Lament for Tyre
Eze 27:1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
Eze 27:2 Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus;
Lamentation, a mournful song
Eze 18:23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
Eze 18:24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
Eze 27:3 And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty.
Isa 23:8 Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth?
The earth highly regarded them, but the LORD regards his people. He will curse those who curse his people.
Eze 27:4 Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty.
Eze 27:5 They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee.
Senir: Mt Herman
Fir wood was used to build the ships. Oak is better; it is stronger and waterproof but very hard to cut. They used oak for the oars.
Eze 27:6 Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim.
Jer 2:10 For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.
Isa 2:12 For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
Isa 2:13 And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
Ashurites, could be translated boxwood. Benches of boxwood inlaid with ivory. Illegal ivory trade is a problem today, endangering the elephant population.
Eze 27:7 Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee.
Elishah, a city in Cypress and the oldest known name for Cypress
Rev 18:12 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,
Their sails were embroidered with designs, like banners.
Eze 27:8 The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners: thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots.
Arvad was an island in Phoenicia, to the south of Zidon, not far from Tyre.
Eze 27:9 The ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise.
Gebal produced the caulkers. Calking: To make (a boat) watertight by packing seams with a waterproof material, such as oakum, cotton or pitch. The LORD gave Noah instructions on how to build the ark, including the caulking using pitch.
Gen 6:14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
Pitch was traditionally used to help caulk the seams of wooden sailing vessels. Pitch was also used to waterproof wooden containers, and is sometimes still used in the making of torches. Petroleum-derived pitch is black in colour, hence the adjectival phrase, "pitch-black".
Another meaning for pitch is a covering, an atonement, a propitiation. Jesus covered us with his righteousness, forgiving our sins being our atonement for sins.
1Jn 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Israel had the truth of God, but was not good at sharing it. Many nations as today serve false gods. Why is it that America has lost it's connection to God? Is it because of the media and the schools who block the truth of God? Or is it also stubborn unbelief with drug use?
Byblus, a place once famous for the birth and temple of Adonis; it is now called Gibyle.
Eze 27:10 They of Persia and of Lud and of Phut were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness.
They hired mercenary soldiers from other trading lands. Persia is now Iran. Lud or Lidya is located in Asia minor. Phut is a name for Libya; it is in Africa, west of Egypt.
Jer 46:9 Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.
Eze 27:11 The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadims were in thy towers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty perfect.
They hanged their shields upon thy walls roundabout It was a custom in some places to hang such weapons upon the tops of towers, and upon the walls of them; which might be done, either that they might be ready to take up and make use of, whenever occasion required; or to dismay their enemies, and to show them that they were provided for them: (Gill)
Eze 28:12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
Satan appeared to be of perfect beauty. Need I say that leaders are sometimes supported because of their perfect charm and beauty, even if their policies lead to destruction? Tyre would fall because it was glad when God's people were judged. Now they are to be judged. Tyre or America; are they not similar?
Traders of Tyre
Eze 27:12 Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.
From east to west, the trading partners are given with their merchandise for sale.
Tarshish may have been in Spain or in Greek Phenocia.
2Ch 20:35 And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly:
2Ch 20:36 And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Eziongeber.
This is not Tarsus in Lebanon, where the apostle Paul was from.
Act 21:39 But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.
7:13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market.
Javan was in Greece. They traded in slaves from Greece and Ionia and also fine brass.
Rev 18:13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
Tubal: Merchants in brass. I think of the brass Tuba, a band instrument. Tubal was a son of Japeth, Noah's son.
Eze 27:14 They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules.
Togarmah was located in Armenia.
Eze 27:15 The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles were the merchandise of thine hand: they brought thee for a present horns of ivory and ebony.
Dedan: low country, located in south Arabia. Another Dedan is in Ethiopia, where these things are found.
1Ki 10:22 For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.
1Ki 10:23 So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.
Eze 27:16 Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate.
Aram or Syria: exalted
Eze 27:17 Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm.
Minnith - A city of the Ammonites, whose country was famous for wheat. The Ammonites paid tribute to Israel during King Jotham's reign.
2Ch 27:5 He fought also with the king of the Ammonites, and prevailed against them. And the children of Ammon gave him the same year an hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. So much did the children of Ammon pay unto him, both the second year, and the third.
Pannag, may have been a place of wheat or the name for "ointments" or balm.
Jer 8:22 Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
Honey and oil were in abundance.
Deu 8:7 For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;
Deu 8:8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;
Eze 27:18 Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool.
Helbon-or Chalybon, in Syria
Eze 27:19 Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market.
Bright iron - literally, "wrought iron;" iron worked into plates smooth and polished. Yemen was famous for the manufacture of sword-blades.
Cassia - The inner bark of an aromatic plant
Calamus - A fragrant reed-like plant
Eze 27:20 Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots.
The posterity of Abraham by Keturah, who dwelt in Arabia, and were sheep - masters. Clothes - With which they lined their chariots. (Wesley)
Gen 25:1 Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah.
Gen 25:2 And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.
Gen 25:3 And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim.
Eze 27:21 Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats: in these were they thy merchants.
Isa 60:7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.
Eze 27:22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold.
Sheba - A country in Arabia
Isa 60:6 The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.
Eze 27:23 Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants.
Mesopotamia and Assyrian regions.
Eze 27:24 These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise.
All sorts of things in cedar chests.
Honor and Dishonor
Eze 27:25 The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.
Eze 27:26 Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.
The city of Tyre is compared to a glorious city, in the midst of the sea, fallen by the east wind which were the Babylonian invaders. It was the LORD'S will as a punishment.
Psa 48:7 Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.
Eze 27:27 Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin.
Eze 26:3 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.
Eze 26:4 And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.
The LORD was against them because they were happy when Judah fell.
Jer 13:16 Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
Jer 13:17 But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD'S flock is carried away captive.
Jer 13:18 Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory.
Eze 27:28 The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots.
Eze 27:29 And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land;
Eze 27:30 And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes:
Eze 27:31 And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing.
They were as Babylon, once rich and prosperous, but fallen under the judgement of God. Will this also be the fate of America?
Rev 18:9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
Rev 18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
Rev 18:19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
Eze 27:32 And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea?
Eze 27:33 When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.
Eze 27:34 In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall.
Eze 27:35 All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance.
Eze 27:36 The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more.
Eze 26:2 Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:
Eze 26:3 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.
I remember the reverence that David had for the LORD'S anointed King Saul. The LORD expects the nations to honor his covenant people Israel as well.
1Sa 24:9 And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt?
1Sa 24:10 Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the LORD'S anointed.
Giving Honor to God's people
Deu 26:18 And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments;
Deu 26:19 And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken.
1Ch 29:11 Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.
1Ch 29:12 Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.
1Ch 29:13 Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.
The LORD God has made a covenant with his people. He stands watch over them. No nation who hates his people will escape his judgement.
Ezekiel 28
Ezekiel 26
Ezekiel 1 Table of Contents
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