Tyre – Babylon’s “Twin City” in scripture

Babylon is described as fallen twice. Both ancient Babylon, and its twin city Tyre, were destroyed. Babylon was never rebuilt.  The ancient city of Tyre was partly destroyed by Alexander in 333 BC, rebuilt somewhat by the Romans, and destroyed again by the Muslims in 1291 AD.  This fulfilled one prophecy.  However, since then, the main portion of the city has been rebuilt, which is in line with another prophecy, and prepares it for another event. Is the upcoming “event” a link, or a clue, to identifying the final Babylon?

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Babylon was destroyed. Tyre, an island city, was partly destroyed in a similar fashion. Babylon was not rebuilt. Both are described as almost identical in industry, trade, worldly influence, and wealth. In some ways, Tyre is described as  greater than Babylon, which historically is not true yet. Some of the descriptions do not match ancient Tyre. For example, Tyre was not a “terror” to other countries.  So, we must look at some prophecies as being fulfilled, and some as yet to be fulfilled.

We know that the woman who rides the beast of terror in the book of Revelation has to be associated with, and supported by it in some way. Unless another Babylon is rebuilt, it cannot fall again. Tyre has been rebuilt, but it does not yet fit the description given in prophecy. Can Tyre fall again? Since it has 2 halves, an island and a mainland portion, can half fall and fulfill one prophecy, and the other half be rebuilt to fulfill another?  Would this give us a clue as to who Babylon and the 4^th Beast are?

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Old and New Testament describes Babylon and how it will fall 2 times

Isa 21:9 And, behold, here comes a chariot of men, [with] a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.

Rev 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

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There were great similarities between Babylon and Tyre

Babylon – Revelation	Tyre- Ezechiel 26- 28
gold	Ezech 28:4, 22
silver	Ezech 28:4, 12
precious stones	Ezech 27:16, 22,
fine linen	Ezech 27: 7, 16, 24
purple	Ezech 27: 7, 16 blue and purple
silk	Ezech 27:24 embroidered garments
citron, wood	x
ivory	Ezech 27:15
marble	x
brass	Ezech 27:13
iron	Ezech 27:12, 19
incense	x
frankincense	x
myrrh	x
cinnamon	Ezech 27:19 cassia
wine	Ezech 27:18
sheep	Ezech 27:21
cattle	Ezech 27:16, 37
oil	Ezech 27:17
olive oil	Ezech 27:17
flour	Ezech 27:17
wheat	Ezech 27:17
horses	Ezech 27:14
chariots	Ezech 26:10
bodies/souls of men	Ezech 27:13
x	tin, lead
x	ebony
x	balm
x	honey
x	white wool
x	lambs, rams, goats
x	cedar, oak, fir
rich merchants come	rich merchants come
weeping merchants throw dust on their heads to mourn loss 18:19	weeping merchants throw dust on their heads to mourn loss 27:30
sit as a queen	“I am perfect in beauty” 27:3, also known as “queen of the seas”
What is like this great city?	What city is like Tyre? 27:32
“enriched the kings of the earth” 18:3	“enriched the kings of the earth” 27:33
18:3 commits fornication with the kings of the earth	Isaiah 23:17 commits fornication with the kings of the earth
(Rev 18:22) The music of harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No workman of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again.	(Ezek 26:13) I will put an end to your noisy songs, and the music of your harps will be heard no more.
(Rev 18:9-10) “When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. {10} Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: “‘Woe! Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!’	(Ezek 26:16-18) Then all the princes of the coast will step down from their thrones and lay aside their robes and take off their embroidered garments. Clothed with terror, they will sit on the ground, trembling every moment, appalled at you. {17} Then they will take up a lament concerning you and say to you: “‘How you are destroyed, O city of renown, peopled by men of the sea! You were a power on the seas, you and your citizens; you put your terror on all who lived there. {18} Now the coastlands tremble on the day of your fall; the islands in the sea are terrified at your collapse.’
(Rev 18:21) Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.	(Ezek 26:12) They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise; they will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones, timber and rubble into the sea.
Rev 18:21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast [it] into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.	Eze 26:21 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.

