Isaiah concluded yesterday's passage by telling the the ships of Tarshish to wail because the seaport had been destroyed. Now he goes on to say, "At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the span of a king's life." (Isaiah 23:15a)
Scholars are divided in their opinions as to which period of time is indicated by the above passage. Some say the seventy years refers to the seventy years during which the Neo-Babylonian Empire held control over the region. When we arrive at the book of Jeremiah we will find the Lord predicting that the Babylonians would hold the people of Judah captive for seventy years, which corresponded with the years during which Babylon enjoyed a revival of fortunes. Others think it has to do with the arrival of Christianity to that region during the New Testament era---that the restored fortunes mentioned later in our chapter have to do with the way many people in the region accepted the gospel message. I tend to lean toward the first explanation but we simply don't know for certain. What we do know is that since the Lord gave a precise number of years, whatever He had in mind actually did take place within the span of seventy years, for He doesn't say things He doesn't mean.
Scholars are divided in their opinions as to which period of time is indicated by the above passage. Some say the seventy years refers to the seventy years during which the Neo-Babylonian Empire held control over the region. When we arrive at the book of Jeremiah we will find the Lord predicting that the Babylonians would hold the people of Judah captive for seventy years, which corresponded with the years during which Babylon enjoyed a revival of fortunes. Others think it has to do with the arrival of Christianity to that region during the New Testament era---that the restored fortunes mentioned later in our chapter have to do with the way many people in the region accepted the gospel message. I tend to lean toward the first explanation but we simply don't know for certain. What we do know is that since the Lord gave a precise number of years, whatever He had in mind actually did take place within the span of seventy years, for He doesn't say things He doesn't mean.
What happens when the seventy years are up? "But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute: 'Take up a harp, walk through the city, you forgotten prostitute; play the harp well, sing many a song, so that you will be remembered.'" (Isaiah 23:15b-16) Many scholars believe Isaiah is quoting a song that actually existed in his day. In yesterday's passage we found him referring to the region of Phoenicia as a "virgin" and we discussed the Bible's use of this term for cities or nations that had never before been conquered. We will find the Lord referring to Israel and Judah as "virgins" as we continue moving through the books of the prophets. He uses this term when predicting the fall of Israel and Judah because those nations have never fallen before. But Tyre will fall and perhaps that is why the Lord now calls her a "prostitute" during her post-fall years. Or perhaps He uses this term because the people of Tyre served other gods, for the Lord equates idolatry with prostitution since it involves people selling themselves out and selling themselves short by forsaking Him (being unfaithful to Him) and giving themselves to idols.
The region of Tyre will once again become commercially successful. "At the end of seventy years, the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth." (Isaiah 23:17) This verse indicates that the scholars who think the restoration of Tyre is a reference to Christianity may be mistaken. I don't think the Lord would call it "returning to prostitution" if there had been a widescale forsaking of idolatry there. I think that, when Tyre rebuilds, the things that go on there will mostly be the things that went on in the past: there will be a focus on worldly things.
But that doesn't mean that Tyre will profit only herself. The Lord is going to somehow use the wealth of Tyre to profit those who are His and possibly also that He will use the seaport and trade routes to spread the gospel message in later times. Our chapter ends with a statement that cannot be explained to the satisfaction of theologians or laymen but, as with anything the Lord says, we can be sure it happened exactly as He said it would. "Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the Lord; they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the Lord, for abundant food and fine clothes." (Isaiah 23:18)
Although we don't know exactly when and how the Lord used the profits of Tyre to benefit His people, the Lord has always been able to provide for His people and He has often plundered the wicked in order to do so. He is more than capable of taking things intended for evil by those who are wicked and using them for the good of His children.
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