Ezekiel 26

The Explanation

Ezekiel is a prophet who lives among the Jewish people in exile in Babylon. Jerusalem has just fallen. And now, in the middle of all that sadness, another city thinks: great, less competition for us! That city is Tyre.

Tyre was a rich harbor city on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Think of a city full of ships, warehouses full of purple cloth, silver, wood, and spices. The merchants of Tyre were known throughout the world. They lived partly on the coast and partly on a rocky island just offshore. That island seemed unreachable, like a floating fortress. Tyre felt safe and important.

When Jerusalem fell, Tyre said, "Aha! She is broken! Now more trade will come to me. I will be replenished, now that she is laid waste." In other words: someone else's misfortune is my profit.

And then God speaks through Ezekiel. He says: I am against you, Tyre. Many nations will come against you, wave after wave, like the sea itself. Your walls will fall, your towers broken down. God even says he will scrape the dust away until nothing but bare rock is left. Fishermen will spread their nets there to dry.

Then Ezekiel becomes very concrete. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon will come with horses, chariots, and a huge army. Dust will rise everywhere. Battering rams will pound against the walls. The songs and harps of the merchants will fall silent.

The chapter ends with the other coastal cities and islands watching in horror. Kings step down from their thrones, take off their beautiful robes, and sit on the ground trembling. They sing a lament: "How is this possible? Such a strong city, gone!"

What Does This Mean?

This chapter shows something uncomfortable. Tyre is not punished because they did something horrible like murder. Tyre is punished because they were glad about someone else's suffering. They saw the fall of Jerusalem as a business opportunity.

God apparently takes seriously how we react to another person's pain. Rejoicing when someone else loses is not a small thing to him.

There is something else. Tyre thought: we are safe, we are rich, we are on an island. But God says that no wall is high enough and no island far enough if you make yourself bigger than him. Even a "king of kings" like Nebuchadnezzar is, in this chapter, just a tool in God's hand.

Honestly, there is something difficult here too. So many people die in this chapter. Ezekiel does not soften that. The Bible sometimes leaves us with a lump in our throat and does not immediately give a neat answer. That is allowed to be there.

The Common Thread

Throughout the Bible, God keeps saying: I see how people treat each other. And I especially see how you treat those who are having a hard time.

Jesus later says something that fits exactly with this: what you do to the least of my brothers, you do to me. Tyre laughed at broken Jerusalem. Jesus does the opposite. When he sees Jerusalem, he weeps over the city. He does not rejoice at suffering, he carries it.

And that promise at the end of verse 20, "I will set glory in the land of the living," points forward. God is busy building something new that truly lasts. Tyre with all its riches disappears. God's kingdom does not.

For You

Have you ever noticed that mean little grin inside yourself when someone you do not like fails a test? Or when someone who was showing off suddenly falls on their face? That feeling has a name in the Bible, and God takes it seriously.

You do not have to pretend that feeling is not there. But you can ask God to help you. Try, just this week, to do the opposite once. When someone stumbles, at school, on the sports field, at home, choose not to grin but to help. Even if it is someone you do not really like.

And when things go well for you: remember that safety and success are not walls you can hide behind. They are gifts. Gifts you can share.

Talk About It

Why do you think God finds it so serious that Tyre was happy about Jerusalem's fall?

Is there a question in this chapter that you cannot answer? What is it?

Praying Together

Lord God, thank you that you see everything, also what happens inside us. Forgive us when we secretly enjoy someone else's misfortune. Teach us to weep with those who weep, just like Jesus did. And help us not to trust in our own walls, but in you. Amen.