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Ezekiel 26
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Ezekiel 27 β€” Commentary 4
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Benson
Benson Commentary Ezekiel 27:1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, Ezekiel 27:2 Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus; Ezekiel 27:2-4 . Take up a lamentation for Tyrus β€” This alludes to the mournful lamentations used at funerals, wherein the mourning women recounted every thing that was valuable or praiseworthy belonging to the deceased, and then lamented the loss of him; and say, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea β€” That art a sea-port, fitted by situation for carrying on trade with many countries: see Isaiah 23:1 . Thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty β€” Thou hast boasted that thou hast every thing to render thee complete, and that there is nothing wanting to thee. Thy borders are in the midst of the seas β€” Thy dominions are not confined to the land, but extend far into the sea; where thou commandest without control, and sailest from place to place without interruption, to bring home thy riches. Thy builders have perfected thy beauty β€” Undoubtedly such a city as Tyre, which had store of riches, was built with great magnificence and beauty; but the following verses seem to show, that these words are chiefly to be understood of the builders of their ships, wherein the chief strength and glory of the Tyrians were placed. 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. Ezekiel 27:4 Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty. Ezekiel 27:5 They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee. Ezekiel 27:5-7 . They have made thy ship-boards β€” The decks of thy ships; of fir-trees of Senir β€” By these are meant, the fir-trees which grew upon mount Hermon, which was anciently called Shenir, or Senir. They have taken cedars to make masts for thee β€” Though cedars have a thick, and not a lofty trunk, masts consisting of different parts may be made of different cedars duly sized, or properly shaped if of too large a size. Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars β€” That they might be strong. The company of the Ashurites β€” That is, the Assyrians; have made thy benches of ivory β€” β€œPerhaps the seats in the cabins of the royal galleys.” Instead of the company of the Ashurites, &c., Bishop Newcome (with R. Salerno, Bochart, Houbigant, and some others, using a different pointing of the Hebrew word so rendered) reads the latter part of the verse thus: Thy benches have they made of ivory, inlaid in box from the isles of Chittim β€” That is, the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean. In this sense the Chaldee understands the clause. Corsica, with which no doubt the Tyrians traded, was famous for the box-tree; and we may easily allow that the benches of some of the Tyrian ships were adorned with streaks of ivory inlaid in that kind of wood which certainly would appear very beautiful. So Virgil would have thought, who uses such an emblem to set forth the beauty of young Ascanius: β€œ β€” β€” Quale per artem Inclusum buxo, aut Oricia terebintho Lucet ebur.” β€” β€” β€” β€” Γ†N. 10:135. β€œDistinguish’d from the crowd he shines a gem Enchased in gold, or polish’d ivory set Amidst the meaner foil of sable jet.” β€” DRYDEN. Fine linen with broidered work, &c., from Egypt β€” β€œFine linen was one of the principal commodities of Egypt, and was a habit used for persons of the best quality; which shows to what an excess of vanity the Tyrians were come, to use such costly manufactures for sails to their ships. Suetonius, in his Life of Caligula, cap. 37, reckons this among several instances of that emperor’s extravagance, that he furnished his pleasure-boats with costly sails, and other expensive ornaments.” Blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee β€” β€œBlue and purple are elsewhere reckoned among those colours which set off the richest attire. The common clothing of the Tyrians was of these kinds, which were brought from the islands of the Γ†gean sea, particularly Coos, famed for purple among heathen authors. Elishah denotes the countries upon the coast of Greece: a part of Peloponnesus retains the name of Elis among the Greek writers.” β€” Lowth. Ezekiel 27:6 Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim. Ezekiel 27:7 Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee. Ezekiel 27:8 The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners: thy wise men , O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots. Ezekiel 27:8-11 . The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners β€” So great was the opulence and pride of the Tyrians, that they hired foreigners to do the more laborious and menial employments, and would do nothing else themselves than steer the vessels, priding themselves on being the most able pilots. Of Zidon, see note on Isaiah 23:4 , and of Arvad, on Jeremiah 49:23 . The ancients of Gebal, &c., were thy calkers β€” Thou employedst the inhabitants of Gebal for calking thy ships, as being remarkably skilful in that trade. Concerning Gebal, which was a province of Phenicia, see note on Psalm 83:7 . All the ships of the sea were in thee β€” Ships from all parts came to trade with thee. They of Persia, &c., were in thine army β€” Thy citizens being all given to trading, thou madest use of foreign soldiers for thine army, when thy city was besieged. Bochart thinks that Lud denotes African Ethiopia; but Michaelis places this people westward in Africa. Both think Lud an Egyptian colony. The former, by Phut, understands the African Nomades: see Nahum 3:9 . They hanged the shield and helmet in thee β€” In thy garrisons, which were kept in time of peace. The men of Arvad, &c., were upon thy walls β€” They defended thy walls, when they were assaulted by the king of Babylon’s army. And the Gammadims were in thy towers β€” It is very uncertain what people are here meant by this name. Mr. Fuller and Bishop Newcome think it probable they were a people of Phenicia. The Hebrew word is derived from one which signifies to be contracted, narrowed, &c., and Parkhurst is of opinion that these people were the inhabitants of the country about Tripoli in Syria, formerly called the ????? , or Elbow, of Phenicia, from its being narrowed, and projecting into the sea in that form. Ludolphus conjectures they were Africans; the Chaldee paraphrase takes them to be Cappadocians. Dr. Spencer denominates them, β€œParvula simulacra, plerumque cubitalia, in dominus aut turribus ethnicorum in earum tutelam, aut prΓ¦sidium, collocata,” Little images, generally a cubit in length, placed upon the houses, or towers of the heathen, for their protections, or defence. Ezekiel 27:9 The ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise. Ezekiel 27:10 They of Persia and of Lud and of Phut were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness. Ezekiel 27:11 The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadims were in thy towers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty perfect. Ezekiel 27:12 Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs. Ezekiel 27:12-15 . Tarshish was thy merchant β€” Trafficked with thee. Of Tarshish, see note on Isaiah 2:16 ; Isaiah 23:1 . Javan, Tubal, and Meshech β€” By Javan is to be understood Greece, in which sense Alexander is styled king of Javan, or Greece, Daniel 8:21 . So the LXX. translate it here, and in that place of Daniel. And all Greece, except Peloponnesus, was anciently called Ionia. Tubal and Meshech are names usually joined together in Scripture. Two of Japhet’s sons are so called, Genesis 10:2 . Bochart and Bishop Newcome, with others, suppose them to be the people afterward called Tibareni and Moschi, who are generally mentioned together, and were situated near the Euxine sea. They traded the persons of men β€” In buying and selling slaves in the markets. Bochart observes, that Pontus, to which the Tibareni extended themselves, was remarkable for slaves, and that the Grecian slaves were the most valuable of any. And vessels of brass in thy market β€” The Hebrew word ????? here, generally translated brass, likewise signifies steel, and is so rendered by our interpreters, Psalm 18:34 . And we may very well understand it so here; for the Chalybes, a people so called from their steel manufactures, lived in the neighbourhood of the Tibareni and Moschi, for which reason steel is called the northern iron, Jeremiah 15:12 . By Togarmah, Bochart supposes Cappadocia is meant. Michaelis, however, prefers Armenia, which abounded in horses, and among the inhabitants of which a tradition prevailed, that they were descended from Thorgom. By Dedan, the above-mentioned critics, with Bishop Newcome, understand a city in the Persian gulf, now called Daden. To this place the inhabitants of the eastern isles, or seacoasts, brought their wares. Many isles were, or rather, had, the merchandise of thy hand β€” That is, many isles took thy manufactures, or bought commodities of thee; and, by