The Oracle Against Tyre: The Song of the Prostitute

Silicon Valley Reformed Baptist Church

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Please turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 23. Today, we'll be finishing

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Isaiah's oracles against the nations. Since chapter 13, we've been looking at many of the different oracles that Isaiah wrote against the nations, and here we come to the last part of the last one.

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Now, something that we've seen in a lot of these oracles is that there are oracles of judgment, but they're usually punctuated and especially ended with some sort of gospel promise, and this is not all that different in this passage here.

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So please stand when you have that for the reading of God's Word in Isaiah 23. We'll begin in verse 15.

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In that day, Tyre will be forgotten for 70 years, like the days of one king.

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At the end of 70 years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute.

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Take a harp, go about the city, oh forgotten prostitute. Make sweet melody, sing many songs that you may be remembered.

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At the end of 70 years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.

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Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the Lord. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the

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Lord. You may be seated. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your

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Word. We thank you for everything it tells us, its warnings, its promises. It is a great mercy to us that you have shown us who you are, that you have told us what you would have for us.

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You have not left us without instruction. We thank you for this. You have also not left us without mercy and the everything we need in order to do your will.

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So, I pray that you would open our eyes to see what you have for us today in Scripture, and that we would be transformed by it.

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In Jesus' name, amen. So, a good question to ask as we're wrapping up all these oracles against the nations is, what is the purpose of all these oracles?

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Is there anything that unites them all together? You know, they are all oracles of judgment, and so one of the good questions to ask is, what is the purpose of all

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God's judgment? What is he accomplishing in all his judgment? And we've looked at that from many different angles, the different things he's accomplishing in judgment, but I think possibly and almost certainly the central thing that he is accomplishing in judgment is redemption, that he is redeeming a people through judgment, and that is an incredible truth for us to contemplate.

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I was saying earlier this morning at the end of the first service that God didn't have to create this world.

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He has everything he needs. He is blessed. That's the theological term to mean happy, to mean perfectly full and lacking nothing, but God decided to create this world not because he needed it, but he is so blessed.

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He is so overflowing in goodness that he decided to create a world that others might experience his goodness.

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So he did not create this world in order to judge it, but primarily in order to redeem it so we would know the depth of his goodness, not only in experiencing goodness the way one might in the

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Garden of Eden where everything is perfect and content, but that we would also experience his mercy in the cross of Christ, in redemption, and that redemption happens through the pattern of judgment.

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So let's keep that on our minds as we as we look at this passage. In verse 15, it says,

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In that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king.

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At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute. So we were talking about the city of Tyre, how it's full of wealth, and there are many passages written about this in the

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Bible, and if you go look at them, most of them have to do with the great wealth of the city.

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But Isaiah has proclaimed that it will be destroyed, that it will be judged, and so it will be forgotten for seventy years.

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Now there's some significance to this seventy years, the first being that Israel is to go off into exile for seventy years, and here you see

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Tyre is going to go into either remission or how would you how would you say it's going to be out of the picture for seventy years before it is restored.

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So a very similar kind of judgment that's happening to Israel is also happening to this pagan city.

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God has very similar purposes and his plans for Israel as he does his plans for this other nation, this other city.

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Secondly, Psalm 90 10 says the days of a man's life are seventy years.

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Now when scripture talks about something being certain that it will come to an end, what phrase does it often use?

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Maybe you all will have one in mind. Like the days of a, what does it usually say?

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Not one king. Usually it's hired worker, right? Do you know that phrase? Like the days of a hired worker.

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For a hired worker, you hire them for several years and then at the end of the contract there's a firm set date where is it no more.

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Now what's being said here is something similar where it is a fixed time that's set, but yet, yet it's longer.

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It's the days of one king. It's the days of a life. And so that shows that this judgment is going to be, have a longer span.

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It also shows that it's going to be ending a kingdom. As this king's life ends, he says it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute.

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Verse 16, take a harp, go about the city, oh forgotten prostitute. Make sweet melody, sing many songs that you may be remembered.

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Now what is this song about? Now it sounds very much like Isaiah is quoting some other song that exists and most people who come to this passage and try to interpret it, they understand this to be a real song that people would occasionally sing.

