23 The [a]oracle concerning Tyre.
Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
For Tyre is destroyed, without house or [b]harbor;
It is reported to them from the land of [c]Cyprus.
2 Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland,
You merchants of Sidon;
[d]Your messengers crossed the sea
3 And were on many waters.
The grain of the [e]Nile, the harvest of the River was her revenue;
And she was the market of nations.
4 Be ashamed, O Sidon;
For the sea speaks, the stronghold of the sea, saying,
“I have neither travailed nor given birth,
I have neither brought up young men nor reared virgins.”
5 When the report reaches Egypt,
They will be in anguish at the report of Tyre.
6 Pass over to Tarshish;
Wail, O inhabitants of the coastland.
7 Is this your jubilant city,
Whose origin is from antiquity,
Whose feet used to carry her to [f]colonize distant places?8 Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,
Whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth?
9 The Lord of hosts has planned it, to defile the pride of all beauty,
To despise all the honored of the earth.
10 [g]Overflow your land like the Nile, O daughter of Tarshish,
There is no more [h]restraint.
11 He has stretched His hand out over the sea,
He has made the kingdoms tremble;
The Lord has given a command concerning Canaan to demolish its strongholds.12 He has said, “You shall exult no more, O crushed virgin daughter of Sidon.
Arise, pass over to [i]Cyprus; even there you will find no rest.”
In this chapter, we see destruction predicted for Tyre (and Sidon). While it isn’t clear (yet) what their sins were, we do find some other information. The merchants of Tyre traded with many nations, and their merchants were elevated to the honor of princes. Elsewhere, we find that both David and Solomon traded with Tyre and were on friendly relations with them.
They were right on the border of Israel, and though some maps seem to show Tyre within the borders of Israel, it isn’t evident anywhere that they were ever actually conquered by Israel. Or for that matter, by anyone else. We find that this was an ancient city, and had likely prospered for centuries due to their central location between many kingdoms.
So who in the world would want to destroy such a profitable relationship? Isaiah himself asks the question in v. 8, as it seems crazy that any nation would want to wage war with such a trading partner. But of course, it is God himself, as we find in v. 9. Not surprisingly, there is a reference to pride, and we see that they were honored by many.
But my mind keeps coming back to that phrase, “The Lord of hosts has planned it…” No doubt, the folks in Tyre and Sidon had a great many plans. Yet they were not God’s plans, and that was the problem. Though they were neighbors with Israel, traded with Israel, and likely even had Israelites living there (see David’s census), they were not about to give up their own ideas and plans for God.
Later, God would speak these words through Isaiah also,
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.“
We love to make plans, and rightly so. We ought to plan for the future, and be good stewards of the resources God has given us. Yet too often we neglect to include God in those plans. Are our plans only serving ourselves, or do we allow God to shape our path, and seek His glory instead, serving others as He directs us?
It’s easy to get going on our way, without a second thought to what God wants. Rather, we should seek Him first, and see where He leads us. God’s ways are higher, even the highest and best, beyond what we might imagine. Invite God into your day, and ask Him to take charge, today, and every day.