What is the meaning of Isaiah 23:11? The LORD has stretched out His hand over the sea • Isaiah pictures God’s hand extending over the Mediterranean—a vivid reminder that the One who once “divided the sea” (Exodus 14:16, 26) still rules every wave. • For coastal Tyre, the sea was its lifeline. By stretching out His hand, the Lord shows He owns the very avenue of Tyre’s power and profit (Psalm 89:9; Job 38:8-11). • The image also anticipates Jesus calming the storm with a word (Mark 4:39). From Exodus to Isaiah to the Gospels, Scripture insists: nothing in creation is beyond His reach. He has made kingdoms tremble • When God acts, empires quake. He “shakes kingdoms” (Isaiah 14:26-27) and can “once more shake the heavens and the earth” (Haggai 2:6-7). • History records Tyre’s fall first to Assyria, then to Babylon, then to Persia—successive shocks that proved this prophecy true. • Like the “terror of God” that fell on surrounding nations when Israel marched out (2 Chronicles 20:29), the Lord’s judgment on one city rippled through entire regions. Jeremiah says even distant lands “hear the cry” when God topples a power center (Jeremiah 49:21). He has given a command that the strongholds of Canaan be destroyed • “Strongholds” points to Tyre’s island fortress and Sidon’s fortified harbors—economic citadels of ancient Canaan. • God’s “command” is enough; His word never returns void (Isaiah 55:11). Ezekiel echoes it: “I will bring many nations against Tyre… I will scrape her soil from her” (Ezekiel 26:3-4). • Joshua had left pockets of Canaanite resistance on the coast (Joshua 13:6). Now, centuries later, the Lord finishes what Israel did not, proving His long memory and absolute sovereignty. • Each conquering army—from Nebuchadnezzar’s siege (Ezekiel 29:18) to Alexander the Great’s causeway—unknowingly fulfilled the divine decree. summary Isaiah 23:11 unpacks a three-fold truth: God’s supremacy over nature (“the sea”), His authority over nations (“kingdoms tremble”), and the unstoppable power of His word (“He has given a command”). Tyre’s eventual ruin stands as a historical witness that when the Lord stretches out His hand, no fortress, fleet, or economy can stand. |
    |