This document provides a summary and analysis of Isaiah 23:1-18. It discusses Tyre's historical relationship with Israel as an important Phoenician seaport city. God prophesied Tyre's destruction through Nebuchadnezzar and Alexander the Great because of the city's pride. The prophecy warns that no place, including Cyprus, will provide rest for Tyre's inhabitants. It also foretells that Tyre will be forgotten for 70 years but trade will slowly resume. The document applies lessons about God's sovereignty over nations and his hatred of pride.

2. Isaiah 23:1-18
God Reigns
“God is Sovereign Over the Nations”
September 27, 2020
First Baptist Church
Jackson, Mississippi 39216
USA

3. What’s the number one thing?
The Glory of God!
1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you
do, do all to the glory of God.

4. References
•Palmer, Edwin H., The NIV Study Bible (Grand Rapids,
Zondervan, 1985).
•MacArthur, John, The MacArthur Study Bible NKJV
(Nashville, Nelson Publishers, 1997).
•McGee, J. Vernon, THE PROPHETS: Isaiah, Chapters 1-
35 (Nashville, Nelson Publishers, 1991).
•Wiersbe, Warren W., BE COMFORTED: Isaiah
(Colorado Springs, Chariot Victor Publishing, 1992).

5. Focus of the Lesson
•Highlight the long relationship between Tyre
(Phoenicia) and Israel.
•Study Tyre as an example of Isaiah’s prophecies of
God’s judgments against the nations.
•Apply lessons from the prophecies of Isaiah to today.

7. Introduction to Isaiah 23
•Isaiah 13 – 23 presents a series of oracles (burdens,
prophecies, judgments) imposed on nations and cities
surrounding Israel.
•Isaiah’s prophecies were written from 740 – 700 BC.
•Most of the prophecies that declared their destruction
have been fulfilled and are now facts of history.

8. Introduction to Isaiah 23
•These prophecies also include descriptions of the
messianic kingdom (Millennial reign of Christ on
earth).
•These reconstructed nations will bring gifts to
Jerusalem during the messianic kingdom and worship
Christ.
•The nations will be at peace during this time and
cooperate with Israel.

9. The Judgments of Nations in Isaiah 13-23
(Specific areas and what they represent.)
•Babylon (Assyria) – False religions and idolatry.
•Philistines – True religion which has become apostate.
•Moab – Formal religion; godliness with no power.
•Damascus (Syria) – Compromise.
•Ethiopia (Cush) – Armies.
•Egypt – The world.

10. The Judgments of Nations in Isaiah 13-23
(Specific areas and what they represent.)
•Persia (Babylon/Desert by the Sea) – Luxury,
affluence.
•Edom (Dumah) – Flesh.
•Arabia – War.
•Valley of Vision (Jerusalem) – Politics.
•Tyre – Commercialism (Big Business).

13. God’s Agents of Destruction – Predicted in Daniel 2
in 605 BC.

14. Isaiah 23:1 (The City of Tyre)
•1 An oracle concerning Tyre:
•A fortified Phoenician seaport city on the
Mediterranean Sea, just north of Jerusalem.
•Known as a busy commercial maritime city and
exporter of the world-famous purple dye and ships.
•City divided into 2 parts – the mainland port (Old
Tyre), and a small rocky island a half-mile off the coast
(most populated).

15. The City of Tyre in Phoenicia (Lebanon)

16. Tyre’s (Phoenicia) Relationship with Israel:
•Part of inheritance of tribe of Asher. (Joshua 19:24-31)
•Joshua was unable to capture Tyre because the island
city was fortified with a strong wall. (Joshua 13:3-4)
•Never conquered by the Israelites. (2 Samuel 24:7)
•King David had alliance with King Hiram of Tyre and
used their stonemasons and carpenters along with
their cedar wood to build his palace. (2 Samuel 5:11)

17. Tyre’s (Phoenicia) Relationship with Israel:
•King Solomon relied heavily on Tyre for supplies,
laborers and skilled artisans for building the Temple in
Jerusalem. (1 Kings 5:1-14; 9:11; 2 Chronicles 2:3)
•Tyre and Sidon were “sister cities” and notorious for
their wickedness and idolatry.
•King Ahab married a Phoenician princess, Jezebel,
daughter of Ethbaal, king of Sidon, and she advocated
pagan worship and idolatry in Israel. (1 Kings16:29-33)

18. Tyre’s (Phoenicia) Relationship with Israel:
•After the restoration of Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s time,
the merchants of Tyre violated the Sabbath rest by
selling their goods in the markets of Jerusalem in 424
BC.
•Nehemiah 13:16 NIV
16 People from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were
bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and
selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the
people of Judah.

19. Tyre’s (Phoenicia) Relationship with Israel:
•Jesus ministered in this area and cast a demon out of
a child and commended a Syrophoenician woman’s
faith. (Matthew 15:21-28)
•Great multitudes from Tyre and Sidon followed Jesus’
ministry. (Mark 3:7-12)
•Jesus referenced Tyre and Sidon in a warning to those
who rejected His ministry and healing miracles.

20. Tyre’s Dependence in 1st Century AD
•Acts 12:19b-20 NIV
19 Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and
stayed there. 20 He had been quarreling with the
people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together
and sought an audience with him. Having secured the
support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the
king, they asked for peace, because they depended on
the king’s country for their food supply.

21. A Church in Tyre in the 1st Century AD
• Acts 11:19 NIV
19 Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in
connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia,
Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews.
• Paul’s 3rd Missionary Journey
Acts 21:3b-4a
3b We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its
cargo. 4a Finding the disciples there, we stayed with them
seven days.

22. Isaiah 23:1 NIV (The Destruction of Tyre)
1 An oracle concerning Tyre:
Wail, O ships of Tarshish!
For Tyre is destroyed
and left without house or harbor.
From the land of Cyprus
word has come to them.

23. “ships of Tarshish”
•Tarshish was a Phoenician mining colony in Gibraltar
(Spain).
•Jonah tried to flee to Tarshish when called to Nineveh.
•“ships of Tarshish” were considered large trading
vessels capable of making distant voyages on the open
seas.
•King Solomon had a fleet of these types of ships.

24. “for Tyre is destroyed”
•Tyre was under siege 5 times between this prophecy
and its fall.
•Nebuchadnezzar captured the mainland city in 572
BC.
•Alexander the Great conquered the island portion by
building a causeway to the island in 332 BC.
•The Saracens (Arabian Tribe) destroyed the island
towers and walls in 1291, and it remains desolate.

25. Ezekiel’s Prophecy in 586 BC about Tyre
•Ezekiel 26:4-6 NIV
4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and pull down her
towers; I will scrape away her rubble and make her a
bare rock. 5 Out in the sea she will become a place to
spread fishnets, for I have spoken, declares the
Sovereign Lord. She will become plunder for the
nations, 6 and her settlements on the mainland will be
ravaged by the sword. Then they will know that I am
the Lord.

26. Zechariah’s Prophecy in 520 BC About Tyre
Zechariah 9:3-4 NIV
3 Tyre has built herself a stronghold;
she has heaped up silver like dust,
and gold like the dirt of the streets.
4 But the Lord will take away her possessions
and destroy her power on the sea,
and she will be consumed by fire.

27. Today in Tyre, Lebanon

28. Isaiah 23:2 NIV (A Moment of Silence for Tyre)
2 Be silent, you people of the island
and you merchants of Sidon,
whom the seafarers have enriched.
•Sidon was the other important Phoenician
seaport.
•Sidon and the rest of Phoenicia will be silent in a
memorial response to Tyre’s capture.

29. Isaiah 23:3 NIV (The Trade of Egyptian Grains)
3 On the great waters
came the grain of the Shihor;
the harvest of the Nile was the revenue of Tyre,
and she became the marketplace of the nations.
•Shihor means “black” and represented the grain
grown in the Nile’s dark soil area of Egypt that
was bought and sold by the Phoenicians.

30. Isaiah 23:4 NIV (Tyre is the Daughter of Sidon)
4 Be ashamed, O Sidon, and you, O fortress of the sea,
for the sea has spoken:
“I have neither been in labor nor given birth;
I have neither reared sons nor brought up
daughters.”
• There is a suggestion here that Tyre is the daughter of
Sidon, and historically this is accurate.
• Sidon is a thriving seaport in Lebanon today for oil
shipments.

