The Lord has been pronouncing judgments upon the various nations who have mistreated His people. Today we look at a prophecy against the Phoenician city of Tyre.
When we did our study of the book of Joel we noted that the Lord accused Tyre, along with Sidon and Philistia, of selling some of His people into slavery. He talked about how these people traded captive Israelites for goods and services, such as trading young males for prostitutes and trading young females for wine. They treated people like they were nothing, as if they were merchandise instead of living souls. In yesterday's study we saw the Lord pronouncing judgment against Philistia for taking Israelites captive and selling them to other nations. Today we find Him issuing a dire prophecy against Tyre for the same crime.
"This is what the Lord says: 'For three sins of Tyre, even for four, I will not relent. Because she sold whole communities of captives to Edom, disregarding a treaty of brotherhood, I will send fire on the walls of Tyre that will consume her fortresses.'" (Amos 1:9-10) In contrast to the Philistines we studied yesterday, who had made themselves the enemies of Israel ever since the Israelites came into the promised land, the people of Tyre had a longstanding alliance with the nation of Israel. This is why the Lord says the Tyrians disregarded "a treaty of brotherhood".
We learned of this treaty when we studied the kings of Israel and Judah. King Hiram of Tyre was quick to extend the hand of friendship to David when David became king of Israel. Tyre was a city of Lebanon and Lebanon is mentioned often in the Bible in regard to the fine lumber it produced. It was considered the best that could be had in that region of the world. King Hiram sent envoys to David with enough of this fine lumber to build him a beautiful palace. Hiram not only sent the lumber but also sent workers to build the palace for David. "Now Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David." (2 Samuel 5:11)
When Hiram heard that Solomon had been crowned king to succeed David, he immediately let Solomon know that he intended to be just as good of a friend to him as he had been to David. In 1 Kings 5 we found him sending envoys to Solomon. Hiram and Solomon made a deal with each other in which Hiram would send fine lumber and skilled workers to help Solomon build a palace. In return Solomon would pay whatever price Hiram asked for the cedars and the labor. Hiram wanted to be paid with a large quantity of fine goods from Israel, such as wheat and olive oil. This was an acceptable and friendly arrangement for both men and the Bible said, "There were peaceful arrangements between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty." (1 Kings 5:12b)
At no time did Israel make itself an enemy of Tyre. No king of Israel or Judah ever launched an attack against Tyre. But Tyre behaved toward Israel like an enemy by selling to the Edomites those Israelites who somehow fell into their hands. The Bible does not make it clear exactly when or how this transaction came about. It could be that some of the Israelites fled to them for safety during a time of war, such as when the Assyrians were attacking cities in Israel and Judah. We don't know the circumstances that led to the Israelites falling into the hands of the Tyrians but we can be sure they expected help from Tyre and not betrayal. Amos and Joel are not the only prophets who predicted doom for Tyre. As we move on through the Old Testament we will be studying more words of woe for that city.
You may recall from our recent study of Joel that the Lord told the people of Tyre He would return their sins upon their own heads and that, just as they sold His people to foreigners, His people would sell the Tyrians to foreigners. Tyre began losing its powerful status when it fell subject to the rising power of Assyria. Then, when the Neo-Babylonian Empire rose to world dominance and conquered Assyria, Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Tyre for thirteen years until the city finally fell to him. The city was mostly destroyed by the time Nebuchadnezzar was finished with it. After the Neo-Babylonian Empire was replaced by the Medo-Persian Empire which was replaced by the Greek Empire, Alexander the Great used most of the old building blocks to build a causeway into the sea, thus completing the destruction of what was left of the city. Alexander set free the people who had been taken captive by the Tyrians and in turn allowed these freed captives to sell the Tyrians to other nations. So the Lord's prophecy against Tyre in Joel came true: "See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them, and I will return on your own heads what you have done. I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away." (Joel 3:7-8) There is a modern-day city where ancient Tyre used to be but the ruins of ancient Tyre were never rebuilt.
The crimes of the Tyrians against the Israelites were especially despicable because the Israelites had been at peace with them. There was a long tradition of mutual respect between these people. It's not particularly shocking when someone who hates us treats us badly, although it's never right for someone to bear animosity toward us for no fault of our own, but it's a devastating and unexpected experience when someone we trusted betrays us. David found himself confronted by an experience like this and wrote about it in Psalm 55:12-14, saying, "If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were rising against me, I could hide. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God, as we walked about among the worshipers." David said to his friend-turned-enemy, "We were like brothers! I would have trusted you with my life and you could have trusted me with yours. Of all people, you were someone I would never have imagined turning against me."
The people of Israel and the people of Tyre had enjoyed a longstanding brotherhood with each other that was based on mutual respect and on a beneficial trade agreement. But the people of Tyre betrayed the Israelites for monetary gain and sold them to their enemies, caring nothing about the treaty their Tyrian forefathers had so highly valued. Because the Tyrians "burned" (deceived, betrayed) Israel, the Lord caused the walls of Tyre to be burned, the city destroyed, and the people sold into slavery.
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