way of return for them, brought thee in ivory, and other rarities from India, whither they traded. They brought these by way of present, says our translation; but it was rather by way of price, or return, for the commodities exported, and so it is rendered in some versions. Ezekiel 27:13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market. Ezekiel 27:14 They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules. Ezekiel 27:15 The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles were the merchandise of thine hand: they brought thee for a present horns of ivory and ebony. Ezekiel 27:16 Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate. Ezekiel 27:16-20 . Syria was thy merchant, &c. β€” From what is said here, we may conclude that the inhabitants of Tyre were exceedingly industrious, skilful in arts, and politic; for here almost all nations are described as bringing their respective commodities to Tyre, to give in exchange for the wares or manufactures of that place; which shows to what a vast height they carried their manufactures, and what immense profits they must have gained, since, it seems, they were able to purchase all kinds of precious stones, and the richest commodities of the world, with their own manufactures. Judah and Israel were thy merchants β€” Both the kingdom of the two tribes, and that of the ten. They traded in thy market wheat of Minnith β€” Minnith was a place belonging to the Ammonites, Jdg 11:33 , and was noted for excellent wheat, great quantities of which the Jews brought to Tyre, the Tyrians having none of their own growth, but being supplied therewith by the Jews and Israelites, from the growth of their own or the neighbouring countries: see 1 Kings 5:9-11 ; Ezra 3:7 ; Acts 12:20 . And Pannag β€” This is a word not elsewhere to be found, supposed by some to be the name of a place; by others, more probably, taken for some rich ointment, or gum. The Vulgate translates it balsam. In the wine of Helbon β€” Helbon is supposed to be that part of Syria which is called Chalybonitis by Ptolemy; and white wool β€” Bochart understands this to be wool of a bright purple colour. The LXX. and Chaldee render it, wool from Miletus, a place famous for that commodity. Daniel also, &c. β€” Grotius thinks that Daniel in the kingdom of Israel can scarcely be meant here; and finds that a city called Dana is placed by Ptolemy in the island of Ceylon. Dedan, &c., in precious clothes for chariots β€” Either these were rich coverings which were flung over the horses when harnessed to chariots, or else coverings for the seats of the chariots. Ezekiel 27:17 Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm. Ezekiel 27:18 Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool. Ezekiel 27:19 Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market. Ezekiel 27:20 Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots. Ezekiel 27:21 Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats: in these were they thy merchants. Ezekiel 27:21-24 . Arabia, &c., occupied with thee β€” Hebrew, ??? ???? , were the merchants of thy hand; that is, they took off thy manufactures (see Ezekiel 27:15 ) in exchange for cattle, in which their substance chiefly consisted. Of Kedar and its flocks, see notes on Isaiah 21:16-17 ; Isaiah 60:7 . The merchants of Sheba and Raamah β€” These were people of Arabia Felix, dwelling near the Persian gulf. They traded in the rich products of their own country, namely, spices, precious stones, and gold, in which it abounded: see note on 1 Kings 10:1 ; 1 Kings 10:10 . Haran, and Canneh, and Eden β€” By Haran here, it seems, the place is meant where Abraham dwelt when he came out of Ur of the Chaldees, (see Genesis 11:31 ,) called CharrΓ¦ by the Romans, and noted for the defeat of Crassus. Canneh some suppose to be the same place that is called Calneh, Amos 6:2 , or Calno, Isaiah 10:9 , a city near the Euphrates. Others take it for Ctesiphon, a noted city situate upon the river Tigris. Eden is joined with Haran, 2 Kings 19:12 , as it is here. The merchants of Sheba β€” There were two Shebas, as there were two Dedans; one descended from Raamah. ( Genesis 10:7 ,) the other from Jokshan, Abraham’s son, Genesis 25:3 . As the 22d verse is explained of the former, so the latter may be understood here: they were both in Arabia. And Chilmad β€” Both the Chaldee and LXX. explain this by Carmania. In chests of rich apparel, &c. β€” The rich apparel here spoken of was carefully packed up in chests of cedar, to give these clothes a fine scent, and preserve them from putrefaction. Ezekiel 27:22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold. Ezekiel 27:23 Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants. Ezekiel 27:24 These were thy merchants in all sorts of things , in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise. Ezekiel 27:25 The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas. Ezekiel 27:25 . The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee, &c. β€” Ships of Tarshish signify sometimes in Scripture any trading or merchant ships; and in this general sense the expression seems to be used here: the prophet, having already reckoned up the principal countries which traded with Tyre, now adds, in comprehensive terms, that all merchants, or traders, sung or spake great things of her riches: see note on Isaiah 2:16 . In the midst of the seas β€” Through all the islands of the sea, the sea-coasts, and from one part to another. Ezekiel 27:26 Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas. Ezekiel 27:26 . Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters β€” The prophet here begins to change the subject, and now, in metaphorical language, speaks of the danger into which the rulers and statesmen of Tyre had brought her by their pride and ill-concerted measures. He compares her to a ship, impelled by its own rowers into a very tempestuous sea, by which is meant their war with the Chaldeans. See a similar comparison Isaiah 33:23 . Great troubles are frequently signified by great waters. The east wind hath broken thee β€” By this is signified the Chaldean army coming from the east: as if he had said, As the violence of the east wind occasions many shipwrecks in the sea, so the army of thy enemies, coming upon thee, shall ruin thy strength and glory, and leave thee like a wreck cast upon the shore. β€œThis is a proper allegory,” says Bishop Warburton, β€œwith only one real sense; and it is managed by the prophet with that brevity and expedition which a proper allegory demands, when used in the place of a metaphor.” Grotius refers to Horace, lib. 1. ode 14, as an allegory very similar to this of the prophet. Ezekiel 27:27 Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin. Ezekiel 27:27-32 . Thy riches, &c., and all thy company, shall fall into the midst of the seas β€” Shall be as utterly ruined and destroyed as if they were sunk in the sea by a shipwreck. Or, this may signify their falling in a sea- fight. The suburbs shall shake, &c. β€” The cry of thy wounded seamen shall make the inhabitants of the suburbs shake for fear: See Ezekiel 26:15 . The mariners, &c., shall come down from their ships β€” Seafaring men, finding no encouragement to follow their employment, now thy traffic is destroyed, shall lay aside their trade, and mourn over thee. They shall stand upon the land β€” Bishop Newcome reads, upon the shore, understanding it of β€œthe shore of the adjoining island, from which they viewed the conflagration of their city.” St. Jerome tells us, from the ancient histories of the Assyrians, that when the safety of the city was despaired of, great numbers of Tyrians secured themselves and their riches in their ships. See notes on Isaiah 23:1 ; Isaiah 23:12 . And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee β€” Or rather, over thee, as the LXX. and Vulgate translate it. And shall cry bitterly β€” For the common ruin, and their own share in it. And shall cast up dust upon their heads β€” Shall use expressions of the deepest mourning and lamentation. They shall wallow themselves in ashes β€” As having bid a final farewell to all ease and comfort. They shall make themselves utterly bald for thee β€” Another expression of public sorrow. And β€” They, who used to wear fine linen; shall gird them with sackcloth β€” According to the custom of great mourners. And shall weep for bitterness of heart β€” Instead of singing, as formerly, their merry songs. And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee β€” The words allude to the public lamentations made at funerals. See note on Jeremiah 9:17-18 . Saying, What city is like Tyrus β€” Did ever any city come down from such a height of prosperity to such depth of adversity? Like the destroyed in the midst of the sea β€” Alas! what was once her safeguard, and the source of her wealth, is now her grave. Ezekiel 27:28 The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots. Ezekiel 27:29 And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land; Ezekiel 27:30 And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes: Ezekiel 27:31 