Current Theories about Babylon

Some say Babylon is Rome, just because the Catholic Church is centered there. However, there are many descriptions which do not match. This might be another study. J Current theories also include America – the entire nation- or New York City, as Babylon. However, the trade descriptions do not match. Or, it could be the general area of the Middle East, as certain merchandise and commodities can only be found there. See other post

Babylon is still Babylon Click here for more.

Could the fact that another twin city named Tyre built in Lebanon, close to the original site, be a confirmation that the “mystery Babylon” would be located in that general area? Maybe yes, and maybe no, but the evidence that Babylon is NOT America or Rome seems to be growing.

While some feel that America is Babylon, there are many discrepancies between the description in Revelation 18 and America. I am sure America will feel the effects of end time events, based on its own failings, but the evidence continues to point to the Middle East as the center of activity. What I do is allow scripture to interpret scripture.

Babylon does not fall until Revelation 18, at the end of the period of divine wrath, and some are predicting that America will “fall” in the fall of 2008. This does not make sense to me. Even if America is Babylon, it cannot “fall” until after the Bowls of Wrath (Rev 16) is over with.

A closer look at Tyre being rebuilt (built up and expanded) for the Antichrist as a city of terror

http://www.frankcaw.com/Tyre-Rebuilt.html

Ezekiel mixed all of his prophetic predictions together, some of which were intended to be fulfilled soon after their proclamation, while others were destined to be fulfilled during the end times.

Biblical prophecies concerning the city of Tyre involve very dramatic predictions which were never fulfilled! Therefore, a future city of Tyre must be rebuilt in order to fulfill those biblical prophecies. Only then will the oft-repeated prediction that the city of Tyre will be destroyed, forever, finally be fulfilled. Thus, the tremendous wealth and influence of the city pictured in Ezekiel 27 must represent a future fulfillment because ancient Tyre never attained the degree of wealth described in this passage:

Ezekiel 27:1-4, 12, 25, 27, 32-36
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.

12 Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.

25 The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.

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.

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?

33 When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.

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.

35 All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance.

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

Although ancient Tyre was a very famous city-state renowned for its world sea trade, it never boasted the incredible display of wealth and riches portrayed in the above biblical scripture. That is why a future Tyre must be rebuilt so that all the kings of the world can become wealthy by the multitude and abundance of her riches and treasures.

Ezekiel 26:15-21
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. (KJV)

In the preceding scripture, there can be no question that some of the prophecies represent a futuristic fulfillment involving a future city of Tyre. Admittedly, there are other prophecies in Ezekiel that predicted the city of Tyre would be thrown into the midst of the seas when it was destroyed.

But, apparently those prophecies were fulfilled when debris, left over from the destruction of mainland Tyre, was used by Alexander the Great to build a bridge of land out to the island fortress of Tyre. However, in the passage above, it clearly states that the waters of the ocean will come up and cover the city completely, a phenomenon that is entirely different from Tyre falling into the sea as predicted in other biblical prophecies. So, evidently this prophetic prediction has never happened, yet. Nor will it happen until near the time of Armageddon when the islands of the world will crumble into the oceans as a great final earthquake devastates the entire globe:

Revelation 16:17-21
17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great. (KJV)

“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.” It is very likely this scriptural passage concerns a future, modern city of Tyre because it is predicted that Tyre will descend down into the pit to join the people of old time, i.e., of ancient times.

Ezechiel 26: 17, 21
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!

21 I will make thee a terror… (KJV)

Although the ancient city of Tyre was renowned for its sea trade and commerce, it was never a towering military power which created fear and terror in people throughout the world, or even in Europe and Asia Minor. In fact, as we noted previously, down throughout history, ancient Tyre was subjected to frequent military invasions by powerful neighboring countries who always were anxious to exploit Tyre’s commercial and geopolitical importance. So, obviously this must be a reference to a future, rebuilt city of Tyre which will become the political capital of a new world leader, i.e., Antichrist, about whom the whole world will say: Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?

Ezekiel 27:36
36 The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more. (KJV)

Ezekiel 26:21
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. (KJV)

The above two prophecies state, specifically, that the city of Tyre will never be found again, i.e., extant, after undergoing a final, devastating destruction by God. Although there is only a fishing village located there now, something far short of the splendor and grandeur and influence of ancient Tyre, nevertheless, something is still there.

