Ezekiel Chapter 26

VERSE 12 “They will plunder your riches and pillage your merchandise; they will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses; they will lay your stones, your timber, and your soil in the midst of the water.”

Verse 12 as we had suggested at the beginning of our previous post, begins the first of the “many nations” (verse 3) following Nebuchadnezzar who would come against Tyre, in this instance the reference to laying the stones, timbers and the soil of the city in the midst of the water we recognize to refer to Alexander the Great when after destroying the mainland city in 332 B.C. he used the debris to build a bridge or “mole” out to the island city of Tyre.

Mole: a massive work formed of masonry and large stones or earth laid in the sea as a pier or breakwater. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

They, “an army with many people” (Verse 7), i.e. the Lord’s great army (of discontents) brought against Tyre (Great Babylon), will plunder her riches and pillage her merchandise, this will have both a literal and symbolic significance.

When the Lord’s great army attacks Babylon they will literally rob and destroy all her “pleasant houses” (places of worship as well as the various properties, and holdings held by the professing church, both Catholic and Protestant alike). In destroying these great organizations and institutions of men they will in affect bring an end to her “merchandise”.

Merchandise: truths, errors, teachings; in this case the doctrines and commandments of men.

“And the merchants of the earth (the “kings of the earth” rulers both civil and ecclesiastical, specifically the clergy, those who make merchandise, i.e. a living or in some manner profit off the Word of God) will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys (accepts) their merchandise (teachings) anymore.” Rev 18:11

“For all tables (all the various dispensaries of spiritual food, the creeds of men) are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean (not one without errors).” Isa 28:8

Every vestige of Great Babylon, the very stones and timbers upon which it is built will be cast “in the midst of the water”, into the sea (into the anarchist masses of mankind) to be destroyed and never seen again. (Rev 18:21)

VERSE 13 “I will put an end to the sound of your songs, and the sound of your harps shall be heard no more.”

Verse 13 sounds like Rev 18:22, 23 in regard to the destruction of Papacy, mystic Babylon.

“The sound of harpists (those who are able to harmoniously interpret the word of God), musicians (those who can sing; i.e. proclaim truthfully the tidings of great joy), flutists (character teachers), and trumpeters (prophets, those who give warning, who proclaim the “times and seasons”) shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman (teacher) of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone (the grinding out of spiritual food) shall not be heard in you anymore. The light of a lamp (the light of the Bible, the truth) shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore (because the true Church, the “wise virgins” have all left separating themselves from the false professing church). For your merchants (Clergy, Ministers, Doctors of Divinity) were the great men of the earth (worldly wise), for by your sorcery (your deceptions and lies) all the nations were deceived.”

VERSE 14 “I will make you like the top of a rock; you shall be a place for spreading nets, and you shall never be rebuilt, for I the Lord have spoken,’ says the Lord God.”

As was first stated, “Nebuchadnezzar was the first to come upon the city of Tyre and destroyed it, but the Tyrians, being a naval people, moved to a small island in off the coast. Later, Alexander the Great came through the same country and once again destroyed the main-land city then finding that a sandbar ran from the shore to the island, he took the rubble from the destroyed city and built a causeway to the island where the Tyrians lived. He literally scraped her dust and put it in the sea. From that time on, the ancient site of Tyre has been a place for the spreading of nets, and, even today, fishermen can be seen sitting on its ancient site mending their nets. The prophecy was literally fulfilled.” (The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom, Aug/Sept 1952, “Fulfilled Prophecy”, Page 13, Edited)

And so like a “rock” “a great millstone” once used to grind out food for Christendom (Rev 18:21), Great Babylon typifying the kingdom of Satan is to be cast into the sea (of destruction) never to be found again.

Just as with Jeremiah Chapters 50 and 51 certain details were not fulfilled in the literal destruction of Babylon, so it was with the destruction of Tyre. The unfulfilled details are clues that there is an antitype with Papacy. As both natural and spiritual Babylon were discussed together so too in regards to Natural and spiritual Tyre. The literal cities of Tyre and Babylon are both in ruins today.

VERSE 15 “Thus says the Lord God to Tyre: ‘Will the coastlands not shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded cry, when slaughter is made in the midst of you?”

In antitype the “isles” or “coastlands” are those associated with Papacy, those who do commerce with the system. What happens to the nominal religious systems will portend the destruction of the merchants (the “kings of the earth”, the civil rulers and powers); there will be lamentation.

“The kings of the earth who committed fornication (who aligned themselves with the professing church) and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.” Rev 18:9, 10

“…Union between the church and civil power is out of order, being in the Scriptures termed harlotry.” B261 “…to justify her course, (Papacy) first deceived herself, and then the nations, into the belief that the promised millennial reign of Christ had come, and that Christ the King was represented by her popes, who reigned over the kings of the earth as his vicegerents. The Papal millennial supposedly dated from the crowning of Charlemagne in 799 A.D. to 1799 A.D. the beginning of the “Time of the End”. Her claims were successful in deceiving the whole world.” A268

“In this type the king of Babylon was the instrument of destruction of Tyre (Papacy). Hence the king of Babylon represents ungodly forces (the Lord’s great army) that do the destroying work. In other words, in Scripture and depending on context, Babylon sometimes represents Christendom and sometimes that which destroys Christendom. If Babylon represents the destroying force, then Christendom is pictured by another city, which in this case is Tyre. The distinction shows the care that must be taken in understanding types. We should not be too hasty in our interpretations.”

VERSE 16 “Then all the princes of the sea will come down from their thrones, lay aside their robes, and take off their embroidered garments; they will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit on the ground, tremble every moment, and be astonished at you.”

As in the French Revolution, the merchants and kings (leaders, rulers, both religious and civil) tried to disguise themselves and their background (their former positions as leaders and rulers), but they were not able to lose their identity, nor shall these. (Zech 13:4, 5)

“And it shall be in that day (the day of trouble) that every prophet will be ashamed (to confess that they have taught lies, as prophets of Satan, ashamed of their creeds) of his vision when he prophesies; they will not wear a robe of coarse hair (the robe of prophets of old) to deceive. But he will say, ‘I am no prophet (such will desire to disavow their previous occupation and try to hide their former occupations), I am a farmer; for a man taught me to keep cattle from my youth (a deceptive ploy but record and the evidences are too strong).’”

Then all the princes (leaders, rulers, both civil and ecclesiastical) of the sea (for the mountains, [governments] will have since been dissolved into the sea of anarchy) will come down from their thrones (their former positions of authority and honor), lay aside their robes (their titles, their offices, their honorable stations), and take off their embroidered garments (false priestly vestments or garments); they will clothe themselves with trembling (with fear, fear that they might be identified for what they truly are [were], a deceiver, a false prophet of Babylon); they will sit on the ground, tremble every moment, and be astonished at you (wondering how this could have happen).”

As for the true saints of God, the foregoing text reveals that some of these saints, “the feet of him” will remain in the flesh this side of the vail well into the beginning of the great conflict coming, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we [God’s saints] will not fear, Even though the earth [organized society] be removed, And though the mountains [kingdoms] be carried into the midst of the sea (the anarchist masses).” Psa. 46:2

We will continue with Verse 17 with our next post.