Isaiah 23:15

"And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years, it shall be unto Tyre as in the song of a harlot. Take a harp, go about the city, thou harlot that has been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that Jehovah will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her hire, and shall play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to Jehovah: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before Jehovah, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing."

Peake declared that, "This is best referred to Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Tyre (585-577 B.C.)."[16] This, of course is correct; but the critical dictum about "predictive prophecy" forces such a scholar to date the passage "after the exile," which is ridiculous, there being no evidence for such a thing anywhere on earth. The repeated mention of "seventy years" is significant, that being almost exactly the duration of the Chaldean dynasty that controlled Babylon during their conquest of Assyria and their conquest of Jerusalem and the removal of Judah into captivity. Lowth pointed out that:

"Nebuchadnezzar began his conquests in the first year of his reign; from thence to the taking of Babylon by Cyrus are seventy years, at which time the nations taken by Nebuchadnezzar were to be restored to liberty...Some of the nations were conquered sooner, some later; but the end of the seventy years was the occasion for the deliverance of all of them."[17]

In this connection Barnes also noted that "king" in the Bible may and many times does refer to a dynasty rather than to a single monarch.[18]

The mention of the "song of a harlot" (the end of Isaiah 23:15) is a reference to the custom of ancient harlots who, when they became old, often resorted to the role of a singing beggar to attract gifts, or to induce renewed acceptance by old customers. Isaiah here adopted that ancient custom as a metaphor of what would happen to Tyre after her fall to the Babylonians.

In this connection we might ask, in what way was Tyre a harlot? Well, their very religion was largely Baal-worship, featuring hundreds of both male and female prostitutes; but more is intended here. By pandering to the slave trade, which we have already mentioned, they were prostituting their honor and sacrificing the lives of countless people in order to satisfy the greed and lust of people who desired to own slaves. In a similar way today, some people are pandering to the desire of the wicked for drugs.

Isaiah 23:17 states that Jehovah would restore Tyre and bless the city again after the seventy years; and we might have hope that after such a scourge was lifted, Tyre might have learned her lesson; but no! She returned to her hire and "played the harlot with all the nations of the world" (Isaiah 23:17). "A nation's prosperity is of God; all is in his hand. He controls the destiny both of men and of nations."[19]

The final Isaiah 23:18 speaks of the commerce in which Tyre continued to engage as resulting in benefit to the people of God, and this is another mystery found in this chapter. Is there a reference here to the conversion of citizens of Tyre in the kingdom of Christ? It does not appear that this was ever extensive enough to warrant such a statement as is found here. We like the comment of Hailey who wrote:

"Might not the prophecy mean simply that whatever the motives of tradesmen, Jehovah uses commerce for the good of mankind, consecrating it to that purpose? What we know of God and his ways tends to make this view reasonable."[20]

The unreasonable and inaccurate dating of this prophecy often encountered violates the very words of the prophecy. For example, Kelley flatly declared that, "The prophecy of Tyre's restoration probably belongs in the sixth century!"[21] If so, what about the "seventy years" mentioned three times? Such a date simply does not fit, and it could not possibly be correct.

(The end of Division II)