"Son of man, because Tyre has said of Jerusalem, 'Aha! The gate to the nations is broken; it has swung open to me; now that she lies in ruins I will be filled,' Sermons
I. THE FACT UPON WHICH THIS JEALOUSY WAS BASED, i.e. THE FORMER PROSPERITY OF JERUSALEM. According to the poetical language of the prophet, Jerusalem had been "the gate of the peoples." In the reign of Solomon especially, and to some extent subsequently, the metropolis of the Jewish people had been an emporium of commerce. Its situation in some degree fitted it to be the center of communication between the great Eastern countries, and Egypt on the south, and the Mediterranean and its traffic Westwards. We are not accustomed to think of Jerusalem in this light; but this verse in Ezekiel's prophecies brings before our minds the unquestionable fact that there was a time when this city was a mart in which the surrounding nations were wont to exchange their produce and their commodities. II. THE REJOICING TO WHICH THIS JEALOUSY LED, i.e. IN THE DOWNFALL OF JERUSALEM. "She is broken," was the exulting exclamation of Type upon beholding the distress of her rival. That Jerusalem deserved her fate there is no room for doubting; yet it was not generous in Type thus to triumph over the misfortunes and calamities of her neighbor. The wealth and prosperity of the Jewish capital was about to end; the days of her glory were over; her streets were to be forsaken; the caravans of the merchants were no more to thread their way through the proud gates of the city. And in this change, in these disasters, Type rejoiced. III. THE HOPE WITH WHICH THIS JEALOUSY WAS ASSOCIATED, i.e. THE EXTENSION OF THE PROSPERITY OF TYRE. The Phoenician city anticipated that she would gain what Jerusalem was about to lose: "I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste." The greatness, opulence, and renown of Tyre were such that it seems scarcely credible that her prosperity could be affected by anything which could happen to a small and inland capital such as Jerusalem. Yet it is evident that the Tyrian spirit was a spirit of selfishness, exclusiveness, and grasping. Nothing was too great for Tyre's ambition, nothing too small to be beneath her notice and cupidity. IV. THE MEANNESS WHICH THIS JEALOUSY REVEALED. In what follows Ezekiel displays the pomp, splendor, and magnificence of the great seaport of Phoenicia; it is strange that he should put in the forefront of his address to Tyre this imputation of littleness. There is a reason for this; it may be that the prophet spoke, not only as a patriot who resented Type's jealousy, but as a religious teacher for whom moral distinctions were all-important, and for whom a moral fault was of more consequence than all material splendor. V. THE DISPLEASURE WHICH THIS JEALOUSY EXCITED IN THE MIND OF THE DIVINE KING AND JUDGE. "I," says God - "I am against thee, O Tyre!" The city which had envied and hated his own Jerusalem, the seat of his worship, and the metropolis of his chosen; the city which was pained by Jerusalem's prosperity, and which rejoiced in Jerusalem's fall, - incurred the indignation as well as the disapproval of the Most High. For dispositions were revealed discreditable to human hate, ire, and repugnant to Divine purity. Because Tyre was against Jerusalem, the Lord God was against Tyre. - T.
Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall? As when a great merchant breaks, all that he deals with are shocked by it, and begin to look about them. Or when they see one fail and become bankrupt, of a sudden, in debt a great deal more than he is worth, it makes them afraid for themselves, lest they should do so too. Thus the isles, which thought themselves safe in the embraces of the sea, when they see Tyrus fall, shall tremble and be troubled, saying, What will become of us?" And it is well, if they make this use of it, to take warning by it not to be secure, but to stand in awe of God and His judgments.( M. Henry.) People Ezekiel, Nebuchadnezzar, NebuchadrezzarPlaces Babylon, Edom, Jerusalem, TyreTopics Aha, Broken, Doors, Doorway, Filled, Full, Gate, Gates, Gateway, Jerusalem, Laid, Lies, Nations, Open, Opened, Peoples, Prosper, Replenished, Round, Ruins, Swung, Tyre, Tyrus, WasteOutline 1. Tyrus, for insulting Jerusalem, is threatened with destruction7. The power of Nebuchadnezzar against her 15. The mourning and astonishment of the sea at her fall Dictionary of Bible Themes Ezekiel 26:2Library EzekielTo a modern taste, Ezekiel does not appeal anything like so powerfully as Isaiah or Jeremiah. He has neither the majesty of the one nor the tenderness and passion of the other. There is much in him that is fantastic, and much that is ritualistic. His imaginations border sometimes on the grotesque and sometimes on the mechanical. Yet he is a historical figure of the first importance; it was very largely from him that Judaism received the ecclesiastical impulse by which for centuries it was powerfully … John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Ezekiel 26:2 NIVEzekiel 26:2 NLT Ezekiel 26:2 ESV Ezekiel 26:2 NASB Ezekiel 26:2 KJV Ezekiel 26:2 Bible Apps Ezekiel 26:2 Parallel Ezekiel 26:2 Biblia Paralela Ezekiel 26:2 Chinese Bible Ezekiel 26:2 French Bible Ezekiel 26:2 German Bible Ezekiel 26:2 Commentaries Bible Hub |