And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing. Ezekiel 27:32 And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying , What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea? Ezekiel 27:33 When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise. Ezekiel 27:33-36 . When thy wares, &c. β€” When thy wares or manufactures were transported through the seas to every part, thou filledst many people β€” Didst supply the wants, or minister to the luxuries and pleasures, of many nations. Time was when thy wares, those of thy own making, and those that passed through thy hands, were exported to all parts of the world; then thou filledst many people, and didst enrich the kings of the earth and their kingdoms. But in the time when thou shalt be broken β€” As a ship that is wrecked at sea; thy merchandise and all thy company shall fall β€” They that used to be enriched by thee, shall be ruined with thee, as is usual in trade. All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished β€” Wondering greatly that ever such a change should be effected, that Tyre should fall. And their kings shall be sore afraid β€” Sensible how much less able they are to resist the conqueror and defend themselves than thou wast, and not knowing whom he will next attack. They shall be troubled in their countenance β€” They shall not be able to conceal the discomposure of their minds, but will show it evidently in their countenances. The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee β€” By way of insult and derision; as men are apt to despise those in adversity, whom they courted and respected in prosperity. The Chaldee Paraphrase renders it, They shall be astonished; and this sense agrees better with the lamentations of the seafaring men, mentioned in the foregoing verses. The following reflections by Bishop Newton, on the fall of Tyre, are peculiarly worthy of the reader’s attention: β€œSuch hath been the fate of this city, once the most famous in the world for trade and commerce. But trade is a fluctuating thing: it passed from Tyre to Alexandria, from Alexandria to Venice, from Venice to Antwerp, from Antwerp to Amsterdam and London, the English rivalling the Dutch, as the French are now rivalling both. It behooves those who are in possession of it, to take the greatest care that they do not lose it. Liberty is a friend to that, as that is a friend to liberty. But the greatest enemy to both is licentiousness, which tramples upon all law and lawful authority, encourages riots and tumults, promotes drunkenness and debauchery, sticks at nothing to supply its extravagance, practises every art of illicit gain, ruins credit, ruins trade, and will in the end ruin liberty itself. Neither kingdoms nor commonwealths, neither public companies nor private persons, can long carry on a beneficial, flourishing trade without virtue, and what virtue teacheth, sobriety, industry, frugality, modesty, honesty, punctuality, humanity, charity, the love of our country, and the fear of God. The prophets will inform us how the Tyrians lost it; and the like causes will always produce the like effects.” Ezekiel 27:34 In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall. Ezekiel 27:35 All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance. Ezekiel 27:36 The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.
Expositors
Expositor's Bible Commentary Ezekiel 27:1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, TYRE (CONTINUED): SIDON Ezekiel 27:1-36 ; Ezekiel 28:1-26 THE remaining oracles on Tyre (chapters 27, Ezekiel 28:1-19 ) are somewhat different both in subject and mode of treatment from the chapter we have just finished. Chapter 26 is in the main a direct announcement of the fall of Tyre, delivered in the oratorical style which is the usual vehicle of prophetic address. She is regarded as a state occupying a definite place among the other states of the world, and sharing the fate of other peoples who by their conduct towards Israel or their ungodliness and arrogance have incurred the anger of Jehovah. The two great odes which follow are purely ideal delineations of what Tyre is in herself; her destruction is assumed as certain rather than directly predicted, and the prophet gives free play to his imagination in the effort to set forth the conception of the city which was impressed on his mind. In chapter 27, he dwells on the external greatness and magnificence of Tyre, her architectural splendour, her political and military power, and above all her amazing commercial enterprise. chapter 28, on the other hand, is a meditation on the peculiar genius of Tyre, her inner spirit of pride and self-sufficiency, as embodied in the person of her king. From a literary point of view the two chapters are amongst the most beautiful in the whole book. In the twenty-seventh chapter the fiery indignation of the prophet almost disappears, giving place to the play of poetic fancy and a flow of lyric emotion more perfectly rendered than in any other part of Ezekiel’s writings. The distinctive feature of each passage is the elegy pronounced over the fall of Tyre; and although the elegy seems just on the point of passing into the taunt-song, yet the accent of triumph is never suffered to overwhelm the note of sadness to which these poems owe their special charm. I. Chapter 27 is described as a dirge over Tyre. In the previous chapter the nations were represented as bewailing her fall, but here the prophet himself takes up a lamentation for her; and, as may have been usual in real funeral dirges, he commences by celebrating the might and riches of the doomed city. The fine image which is maintained throughout the chapter was probably suggested to Ezekiel by the picturesque situation of Tyre on her sea-girt rock at "the entries of the sea." He compares her to a stately vessel riding at anchor near the shore, taking on board her cargo of precious merchandise, and ready to start on the perilous voyage from which she is destined never to return. Meanwhile the gallant ship sits proudly in the water, tight and seaworthy and sumptuously furnished; and the prophet’s eye runs rapidly over the chief points of her elaborate construction and equipment ( Ezekiel 27:3-11 ). Her timbers are fashioned of cypress from Hermon, her mast is a cedar of Lebanon, her oars are made of the oak of Bashan, her deck of sherbin-wood (a variety of cedar) inlaid with ivory imported from Cyprus. Her canvas fittings are still more exquisite and costly. The sail is of Egyptian byssus with embroidered work, and the awning over the deck was of cloth resplendent in the two purple dyes procured from the coasts of Elishah. The ship is fitted up for pleasure and luxury as well as for traffic, the fact symbolised being obviously the architectural and other splendours which justified the city’s boast that she was "the perfection of beauty." But Tyre was wise and powerful as well as beautiful; and so the prophet, still keeping up the metaphor, proceeds to describe how the great ship is manned. Her steersmen are the experienced statesmen whom she herself has bred and raised to power; her rowers are the men of Sidon and Aradus, who spend their strength in her service. The elders and wise men of Gebal are her shipwrights (literally "stoppers of leaks"); and so great is her influence that all the naval resources of the world are subject to her control. Besides this Tyre employs an army of mercenaries drawn from the remotest quarters of the earth-from Persia and North Africa, as well as the subordinate towns of Phoenicia; and these, represented as hanging their shields and helmets on her sides, make her beauty complete. In these verses the prophet pays a tribute of admiration to the astuteness with which the rulers of Tyre used their resources to strengthen her position as the head of the Phoenician confederacy. Three of the cities mentioned-Sidon, Aradus, and Gebal or Byblus-were the most important in Phoenicia; two of them at least had a longer history than herself, yet they are here truly represented as performing the rough menial labour which brought wealth and renown to Tyre. It required no ordinary statecraft to preserve the balance of so many complex and conflicting interests, and make them all co-operate for the advancement of the glory of Tyre; but hitherto her "wise men" had proved equal to the task. The second strophe ( Ezekiel 27:12-25 ) contains the survey of Tyrian commerce, which has already been analysed in another connection. At first sight it appears as if the allegory were here abandoned, and the impression is partly correct. In reality the city, although personified, is regarded as the emporium of the world’s commerce, to which all the nations stream with their produce. But at the end it appears that the various commodities enumerated represent the cargo with which the ship is laden. Ships of Tarshish- i.e. , the largest class of merchant vessels then afloat, used for the long Atlantic voyage-wait upon her, and fill her with all sorts of precious things ( Ezekiel 27:25 ). Then in the last strophe ( Ezekiel 27:26-36 ), which speaks of the destruction