and they looked upon Jerusalem not as an enemy, but as
a rival. Hiram, king of Tyre, was a good friend to David and Solomon, and we do
not read of any quarrels the Jews had with the Tyrians; but Tyre promised
herself that the fall of Jerusalem would be an advantage to her in respect of
trade and commerce…
Here is the thing; Tyre wasn't
an enemy; they were just not a friend. They were users. They were calloused.
They were neither hot nor cold toward Jerusalem, but they were lukewarm. And while
God executed vengeance on the enemies of Jerusalem, he reserved special
destruction for Tyre.
Years later the old city Tyre,
on the mainland, would be once again sieged. This time the city would be
leveled so fully that when Alexander the Great wished to attack the new city
Tyre, on the Island, he would dump the ruins of the old city into the sea to
create a causeway.
· Jerusalem
exists still today
· Babylon (at
least the site) exists still today
But even the remains of the old
city Tyre are gone for good; buried in the sea.
Matthew Henry again writes, "To
be secretly pleased with the death or decay of others, when we are likely to
get by it, with their fall when we may thrive upon it, is a sin that does most
easily beset us, but is not thought to be such a bad thing, and so provoking to
God, as really it is. We are apt to say, … “We
shall be replenished now that they are laid waste.” But this comes from a selfish
covetous principle, …This comes from a want of that love
to our neighbour as to ourselves which the law of God so expressly requires,
and from that inordinate love of the world as our happiness which the love of
God so expressly forbids. And it is just with God to blast the designs and
projects of those who thus contrive to raise themselves upon the ruins of
others; and we see they are often disappointed.”
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