Ezekiel 26:10
By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach.
Ezekiel 26:10 belongs to the prophecy of the ruin and utter destruction of Tyre in Ezekiel 26 to 28, part of the prophecies against foreign nations in Ezekiel 25-31. It pictures an overwhelming assault in which dust from many horses covers the city and the roar of horsemen, wheels and chariots shakes its walls as Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldean and Babylonian army enter its gates like men pouring through a breach. It was literally fulfilled in his thirteen-year siege and destruction of mainland Tyre, when walls were destroyed, towers broken down and streets trodden by horses' hoofs, while the island position, strong navy and limited Babylonian seamanship hindered the blockade and let citizens escape by sea. The same prophecy is further fulfilled in Alexander's conquest of island Tyre by casting its stones, timber and dust into the sea to make a causeway, leaving the old site barren and desolate as evidence of fulfilled prophecy apart from the new town now joined to the mainland by sand. It stands as a warning that cities are accountable to God for open, God-defying wickedness and may be punished or rewarded by Him, a warning not to San Francisco alone but to New York, Chicago and every place forgetting God, whose breached-wall shaking was Tyre's preliminary punishment as earthquake ruin was modern San Francisco's.
Context and Assault
Ezekiel 26:10 belongs to the prophecy of the ruin of Tyre in Ezekiel 26 to 28, which predicts the utter destruction of Tyre and gives the lamentation over her destruction. It is part of Ezekiel's prophecies against foreign nations, concerning Tyre as one of the nations whose fate is described in Ezekiel 25-31. It is part of the word spoken by Ezekiel concerning Tyre nearly twenty-five hundred years ago. Its fulfilment is evident today.
The verse describes the overwhelming assault on Tyre, in which the dust raised by the attacker's many horses covers the city. The noise of horsemen, wheels, and chariots shakes its walls as the army enters its gates like troops pouring through a breach. It portrays the walls shaking as a large invading force enters, and declares the doom of the city. It depicts the force of the attacking army as it enters the city with a great force of horsemen, chariots, and wheels.
The attacker is Nebuchadnezzar with the Chaldean and Babylonian army coming against Tyre in the height of her power. He would come with a great force of horses, riders, and chariots, whose dust and noise would shake its walls as he entered through its gates like an army breaking into a breached city. His siege and destruction of Tyre is counted as one of his glorious triumphs alongside routing the Egyptians and destroying Jerusalem and carrying the Jews into captivity.
Fulfillment and Warning
The word spoken concerning Tyre nearly twenty-five hundred years ago was literally fulfilled in the force of the attacking army as it entered the city. The abundance of horses raised dust that covered the city, and the noise of horsemen and wheels and chariots shook its walls as the army entered its gates as into a breached city. This was fulfilled by Nebuchadnezzar with his large Chaldean army of horses, riders, and chariots advancing against Tyre in the height of her power, when he destroyed the walls, broke down the towers, and trod down the streets with the hoofs of horses. The siege was prolonged and difficult, for the city's island position, strong navy, and the Babylonians' limited experience at sea hindered the blockade, and Tyrian historians said the city resisted for thirteen years. That thirteen-year campaign ended in the destruction of mainland Tyre, while the city's citizens escaped by sea while the siege was underway.
The same prophecy of Tyre's destruction also fits the later conquest of the island city by Alexander, who used the stones and rubbish of old Tyre to build a causeway to it. In this was fulfilled the removal of its stones and timber and dust into the sea, as the dust raised by the attacking horses covered the city and the sound and movement of horsemen, wheels, and chariots shook its walls as the attacker entered through a breach. The prophecy concerning Tyre, one of the nations whose fate is described in Ezekiel 25-31, belongs to the sure word of prophecy concerning the former metropolis of Phoenicia, and its fulfilment is evident today. What stands is the barren and desolate condition of the site of the old city, distinct from the new town now built on what was formerly an island but is now connected with the mainland by a narrow stretch of sand. Its existing condition stands as evidence of fulfilled prophecy and of the divine origin of the prophetic Scriptures.
The shaking of the walls at the entry through the breached gates was Tyre's preliminary punishment for open, flaunting, God-defying wickedness. An invading army entering with horses, chariots, and wheels, with dust covering the city and walls shaking as a large force entered its gates, belongs to the warning of judgment on places that forget and defy God. Cities are accountable to God and may be punished or rewarded by him, and the warning of Ezekiel 26 stands as a lesson and precedent for modern cities. It warns not San Francisco alone but New York, Chicago, and every other place forgetting and defying God, for the warning has come many times and been laughed at until judgment falls. It calls readers beyond mere impulse to do better to the settled principle to do right.
The same fate that shook Tyre met modern thrifty Tyre, San Francisco, in earthquake ruin. That ruin was the fruit of awful wickedness and the mercy of God, not an avenging God.