THE PRINCE OF TYRUS

By Jerry Pourcy

 

I heard a new doctrine the other day about the prince of Tyrus in Ezekiel 28 was the future antichrist and that he would be killed by men sometime in the future and Satan would raise him from the dead.

Being a Berean, I tested this doctrine against the scriptures and came to the conclusion that the prince of Tyrus in Ezekiel 28 is not the antichrist.

 

By comparing spiritual things with spiritual, we can see by scriptures that the prince of Tyrus is not the future antichrist.

Here are the results of this testing:

 

In Jeremiah 25 it says,

“1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;”

 

Now if we go to the SuperChart:

http://www.gracebiblestudy.net/Charts/SuperChart.html

 

… and go between the years 3400-3500 and using the small blue and white buttons, bring the year indicator to the first year of Nebuchadnezzar where we will see that this is approximately 3480 years after Adam was created.

 

At this time the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah to prophesy against the nations that he would bring Nebuchnezzar against them.

In Jeremiah 25 it says,

“9 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.”

 

Notice:

“…and against all these nations round about,…”

So the nations that the Lord gave Nebuchadnezzar to conquer and rule over consisted of more than just Israel.

Again in Jeremiah 25 it says,

“15 For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.

 

16 And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.

 

17 Then took I the cup at the Lord's hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the Lord had sent me:

 

18 To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day;

 

19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;

 

20 And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,

 

21 Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,

 

22 And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea,

 

23 Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners,

 

24 And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert,

 

25 And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,

 

26 And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.

 

27 Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.”

 

Please notice:

“…And all the kings of Tyrus,…”

 

So all the kings of Tyrus are included in these people that will be conquered by Nebuchadnezzar.

In Jeremiah 27 it says,

“1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

 

2 Thus saith the Lord to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,

 

3 And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;”

 

Notice:

“…and to the king of Tyrus,…”

 

Once again, Tyrus was to be put under Nebuchadnezzar’s rule.

 

In Ezekiel 26 it says,

“1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

 

2 Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:

 

3 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.

 

4 And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.

 

5 It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God: and it shall become a spoil to the nations.

 

6 And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

 

7 For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people.

 

8 He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field: and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee.”

 

Notice:

 

“…I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people.”

 

Once again, Nebuchadnezzar will come upon Tyrus and destroy it.

Back to Ezekiel 26,

“15 Thus saith the Lord God to Tyrus; Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee?

 

16 Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee.

 

17 And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it!

 

18 Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure.

 

19 For thus saith the Lord God; When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee;

 

20 When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living;

 

21 I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord God.”

In Ezekiel 27 it says,

“1 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,

 

2 Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus;

 

3 And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord God; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty.

 

4 Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty.

 

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27 Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin.

 

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32 And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea?

 

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34 In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall.

 

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36 The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more.”

 

As we start in Ezekiel 28 the Lord is referring to the ruler of Tyrus which he calls the prince of Tyrus:

 

“1 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,

 

2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:

 

3 Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:

 

4 With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:

 

5 By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:

 

6 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;

 

7 Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.

 

8 They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.

 

9 Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.

 

10 Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.”

Please notice who will kill the prince of Tyrus:

“…I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations:…”

This people called, “the terrible of the nations” is Nebuchadnezzar and his armies.

In Ezekiel 30 it says,

“10 Thus saith the Lord God; I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.

 

11 He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.”

 

Notice:

“…He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land:…”

Not only was the prince of Tyrus to be destroyed but also the prince of Egypt.

Again in Ezekiel 30.

“13 Thus saith the Lord God; I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph; and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.”

 

So this prince of Tyrus, this ruler of Tyrus was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and his people referred to as “the terrible of the nations” along with these other nations and cities approximately 2500 years ago.

This is not a future event but happened a very long time ago.

 

...Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved...