Ezekiel 35

It has well been said that the most important thing about prophets is not that they have hindsight or foresight but that they also have insight. Prophetic hindsight is important because it helps us deal with the past and understand better what God did and why He did it. Foresight helps us avoid trouble and have hope

for the future. But insight helps us better understand ourselves and those around us, and what we must do to become better men and women who do the will of God. In these chapters, Ezekiel exercises all three gifts as he exposes sin, analyzes history, and gives promises for the future. He deals with the sins of the Jewish people (chap. 33), the sins of their leaders (chap. 34), and the sins of the neighboring land of Edom (chap. 35).

The Lord had already pronounced judgment on Edom through Isaiah (Isa. 34; 63:1–6), Jeremiah (Jer. 49:7–22), and Ezekiel (Ezek. 25:12–14), but now He did it again and added some details. Mount Seir is another name for Edom, the nation founded by Esau, Jacob’s twin brother. “Edom” means “red” and was a nickname given to Esau (Gen. 25:30). Esau was a man of the world who had no spiritual desires and willingly sold his birthright to his brother Jacob. Esau fought with his brother even in their mother’s womb (vv. 21–26) and hated his brother because the Lord had chosen Jacob to receive the blessings of the covenant. This hatred was passed on from generation to generation and the Edomites maintained what God called “a perpetual hatred” (v. 5; 25:15; Amos 1:11–12; Obad.). This hatred was no doubt like some of the “ethnic wars” that the world has seen today.

Once again, the Lord reminded the Edomites of their great sin against their brethren when they assisted the Babylonians in attacking the Jews during the siege of Jerusalem. What their founder Esau vowed to do in his day, they accomplished in their day when they killed their own blood relatives (Gen. 47:41). In Ezekiel 35:6, the word “blood” in the KJV should read “bloodshed.” The Edomites pursued the Jews to kill them, so bloodshed would pursue them. The Edomites carried on a perpetual hatred against Israel, so the land of Edom would receive a perpetual desolation. Edom would be no more.

Was this a just judgment? Yes, it was, and the prophet gave the reasons why the destruction of Edom was an act of righteous judgment. For one thing, the descendants of Esau were greedy and wanted to claim the conquered nations of Judah and Samaria for themselves, completely ignoring the will of the Lord. God had given the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants, and that meant Jacob and not Esau. During Israel’s march to Canaan, they were warned not to meddle with the Edomites because God had assigned their land to them and they would not inherit any land in Canaan (Deut. 2:1–7). But the Edomites wanted to change God’s plans and annul God’s covenant and take the land for themselves. When the Babylonians invaded Judah in 606 BC, the Lord was there fulfilling His own purposes (Ezek. 35:10), and He saw what the Edomites did.

The Lord also saw their anger (v. 11) and promised to repay them in kind, for nations as well as individuals reap what they sow. He heard their blasphemous words against their brothers the Jews, how they rejoiced because the land of Israel was being ravaged and plundered by the Babylonian invaders. But they weren’t blaspheming men, they were blaspheming God and boasting in their pride as though they would escape judgment. In their arrogance, Edom rejoiced over the fall of Israel; but one day, the whole earth would rejoice over the fall of Edom!

God’s promise to the Jews was that one day they would no longer be a prey to the other nations (34:28), and this chapter explains why: God will deal with their enemies and remove them from the face of the earth. “You will be desolate, O Mount Seir, you and all of Edom” (35: niv).