Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
Revelation 19:10
This past Wednesday morning, at our early-morning men’s Bible reading & prayer (which all you men are warmly invited to anytime you can make it!), as we are reading through the Old Testament, we came to Ezekiel 26. This chapter was of great blessing to us with the following in mind– it is another of the great fulfilled chapters of the Bible. By some this chapter has been labeled “A Prophecy in Technicolor.”
In it, Ezekiel predicts the destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar. He describes its siege and the later conquering of Jerusalem. During the siege, the people of Tyre moved their valuables to a little island off the shore of Tyre—relocating their city to this small island. Nebuchadnezzar finally conquers the original city, but there is not much left, so he destroys the city, reducing it to rubble. All which was foretold by Ezekiel.
But there was still much of this prophecy not filled in the time of Nebuchadnezzar. Read it for yourself, verse 12 foretells of their riches being plundered “in the midst of the water”. Verse 14 says, “I will make you like the top of a rock; you shall place for spreading nets.” This was not accomplished by Nebuchadnezzar. He left the city as a pile of rubble.
But notice the change of pronoun in verse 12. Prior in verse 11, it is “he” that is used. Verse 12 and following uses “they”. Why is this? Nearly 241 years after Nebuchadnezzar’s conquering of Tyre, Alexander the Great came along. He viewed Tyre as a threat to his goal of world empire. Tyre (now an island) had become the major port for the powerful Phoenician navy. Alexander demanded their surrender. The Phoenicians refused with laughter, feeling so secure being on an island a half-mile offshore. But Alexander saw the pile of rubble remaining from Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of the original city centuries prior. Alexander used this rubble and pushing it into the sea building a land bridge out to Tyre. Seven months later he marched his army out to Tyre, on this new land-bridge, easily conquering it.
Thus, the original site of Tyre was scraped flat, like a rock, just as Ezekiel prophesied. It became a favored location where fisherman, literally, spread their nets to dry and repair them… just as Ezekiel said– “I will make you like the top of a rock; you shall be place for spreading nets, and you shall never be rebuilt, for I the LORD have spoken.”
Professor and mathematician, Peter Stoner evaluated the statistical probability of the seven predictions of Ezekiel 26 coming to pass. The conclusion is staggering– only one chance in 75,000,000. Yes, you read that right. God is so astoundingly accurate and specific in His prophecies. Remember that not only to have confidence in the Bible, but also when you consider His promises for you, His first coming and His coming again!
Maranatha!