Ezekiel 27:3
And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty.
Tyre was a seaport set at the gateway of the sea, trading as a merchant with many peoples, lands and islands in a far-reaching commerce. In its wealth, splendor and extensive trade it boasted that it was perfect in beauty, a claim that expressed its pride. The lamentation over Tyre foretold its utter ruin and destruction, to be wiped out and left as a place for spreading nets in the sea. Its corrupt traffic that exalted itself and forgot God foreshadows a greater Babylon, a worldwide federation of the same commercial spirit that seeks all gain even to bodies and souls of men and ends in sudden desolation. Its warning therefore stands against proud, prosperous trading centers that defy God, whose doom will come as Tyre's came.
Tyre's Wealth and Pride
Ezekiel 27:3 presents Tyre as situated at the entry of the sea, a seaport and merchant of the people for many isles, trading with many peoples, lands and islands. The verse introduces the city's wealth and commercial importance, opening the wide-ranging commerce set out through the chapter and displayed in its elaborate ships, goods and international trade. Its merchants and skilled builders made it renowned for riches, craftsmanship and beauty.
Tyre was the ancient commercial metropolis of the world, the commercial emporium of Phoenicia, and one of the greatest and most famous cities of the ancient world. It was still the merchant city of the world at the time of Nehemiah, whose men brought fish and all manner of ware and sold on the Sabbath to the children of Judah in Jerusalem. Long before Paul's time its ancient site on the mainland had been abandoned for a new city built on a small island half a mile from shore. That island city was joined to the shore by Alexander the Great by an artificial mole built by scraping bare the rock of ancient Tyre.
Tyre said, I am of perfect beauty, a boast made by its builders and reflecting its pride. Its beauty and prosperity were part of its pride, showing the peril of pride. Its claim to perfect beauty is linked with its wealth, prosperity, splendor and extensive trade, and with the splendor, wealth and extensive trade for which it was known through its skilled builders.
That perfect beauty was seen before her fearful fall, when her builders had made her of perfect beauty. It was seen in her ships made of fir with masts of cedars of Lebanon, oars of oaks of Bashan, seats for oarsmen made of ivory, and sails of fine linen with embroidered work and coverings of blue and purple. It was seen in having the wise men of Tyre as pilots and the wise men of Gebal as calkers, and in having her merchants as princes and her traders as the honorable of the earth.
Judgment Prophesied and Applied
Ezekiel 27:3 stands in the lamentation over Tyre in Ezekiel 26-28, which is part of the prophecies against foreign nations, specifically the prophecies concerning Ammon, Moab, Tyre and Egypt in Ezekiel 25 to 31. That section gives moral instruction and contains predictions of the last days, and the lamentation foretells the utter ruin and destruction of Tyre. Tyre would be utterly wiped out of existence and destroyed, becoming a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea. Nebuchadnezzar would capture Tyre, and from Tyre would conquer Jerusalem.
The word against Tyre is fulfilled prophecy whose fulfilment is evident today. In ruins and become a place for the spreading of nets, Tyre stands as an object-lesson of fulfilled prophecy alongside Laodicea, Babylon, Capernaum, Samaria, Memphis, Rome, Sodom and Gomorrah, and Nineveh, warning all modern Tyres and Babylons. The prophecy against Tyre was given as an illustration to Israel to turn to God, showing how God has dealt with surrounding kingdoms and has brought down their pride.
The chapter sets forth the spirit of merchandise with traffickers everywhere, and that traffic made Tyre corrupt and exalted until God had to humble her. Tyre foreshadows great Babylon, called modern Tyre, which is not one city but a federation taking in all the earth and dealing in the same traffic. That commercialism overrides honor and integrity, seeks to possess all nations and gather every commodity even to the bodies and souls of men, forgets God and makes first the god of gold, and ends in sudden desolation. Tyre's warning and judgment are lessons for proud, beautiful, prosperous seaports and trading centers that forget and defy God, for like Tyre they face judgment. Warnings may be ignored until their doom comes, and wickedness brings judgment, with Tyre's punishment described as preliminary.
San Francisco is presented as a modern counterpart and modern Tyre. Like Tyre, the beautiful, proud maritime trading city situated at the sea's entrance and doing business with many lands and islands, San Francisco stood by the sea and served as a major seaport and commercial center for its surrounding region. Its wealth and splendor made it the merchant city of the West. Its open defiance of God invited catastrophe.