Thank you for joining us today.
The city of Tyre, probably the wealthiest and most influential of all Phoenician settlements,
famous for its rare dye production and thriving economy, served as an important Persian naval base,
the last in the region still under their control.
In fact, it comprised of two pieces, a barely defended coastal settlement named Old Tyre,
serving as a source of water, timber and burial grounds for the heavily fortified second piece,
the island city of New Tyre, situated about 700 metres off the coast.
Ezekiel 26.12 is actually a prediction or a prophecy of Alexander the Great,
now Alexander the Great is not mentioned, but it's a prophecy of Alexander the Great coming against Tyre.
You say, well how can you be so sure? Notice what it says in verse 12.
And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise,
and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses,
and they shall lay thy stones, I want you to notice the last part of verse 12,
and they shall lay thy stones and thy timbers and thy dust in the midst of the waters.
Macedonian king Alexander is standing on the Phoenician beach looking at one of the most formidable strongholds of antiquity.
He is perfectly aware that leaving it behind is not an option,
yet the proud citizens of Tyre refuse to be subordinate to Alexander's will and fail to surrender the city.
It looks like the long and gruelling siege which the Macedonians tried to avoid is imminent.
You say, why is that impressive? Let me read to you from an article.
When Alexander the Great came against Tyre, most of the people retreated to island portions of the city which even Nebuchadnezzar was not able to conquer.
In a remarkable feat of ingenuity and vision, Alexander's armies took of the rubble of the mainland city and built a causeway,
which is a solid road built up through the water from the mainland to the part of the island, and conquered it.
He immediately ordered his troops to raze old Tyre and start the siege preparations.
You may ask the question, how could Alexander besiege an island city with barely any ships at his disposal?
The answer is quite simple.
New Tyre was connected to the mainland through a natural land bridge, most of it submerged just two metres deep.
Alexander used the building material and rubble gathered from destroyed old Tyre and attempted to build a causeway across the channel, toward the walled city.
The construction went fairly well at the beginning, allowing the Macedonian siege engines to launch their projectiles at the city walls.
Let me read to you from an archaeologist's website, it says this.
Up until Alexander's time, no one had been able to take the island fortress because Tyre had the only navy capable of doing it.
Alexander did what no one else had thought of, he took the rubble of the old city of Tyre and dumped it into the sea.
Within six months he built an artificial causeway between the mainland and the island.
When it was finished he quickly brought his siege equipment and took the city.
Tyre's defenders fought bravely and skilfully, even when Alexander began building a causeway to the island, protected by two giant siege towers, which they counterattacked with fire ships.
But after seven months, the city walls were breached and Tyre fell. Most of its citizens were killed or enslaved.
And this is exactly what happened in history when Alexander the Great took the rubble of the old city and built a causeway to Tyre.
And again, God is just proving that he is not only the Lord over humanity, he is the Lord over history.
It is God. See, we think leaders, their charisma and their strength and their ability is what causes one to rise and another to fall.
You know the Bible says the promotion cometh neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south, but God is the judge.
He put it down one and setteth up another. It is God who is in control.
I love how it says in Daniel where it says the heavens do rule in the affairs of man.
It is God who knows. It is God who is in control.
And I'm sure Ezekiel himself didn't really even understand. What does this mean?
They're going to put the timber and the water in the midst of the water and the dust. What does this mean?
But you know what? When Alexander the Great did it, everybody knew that God was the God of the universe.