of Tyre, the figure of the ship is boldly resumed. The heavily freighted vessel is rowed into the open sea; there she is struck by an east wind and founders in deep water. The image suggests two ideas, which must not be pressed, although they may have an element of historic truth in them: one is that Tyre perished under the weight of her own commercial greatness, and the other that her ruin was hastened through the folly of her rulers. But the main idea is that the destruction of the city was wrought by the power of God, which suddenly overwhelmed her at the height of her prosperity and activity. As the waves close over the doomed vessel the cry of anguish that goes up from the drowning mariners and passengers strikes terror into the hearts of all seafaring men. They forsake their ships, and having reached the safety of the shore abandon themselves to frantic demonstrations of grief, joining their voices in a lamentation over the fate of the goodly ship which symbolised the mistress of the sea ( Ezekiel 27:32-36 ):- "Who was like Tyre [so glorious]- In the midst of the sea? When thy wares went forth from the seas- Thou filledst the peoples; With thy wealth and thy merchandise- Thou enrichedst the earth. Now art thou broken from the seas- In depths of the waters; Thy merchandise and all thy multitude- Are fallen therein. All the inhabitants of the islands- Are shocked at thee, And their kings shudder greatly- With tearful countenances. They that trade among the peoples- Hiss over thee; Thou art become a terror- And art no more for ever." Such is the end of Tyre. She has vanished utterly from the earth; the imposing fabric of her greatness is like an unsubstantial pageant faded; and nothing remains to tell of her former glory but the mourning of the nations who were once enriched by her commerce. Ezekiel 28:1-19 -Here the prophet turns to the prince of Tyre, who is addressed throughout as the impersonation of the consciousness of a great commercial community. We happen to know from Josephus that the name of the reigning king at this time was Ithobaal or Ethbaal II But it is manifest that the terms of Ezekiel’s message have no reference to the individuality of this or any other prince of Tyre. It is not likely that the king could have exercised any great political influence in a city "whose merchants were all princes"; indeed, we learn from Josephus that the monarchy was abolished in favour of some sort of elective constitution not long after the death of Ithobaal. Nor is there any reason to suppose that Ezekiel has in view any special manifestation of arrogance on the part of the royal house, such as a pretension to be descended from the gods. The king here is simply the representative of the genius of the community, the sins of heart charged against him are the expression of the sinful principle which the prophet detected beneath the refinement and luxury of Tyre, and his shameful death only symbolises the downfall of the city. The prophecy consists of two parts: first, an accusation against the prince of Tyre, ending with a threat of destruction ( Ezekiel 27:2-10 ); and second, a lament over his fall ( Ezekiel 27:11-19 ). The point of view is very different in these two sections. In the first the prince is still conceived as a man, and the language put into his mouth, although extravagant, does not exceed the limits of purely human arrogance. In the second, however, the king appears as an angelic being, an inhabitant of Eden and a companion of the cherub, sinless at first, and falling from his high estate through his own transgression. It almost seems as if the prophet had in his mind the idea of a tutelary spirit or genius of Tyre, like the angelic princes in the book of Daniel who preside over the destinies of different nations. { Daniel 10:20-21 ; Daniel 12:1 } But in spite of its enhanced idealism, the passage only clothes in forms drawn from Babylonian mythology the boundless self-glorification of Tyre, and the expulsion of the prince from paradise is merely the ideal counterpart of the overthrow of the city which is his earthly abode. The sin of Tyre is an overweening pride, which culminated in an attitude of self-deification on the part of its king. Surrounded on every hand by the evidences of man’s mastery over the world, by the achievements of human art and industry and enterprise, the king feels as if his throne on the sea-girt island were a veritable seat of the gods, and as if he himself were a being truly divine. His heart is lifted up; and, forgetful of the limits of his mortality, he "sets his mind like the mind of a god." The godlike quality on which he specially prides himself is the superhuman wisdom evinced by the extraordinary prosperity of the city with which he identifies himself. Wiser than Daniel! the prophet ironically exclaims; "no secret thing is too dark for thee! By thy wisdom and thine insight thou hast gotten thee wealth, and hast gathered gold and silver into thy treasuries: by thy great wisdom in thy commerce thou hast multiplied thy wealth, and thy heart is lifted up because of thy riches." The prince sees in the vast accumulation of material resources in Tyre nothing but the reflection of the genius of her inhabitants; and being himself the incarnation of the spirit of the city, he takes the glory of it to himself and esteems himself a god. Such impious self-exaltation must inevitably call down the vengeance of Him who is the only living God; and Ezekiel proceeds to announce the humiliation of the prince by the "most ruthless of the nations"- i.e. , the Chaldaeans. He shall then know how much of divinity doth hedge a king. In face of them that seek his life he shall learn that he is man and not God, and that there are forces in the world against which the vaunted wisdom of Tyre is of no avail. An ignominious death at the hand of strangers is the fate reserved for the mortal who so proudly exalted himself against all that is called God. The thought thus expressed, when disengaged from its peculiar setting, is one of permanent importance. To Ezekiel, as to the prophets generally, Tyre is the representative of commercial greatness, and the truth which he here seeks to illustrate is that the abnormal development of the mercantile spirit had in her case destroyed the capacity of faith in that which is truly divine. Tyre no doubt, like every other ancient state, still maintained a public religion of the type common to Semitic paganism. She was the sacred seat of a special cult, and the temple of Melkarth was considered the chief glory of the city. But the public and perfunctory worship which was there celebrated had long ceased to express the highest consciousness of the community. The real god of Tyre was not Baal nor Melkarth, but the king, or any other object that might serve as a symbol of her civic greatness. Her religion was one that embodied itself in no outward ritual; it was the enthusiasm which was kindled in the heart of every citizen of Tyre by the magnificence of the imperial city to which he belonged. The state of mind which Ezekiel regards as characteristic of Tyre was perhaps the inevitable outcome of a high civilisation informed by no loftier religious conceptions than those common to heathenism. It is the idea which afterwards found expression in the deification of the Roman emperors-the idea that the state is the only power higher than the individual to which he can look for the furtherance of his material and spiritual interests, the only power, therefore, which rightly claims his homage and his reverence. None the less it is a state of mind which is destructive of all that is essential to living religion; and Tyre in her proud self-sufficiency was perhaps further from a true knowledge of God than the barbarous tribes who in all sincerity worshipped the rude idols which represented the invisible power that ruled their destinies. And in exposing the irreligious spirit which lay at the heart of the Tyrian civilisation the prophet lays his finger on the spiritual danger which attends the successful pursuit of the finite interests of human life. The thought of God, the sense of an immediate relation of the spirit of man to the Eternal and the Infinite, are easily displaced from men’s minds by undue admiration for the achievements of a culture based on material progress, and supplying every need of human nature except the very deepest, the need of God. "For that is truly a man’s religion, the object of which fills and holds captive his soul and heart and mind, in which he trusts above all things, which above all things he longs for and hopes for." The commercial spirit is indeed but one of the forms in which men devote themselves to the service of this present world; but in any community where it reigns supreme we may confidently look for the same signs of religious decay which Ezekiel detected in Tyre in his own day. At all events his message is not superfluous in an age and country where energies are well-nigh exhausted in the accumulation of the means of. living, and whose social problems all run up into the great question of the distribution of wealth. It is essentially the same. truth which Ruskin, with something of the power and insight of a Hebrew prophet, has so eloquently enforced on the men who make modern England-that the true religion of a community does not live in the venerable institutions to which it yields a formal and conventional deference, but in the objects which inspire its most eager ambitions, the ideals which govern its standard of worth, in those things wherein it finds the ultimate ground of its confidence and the reward of its work. The lamentation over the fall of the prince of Tyre ( Ezekiel 28:11-19 ) reiterates the same lesson with a boldness and freedom of imagination not usual with this prophet. The passage is full of obscurities and difficulties which cannot be adequately discussed here, but the main lines of the conception are easily grasped. It describes the original state of the prince as a semi-divine being, and his fall from that state on account of sin that was found in him. The picture is no doubt ironical; Ezekiel actually means nothing more than that the soaring pride of Tyre enthroned its king or its presiding genius in the seat of the gods, and endowed him with attributes more than mortal. The prophet accepts the idea, and shows that there was sin in Tyre enough to hurl the most radiant of celestial creatures from heaven to hell. The passage presents certain obvious affinities with the account of the Fall in the second and third chapters of Genesis; but it also contains reminiscences of a mythology the key to which is now lost. It can hardly be supposed that the vivid details of the imagery, such as the "mountain of God," the "stones of fire," "the precious gems," are altogether due to the prophet’s imagination. The mountain of the gods is now known to have been a prominent idea of the Babylonian religion; and there appears to have been a widespread notion that in the abode of the gods were treasures of gold and precious stones, jealously guarded by griffins, of which small quantities found their way into the possession of men. It is possible that fragments of these mythical notions may have reached the knowledge of Ezekiel during his sojourn in Babylon and been used by him to fill up his picture of the glories which surrounded the first estate of the king of Tyre. It should be observed, however, that the prince is not to be identified with the cherub or one of the cherubim. The words "Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth, and I have set thee so" ( Ezekiel 28:14 ) may be translated "With the cherub I set thee"; and similarly the words of Ezekiel 28:16 , "I will destroy thee, O covering cherub,’" should probably be rendered "And the cherub hath destroyed thee." The whole conception, is greatly simplified by these changes, and the principal features of it, so far as they can be made out with clearness, are as follows: The cherub is the warden of the "holy mountain of God,’" and no doubt also (as in chapter 1) the symbol and bearer of the divine glory. When it is said that the prince of Tyre was placed with the cherub, the meaning is that he had his place in the abode of God, or was admitted to the presence of God, so long as he preserved the perfection in which he was created ( Ezekiel 28:15 ). The other allusions to his original glory, such as the "covering" of precious stones and the "walking amidst fiery stones," cannot be explained with any degree of certainty. When iniquity is found in him so that he must be banished from the presence of God, the cherub is said to destroy him from the midst of the stones of fire- i.e ., is the agent of the divine judgment which descends on the prince. It is thus doubtful whether the prince is conceived as a perfect human being, like Adam before his fall, or as an angelic, superhuman creature; but the point is of little importance in ideal delineation such as we have here. It will be seen that even on the first supposition there is no very close correspondence with the story of Eden in the book of Genesis, for there the cherubim are placed to guard the way of the tree of life only after man has been expelled from the garden. But what is the sin that tarnished the sanctity of this exalted personage and cost him his place among the immortals? Ideally, it was an access of pride that caused his ruin, a spiritual sin, such as might originate in the heart of an angelic being. "By that sin fell the angels: how can man, then The image of his Maker, hope to win by it?" His heart was lifted up because of his beauty, and he forfeited his godlike wisdom over his brilliance ( Ezekiel 28:17 ). But really, this change passing over the spirit of the prince in the seat of God is only the reflection of what is done on earth in Tyre. As her commerce increased, the proofs of her unjust and unscrupulous use of wealth were accumulated against her, and her midst was filled with violence ( Ezekiel 27:16 ). This is the only allusion in the three chapters to the wrong and oppression and the outrages on humanity which were the inevitable accompaniments of that greed of gain which had taken possession of the Tyrian community. And these sins are regarded as a demoralisation taking place in the nature of the prince, who is the representative of the city; by the "iniquity of his traffic he has profaned his holiness," and is cast down from his lofty seat to the earth, a spectacle of abject humiliation for kings to gloat over. By a sudden change of metaphor the destruction of the city is also represented as a fire breaking out in the vitals of the prince, and reducing his body to ashes-a conception which has not unnaturally suggested to some commentators the fable of the phoenix which was supposed periodically to immolate herself in a fire of her own kindling. III. A short oracle on Sidon completes the series of prophecies dealing with the future of Israel’s immediate neighbours ( Ezekiel 28:20-23 ). Sidon lay about twenty miles farther north than Tyre, and was, as we have seen, at this time subject to the authority of the younger and more vigorous city. From the book of Jeremiah, { Jeremiah 25:22 ; Jeremiah 27:3 } however, we see that Sidon was an autonomous state, and preserved a measure of independence even in matters of foreign policy. There is therefore nothing arbitrary in assigning a separate oracle to this most northerly of the states in immediate contact with the people of Israel, although it must be admitted that Ezekiel has nothing distinctive to say of Sidon. Phoenicia was in truth so overshadowed by Tyre that all the characteristics of the people have been amply illustrated in the chapters that have dealt with the latter city. The prophecy is accordingly delivered in the most general terms, and indicates rather the purpose and effect of the judgment than the manner in which it is to come or the character of the people against whom it is directed. It passes insensibly into a prediction of the glorious future of Israel, which is important as revealing the underlying motive of all the preceding utterances against the heathen nations. The restoration of Israel and the destruction of her old neighbours are both parts of one comprehensive scheme of divine providence, the ultimate object of which is a demonstration before the eyes of the world of the holiness of Jehovah. That men might know that He is Jehovah, God alone, is the end alike of His dealings with the heathen and with His own people. And the two parts of God’s plan are in the mind of Ezekiel intimately related to each other; the one is merely a condition of the realisation of the other. The crowning proof of Jehovah’s holiness will be seen in His faithfulness to the promise made to the patriarchs of the possession of the land of Canaan, and in the security and prosperity enjoyed by Israel when brought back to their land a purified nation. Now in the past Israel had been constantly interfered with, crippled, humiliated, and seduced by the petty heathen powers around her borders. These had been a pricking brier and a stinging thorn ( Ezekiel 28:24 ), constantly annoying and harassing her and impeding the free development of her national life. Hence the judgments here denounced against them are no doubt in the first instance a punishment for what they had been and done in the past; but they are also a clearing of the stage that Israel might be isolated from the rest of the world, and be free to mould her national life and her religious institutions in accordance with the will of her God. That is the substance of the last three verses of the chapter; and while they exhibit the peculiar limitations of the prophet’s thinking, they enable us at the same time to do justice to the singular unity and consistency of aim which guided him in his great forecast of the future of the kingdom of God. There remains now the case of Egypt to be dealt with; but Egypt’s relations to Israel and her position in the world were so unique that Ezekiel reserves consideration of her future for a separate group of oracles longer than those on all the other nations put together. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.
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Take up a lamentation for Tyrus. Ezekiel 27 A proud city W. Greenhill, M. A. The men of the world are wise, choosing the fittest places for their own advantage and interest. Let us learn so much of the men of the world, to be wise for our spiritual interest, and seat ourselves near the waters of the sanctuary, that so, trading with God and Christ, we may abound with spiritual treasure. 2. Outward excellences lift up men's hearts, beget vain confidences, and cause them to boast. This is the great wickedness of cities enriched by God, that they forget Him, and glory in external excellences. 3. No situation, strength, or outward advantage can secure proud cities. 4. Artists will put forth themselves to the utmost to show their skill. "Thy builders have perfected thy beauty"; they concealed not their art; what skill soever they had in architecture, they strove to manifest the same. ( W. Greenhill, M. A. ) The sin of Tyre John Skinner, M. A. To Ezekiel, as to the prophets generally, Tyre is the representative of commercial greatness, and the truth which he here seeks to illustrate is that the abnormal development of the mercantile spirit had in her case destroyed the capacity of faith in that which is truly Divine. The real god of Tyre was not Baal nor Melkarth, but the king, or any other object that might serve as a symbol of her civic greatness. Her religion was one that embodied itself in no outward ritual; it was the enthusiasm which was kindled in the heart of every citizen of Tyre by the magnificence of the imperial city to which he belonged. The state of mind which Ezekiel regards as characteristic of Tyre was perhaps the inevitable outcome of a high civilisation informed by no loftier religious conceptions than those common to heathenism. It is the idea which afterwards found expression in the deification of the Roman emperors β€” the idea that the state is the only power higher than the individual to which he can look for the furtherance of his material and spiritual interests, the only: power, therefore, which rightly claims his homage and his reverence. None the less, it is a state of mind which is destructive of all that is essential to living religion; and Tyre in her proud self-sufficiency was perhaps further from a true knowledge of God than the barbarous tribes who in all sincerity worshipped the rude idols which represented the invisible power that ruled their destinies. And in exposing the irreligious spirit which lay at the heart of the Tyrian civilisation the prophet lays his finger on the spiritual danger which attends the successful pursuit of the finite interests of human life. The thought of God, the sense of an immediate relation of the spirit of man to the Eternal and the Infinite, are easily displaced from men's minds by undue admiration for the achievements of a culture based on material progress, and supplying every need of human nature except the very deepest, the need of God. The commercial spirit is indeed but one of the forms in which men devote themselves to the service of this present world; but in any community where it reigns supreme we may confidently look for the same signs of religious decay which Ezekiel detected in Tyre in his own day. At all events, his message is not superfluous in an age and country where energies are well-nigh exhausted in the accumulation of the means of living, and whose social problems all run up into the great question of the distribution of wealth. ( John Skinner, M. A. ) The fate of Tyre J. Parker, D. D. Why was Tyrus rebuked and stripped and humbled? Because it came to pass in the case of Tyrus, as it comes to pass in our case, that too much prosperity begets a spirit of sneering. And God will not have any sneering in His school. How did Tyrus sneer? She sneered religiously, which is the worst kind of sneering. "Because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha." That "Aha" cost Tyrus her life. He who sneers at Jerusalem challenges God; he who mocks the humble poor defies high Heaven. Tyrus versus Jerusalem, β€” the case so limited, Jerusalem might go down; but so long as Jerusalem stands for godliness, the true worship, the right conception of things, he who offends Jerusalem has to fight Omnipotence. Can Tyrus fail? When Tyrus fails all the islands of the sea know of it: "Then all the princes of the sea shall come down," etc. Behold them all! β€” princes of Polynesia coming down from their thrones, stripping themselves, themselves folding up the garments and putting them away, and then replacing the garments embroidered and golden with garments of trembling. Why? Because famed Tyrus has fallen. Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen. We should learn from ruins. O vain man, poor boaster, you shall beg tomorrow! You that steep your arms to the elbows in gold shall write a begging letter ere the year closes. Riches make to themselves wings and fly away, and the great Babylon which you have builded is but a bubble in the air. Lay not up for yourselves riches where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: have riches in heaven; have riches in the word of God. See the uselessness of what is called environment. Tyrus had environment enough; her shipboards, trees of cedar; her masts made of the cedars of Lebanon; her oars of the oaks of Bashan; fine linen with broidered work from Egypt, blue and purple from the isles of Elishah; treasure upon treasure. So much for environment! We think if we had more pictures on the walls we should pray more; if we had a larger garden behind the house we should be more spiritually minded. It is not so. A man's heaven is in his heart; a man's hell is within. Moreover, what is environment? Who are we that we should define environment and say, Under such and such circumstances such and such moral issues would take place? Never! unless there be something more. Only the Spirit can make man right, and only Christ, according to the faith, to the Christianity which I solemnly accept, can get at the spirit with renewing and sanctifying energy. All other teachers are reformers. Christ is a Saviour. When Christ gets into a man's heart, all the rest follows β€” all the cleanliness comes the same day, and on the morrow comes music, and on the third day comes the dawn of heaven. ( J. Parker, D. D. ) The position of Tyre on land and sea T. De Witt Talmage. Part of the city was on an island, and part on the mainland. Alexander, the conqueror, was much embarrassed when he found so much of the city was on an island, for he had no ships. But his military genius was not to be balked. Having marched his army to the beach, he ordered them to tear up the city on the mainland and throw it into the water, and build a causeway two hundred feet wide to the island. So they took that part of the city which was on the mainland, and with it built a causeway of timber and brick and stone, on which his army marched to the capture of that part of the city which was on the island, as though a hostile army should put Brooklyn into the East River, and over it march to the capture of New York. That Tyrian causeway of ruins which Alexander's army built is still there, and by alluvial deposits has permanently united the island to the mainland, so that it is no longer an island but a promontory. The sand, the greatest of all undertakers for burying cities, having covered up for the most part Baalbec and Palmyra and Thebes and Memphis and Carthage and Babylon and Luxor and Jericho, the sand, so small and yet so mighty, is now gradually giving rites of sepulture to what was left of Tyre. But, oh, what a magnificent city it once was! Mistress of the sea! Queen of international commerce! All nations casting their crowns at her feet! Where we have in our sailing vessels benches of wood, she had benches of ivory. Where we have for our masts of ships sails of coarse canvas, she had sails of richest embroidery. ( T. De Witt Talmage. ) Responsibility of city rulers T. De Witt Talmage. Cities are not necessarily evils, as has sometimes been argued. They have been the birthplace of civilisation. In them popular liberty has lifted up its voice. Witness Genoa, Pisa, Venice. The entrance of the representatives of the cities in the legislatures of Europe was the deathblow to feudal kingdoms. Cities are the patronisers of art and literature. Cities hold the world's sceptre. Africa was Carthage, Greece was Athens, England is London, France is Paris, Italy is Rome. I. COMMERCIAL ETHICS ARE ALWAYS AFFECTED BY THE MORAL OR IMMORAL CHARACTER OF THOSE WHO HAVE PRINCIPAL SUPREMACY. Officials that wink at fraud, and that have neither censure nor arraignment for glittering dishonesties, always weaken the pulse of commercial honour. II. SO ALSO OF THE EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF A CITY. There are cities where educational affairs are settled in the low caucus in the abandoned parts of the cities, by men full of ignorance and rum. It ought not to be so; but in many cities it is