The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face toward the Ammonites and prophesy against them. 3 Say to the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God, Because you said, ‘Aha!’ over my sanctuary when it was profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah when they went into exile, 4 therefore behold, I am handing you over to the people of the East for a possession, and they shall set their encampments among you and make their dwellings in your midst. They shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk. 5 I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and Ammon a fold for flocks. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 6 For thus says the Lord God: Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced with all the malice within your soul against the land of Israel, 7 therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand against you, and will hand you over as plunder to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and will make you perish out of the countries; I will destroy you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
Prophecy Against Moab and Seir
8 “Thus says the Lord God: Because Moab and Seir said, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the other nations,’ 9 therefore I will lay open the flank of Moab from the cities, from its cities on its frontier, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim. 10 I will give it along with the Ammonites to the people of the East as a possession, that the Ammonites may be remembered no more among the nations, 11 and I will execute judgments upon Moab. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
Prophecy Against Edom
12 “Thus says the Lord God: Because Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and has grievously offended in taking vengeance on them, 13 therefore thus says the Lord God, I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it man and beast. And I will make it desolate; from Teman even to Dedan they shall fall by the sword. 14 And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath, and they shall know my vengeance, declares the Lord God.
Prophecy Against Philistia
15 “Thus says the Lord God: Because the Philistines acted revengefully and took vengeance with malice of soul to destroy in never-ending enmity, 16 therefore thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the rest of the seacoast. 17 I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon them.” Ezekiel 25 ESV
Ezekiel 25 Ammon, Moab, Seir, Edom and Philistia
1-7 Say to the Ammonites - They thought low of the people and their God, for they said aha when His sanctuary was profaned. If it were one of their idols this would be no big deal, for they can do nothing before the living God, and they can seek no retribution with men. But when God punishes His own people, then pay attention, look closely, remember they are getting punished for committing the sins of the people that were pushed out of the land before them. Think now, if God's holiness is not put aside for those He has called out of the nations, those that carry His name, have they not become a warning to all else who persist in that way? The Lord will judge. Regardless of our feuds with men, their short comings, we should never mock the house of God, but we should rather be vexed when it is profaned, and warn those that do so.
8-11 Behold the house of Judah is like all the other nations - Moab was known for her pride, and she is rejoicing that Israel, her cousin, is brought low. Israel came from Abraham, and Moab from his nephew Lot, who fled Sodom. Moab tried to curse Israel in the past and destroy them with immorality from within, with the help of the prophet Balaam. Since God is Creator of all and the only true God, the one that chose Abraham to be the father of nations, and yet also through his seed to bless the nations, Moab should mourn rather than boast. The affront against His people is a personal attack against God. Why do you not grieve for your cousin? Did not Abraham petition God for your father's sake, was Lot not spared because God loved Abraham?
“The Mesha Stone recounts the king of Moab’s boast that his god Chemosh had vanquished Israel (ANET, pp. 320–21).” (Alexander)
iii. “The Moabite taunt is not only against her neighbor, but also a direct assault on Yahweh himself, who had granted this status to his people.” (Block)
…17Do not gloat when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles, 18or the LORD will see and disapprove, and turn His wrath away from him. 19Do not fret over evildoers, and do not be envious of the wicked.… Proverbs 24: 17-19
…28He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw the smoke rising from the land like smoke from a furnace. 29So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham, and He brought Lot out of the catastrophe that destroyed the cities where he had lived. Genesis 19: 28-29
12-14 Because Edom acted revengefully - Abraham had a son named Ishmael, who was not the child of promise, but later, from a barren womb, he had Isaac, in whom God said his seed would be called. Isaac had twin sons who struggled in the womb, the eldest was Esau, the favored of his father, and the younger was Jacob, the deceiver, however, God said, "Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated." Jacob became Israel who fathered the twelve tribes.
And I will make it desolate - Ammon, Moab and Edom have all been dissolved as separate nations, absorbed into other Arab peoples, no longer standing as nations of their own.
The Jewish forces of Judas Maccabeus in 164 B.C. and John Hyrcanus in 126 B.C. fully subjugated Edom. - J Mac Study Bible
Teman even to Dedan - Prominent cities in Edom.
“While differing slightly in form, the expression ‘from Teman and Dedan’ is reminiscent of the common phrase ‘from Dan to Beer-sheba,’ which delimited the extremities of Israel.” (Block)
iii. “The basis of Edom’s economy was its control of that portion of the King’s Highway that passed through its territory. Once the Babylonians ended this control in the 6th century, the Edomites were in serious economic trouble. By the 4th century the Nabateans replaced the Edomites, and the latter moved into southern Judah.” (Vawter and Hoppe)
15-17 With malice of soul - Not your garden variety enmity, but ancient and deep rooted was the love between these two peoples. They persecuted Israel in the time of the Judges, raiding the land, terrorizing the farmers. Samson was a judge that responded back, killing many of their soldiers, eventually becoming their captive, then killing thousands more at his death. David took away much of their seat of power in the area, first in killing Goliath when he was only a boy, and then later leading Saul's armies against them.
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