Ezekiel chapter 26

vs 12

They will plunder, but apparently they won't be rewarded well enough in doing it - it does take them 15 years to take Tyre, after all. But they still do it, and I'm sure it's an awful thing to go through - having your stuff rifled through and looted by soldiers.

And then to add insult to injury, they take your houses apart and throw the building materials into the sea. So God was right! The city really does end up in the ocean. I never thought of that.

vs 13

Partly because there's nothing nice to sing about, but even if you want to sing a dirge, they probably stole your harp.

vs 14

Now of course, we hit a bit of a snag here, because Tyre was rebuilt. And then it was seiged by Alexander the Great. And now it's rebuilt again. But I guess if it's not reabuilt by the same people who built it the first time, perhaps it doesn't count as the same town? Who's to say. Perhaps not rebuilt in their lifetime.

vs 15

The coastlands generally, or all those who live on the coast and trade with her? Because I can definitely imagine the second one. Incidentally, if it is that, then that's a really good link to Revelation, where the coastal cities weep and mourn over the great city of humanity falling.

vs 16

So it does sound like the cities. And if Tyre can fall - being a basically impregnable island fortress - then all the other towns on the seaside will think that they are next, and that now their living has been substantially destroyed because of the loss of a great trading partner, and so the princes of said cities won't be happy at all. In fact, they will be fearful.

vs 17

What they say says it all really. They were a great sea power, and now they have fallen. Who should we be afraid of now, if not those who conquered them!?

vs 18

Other island nations, somewhat protected by their remoteness, are going to be shaking in their boots now.

vs 19

So something else is going to happen?

vs 20

Sounds pretty ominous. This is definitely not just a threat to the walls and ceilings of Tyre, it's a threat to the people of Tyre, about how their life is going to suck, and perhaps even when they die they're not going to get a good time of it.

vs 21

So even if the town is rebuilt, it won't be like Jerusalem, where the same people return to build it. Because the people will be forever lost. People will say, "Hey, you know those people who used to live in Tyre?" and someone will reply, "No? Aren't they all dead?"