Isaiah 23:1-18
Be silent, you people of the island and you merchants of Sidon, whom the seafarer have enriched.
Be ashamed, O Sidon, and you, O fortress of the sea, for the sea has spoken" I have neither been in labor nor given birth; I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters."
The Lord Almighty planned it, to bring low the pride of all glory and to humble all who are renowned on the earth.
At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the span of a king's life. But at the end of these seventy years, the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her hire as a prostitute and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. Her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the Lord.
For centuries Tyre and Sidon (two Phoenician cities on the coast of modern Lebanon) dominated the sea-trade in the eastern Mediterranean. Tyre's colonies, of which Cyprus was the nearest, were widespread. And the city's merchantmen ventured as far afield as the Indian Ocean and the English Channel.
In 722/1 the city fell to Sargon of Assyria. In 701 the ruler of Tyre fled to Cyprus as Sennacherib approached. Assyria declined, Tyre regained its power, only to lost it again to the Babylonians.
Why?
70 years: Probably a round figure, meaning a lifetime.
The judgement of the Lord comes not only Israel and Judah but also the whole world, every nation.
Tyre after seventy years will turn to the Lord at that day.
Proud man and rich man should be silent and be shame before the Lord. All of these are the grace of the Lord. It is the Lord them this opportunity and talent.
How?
Knowing the Lord Almighty, humble myself for I am the servant of the Lord.
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