Since a small city or village can be found there currently, contrary to the precise wording of the above scriptures, these predictions must achieve a future fulfillment some day. Because there must come a time when absolutely nothing can be found there, and it will happen when the former island segment of Tyre is annihilated in the final great earthquake that will shake the whole world.

Zechariah 9:1-8
1 The burden of the word of the LORD in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the LORD.

2 And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise.

3 And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets.

4 Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire.

5 Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; Gaza also shall see it, and be very sorrowful, and Ekron; for her expectation shall be ashamed; and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.

6 And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.

7 And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth: but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.

8 And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes. (KJV)

In the above passage, please note that Tyre builds itself a strong hold, and heaps up huge amounts of gold and silver in its coffers. Yet, it is said that God smashes her into the sea, and destroys her with fire (at the time of Armageddon when the 7th Trumpet-Vial plague will unleash an incredible, cataclysmic earthquake that will destroy all the mountains and islands and cities throughout the world). At that point in time, God will encamp about His house in Jerusalem as a direct response to the invading army of the Antichrist, i.e., him that passes by. But then after wards, it is said that no oppressor shall invade and persecute Israel again. Obviously this passage requires a future fulfillment so that a rebuilt city of Tyre can acquire the incredible wealth and power, predicted in this scripture, before it is destroyed violently and suddenly as described.

Ezekiel predicts that the city of Tyre will be destroyed forever. Yet Isaiah 23 describes this very same destruction, but then predicts that Tyre will be rebuilt 70 years after wards so that it can provide food and clothing for them that dwell before the Lord in Jerusalem forever. Although these predictions appear to involve an outright contradiction, it is actually only a matter of complexity. As mentioned earlier, Tyre historically was always a city of two sections; part of it was located on the island area that was linked to the mainland in ancient times by a gigantic dirt-mound, and the remaining part was located on the actual mainland. So, it is the island -ie. peninsular – segment of Tyre that will be destroyed forever (during the great final earthquake that will occur during Armageddon when all the islands and mountains of the world will be destroyed). Isaiah even confirms this conclusion by stating that Tyre will be destroyed near the time when the country of Egypt will be destroyed, i.e., just prior to the time when the Battle of Armageddon begins (Dan. 11:40-45).

Isaiah 23:1, 5-9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18
1 The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.

5 As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre.

6 Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle.

7 Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.

8 Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth?

9 The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.

11 He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the LORD hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof.

13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin.

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 shall Tyre sing as an harlot.

17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.

18 And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing. (KJV)

Although ancient Tyre enjoyed a good measure of the wealth which will exist in the future city of Tyre, this biblical prophecy concerning Tyre is a prediction that will be fulfilled in our immediate future. Moreover, in the above scriptural passage, Isaiah also predicts that “the Assyrian,” i.e., the Antichrist, will rebuild the city of Tyre for the benefit of the Chaldeans (during the period of peace and prosperity that will exist on the earth until the pre-tribulation Rapture occurs). Then near the time of Armageddon itself, the city of Tyre will be destroyed and allowed to lie in total ruins for a period of seventy years. But after those seventy years have elapsed, God declares that He will restore the city of Tyre so it can function as an eternal source of food and clothing for people who will serve Him in the city of Jerusalem. Please observe that Isaiah informs us this great city will be rebuilt by the Assyrian, who is none other than the Antichrist. (Isa. 10:5-6; Isa. 10:20-34; Isa. 14:24-27; Isa. 19; Isa. 23:13; Isa. 27:12-13; Isa. 30:18-33; Isa. 31:4-9; Micah 5:3-15; Micah 7:7-20).

Finally, if all other biblical prophecies concerning a future, rebuilt city of Tyre could somehow be explained away, this prophecy would remain as the one prophecy that can be viewed with a very high degree of certainty and confidence!

Because the scripture clearly predicts that seventy years after the final and complete annihilation of the island segment of Tyre, the Lord will visit Tyre and bless her exceedingly so that her merchandise will be available as food and clothing for people who will serve Him in Jerusalem forever. Obviously this prophecy has never been fulfilled, so it must be fulfilled sometime in the future!

Remember that Lebanon is now the center of Hezbollah, and the country is now a terrorist state. So, we will see if the Antichrist will come from there, or have significant activity there.

Is Tyre destined to be part of the “Mystery Babylon” of the future?