31. Isaiah 23:5 NIV (Egypt is Affected)
5 When word comes to Egypt,
they will be in anguish at the report from Tyre.
•The destruction of Tyre ruined the commerce of
Egypt in that day.

32. Isaiah 23:6-7 NIV (Escape to Tarshish)
6 Cross over to Tarshish;
wail, you people of the island.
7 Is this your city of revelry,
the old, old city,
whose feet have taken her
to settle in far-off lands?
•Inhabitants of Tyre escaped in ships to Tarshish
when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the mainland in
572 BC.

33. Isaiah 23:8 NIV (Who wants to destroy Tyre?)
8 Who planned this against Tyre,
the bestower of crowns,
whose merchants are princes,
whose traders are renowned in the earth?
•Tyre had established “crown colonies” who were
under their jurisdiction and was famous for its
princes and traders.
•Isaiah now asks who planned Tyre’s destruction.

34. Isaiah 23:9 NIV (The Answer)
9 The Lord Almighty planned it,
to bring low the pride of all glory
and to humble all who are renowned on the
earth.
•The Lord planned Tyre’s destruction because of
its pride.
•Tyre built its wealth by exploiting its neighbors
and being the center of religious idolatry and
sexual immorality.

35. Ezekiel 27:1-28:19 (The Sin of Pride)
• Ezekiel writes a dual prophecy, comparing the pride of the
king of Tyre (Ittobaal II) to the pride of Satan.
• Rather than recognize God’s sovereignty, the king of Tyre
attributed Tyre’s riches to his own wisdom and strength.
• Ezekiel 28:2 NIV
2 This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“In the pride of your heart
you say, I am a god;
I sit on the throne of a god
in the heart of the seas.”

36. Isaiah 23:10 NIV (Freedom from Tyre’s Control)
10 Till your land as along the Nile,
O Daughter of Tarshish,
for you no longer have a harbor.
•The crown colonies are now free from Tyre’s
jurisdiction and can exercise their freedom in
taking advantage of the city’s fall.

37. Isaiah 23:11 NIV (God Orders Tyre’s Destruction)
11 The Lord has stretched out his hand over the sea
and made its kingdoms tremble.
He has given an order concerning Phoenicia
that her fortresses be destroyed.
•The Lord has directed the downfall of the
territory of Phoenicia (Canaan).
•Alexander the Great destroyed the fortresses in
332 BC.

38. Isaiah 23:12 NIV (God Speaks to Tyre)
12 He said, “No more of your reveling,
O Virgin Daughter of Sidon, now crushed!
“Up, cross over to Cyprus;
even there you will find no rest.”
•The party is over for Tyre.
•Fleeing to Cyrus for a fresh start will not give rest
or peace.

39. Isaiah 23:13 NIV (The Example of Babylon)
13 Look at the land of the Babylonians,
this people that is now of no account!
The Assyrians have made it
a place for desert creatures;
they raised up their siege towers,
they stripped its fortresses bare
and turned it into a ruin.

40. The Example of Babylon
•Babylon was destroyed by Sennacherib of Assyria in
689 BC.
•This oracle is a warning that Tyre will look like a
ravaged Babylon.
•Babylon was rebuilt by Nebuchadnezzar II (604-561
BC) only to be conquered by the Persians (Cyrus and
Darius) and then fell in 331 BC to Alexander the Great
and crumbled into ruin over the ages.

41. Isaiah 23:14 NIV (Hopelessness & Homeless)
14 Wail, you ships of Tarshish;
your fortress is destroyed!
•This is almost a repeat of verse 1 to mirror the
emotion and trauma of a destroyed city.
•The ships have no harbor for protection.

42. Isaiah 23:15-16 NIV (Trade Restrictions)
15 At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years,
the span of a king’s life. But at the end of these seventy
years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the
prostitute:
16 “Take up a harp, walk through the city,
you forgotten prostitute;
play the harp well, sing many a song,
so that you will be remembered.”

43. Isaiah 23:17 NIV (Limited Trade Will Return)
17 At the end of seventy years, the Lord will deal with
Tyre. She will return to her hire as a prostitute and will
ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the
earth.

