Ezekiel 26:18, commentary and pictures

The verse foretells the overthrow and utter destruction of Tyre, literally fulfilled, whose fall and departure shook the isles and nations across the sea with alarm far beyond the city itself. Tyre was the great merchant city of the world that rejoiced at Jerusalem's destruction, and it was judged through Nebuchadnezzar to be wiped out to become a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea, fulfilled when its people fled by ships to Carthage and the islands and when Alexander used the ruins of old Tyre to take the island city. It shows that God judges cities for evil, injustice and wrongdoing, and that cities are accountable to Him to be punished or rewarded. The trouble its fall brought to surrounding, coastal and distant peoples warns not San Francisco alone but New York, Chicago, every place, and every modern city that forgets and defies God in open, flaunting wickedness. That warning is often laughed at by the wicked until doom comes, so it calls for more than impulse to do better, for settled principle, genuine repentance and reform, as San Francisco in earthquake ruin met the same fate as a modern proud Babylon and thrifty Tyre by the fruit of its own wickedness.

Tyre's Doom and Fulfillment

Ezekiel 26:18 belongs to the prophecy foretelling the overthrow of Tyre and predicting its utter destruction. It stands among the stirring prophecies against the nations in Ezekiel 26 to 40, and specifically in the account of the ruin of Tyre and the lamentation over her destruction in Ezekiel 26 to 28. It is part of the word uttered concerning Tyre nearly twenty-five hundred years ago, and that word has been literally fulfilled.

The verse describes the nations and islands being shaken with alarm when Tyre falls, with its departure bringing trouble to those across the sea. The surrounding islands tremble and are troubled at that fall, alarming the peoples of the sea. In this way Tyre's destruction is presented as a momentous event felt far beyond the city itself.

That doom was declared against Tyre after it rejoiced at Jerusalem's destruction, with Nebuchadnezzar identified as the power through whom that judgment would come. The destruction of Ezekiel 26 is particularly the work of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar was the one whom the false prophets said was not coming against Jerusalem, yet he would capture Tyre and from Tyre would conquer Jerusalem.

The prophecy was given through Ezekiel during twenty-two years of pleading with Israel to turn to God, using the kingdoms on all sides of Israel as illustrations of how God brings down pride. Tyre was the great commercial merchant city of the world. The fall that makes the isles tremble means Tyre would be utterly wiped out of existence, so that the very place where Tyre stood would become a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea.

That trembling and troubling of the sea islands was fulfilled when Tyre's people escaped by sea and the conqueror ravaged the islands where they had taken refuge. Tyre's people put their wealth on ships and fled by sea to Carthage. The later island city was then taken by Alexander, who used the stones and rubble of old Tyre to reach it.

Warning to Modern Cities

Tyre's fall shows that God judges cities for their evil, and wickedness brings judgment upon them. Cities are accountable to God for injustice and wrongdoing, and may be punished or rewarded by Him according to their course. Genuine repentance and reform according to His revealed will are essential if judgment is to be averted.

The trouble and trembling that Tyre's fall brought upon the surrounding isles and peoples, even upon coastal and distant nations, stands as a lesson and warning for modern cities that forget and defy God. That warning belongs not to San Francisco alone but to New York, to Chicago, and to every place and every city following the same path. It is a warning against open, flaunting, God-defying wickedness, whose judgment shakes far more than the guilty city itself.

That warning is often given beforehand by godly men and laughed at until doom comes. Each reader is called to move beyond mere impulse to do better to settled principle to do right. The troubling of the isles was a preliminary punishment for such wickedness, and San Francisco in earthquake ruin met the same fate as a modern proud and beautiful Babylon and a modern thrifty Tyre. Its catastrophe was the fruit of its own awful wickedness joined with the mercy of God.