This prophecy of the fall (vv. 1-14) and the subsequent rise (vv. 15-18) of Tyre is a minor landmark within this part of the book. It’s the last of the series of oracles concerning particular nations which began in chapter 13 and is followed by what scholars commonly call the “Isaiah Apocalypse” (chapters 24-27) in which cosmic acts of judgment and salvation bring history to a close. It stands at the end of a distinct block of material within the larger unit, chapters 13-27.

Tyre probably closes the series of oracles against the nations for the same reason that Babylon opens it; it was so famous for one particular aspect of worldly achievement that it had a symbolic value that could be used to good effect by Isaiah and others who followed him. As Babylon was proverbial for its military might and cultural achievements, Tyre was proverbial for its commercial wealth. Standing in the first and last positions as they do, then, Babylon and Tyre sum up all that is impressive and alluring in the world. A connection of a different kind is made between Tyre and Babylon in verse 13, which points clearly to the historical setting of the present oracle. It is clear that the fate already suffered by Babylon provides the background to the present prediction that Tyre, too, will fall. Again indirectly, but none too subtly, Isaiah hammers home his message. Then as now, the security that seems to be available through unholy alliances with the world is a cruel illusion.

Verses 1-7 picture the stunning news of Tyre’s fall reverberating around the Mediterranean world. Home-bound sailors first hear of it in Cyprus (v. 1b); a deathly hush falls over Sidon at the news (vv. 2-4); Egypt weeps because of the impact on her wheat exports (v. 5), and finally refugees carry the news right back to Tarshish (v. 6). There is more involved here than the personal suffering of the inhabitants of the city. A lot of people had a great deal to lose in the collapse of Tyre. When it came it would hit the Mediterranean world like a Wall Street crash of devastating proportions.

Isaiah doesn’t leave it at that, however. In verses 8-12 he presses beyond the event itself to its cause, and in characteristic prophetic fashion bypasses all secondary causes to trace Tyre’s fall to the determined purpose of the Lord Almighty (v.8). Sentence had already been passed on the city in heaven, not (take note!) because of its wealth, but because of its pride. There is no intrinsic connection, of course, between wealth and pride, but sadly they do all too often go hand in hand. The wealth of Tyre had made its merchants princes (v. 8), but, like the rich fool in Jesus’ parable, they had failed to recognize their accountability to Him from whom their wealth had come. Wealth had bred in them an illusion of self-sufficiency which had made God – or at least the true and living God – seem irrelevant. It would take God’s swift and severe judgment to jolt them back to reality.

But God’s judgments on nations within history are seldom final, and that is certainly the case here, for in verses 15-18 Isaiah sketches in the longer-term prospects for Tyre in God’s purposes. There is hope in the seventy years of verses 15 and 17, a conventional number for a long but limited time. Tyre will not rise quickly, but rise she will, and in the continuation of the prostitute image through to verse 17 there is more than a hint that she will return to her old ways. But – and this is where history gives way to eschatology – the wealth she has hoarded up will be taken from her. It will flow into Zion as the rightful inheritance of the people of God (v.18).

Isaiah 23:1-18 Reflection Questions:

If Isaiah were to write a letter today what country or counties would he use to “sum up all that is impressive and alluring in the world”?

In what areas of your life are you putting your security through unholy alliances with the world? Will you repent?

Have you ever had God jolt you back to reality? What was it for?

What is the “hope” that you see in this study?