Isaiah 23:8-9

Verse 8-9 “Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth? The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.”

The question is asked as to who is making this proclamation against Tyre, the crown jewel of all the cities of the earth, whose merchants are the princes or wealthy noblemen and their business partners, who are the honorable (the wealthy and powerful) men of the earth. The answer is the Lord is the one making the proclamation. His purpose is to stain or sully the pride of the glory of the earth (or most opulent city) and to make it contemptible to all the rest of the nations.

Tyre was the crown jewel or the most opulent of all the cities of the earth. She was full of pride at her own glory in spite of the way she made her fortune. Her honorable are called traffickers. That is a contradiction in terms as traffickers is a term used to intimate underhanded types of dealings, or dealings in unsavory things such as slaves, or today more likely drugs. The world is the one calling these despicable merchants honorable, because they are wealthy and powerful, which in the sight of the world, means honorable. The Lord does not see things the same way. To Him they are worthy of contempt and punishment for their evil ways.

Again we see the connection to America. We are an opulent nation and New York City, our greatest merchant harbor city, is an affluent, sumptuous city. The merchants are the rich and powerful, but as we know from the news, the dishonest in many cases. The rich and powerful of other nations are their trade partners. Many of these rich and powerful people from our country and others make their money off of illegal trade, such as drugs. Even slavery still exists although it is an “underground” business. While not all is illegal, much that America trades in is immoral, for instance pornography in the guise of TV shows, movies, and books. The Lord will bring its pride (and America has great pride) to the dust, again as prophesied of the pride of Babylon in Revelation. America is contemptible to the rest of the world as we live our decadent, lavish lives while the rest of the world lives in relative poverty by comparison.