Ezekiel 26:20
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;
Ezekiel 26:20 declares that Tyre would be brought down with those who descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and set in the low parts of the earth in places long desolate, left uninhabited among the dead, while God would set glory in the land of the living. It belongs to the lamentation over the ruin of Tyre in Ezekiel 26 to 28, a prophecy against the great commercial city foretelling its utter destruction because it rejoiced at Jerusalem's destruction and hoped to profit from it, a judgment to come through Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans. The word spoken nearly twenty-five hundred years ago has been literally fulfilled and is evident today, for Alexander used the stones and rubble of old Tyre to build his causeway to the island city, leaving its site a place for the spreading of nets. God judges cities for open, flaunting, God-defying wickedness and pride, and Tyre's desolation sets the pattern its wickedness invited for modern proud and beautiful Babylon and thrifty Tyre, as seen when San Francisco's earthquake wreck met that fate as the fruit of its own awful wickedness mingled with mercy. Its fall warns not San Francisco alone but New York, Chicago, and every place and people forgetting and defying God after warnings have come many times and been laughed at, calling for settled principle to do right rather than mere impulse to do better.
Judgment on Tyre Declared
Ezekiel 26:20 means Tyre would be brought down with those who descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and set in the low parts of the earth in places long desolate, left uninhabited among the dead, in contrast with God setting glory in the land of the living. It presents the downfall as a descent to the realm of the dead and to a desolate place where the city would no longer be inhabited. It belongs to a prophecy of judgment in which Tyre would be brought down and left desolate while God's glory would be set in the land of the living.
The verse belongs to the ruin of Tyre and the lamentation over her destruction given in Ezekiel 26 to 28 and predicts the utter destruction of Tyre. It is included among the prophecies against Tyre, the great commercial city, which would be utterly wiped out so that its site became a place for spreading nets. In that prophecy Ezekiel 26 particularly describes Nebuchadnezzar's work of capturing Tyre.
Tyre was the commercial emporium of Phoenicia and one of the greatest and most famous cities of the ancient world, whose ancient mainland site had long been abandoned for a new city on a small island half a mile from shore later joined to the shore by Alexander the Great's artificial mole. Its doom was proclaimed because the city rejoiced at Jerusalem's destruction and expected to profit from it. Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans were the power through whom that judgment would come, and the prophecy foretold that the Chaldeans would destroy Tyre and bring her low and make her desolate.
Prophecy Literally Fulfilled
The word spoken concerning Tyre nearly twenty-five hundred years ago has been literally fulfilled, and its fulfillment is evident today. Ezekiel 26 is part of that prophecy against Tyre.
Ezekiel 26:20 belongs to the prophecy of Tyre's fall that the city would be brought low and made desolate. The prophecy foretold that the Chaldeans would destroy Tyre, and that many inhabitants would escape but find no lasting rest in their places of refuge. It foretold also that the city would be restored after seventy years, the length of Nebuchadnezzar's life, before being destroyed again and losing its former importance.
Ezekiel 26 particularly describes Nebuchadnezzar's work of capturing Tyre, the great commercial city, which would be utterly wiped out. Alexander later used the stones and rubble of old Tyre to build a causeway to the island city. So its site became a place for spreading nets.
Warning to Modern Cities
Ezekiel 26 to 28 stands as the warning about the perils of pride, and Ezekiel 26:20 shows Tyre brought down to the realm of the dead and left desolate, in contrast with God setting glory in the land of the living. God judges cities for their evil, and Tyre's destruction is the example of that divine judgment on a city. Tyre's preliminary punishment of being brought down desolate came for open, flaunting, God-defying wickedness, as the fate its wickedness invited.
That fate sets the pattern for modern proud and beautiful Babylon and thrifty Tyre meeting the same fate their wickedness invited. San Francisco's earthquake wreck met that fate as the fruit of its own awful wickedness mingled with God's mercy. San Francisco's earthquake is compared to that judgment, as well as to Babylon's fall.
Tyre brought down to desolation warns not San Francisco alone but New York, Chicago, and every place and people forgetting and defying God. Judgment comes after warnings from godly men have come many times and been laughed at. The call is for settled principle to do right rather than mere impulse to do better.