Isaiah 23:15-18
God can reclaim commerce and redirect wealth toward His holy purpose.
15 It will come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. After the end of seventy years it will be to Tyre like in the song of the prostitute.
16 Take a harp; go about the city, you prostitute that has been forgotten. Make sweet melody. Sing many songs, that you may be remembered.
17 It will happen after the end of seventy years that Yahweh will visit Tyre. She will return to her wages, and will play the prostitute with all the kingdoms of the world on the surface of the earth.
18 Her merchandise and her wages will be holiness to Yahweh. It will not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise will be for those who dwell before Yahweh, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.
God can reclaim commerce and redirect wealth toward his holy purpose.
To declare Tyre’s temporary obscurity, eventual restoration, and ultimate redirection of its gain toward the LORD’s purposes.
Tyre experienced cycles of decline and recovery throughout the ancient Near Eastern period, particularly during the dominance of major empires.
The Oracle Against Tyre, the Humbling of Commercial Glory, and Wealth Set Apart for the LORD
Isaiah 23 declares that the LORD Almighty humbles the pride of commercial glory, brings Tyre’s maritime wealth to nothing, and ultimately redirects even merchant profit to serve his holy purposes.