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Maybe it was some kind of drinking song or something like that. And it has this shape to it.

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You know, with Hebrew poetry, it wasn't so much about rhyming like our poetry is. It was about meter.

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And here you have these two sections with three lines each, very short and abrupt, maybe kind of cutesy and mocking about this prostitute who is older and having lost all her beauty, tries to draw attention to herself instead by singing.

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So this is, this is Tyre. When it is restored from this judgment, it will still want attention, but it won't have its former glory.

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It's very similar for people who feel the effects of sin and are chastised for their sin and they, in a period of discouragement, return to their sin.

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They find themselves not enjoying it as much as before. It's not nearly as glorious. Verse 17, at the end of 70 years, the

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Lord will visit Tyre and she will return to her wages and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.

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So here you have the statement of what will happen at the end of these 70 years. God is actually going to restore

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Tyre and he will restore her in such a way that she continues going about her evil deeds, but yet in a way where she doesn't have that same glory.

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She prostitutes herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. So this is talking about trading and making contracts with all these different nations abroad.

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And certainly there is an implication there of idolatry, right? That's often what prostitution, when used in metaphorical terms in the

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Bible, refers to. It refers to idolatry, that as you interact with all these different nations, you also adopt their idols.

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And so it's describing the city being restored. Now, this is surprising for many reasons that God would do this, but then you have something even more surprising in verse 18.

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Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the Lord. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the

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Lord. Now, this is shocking. This is shocking that he's just saying that the city is going to be restored, it's going to do its evil deeds once again, but then all this wealth it will acquire will be holy to the

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Lord. What do you make of that? Well, first of all, there's something to be said about a literal fulfillment of this.

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In Ezra 3 -7, it talks about the rebuilding of Jerusalem. It says,

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So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters and food and drink and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians, Tyrians being people from Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea.

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So you do have in the Bible a record of Tyre having been restored after the assault that Nebuchadnezzar attacked it with, to be able to give cedar to the people of Israel.

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So you do have Tyre's wealth being used for the good of the city of Jerusalem. However, if you try too literally to press this, if you try too literally to find an exact 70 years where it starts from one date and ends at another, you're going to be very disappointed.

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And if you remember the pattern of the things that we have seen here in this book of Isaiah, about how it talks, it talked about how

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Assyria would become one nation with Israel, and these nations would join together as one.

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There's no Assyria anymore. This thing, it is not meant to be primarily literally fulfilled.

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And as we develop the patterns of how we should read Isaiah, it's very apparent that this is not meant to be pressed too literally, but instead to see the picture of the gospel that is here.

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It is talking about someone who has done evil, and then their evil being used for good.

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God redeeming someone who is evil. If you, there's a lot of applications for this.

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One is, do not fear the wicked. You know, their wealth, no matter how much they have, it can't accomplish anything.

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You look at Tyre's wealth, all she had, it was no good. It was not something that protected her from being attacked and from being destroyed.

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Secondly, all this pattern, all these nations that we've been reading about, trusting in them, whether or not

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Israel, who's faced with this question of whether or not it should trust the nations, whether or not it should make an alliance with Egypt, that's what we're going to see later on in Isaiah.

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All these oracles are basically giving the answer no. There's a quote from a commentator

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I like, where he summarizes all these chapters. If the glory of the nations, chapters 13 and 14, is nothing.

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If the scheming of the nations, chapters 14 through 18, is nothing. If the wisdom of the nations, chapters 19 through 20, is nothing.

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If the vision of the nations, chapters 21 and 22, is nothing. If the wealth of the nations, chapter 23, is nothing.

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Then the question is, why trust the nations? Why trust the nations? If you are looking with eyes of sight, you are going to, you are going to trust ones who have strength.

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You're going to put your trust in political leaders, and you are going to be very disappointed when they fail you.

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If you're looking around with your physical eyes, like we were talking about today in Sunday school, about evangelism, you're going to fear what people might think of you.

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But if you see with spiritual eyes, and you recognize that your audience is primarily the Lord, and these people here on earth are only a secondary audience at best, that vastly changes how you think about these things.

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Whatever power someone has, whatever wealth they have, it is very little compared to what

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God has. God has everything. And so we should not fear man as though he has great power, when in reality he has very little.

