The city of Tyre is mentioned nearly sixty times in seventeen books of the Bible. This ancient Phoenician city occupies an important place in both Bible and world history. Many great truths are understood as we look at those verses which tell us about this important nation, which developed our alphabet and spread it around the western world.
Nebuchadnezzar and Tyre
While many Bible students are aware that Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city of Jerusalem and carried the Jews into Babylon for seventy years, very few are aware that he then attacked the city of Tyre. His plan involved a siege around this city on the Mediterranean Sea. The prophet Ezekiel foretold this event in great detail—the description of the Babylonian army, the death of many, the battering rams to open the gates, the ramp to reach the tops of the walls and the destruction of the towers around the city (Ezek. 26:7-13). This siege lasted thirteen years, but whenever the Babylonians entered the city, there were no treasures. The people had fled from the city, escaping in their ships taking all the treasures with them.
God, Nebuchadnezzar and Tyre
It would have been easy for the Babylonians to view those thirteen years as wasted effort, but the big picture is far different. God used ancient nations to accomplish His will, even those who did not believe in Him. He used the king of Assyria to punish and scatter the northern kingdom of Israel and called them His “rod of anger” and His “staff of indignation” (Isa. 10:5-7). He also used Nebuchadnezzar to destroy Jerusalem and called him His servant (Jer. 25:9; 27:6; 43:10). He used these evil people even though they were infidels!
In Ezekiel chapter twenty-nine, we discover another aspect of the nature of God. After Nebuchadnezzar had been used by God to punish both Tyre and Jerusalem because of their ungodliness, the king of Babylon marched against Egypt. Read the words of God’s prophet about why Nebuchadnezzar would be able to succeed. “Nebuchadnezzar…caused His army to labor strenuously against Tyre…yet neither he nor his army received wages from Tyre …Therefore… I will give the land of Egypt for the labor they expended on it.” Our God is a just God. They had unknowingly done His will but they received none of the treasures of Tyre. Yet God remembered what they had done and His justice demanded that they should be rewarded. He gave them the greater treasures of Egypt.
Now think about His justice and how He will reward you. If He treats the ungodly and rewards them, how much more will He see your service. Our God is a truly just God!