so. I hear the tramp of the coming generations. What that great multitude of youth shall be for this world and the next will be affected very much by the character of our public schools. Instead of driving the Bible out, you had better drive the Bible further in. III. THE CHARACTER OF OFFICIALS IN A CITY AFFECTS THE DOMESTIC CIRCLE. In a city where grog shops have their own way, and gambling hells are not interfered with, and for fear of losing political influence officials close their eyes to festering abominations β€” in all those cities the home interests need to make imploration. The family circles of the city must inevitably be affected by the moral character or the immoral character of those who rule over them. IV. THE RELIGIOUS INTERESTS OF A CITY ARE THUS AFFECTED. The Church today has to contend with evils that the civil law ought to smite; and while I would not have the civil government in anywise relax its energy in the arrest and punishment of crime, I would have a thousand-fold more energy put forth in the drying up of the fountains of iniquity. The Church of God asks no pecuniary aid from political power; but it does ask that, in addition to all the evils we must necessarily contend against, we shall not have to fight also municipal negligence. ( T. De Witt Talmage. ) God's observation of our business hours "Thus said the Lord." This account of the trade of Tyre intimates to us that God's eye is upon men, and that He takes cognisance of what they do when they are employed in their worldly business, not only when they are at church, praying and hearing, but when they are in their markets and fairs, and upon the exchange, buying and selling, which is a good reason why we should in all our dealings keep a conscience void of offence, and have our eye always upon Him whose eye is always upon us. ( M. Henry . ) Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches. Ezekiel 27:12-23 The fairs of Tyre T. De Witt Talmage. Let us look in upon a world's fair at Tyre. Ezekiel leads us through one department, and it is a horse fair. Underfed and overdriven for ages, the horses of today give you no idea of the splendid animals which, rearing and plunging and snorting and neighing, were brought down over the planks of the ships, and led into the world's fair at Tyre, until Ezekiel, who was a minister of religion, and not supposed to know much about, horses, cried out in admiration, "They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses." Here in another department of that world's fair at Tyre, led on by Ezekiel the prophet, we find everything all ablaze with precious stones. Like petrified snow are the corals; like fragments of fallen sky are the sapphires; and here is a gate a-blush with all colours. What is that aroma we inhale? It is from the chests of cedar which we open, and find them filled with all kinds of fabric. But the aromatics increase as we pass down this lane of enchantment, and here are cassia and frankincense and balm. Led on by Ezekiel the prophet, we come to an agricultural fair, with a display of wheat from Minnith and Pannag, rich as that of our modern Dakota or Michigan. And here is a mineralogical fair, with specimens of iron and silver and tin and lead and gold. But, halt! for here is purple, Tyrian purple, all tints and shades, deep almost unto the black, and bright almost unto the blue; waiting for kings and queens to order it made into robes for coronation day; purple, not like that which is now made from the orchilla weed, but the extinct purple, the lost purple, which the ancients knew how to make out of the gastropod molluscs of the Mediterranean. Oh, look at those casks of wine from Helbon! See those snow banks of wool from the back of sheep that once pastured in Gilead! Oh, the bewildering riches and variety of that world's fair at Tyre! ( T. De Witt Talmage. ) Great fairs universal T. De Witt Talmage. But the world has copied these Bible mentioned fairs in all succeeding ages, and it has had its Louis the Sixth fair at Dagobert, and Henry the First fair on St. Bartholomew's Day, and Hungarian fairs at Pesth, and Easter fairs at Leipsic, and the Scotch fairs at Perth (bright was the day when I was at one of them), and afterward came the London world's fair, and the New York world's fair, and the Vienna world's fair, and the Parisian world's fair, and it has been decided that, in commemoration of the discovery of America in 1492, there shall be held in this country in 1892 a world's fair that shall eclipse all preceding national expositions. ( T. De Witt Talmage. ) Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of thy wares of thy making Home industries to be encouraged It is the wisdom of a nation to encourage art and industry, and not to bear hard upon the handicraft-tradesman; for it contributes much to the wealth and honour of a nation to send abroad "wares of their own making," which may bring them in the "multitude of riches." ( M. Henry ,) These were thy merchants in all sorts of things. Ezekiel 27:24 Business troubles T. De Witt Talmage. Many of our business men are suffering trials and temptations from small and limited capital in business. This temptation of limited capital has ruined men in two ways. Sometimes they have sunk down under the temptation. They have yielded the battle before the first shot was fired. They blanched at the financial peril. The gloom of their countenances overshadowed even their dry goods and groceries. Despondency, coming from limited capital, blasted them. Others have felt it in a different way. They have said: "Here I have been trudging along. I have been trying to be honest, all these years. I find it is of no use. Now it is make or break." The small craft that could have stood the stream is put out beyond the lighthouse, on the great sea of speculation. After a while the bubble bursts. Creditors rush in. The law clutches, but finds nothing in its grasp. The men who were swindled say: "I don't know how I could ever have been deceived by that man"; and the pictorials, in handsome woodcuts, set forth the hero who in ten years had genius enough to fail for 150,000 dollars! 2. Many of our business men are tempted to over-anxiety and care. From January to December the struggle goes on. Even the Sabbath cannot dam back the tide of anxiety; for this wave of worldliness dashes clear over the churches, and leaves its foam on Bibles and prayer books. This excitement of the brain, this corroding care of the heart, this strain of effort that exhausts the spirit, sends a great many of our best men, in middle life, into the grave. Oh, I wish I could, today, rub out some of these lines of care; that I could lift some of the burdens from the heart; that I could give relaxation to some of these worn muscles! It is time for you to begin to take it a little easier. Do your best, and then trust God for the rest. 3. Many of our business men are tempted to neglect their home duties. It is often the case that the father is the mere treasurer of the family, a sort of agent to see that they have dry goods and groceries. The work of family government he does not touch. A man has more responsibilities than those which are discharged by putting competent instructors over his children, and giving them a drawing master and a music teacher. 4. Many of our business men are tempted to put the attainment of money above the value of the soul. There are men in all occupations who seem to act as though they thought that a pack of bonds and mortgages could be traded off for a title to heaven, and as though gold would be a lawful tender in that place where it is so common that they make pavements out of it. Salvation by Christ is the only salvation. Treasures in heaven are the only incorruptible treasures. ( T. De Witt Talmage. ) Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters. Ezekiel 27:26 "Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters" I. This is truly applicable to SINNERS WHO ARE BEGINNING TO TASTE OF THE RESULT OF THEIR SINS β€” ungodly persons, who have chosen their own ways and followed their own devices, and now at last are finding that the way of transgressors is hard. 1. Certain transgressors are beginning to feel the result of wrong-doing in their circumstances. They have brought themselves from wealth to poverty by drunkenness, dishonesty, or vice. 2. Others who have not yet been afflicted by any outward providence are beginning to feel the sting of sin upon their conscience. This will, I trust, be used for their good. 3. O soul, thou art come now where thy sins compass thee about, and shut thee in on every side. Listen to me, while I speak to thee words which may seem harsh, but they are all meant in love to thee. If the waters be great today, what will they be ere long? If now thou canst not bear the wages of sin, what wilt thou do when they are paid thee in full? "What wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?" Learn, I pray thee, this piece of timely wisdom. Thy rowers have brought thee into no quiet waters; they have found thee no harbours of delight: shall they any longer be thy rowers? Do this one thing to thine own soul if thou hast any sense left, or any pity on thyself; cry out against those who are ruining thee. Oh, that the Spirit of the Lord may help thee to break the oars and cast the rowers into the sea! Remember, also, that they have rowed thee into the stormy waters, but they cannot row thee out of them. Thou canst find no rest by continuing in sin, neither canst thou save thyself from thy present forlorn condition. O man, cry mightily unto God. He will hear thee. II. I see another ship. It is not black with the grime of the world; it resembles the gilded barge of a mighty prince; but still, for all that, its rowers have brought it into great waters. This represents THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS BROUGHT INTO DISTRESS. Many men are fondly persuaded that either they need no saving, or that they can save themselves. There is no end to the gallant show which self-righteousness can exhibit. No ship of Tyre can excel it. Yet to this glorious ship a trying voyage is appointed. Alas, my friend! thy rowers have brought thee into great waters. Think of the difficult journey which lies before you. The proposal is that you shall row yourself by your good works across yon sea of sin to the port of glory. Before you enter upon a matter it is well to count the cost. Do you not know that, if you are to be saved by obedience to the law of God, your obedience must be absolutely perfect? Look, sirs, you have been resting in your own righteousness; have you never sinned? Do you claim to have been absolutely perfect before your Maker from your childhood? Surely, you must have a brow of brass to make such a boast. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Verily, my friend, "thy rowers have brought thee into great waters." If thou art to be saved by thy works, see where thou art! Any one day thou mayest slip and stumble, and then what becomes of all thy past life? If this be thy style of standing before God, it is a poor standing indeed. Canst thou ever be sure that thou wilt be safe in an hour's time? Come, my friend, canst thou be sure that thou hast done enough, and felt enough, and prayed enough, and given enough alms, and gone a sufficient number of times to the meeting house, or to the church? Canst thou be sure that it is well with thee even now? The religion of self-righteousness never proposes such a thing as security. It does not give the quiet of faith, much less the deep repose of full assurance. "Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters." Uncertainty follows uncertainty, and the wind of fear tosses the billows of doubt. III. There is a third case, THE ERRORIST IN HIS DIFFICULTIES. This is a very common sight in these wayward times. I might say to many a man who has ventured out to sea under the strong impulse of curiosity, trusting to his own proud intellect, "Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters." The only safe course for a thoughtful man is to trust in God, and to accept the Scriptures as infallible truth. There is our anchorage. But there are men who cannot abide this; and, first of all, I think that they begin to get into great waters when they resolve to be guided by their own judgment and their own intellect, without submitting to the teachings of Christ. O my wise and thoughtful friend, do you know what will soon happen to you? You will probably fall under the domination of another's intellect: you will become the shadow of some greater man. The man who will be guided by nobody is usually guided by someone more foolish or more knavish than himself. In the dogmas of modern thought there is not enough mental meat to bait a mousetrap: as to food for a soul, there is none of it; an ant would starve on such small gram. No atonement, no regeneration, no eternal love, no covenant: what is there worth thinking upon? "They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him." They have taken away the light, the life, the love, the liberty of free grace, and they have given us nothing in the stead thereof but pretty toys, which they themselves will break before many days are past. How many who only meant to go a little from the old ways of truth have gone too far aside even for themselves! Truly, my speculative friend, "thy rowers have brought thee into great waters." IV. Behold THE BACKSLIDER FILLED WITH HIS OWN WAYS. O wanderer from the Lord thy God, "thy rowers have brought thee into great waters." You know how it begins: first of all, that holy, joyful walk with God is lost. It did not seem much merely to lose rapturous enjoyment; but it was much in itself, and it meant more. Then there came a loss of relish for the means of grace. Secret prayer was neglected, and the Bible was unread. The forms of religion were kept up longer than the enjoyment of it; but there was no life, no power in them. After that there came a general fault-finding with brethren, a quarrelling with sisters, a constant cavilling at this and that. Then there came a distaste for Christian company: godly people were too common place and prosaic. The love of something "brighter" called them away from solid conversation. Songs other than those of Zion began to be relished, and teachings not of the Bible were listened to. At last it went further: it came to actual and open sin, and ruin followed. O friend, "thy rowers have brought thee into great waters." Oh, that He would come who owns thy barque, who shed His blood for thee! Oh, that He would step into thy vessel, and take the helm and turn thee round tonight by a great stroke of His almighty grace, and turn thy head to the port of peace! ( C. H. Spurgeon . ) The east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas Broken by the east wind F. B. Meyer, B. A. In this splendid chapter the prophet describes Tyre under the image of one of her own merchant vessels. Looking at it simply as a piece of composition, what an extreme interest there is in this enumeration of the various races which were subject to this mighty city, and the lands from which she drew her supplies! We are reminded of the far-spreading colonies of the Anglo-Saxon race. We can almost hear the noise of her construction in the earlier verses, and see fine linen hoisted as her sail, whilst she is manned and piloted by her statesmen. Heavily laden with the choice merchandise of the East, she sails the seas, independent of the winds of heaven, because the galley slaves toil at treble banks of oars on either side. But their rowing brings her into great waters; she encounters the east wind, which breaks her in the heart of the sea; and in one day, pilots, rowers, men of war, and merchandise, are lost β€” all brought to silence in the midst of the sea. What a powerful conception of the great ship sinking in silence with all on board! One cry; the waves meet over her; and only a floating spar tells where she sank. So is it with many a life. The whole world is laid under contribution for its outfit. Bashan, Chittim, Egypt, bring their quota; and to all appearance, as it glides from its stocks upon the sea of life, a fair voyage awaits it, and large exchange of the wares of human industry and thought. But where Christ is not the Pilot, and His word not the chart, the rowers bring it into great waters, and it is broken by the east wind. O mariner! see to it that Christ is on board; for He only can still the tempest and speak peace, and guide thee out of the great waters. ( F. B. Meyer, B. A. ).
Matthew Henry
27:1-25 Those who live at ease are to be lamented, if they are not prepared for trouble. Let none reckon themselves beautified, any further than they are sanctified. The account of the trade of Tyre intimates, that God's eye is upon men when employed in worldly business. Not only when at church, praying and hearing, but when in markets and fairs, buying and selling. In all our dealings we should keep a conscience void of offence. God, as the common Father of mankind, makes one country abound in one commodity, and another in another, serviceable to the necessity or to the comfort and ornament of human life. See what a blessing trade and merchandise are to mankind, when followed in the fear of God. Besides necessaries, an abundance of things are made valuable only by custom; yet God allows us to use them. But when riches increase, men are apt to set their hearts upon them, and forget the Lord, who gives power to get wealth. 27:26-36 The most mighty and magnificent kingdoms and states, sooner or later, come down. Those who make creatures their confidence, and rest their hopes upon them, will fall with them: happy are those who have the God of Jacob for their Help, and whose hope is in the Lord their God, who lives for ever. Those who engage in trade should learn to conduct their business according to God's word. Those who possess wealth should remember they are the Lord's stewards, and should use his goods in doing good to all. Let us seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.