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He has nothing. There are a lot of, there are a lot of passages in the

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Bible that speak this way about those who would do evil. I'd like to read some of those for you.

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Ecclesiastes 2 26 say, for to the one who pleases him, God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy.

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But to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting only to give to one who pleases

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God. This also is vanity and striving after wind. So do you hear that?

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The one who, the one who doesn't please God, he's given the business of gathering and collecting only to give to the one who does please

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God. Those who store up much wealth and are evil, it ends up in the hands of the righteous.

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You have that also in Proverbs 13 22. A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.

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Proverbs 28 8. Whoever multiplies his wealth by interest and profit, gathers it for him who is generous to the poor.

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Job 27 16 through 17. Though he, he being the wicked man, heap up silver like dust and pile up clothing like clay, he may pile it up, but the righteous will wear it and the innocent will divide the silver.

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The righteous will what? Wear it. The innocent will divide the silver. You see several of the Psalms, Psalm 37,

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Psalm 73, talk about the importance of not envying the wicked and all that they have. This is, this is the reason why.

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This is one of the reasons why. It will all come back to the righteous. God will make sure that it is all accounted for.

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There is no reason to look at the wicked and to be envious, because as God has said in this passage, it will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing.

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For who? For those who dwell before the Lord. I saw a headline that this really seems to apply to.

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Mackenzie Scott, I think that's her name, the ex -wife of Jeff Bezos, she recently made this past week a donation of 275 million dollars to Planned Parenthood, the largest donation that's ever been made to Planned Parenthood.

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Now you look at that and you think, it's easy to think, God, in your infinite wisdom, why did you think this would be a good idea to give this wicked person this money, who would then give it to another wicked organization?

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Why did not you equip your people with that kind of wealth? He is wise, he is far wiser than we are, and we can rest assured, even without seeing how it will work out, that these passages are true, that they have been given the business of gathering, collecting, only to give to one who pleases

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God. The sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous. These things, there will be an account given for them, and ultimately, ultimately, we will be the ones who benefit.

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We will be the ones who benefit from that wealth. Another verse to consider, Romans 8 28, all things work together for good to those who love

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God. Now all things, that's really all things, that includes the great wealth hoarded by evil men, the great evils done with that wealth, that includes all these things.

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Now how can that be true, that everything that happens is for the good of God's people? Well, ultimately, ultimately, it will be revealed in judgment, that God will judge these people.

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He will use what they have done for His purposes. It will glorify Him, and through God's glory, we will benefit, because we become heirs with Jesus Christ.

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Those who are trusting in Jesus Christ will inherit everything alongside of Him.

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This is, this is a great thing to trust in, to rest in, knowing that these things are true, knowing that God will make everything right, and that ultimately, it will all come around to benefit

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His own people. Another, another good example of this, of power being stored up by by wicked men. Why is it that there were so much power held by the corrupt religious authorities in Jerusalem, and the government authorities among Rome?

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What did God do with that? He predestined it, that Herod and Pontius Pilate should gather together, along with Israel and the, and the

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Gentiles, to crucify Jesus. Now that, that's something where, in the moment, you look at that, and you see, how could this be good?

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How could this be wise, for all that power to be held by these people who will use it wickedly? God is wise.

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He knows what He is doing, and what He accomplished through that was a great and glorious gospel.

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That would not be the great and glorious gospel that would have occurred if we had done things our way, right? If we had been in charge, determining who has the power, who has the wealth, would we have made such a glorious gospel?

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We wouldn't, but God is far wiser than we are. Now, something that's interesting about this, is this doesn't seem to just be talking about an evil entity whose wealth is used for good, but this seems to be talking about the redemption of Tyre herself, just as in chapter 19, we'd seen it talk about the redemption of Egypt and Assyria as they're gathered together with Israel.

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And there's several passages that speak to this. Psalm 45, 12 says, the people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts, the richest of the people.

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Seeking favor with gifts, that's bringing in tribute. We saw that earlier when it was talking about Moab, that they would bring tribute, they would want to be one with the people of Israel.

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Psalm 87, 4 through 5 says, among those who know me, I mentioned Rahab, Rahab is another name for Egypt, and Babylon, behold

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Philistia and Tyre with Cush. This one was born there, they say, and of Zion it shall be said, this one and that one were born in her.

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It's talking about Tyre becoming essentially like a natural born citizen of Israel. These things are promises of the gospel to the nations, just as we've seen throughout these other oracles.

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These are promises that the gospel, that the good news of Jesus Christ is going to go out to the nations, and that there will be a great redemption that God will accomplish through these things.

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Now there's something else that's very surprising about the way this is phrased, her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the

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Lord. Does anyone know what the Bible says about the wages of a prostitute?

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There's very specific things said about the wages of a prostitute. Deuteronomy 23 18, you shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog into the house of the

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Lord your God in payment for any vow, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your

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God. Proverbs 21 27, the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination.

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Wages of a prostitute is not supposed to be brought into the house of the Lord, and here it says that God will make her merchandise holy, and it will be brought to his people, that it will accomplish good things.

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What you see here is a picture of radical transformation, of making that which is unholy perfectly holy and acceptable to the

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Lord. You know, that's the case for us. We are not in and of ourselves holy, but God through Jesus Christ, for those who trust in him, he has made them holy that we may be acceptable before the

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Lord, and our works, our works, even though imperfect, holy and acceptable to the

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Lord. We can serve him fearlessly, not worrying about how we may fail. Consider this, our works, all of them are imperfect.

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They are all mixed with sin. None of them do we do in a way that is perfectly pleasing to the

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Lord, and so on their own, they are unacceptable to him. On their own, they are unrighteous, like filthy rags.

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That's the way scripture describes it, and yet God chooses to accept these things.

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How? By the mediation of Jesus Christ. Now if you were to make a dessert, like a cake, with one percent sewage, even that one percent would be enough to make this vial, and no one would want to eat it, right?

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Now imagine that the percentage was much higher. It was 50 percent sewage. Okay, that's closer to the picture of what our good works look like apart from the mediation of Jesus Christ, but in Jesus Christ, what we have to offer, which is in itself unacceptable to him.

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You know, the way the confession phrases this about our good works being on their own unacceptable to him is they cannot withstand the severity of his judgment, but God is pleased to accept us, ourselves, our works, our prayers, because Jesus Christ offers them up to the

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Father, and the Father is pleased to accept anything that the Son offers to him. It is in Christ that we find full acceptance.

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We're made perfectly holy, and those those sins that we've committed, the

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Lord uses those for his purposes. You know, if you have some sin in your past and you're afraid of the shame of it, in the

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Lord those things glorify him. Go ahead and tell people of the great sin you have committed and how

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God has saved you from it. This is something that glorifies him. He uses these sins to be glorified into this great salvation.

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There is no, yeah, there's no reason to hide these things once you recognize that God is glorified by them, and he uses them for his glory.

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And if you've made some sinful decision in the past, you know, there's a lot of people who have made poor decisions with marriage, with other kinds of relationships, all sorts of things, and now they're in a situation they feel stuck in, and they feel like, oh,

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God can't use this because I made a sinful decision in this action, whatever it was.

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No, if you are in a position where there is no escape, you know, God has made it clear what the path forward for you is, even if it is the result of a mistake,

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God can use it. In fact, he desires to. In fact, all things work together for good to those who love God.

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He will use these things for his glory. Do not be discouraged and back down in fear, but instead acknowledge what scripture says.

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It will not be stored and hoarded. Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the Lord. We can approach

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God with great confidence, though we are an imperfect people, because we have the perfect mediation of Jesus Christ.

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And God's perfect all this judgment is to highlight redemption.

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Redemption is not merely the silver lining on this cloud of judgment. It is the thing that makes that cloud of judgment a glorious cloud, a cloud of glory.

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Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that you would help us to understand your will for us.

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I ask that as we recognize our own sinfulness, our own unholiness, that you would give us a great confidence of the holiness that we have in Jesus Christ, the right standing we have before you in faith.

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And I pray that this would fill us with joy and zeal and eagerness to do your will, and that as we bring this message to the world, that we would, in confidence, stand before you with eyes of faith, not heeding the world around us that would tell us otherwise and discourage us.