Ezekiel 35

“Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it, and say to it, “Thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, O Mount Seir, I am against you; I will stretch out My hand against you, and make you most desolate; I shall lay your cities waste, and you shall be desolate. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.’” Because you have had an ancient hatred, and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, when their iniquity came to an end…” Ezekiel 35:1-5 (NKJV)

When nations encounter difficult situations, their enemies will take advantage of them. It will be very interesting to know who America’s allies will be in 5 years… Following the collapse of Jerusalem, Judah was in no position to fight its enemies to the south. Indeed, the description of things given by Jeremiah is of a land of internal violence.  

Edom, one such long-standing enemy to the south-east, saw a golden opportunity to wage war. Ezekiel has already delivered a prophecy against Edom in which he warned of God’s vengeance on them for their treachery towards Judah in her time of weakness. Now, Ezekiel expands on the theme once more.

Since the previous chapter took us to the heights of the glory of Israel’s restoration, why would Ezekiel follow up with repeating a prophecy against Edom? The answer seems to lie in the fact that these chapters were delivered soon after the news of Jerusalem’s collapse had come to Ezekiel. That is to say, when he was prophesying Israel’s restoration, Ezekiel received news that what he prophesied earlier, in chapter 25, was now actually coming to pass. Therefore, he was commenting on the Word of the Lord being fulfilled.

We should note that the word “Edom” does not occur in this prophecy section.  Rather, “Mount Seir” – the mountainous region east of the Arbah, the rift valley running south from the Dead Sea, where the Edomites lived. Today, this area lies in the Kingdom of Jordan.  Chapters 35-36 speak of a contrast between Mount Seir (Edomites) and the “Mountains of Israel” (the Israelites).  

Edom was comprised of the descendants of Esau. Israel is comprised of the descendants of Jacob. Of course, the Arab peoples were descended from Ishmael. All three men were descended from Abraham…as was Jesus, through His mother. (After all, He is God, made flesh) There is a saying in the World today that goes, “We are all children of Abraham.” The idea behind the statement is that it doesn’t matter what religion you choose; we are all in right standing with God. Ezekiel would have issues with that statement because God distinguishes between “Abraham’s children” throughout this prophecy. He even divides His own people between apostate and “remnant.” “Faithful Abraham” is as “faithful Abraham” does. (Romans 9:6-13) My main takeaway from today’s short chapter is that God has a standard by which the World is being judged, and just because He takes His time (in our estimation), getting around to His judgment doesn’t mean it won’t eventually come to pass.