Isaiah 23:15-18

c. SUBMISSION

TEXT: Isaiah 23:15-18

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 it shall be unto Tyre as in the song of the harlot.
16

Take a harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.

17

And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that Jehovah will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her hire and shall play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.

18

And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to Jehovah: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before Jehovah, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.

QUERIES

a.

How are the days of one king related to Tyre's 70 years?

b.

Why does Tyre return to harlotry after 70 years?

c.

When does Tyre's merchandise become holiness to Jehovah?

PARAPHRASE

And it will come to pass in the day of Tyre's downfall, she shall lie waste till her devastation has achieved its purpose in the divine disposition of things. This state of affairs will remain constant with her, like the affairs of one king's tenure, for a long period of years symbolized by the number seventy. After this seventy years of forgottenness she will resume her former life just like the story told in the lyrics of the Song of The Harlot. So, Tyre, you have been forgotten. Take up the harp and play sweet melodies, sing many songs, perhaps you may bring yourself to the attention of your former customers and be remembered. Yes, after your long time of forgottenness the Lord will allow you to be restored but you will be no different than you were before; you will return again to prostituting yourself with the nations of the world for money. Yet, the time will come when she shall make contributions to the kingdom of Jehovah. Tyre's greatest treasures will not be hoarded silver and gold but will be the food and clothing of righteousness for those who dwell in the presence of Jehovah.

COMMENTS

Isaiah 23:15-16 SUBJECTION: Alexander the Great took the city killing 8000 and selling 30,000 into slavery. He imported many foreigners into the ruined city to colonize it and left it after spending seven months to subdue it. After Alexander's death, Tyre passed into the hands of Ptolemy Lagi, and when Antigonus, in 314 B.C. took Phoenicia from him, Tyre resisted and he had to blockade it 15 months before it would yield, showing how quickly it had recovered from its previous disaster.

The period seventy years might refer to the 70 years of the Babylonian empire when Nebuchadnezzar had subdued Tyre. However, we think the number seventy is being used to denote a period of time whose completeness is determined by the divine purposes and known only to the divine Person. Seven is the Divine, Perfect, Complete number of the Bible. Ten signifies also a measure of completion. Seven multiplied by ten then means a period during which God will have achieved His purpose in a given direction. Tyre will be forgotten or lie devastated until God is ready for her to be remembered again. It is too difficult to pinpoint an exact 70 years.
Like the days of one king probably refers to the idea that while one king reigns there usually is no major changes in policy, things remain static. Tyre's God-destined period of forgottenness will remain static for as long as God wishes it to be so.
The Song of the Harlot suggests a song whose lyrics tell the story of how a forgotten, derelict, old harlot might seek to rehabilitate herself in her old occupation. She might take up a harp and start strumming an accompaniment to her little piece. She might wander up and down the streets advertising her wares. Perhaps she could bring herself to the attention of her former customers.

Isaiah 23:17-18 SALVATION: Tyre became a part of the Seleucid kingdom when Antiochus III drove the Ptolemies from Syria (198 B.C.), and the Seleucid kings regarded the city of importance and gave it the right of asylum, and it was allowed the status of a free city by the Romans, Antony recognizing the magistrates and council of Tyre as allies. When the Parthians attacked and took Syria, in 40 B.C., Tyre would not submit and was left untouched, being too strong for them. Tyre is mentioned in the New Testament several times; Christ visited its territory (Matthew 15:21; Mark 7:24), and people from there came to hear Him (Luke 6:17). Herod Agrippa I had trouble with Tyre, and a deputation came to visit him at Caesarea (Acts 12:20). Paul visited Tyre on his journey from Asia to Jerusalem (Acts 21:3-7). Christianity was accepted by the people of Tyre, so that the 2nd century A.D. saw a bishopric established there, and in the 4th century a council was held there to consider charges against Athanasius, by the party of Arius; he was condemned, a decision which brought the Tyrian church into disrepute. Tyre was already obnoxious to Christians because the anti-Christian philosopher Porphyry was from there. Tyre continued to be a commercial center, and Jerome says that it was the noblest and most beautiful of the Phoenician cities and an emporium of commerce for almost the whole world. It was of considerable importance during the Crusades and continued so until toward the end of the 13th century, when its trade declined, and it is now a small city of approximately 5000.

Isaiah 23:17-18 seem to indicate a two-fold result of God's permitting Tyre to be restored after a period of forgottenness. First, a part of her will return to her former ways of prostituting herself before the world for commercial purposes. Second, a part of her will become a treasure, not selfishly hoarded, but put to use as holiness (dedicated) to Jehovah. This second has its beginning, no doubt, in Ezra 3:7 when she supplies goods to rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the temple after the captivities. But we believe the ultimate fulfillment is in those people converted by the gospel and become precious jewels, the wealth, of the kingdom of God. The conversion of Gentiles and their incorporation in the kingdom of Jehovah through the preaching of the gospel is symbolized and prefigured in just this manner in Isaiah 60:1-14; Isaiah 61:1-9; Haggai 2:7-9, etc. In spite of what should happen to Tyre's physical glory or her commercial prowess, her greatest remembrance for all eternity will be those precious saints (like the Syro-Phoenician woman who believed Jesus, Matthew 15; Mark 7) who are the jewels of the kingdom of God, and who have supplied food and clothing to many hungry and naked sinners through the ages.

QUIZ

1.

What do the 70 years of Tyre's history most likely refer to?

2.

What is the Song of the Harlot?

3.

What two-fold consequence comes as a result of God's visiting Tyre again?

4.

How does Tyre's merchandise become holiness to Jehovah?

5.

How does it feed and clothe those who dwell before Jehovah?