Thus saith the Lord God to Tyrus; shall not the isles shake at the
sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made
in the midst of thee? Then all the princes of the sea shall come
down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their
broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling;
they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment,
and be astonished at thee. And they shall take up a lamentation for
thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited
of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea,
she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that
haunt it! Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea,
the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure.
For thus saith the Lord God; When I shall make thee a desolate city,
like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the
deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee. When I shall
bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people
of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in
places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou
be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living; I
will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more; though thou be
sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord God
(verses 15-21).
The isles and the princes of the sea were deeply affected by her fall
and overthrow. The princes came down from their thrones and laid away
their robes and trembled at every moment. The lamentation they took up
is on account of the destruction of the renowned city. In Revelation
xviii we have a similar lament over the final Babylon, the end in
judgment of a godless, materialistic civilization. (See Rev.
xviii:9-19). Verses 19-20 give a description of the descent of Tyre into
the pit. "When I shall make thee desolate, like the cities that are not
inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep unto thee, and great waters
shall cover thee; when I shall bring thee down with them that descend
into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low
parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to
the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land
of the living." The last sentence, which is a promise of glory, can only
refer to the coming glory of the earthly Zion, the glory in store for
Israel. Boasting, proud Tyrus is laid in the dust; her site completely
blotted out. Other nations who hate Israel and continue in the
wickedness of those ancient nations will also be broken to pieces, but
Zion has a future of glory. When the time of the judgment of the nations
comes God will set glory in Israel's land through the coming of the King
of Glory. We have already pointed out the literal and startling
fulfilment of the last verse of this chapter.