44. Meaning of Isaiah 23:15-17
•The Assyrians attacked Tyre and restricted Phoenician
trade from 700-630 BC (70 years).
•Tyre somewhat revived its trade after this, but at a
much lower level.
•Isaiah compares the attempted revitalization of Tyre’s
commerce to an old prostitute trying to lure
customers (Proverbs 7:10-15).

45. Isaiah 23:18 NIV (A Millennium Prophecy)
18 Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for
the Lord; they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her
profits will go to those who live before the Lord, for
abundant food and fine clothes.
•In the messianic kingdom, the wealth of Tyre will not
be hoarded but given to the Lord (Israel) as a holy
offering.

46. A Millennial Prophecy in Psalm 45
•Psalm 45:12 NIV
12 The city of Tyre will come with a gift,
people of wealth will seek your favor.

47. Lessons from the Prophecies of Isaiah
1. God is in control of the nations of the world, and he
can do with them what He pleases.
• Psalm 75:6-7 KJV
6 For promotion cometh neither from the east,
nor from the west, nor from the south.
7 But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and
setteth up another.

48. God is in Control!
• Daniel 2:20b-21a NIV
20b Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are his. 21a He changes times and
seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others.
• Romans 13:1 NIV
1 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities,
for there is no authority except that which God has
established. The authorities that exist have been
established by God.

49. Lessons from the Prophecies of Isaiah
2. God especially hates the sin of pride.
• Isaiah 13:11 NIV
11 I will punish the world for its evil,
the wicked for their sins.
I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty
and will humble the pride of the ruthless.
• Proverbs 8:13
13 To fear the Lord is to hate evil;
I hate pride and arrogance,
evil behavior and perverse speech.

50. Lessons from the Prophecies of Isaiah
3. Jesus confirmed that all prophecies will be completely
fulfilled.
• Matthew 5:17-18 NIV
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or
the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to
fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth
disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke
of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law
until everything is accomplished.

51. Lessons from the Prophecies of Isaiah
4. There will be peace on earth only when Jesus returns to
reign on earth in the Millennial Kingdom.
• Isaiah 32:17-18 NIV
17 The fruit of that righteousness will be peace;
its effect will be quietness and confidence
forever.
18 My people will live in peaceful dwelling places,
in secure homes,
in undisturbed places of rest.

52. Lessons from the Prophecies of Isaiah
4. There will be peace on earth only when Jesus returns to
reign on earth in the Millennial Kingdom.
• Micah 4:3 NIV
3 He will judge between many peoples
and will settle disputes for strong nations far
and wide.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.

53. Closing Scriptures - Jesus’ Final Words
• Revelation 22:7, 16-17, 20 NKJV
7 “Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the
words of the prophecy in this book.”
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you these things in
the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the
bright Morning Star.”
17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who
hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever
desires, let him take the water of life freely.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming
quickly.”

54. The Plan of Hope & Salvation
John 3:16-17 NKJV
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not
perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His
Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the
world through Him might be saved.”
John 14:6 NKJV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through Me.”

55. The Plan of Hope & Salvation
Romans 3:23 NKJV
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23a NKJV
23a For the wages of sin is death,
• Death in this life (the first death) is 100%.
• Even Jesus, the only one who doesn’t deserve death, died in this
life to pay the penalty for our sin.
• The death referred to in Romans 6:23a is the “second death”
explained in Revelation 21:8.

56. The Plan of Hope & Salvation
Revelation 21:8 NKJV
8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually
immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the
lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
• Anyone who’s lifestyle is one or more of the sins listed in Revelation
21:8, will experience the “second death,” if they do not repent.
• To Repent means to turn around, to go in the opposite direction, to turn away
from sin and believe in Jesus.
Romans 5:8 NKJV
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us.

57. The Plan of Hope & Salvation
Romans 6:23b NKJV
23b but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
Revelation 21:7 NKJV
7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will
be his God and he shall be My son.”
• Romans 10:9-10 explain to us how to be overcomers.

58. The Plan of Hope & Salvation
Romans 10:9-10 NKJV
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and
believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto
righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation.
Romans 10:13 NKJV
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

59. The Plan of Hope & Salvation
Do you have questions?
Would you like to know more?
Please, contact First Baptist Church Jackson at 601-949-1900
or http://firstbaptistjackson.org/contact/