(27-6) Ezekiel 26:1–14. A Remarkable Fulfillment of Prophecy
Korihor, the Book of Mormon anti-Christ, told Alma that “no man can know of anything which is to come” because “ye cannot know of things which ye do not see” (Alma 30:13, 15). Again and again in the Old Testament, one can find examples that prove Korihor wrong. The prophets foretold in great detail many future events. Ezekiel’s prophecies concerning Tyre (Tyrus) are some of the most remarkable.
Tyre was situated on the coast about halfway between Carmel in Israel and Beirut in Lebanon.
But it was a peculiar geographic feature of Tyre that gave it its most remarkable prophetic destiny. Merrill F. Unger noted that Tyre “once consisted of two parts—a rocky coast defense of great strength on the mainland, and a city upon a small but well-protected island, about half a mile from the shore” (Unger’s Bible Dictionary, s.v. “Tyre,” p. 1121).
Ezekiel predicted that Nebuchadnezzar would lay siege to Tyre (see Ezekiel 26:7–11), but a skeptic like Korihor might say that this prediction was not remarkable since Nebuchadnezzar was conquering nearly every major city in the area, and Tyre was a particularly ripe plum because of its wealth. But “before a generation had passed away, according to Josephus, Philostratus, and Seder Olam, Nebuchadnezzar came up, as had been predicted [Ezekiel 26:7–15], making a fort, casting a mount, and lifting up the buckler. At the end of thirteen years [about 605 B.C.] he took the city, at least that on the mainland, and Tyre was forgotten seventy years, as had been foretold by Isaiah [23:15].” (Samuel Fallows, ed., The Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopedia and Scriptural Dictionary, s.v. “Tyre,” p. 1682.)
Some of Ezekiel’s peculiar promises seemed to be unfulfilled, including the following:
“I will also scrape her dust from her” (Ezekiel 26:4).
Tyre will become “like the top of a rock” (Ezekiel 26:4).
“It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea” (Ezekiel 26:5).
“They shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water” (Ezekiel 26:12).
“Thou shalt be built no more” (Ezekiel 26:14).
For nearly three hundred years these prophecies appeared to be inaccurate. Nebuchadnezzar conquered the mainland city but was unable to subdue all of Tyre because of its strategic position on the island. After a few decades Tyre regained her wealth and splendor, though the ruined city on the shore was not rebuilt, and the island fortification became the central city.
Then in 332 B.C., Alexander the Great swept out of the northern Mediterranean world. He moved south with his forces and camped on the ruins of ancient Tyre, isolating the inhabitants on the island offshore. Tyre had supposedly made a peaceful alliance with the Greeks, but when Alexander requested permission to bring his troops into Tyre to worship their gods and was refused, he laid siege to Tyre—a difficult task since the city lay on an island a half mile off the shore.
James Hastings described what followed: “The memorable siege began. Alexander built a mole [causeway] 200 ft. wide out towards the island. It was repeatedly destroyed. The defense was desperate and successful, till Alexander invested the city with a fleet of 224 ships. Tyre was stormed, 8000 of her inhabitants massacred, 2000 crucified on the shore, and 30,000 sold into slavery. Tyre ceased to be an island, and henceforth was permanently joined to the mainland. Only a blunt headland to-day suggests the existence of the former island fortress. The mole is now ½ mile broad.” (A Dictionary of the Bible, s.v. “Tyre.”)
Fallows noted how Ezekiel’s prophecy that Tyre would be scraped clean and made like the top of a rock was fulfilled: “So utterly were the ruins of old Tyre thrown into the sea, that its exact site is confessedly undeterminable, although the ruins of nearly fifty cities near Rome, which perished almost 2,500 years ago, testify that the extinction of every trace of a city is a sort of miracle.” (Bible Encyclopedia, s.v. “Tyre,” p. 1682.)
coastlines of Tyre
(click to view larger)
Today there is no island opposite Tyre, but a close examination of the coastline in that vicinity will show a small peninsula jutting into the sea. Because of its configuration and the prevailing breezes, local fishermen come to the barren, rocky outcrop to spread their nets to dry.
The prophet Ezekiel certainly met the criteria outlined in Deuteronomy 18:18–22for determining whether a prophet speaks for the Lord.
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