Ezekiel 26 - Bible Study, Explanation, and Application
Ezekiel 26 Bible Study
TIMELINE:
Ezekiel 26:1 dates this prophecy to the 11th year of the exile of King Jehoiachin, 586 BC.
Below is a list of kings of Judah and dates for their reign:
Amon (642-640 BC)
Josiah (640-609 BC)
Jehoahaz (also known as Shallum, 609 BC)
Jehoiakim (initially known as Eliakim, 609-598 BC)
Jehoiachin (also known as Jeconiah or Coniah, 598-597 BC)
Zedekiah (His reign ended when Babylon conquered Judah, (597-586 BC)
WHAT WE STUDIED PREVIOUSLY
Ezekiel 1 – Ezekiel had a vision of 4 living creatures, 4 wheels, and God’s throne.
Ezekiel 2 – God commissioned Ezekiel to be a prophet to his rebellious countrymen.
Ezekiel 3 – The end of the heavenly vision. Ezekiel ate a scroll of God’s words, and God called him to be a watchman over the people of Judah.
Ezekiel 4 – Ezekiel prophesies with an object lesson in the street by laying on his side for 430 days, eating rations of bread, and creating a siege scene with a brick that represents Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 5 – After the 430 days, Ezekiel cut off his hair divided it up into 3 parts and used it as a symbol for what would happen to the people of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 6 – Ezekiel prophesies against the idol worshipers in Judah, telling them their bodies will be thrown at the feet of their powerless gods.
Ezekiel 7 – God spoke to Ezekiel about the day of His judgement. The end was near for the citizens of Jerusalem, and their doom was on the horizon.
Ezekiel 8 – Ezekiel saw a vision of the Temple in Jerusalem. God guided him through the courts and gates of the Temple and showed him the secret idolatries that filled God’s house.
Ezekiel 9 – God sends a man with a writing case to mark the foreheads of those who hated the idolatries of Judah. Afterwards, God sends 6 executioners to kill everyone in Jerusalem who didn’t have the mark.
Ezekiel 10 – God’s glory departed the inner sanctuary of the Temple and ascended to His throne carried by the 4 living creatures.
Ezekiel 11 – God announced judgement on the wicked rulers of Judah. They thought they were safe in Jerusalem, like meat in a cauldron, but God promised to bring them out for death and captivity. At the end of the chapter, God spoke of a future day, when He would regather a remnant of His people and give them a new heart and new spirit.
Ezekiel 12 – Ezekiel prophesied about the downfall of King Zedekiah by carrying his possessions out of his house as if he were going into exile. God promised that His judgement was near, and anyone who suggested otherwise would be put to shame.
Ezekiel 13 – God confronted the false prophets and sorceresses amongst the people of Judah. The false prophets falsely claimed to speak with the authority of God, and the sorceresses hunted the souls of God’s people through witchcraft and divination.
Ezekiel 14 – God condemned the elders of Judah who harbored love for idols in their hearts. He told Ezekiel Jerusalem would not be spared even if righteous men like Noah, Daniel, and Job lived there.
Ezekiel 15 – God compared the citizens of Jerusalem to useless vine wood that was good for nothing except to burn.
Ezekiel 16 – God compared his people to a young woman who he had raised and cared for. When she grew up, she turned her back on God and prostituted herself with foreign nations and idols.
Ezekiel 17 – Ezekiel spoke a parable to the people of Judah about two great eagles. The parable indicated that the King of Judah would betray Babylon and be uprooted by them.
Ezekiel 18 – The people of Judah were accusing God of punishing them for the sins of their ancestors. God clarified that each man was responsible and would be held accountable only for his own sins.
Ezekiel 19 – God lamented the unfaithfulness of His people through two laments, the lament of the lion cubs and the lament of the vine.
Ezekiel 20 - The elders of Israel wanted to consult with God, but God refused them based on their continual and cyclical rebellion against His laws. God spoke of His future judgement on Judah and His future grace that would restore the nation.
Ezekiel 21 – Ezekiel spoke of the sword of the Lord that God had sharpened to punish Judah. The king of Babylon stood at a fork in the road, and God was going to direct him and his army to Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 22 – God condemned Judah for a litany of sins and their total neglect of any attempt to keep His commands. He told them He would melt them down like metal within the furnace of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 23 – God illustrated the unfaithfulness of Israel and Judah with a story about two sisters, Oholah and Oholibah.
Ezekiel 24 – God compared Jerusalem to a corroded pot that would be emptied and melted down. In the second half of the chapter, Ezekiel’s wife died, and God instructed him not to mourn for her publicly as a sign of the fate of the citizens of Jerusalem and their beloved city.
Ezekiel 25 – God prophesied against Ammon, Edom, Seir, Moab, and the Philistines.
OUTLINE:
PROPHECY AGAINST TYRE (26:1-21):
In the 11th year of the exile of King Jehoiachin, God prophesied against the city of Tyre.
Tyre was a prominent coastal city that had been empowered and enriched through seafaring trade.
The city was unique, in that part of it was built on the mainland, and part was built on an island just offshore.
But they had angered God with their pride and gloating over the downfall of the people of Judah.
God announced his opposition to Tyre and told them He would bring the nations against them as judgement.
Initially, God would bring Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. They would besiege Tyre for an extended period (around 13 years) and would do considerable damage to Tyre’s walls and defenses. They would kill many people on the mainland (26:8).
Historical sources tell us Nebuchadnezzar subjugated Tyre, but a full military conquest was never achieved. This is confirmed by Ezekiel 29:18.
In verse 12, God said “they” will plunder your riches and throw your city into the midst of the sea. This “they” likely refers to the other nations that God would send against Tyre in later years.
These other nations would plunder Tyre, level the city, and scrape it until it was like a bare rock.
God announced that Tyre would never be rebuilt with the same degree of splendor.
Tyre’s neighbors would shutter when they heard of God’s judgement. All the princes of nations near the sea would take off their royal garments to lament and mourn for Tyre.
God said to Tyre, “When I make you a city laid waste, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I bring up the deep over you, and the great waters cover you, then I will make you go down with those who go down to the pit, to the people of old, and I will make you to dwell in the world below, among ruins from of old, with those who go down to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited… I will bring you to a dreadful end, and you shall be no more. Though you be sought for, you will never be found again, declares the Lord GOD” (26:19-21).
BIBLE INSPIRATION:
In Ezekiel 26:4, Ezekiel wrote that the nations that God sent against Tyre would “scrape her soil from her and make her a bare rock.”
In Ezekiel 26:12, we are told they would cast Tyre’s stones, timber, and soil into the midst of the sea.
This prophecy was partially fulfilled during Nebuchadnezzar’s siege, but more clearly fulfilled during Alexander the Great’s siege in 332 BC (250 years later).
In order to conquer the island portion of Tyre, Alexander ordered his troops to put the soil, timber, and stones of the mainland city into the sea to create a 1 km (.62 miles) causeway.
He then built two siege towers, each 50m tall (164ft) and brought them to the end of the causeway. The towers were used to attack the fortifications and any passing Tyrian ships.
After some strategic trial-and-error, Alexander’s navy eventually breached the city.
It’s estimated they killed 8,000 people and sold 30,000 into slavery.
So, Alexander’s famous victory and the means by which he brought it about (the causeway) were prophesied 250 years beforehand by Ezekiel.
