21, 22. What happened to Tyre, and why?

²¹ Through Ezekiel, Jehovah said to those opposers: “Here I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring up many nations against you, just as the sea brings up its waves. They will destroy the walls of Tyre and tear down her towers, and I will scrape away soil and make her a shining, bare rock.” (Ezek. 26:1-5) For protection, the inhabitants of Tyre trusted in their riches, which they felt provided them with the same security as the island-city’s 150-foot-high (46 m) walls. They would have done well to pay attention to Solomon’s warning: “The wealth of the rich is his fortified city; it is like a protective wall in his imagination.”​—Prov. 18:11.

²² When the Babylonians and then the Greeks fulfilled Ezekiel’s prophecy, the inhabitants of Tyre discovered that the security offered both by the city’s wealth and by her literal walls was imaginary. After destroying Jerusalem, the Babylonians waged a campaign against Tyre for 13 years. (Ezek. 29:17, 18) Then, in 332 B.C.E., Alexander the Great fulfilled a remarkable aspect of prophecies conveyed by Ezekiel.c His army scraped together the ruins of the mainland city of Tyre and threw the stones, woodwork, and soil into the water, building a path to reach the island-city. (Ezek. 26:4, 12) Alexander breached the walls, plundered the city, killed thousands of soldiers and citizens, and sold tens of thousands more into slavery. The inhabitants of Tyre were forced to know Jehovah when they learned the hard way that “abundant wealth” gives no lasting protection.​—Ezek. 27:33, 34.