CHAPTER V.

THE PROPHECY OF ISAIAH,

CONCERNING

THE OVERTHROW, THE RISE, AND THE FINAL FALL OF TYRUS.

(FORETOLD 712 B. C.)

THE next circumstance claiming peculiar attention in order of datum, is the foretelling of the destruction of Tyrus from the lips of that Prophet, who announced the advent of THE SAVIOUR! The sacred writer whose words are believed by both Jew and Christian, the time only of the Messiah's coming being the question at issue between them (apart from His attributes) must be received as an evidence, inspiring both awe and veneration; for it is founded upon one of the highest proofs of Religion itself. Believing, as a Christian, that the Prophecy of the miraculous Advent on earth of THE CHRIST-IMMANUEL, was accomplished by the Birth of JESUS,-any and every Prophecy of less importance by Isaiah, we receive with absolute belief in

its accomplishment, either past, present, or future. This was our education in boyhood, received from the lips of a fond and pious Mother, it was continued in our youth, reason and reflection have produced firm conviction in our manhood: nor in arriving at this conclusion have we rejected or forgotten the student's duty in solving a problem or proposition,-viz., that all arguments should be investigated, either in favour or against the question; we, therefore, have attentively read the writings of atheists, and all that have endeavoured to refute the authority of the Bible, the result has been to increase and consolidate the belief first obtained from Maternal eloquence, and to enable us to pass through the Infidel-ordeal unscathed and scarless! Even as a book of historic record relative to the house of Abraham, either collectively or in its separate branches, it bears truth upon every page; for although written by Hebrew Historians, the vices of the Rulers and the People are recorded, as well as the virtues,—the former, for their own fame, they would have naturally concealed, had not Truth been stronger than any desire to obtain the applause of posterity through the means of Falsehood.

When, therefore, a Prophecy of ISAIAH has not been (apparently to human knowledge) accomplished, our religious belief teaches us that it has been, or will be fulfilled; and if the Theory of this present work is proved or admitted (from previous facts and analogies, and those to follow), our faith will be still further increased, for we shall have lived to see another Pro

phecy accomplished, and (with the humility of the most humble of God's creatures we write)-ourselves to have proved and established its fulfilment.

EZEKIEL and ZECHARIAH both prophesied the fall of Tyrus 124 years after the time of ISAIAH,-but the latter Prophet foretold its first destruction 140 years before its occurrence,—not only that, but that it should be regenerated as a nation after seventy years, and then be again destroyed:-these remarkable Prophecies were accomplished. There was, however, another portion of the last words of ISAIAH in reference to the Tyrian kingdom, in themselves a perfect Prophecy, which was, and is, as we firmly believe, fulfilled; but now for the first time so contemplated. The words have been passed over even by Christian writers, upon the supposed ground that they would prove a negative in regard to the truth of Prophecy, and atheists have availed themselves of that silence to advance their own wishes; but Time, the chief champion of Heaven's children-Truth and Faith,- has now established the affirmative in the Western Hemisphere.

The entire Prophecy, or rather Prophecies, regarding Tyrus will now be given as uttered by ISAIAH, they having been predicted in the year 712 B. C., and consequently next in chronological order, in reference to the History now under the contemplation of the reader.

We shall offer no minute analysis at this time, but such remarks as may be required to explain the passages. The lines italicised have peculiar reference to

કર્યું.

the present subject. The reader will observe that the prediction was uttered forty years after the founding of Rome, and 149 years after that of Carthage, as expressed in the previous chapter; and from the savage deed committed by the tyrant Pygmalion, it will be presumed (at least in argument) that every principle of honour and exalted character, as possessed and practised by Hiram the Great, had ceased to be exercised by the throne of Tyrus; and probably so continued to the time of ISAIAH, who, thereupon-God-instructed— uttered the following triple Prophecy concerning the the Metropolis of the World ; — that it should be destroyed, but that a Remnant should be saved!

It should be remembered in reading the Prophecy, that Tyrus was originally colonized by, and from, Sidon; that the Isle was only partly inhabited, and that the Capital, at this time, was on the mainland, which was distant from the Island about half a mile.

The celebrated Prophecy is as follows: viz.—

"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 Chittim, it is revealed to them. Be still ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Sidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished. And by great waters, the seed of Sihor [i. e. Nile], the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations. Be thou ashamed, O Sidon! for the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children

neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins. As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre. Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle. Is this your joyous city [Tyrus], whose antiquity is of ancient days? Her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn!

"Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning [Royal] city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth? 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. Pass through thy land as a river, O Daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength. 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 strongholds thereof. And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, Daughter of Sidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there, also, shalt thou have no rest. Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian [Nimrod] founded it for them, that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers [of Babel] thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and He brought it [Nineveh] to ruin. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for your strength is laid waste.

"And it shall come to pass in that day [i. e. after the first fall], that Tyre shall be forgotten [as a Nation] seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot. Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot