Ezekiel 26:1 says, And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Ezekiel was very specific about when God's word came to him. We may not be able to specify exactly when God’s word comes to us telling us what we need to do, but we should be able to say that we know it did if we are following His will for our life. The next three chapters deal with the fall of Tyrus, which more often referred to as Tyre, but I will use Tyrus for consistency.
Verse two adds, Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste: The people of Tyrus, celebrated the fall of Jerusalem because it had been a rival in business and not because they hated the people of Israel. Businesspeople today may celebrate when rival business fails, especially if it is a business that professes that it is built on the principles of God. If it truly is built on God’s principles and fails, those who deny God and celebrate the failure of the business need to be aware of the fact that this will never be acceptable to God.
Verse three continues, Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up. Ezekiel was to send the people of Tyrus a warning from God. He was against them and was going to cause many nations to come against them. God said even the waves of the sea were going to rise up against them. Everything that they thought made them great was now going to go against them. God’s judgment may come from using other nations to punish those who deny and defy Him, or He may just use the forces of nature, but His judgment will one day come.
Verse four states, And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. God said the towers of Tyrus would be broken down after her walls were destroyed and that she would become no more than dust on a rock. All the things that the people of Tyrus had depended on for protection were going to be destroyed, and everything that people look to for protection other than God will fail. Tyrus was to be totally destroyed, and so will everything thing that we look to for security today if it does not come from God.
Verse five adds, It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God: and it shall become a spoil to the nations. The city of Tyrus would become just a place for fishermen to dry their nets instead of a fortified city that was a great city of trade. When God’s judgment comes, everything that we have valued above Him will become totally worthless.
Verse six continues, And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the Lord. God also said that their daughters would be slain in the field. I don't believe that God was going to cause this, but that He was going to allow it to happen. They were abusing God’s people without any concern for Him, but now they were going to know that He is God. People may mock Christians today and at times even persecute and kill them, but one day Jesus Christ is going to return in judgment, and then all who refused to put their faith in Him and those who abused or killed those who did will know that He is God.
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