Ezekiel 27:35, commentary and pictures

Ezekiel 27 portrays Tyre as the great merchant city of its age, rich with extensive wealth and commerce to which many nations brought their goods. The verse stands within the lament foretelling the destruction of Tyre and Sidon, part of the prophecies against the nations in Ezekiel 25 to 31 whose fulfillment remains evident. It pictures the effect of that downfall, when the humbling of the great trading city leaves the inhabitants of the surrounding isles astonished and their kings sore afraid with trouble written on their faces. Their shock comes because God brings down the pride of the world's commercial center, wiping it out until its very site is left only as a place for spreading nets in the sea. That judgment warns proud cities and peoples that forget and defy God, including modern cities such as San Francisco, New York and Chicago, calling them to repent and do right by principle, while the corrupt traffic of Tyre foreshadows the worldwide commercialism of Babylon whose fall likewise leaves her merchants lamenting.

Tyre's Commerce and Ruin

Ezekiel 27 sets forth the extent of the commerce of Tyre as the great commercial city of ancient times, the London, the Liverpool, the New York of the Orient. It was a great merchant and trading city of extensive wealth, to which many nations brought goods and whose riches enriched the kings of the earth. The chapter gives a vivid description of that wealth and greatness and of its extensive trade.

The verse belongs to the lament over Tyre and to the prophecy foretelling the destruction of Tyre and Sidon. It stands within the prophecies concerning other nations in Ezekiel 25 to 31, in which Ammon, Moab, Tyre, and Egypt pass under the vision of the prophet. It is part of a remarkable prophecy concerning Tyre whose fulfillment is evident today.

The verse depicts the effect when the great trading city is humbled in its downfall. The inhabitants and peoples of the surrounding isles and islands are astonished and shocked at it. Their kings are sore afraid, frightened, and visibly troubled in countenance.

That astonishment and fear come because God brings down the pride of Tyre, the great commercial city of the world. Tyre would be utterly wiped out of existence, its very site left only as a place for spreading nets in the midst of the sea. This is one illustration of how He deals with the kingdoms around Israel, when Nebuchadnezzar would capture Tyre and from Tyre would conquer Jerusalem.

Warning to Proud Cities

Ezekiel 27:35 belongs to a prophecy about Tyre's downfall and its effect on surrounding peoples, and that judgment stands as a warning for cities that forget and defy God, including modern cities. Its picture of destruction astonishing the people of the surrounding islands and frightening their kings shows the fate brought on by a proud, God-defying city, and the same lesson applies to San Francisco and to other cities that forget and defy God. The terror and astonishment caused by Tyre's downfall, in which the people of the surrounding islands are shocked and their kings become visibly afraid, is a lesson about judgment on a proud city for places that forget and defy God, including New York and Chicago. The downfall of a proud, God-defying city warns cities and people who forget and defy God that calamity calls them to repent and to do right by principle, not merely by impulse.

The verse belongs to the picture of Tyre's downfall in which the nations and their kings are astonished and afraid when the great trading city is humbled, and the chapter's traffic and commercial corruption are like the worldwide commercialism of Babylon, whose fall likewise leaves merchants lamenting their lost riches.