It was promised, in the foregoing chapter, that when the time to favour
Zion, yea, the set time, should come, especially the time for sending
the Messiah and setting up his kingdom in the world, God would cause
the enemies of his church to cease and the blessings and comforts of
the church to abound. This chapter enlarges upon the former promise,
concerning the destruction of the enemies of the church; the next
chapter upon the latter promise, the replenishing of the church with
blessings. Mount Seir (that is, Edom) is the enemy prophesied against
in this chapter, but fitly put here, as in the prophecy of Obadiah, for
all the enemies of the church; for, as those all walked in the way of
Cain that hated Abel, so those all walked in the way of Esau who hated
Jacob, but over whom Jacob, by virtue of a particular blessing, was to
have dominion. Now here we have,
I. The sin charged upon the Edomites, and that was their spite and
malice to Israel,
Ezekiel 35:5,10-13.
II. The ruin threatened, that should come upon them for this sin. God
will be against them
(Ezekiel 35:3)
and then their country shall be laid waste
(Ezekiel 35:4),
depopulated, and made quite desolate
(Ezekiel 35:6-9),
and left so when other nations that had been wasted should recover
themselves,
Ezekiel 35:14,15.
The Fall of Edom.
B. C. 587.
1 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy
against it,
3 And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount
Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand
against thee, and I will make thee most desolate.
4 I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and
thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the
blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the
time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had
an end:
6 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare
thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not
hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.
7 Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from
it him that passeth out and him that returneth.
8 And I will fill his mountains with his slain men: in thy
hills, and in thy valleys, and in all thy rivers, shall they fall
that are slain with the sword.
9 I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall
not return: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Mount Seir was mentioned as partner with Moab in one of the
threatenings we had before
(Ezekiel 25:8);
but here it is convicted and condemned by itself, and has woes of its
own. The prophet must boldly set his face against Edom, and
prophesy particularly against it; for the God of Israel
has said, O Mount Seir! I am against thee. Note, Those that have
God against them have the word of God against them, and the face of his
ministers, nor dare they prophesy any good to them, but evil. The
prophet must tell the Edomites that God has a controversy with them,
and let them know,
I. What is the cause and ground of that controversy,
Ezekiel 35:5.
God espouses his people's cause, and will plead it, takes what is done
against them as done against himself, and will reckon for it; and it is
upon their account that God now contends with the Edomites.
1. Because of the enmity they had against the people of God, that was
rooted in the heart. "Thou hast had a perpetual hatred to them,
to the very name of an Israelite." The Edomites kept up an
hereditary malice against Israel, the same that Esau bore to
Jacob, because he got the birth-right and the blessing. Esau had been
reconciled to Jacob, had embraced and kissed him
(Genesis 33:1-20),
and we do not find that ever he quarrelled with him again. But the
posterity of Esau would never be reconciled to the seed of Jacob, but
hated them with a perpetual hatred. Note, Children will be more apt to
imitate the vices than the virtues of their parents, and to tread in
the steps of their sin than in the steps of their repentance. Parents
should therefore be careful not to set their children any bad example,
for though, through the grace of God, they may return, and prevent the
mischief of what they have done amiss to themselves, they may not be
able to obviate the bad influence of it upon their children. It is
strange how deeply rooted national antipathies sometimes are, and how
long they last; but it is not to be wondered at that profane Edomites
hate pious Israelites, since the old enmity that was put between
the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent
(Genesis 3:15)
will continue to the end. Marvel not if the world hate you.
2. Because of the injuries they had done to the people of God. They
shed their blood by the force of the sword, in the time of their
calamity; they did not attack them as fair and open enemies, but
laid wait for them, to cut off those of them that had escaped
(Obadiah 1:14),
or they drove them back upon the sword of the pursuers, by which they
fell. It was cowardly, as well as barbarous, to take advantage of their
distress; and for neighbours, with whom they had lived peaceably, to
smite them secretly when strangers openly invaded them. It was
in the time that their iniquity had an end, when the measure of
it was full and destruction came. Note, Even those that suffer justly,
and for their sins, are yet to be pitied and not trampled upon. If the
father corrects one child, he expects the rest should tremble at it,
not triumph in it.
II. What should be the effect and issue of that controversy. If God
stretch out his hand against the country of Edom, he will make it
most desolate,
Ezekiel 35:3.
Desolation and desolation.
1. The inhabitants shall be slain with the sword
(Ezekiel 35:6):
I will prepare thee unto blood. Edom shall be gradually
weakened, and so be the more easily conquered, and the enemy shall
gather strength the more effectually to subdue it. Thus preparation is
in the making a great while before for this destruction. Thou hast
not hated blood; it implies, "Thou hast delighted in it and
thirsted after it." Those that do not keep up a rooted hatred of sin,
when a temptation to it is very strong, will be in danger of yielding
to it. Some read it, "Unless thou hatest blood" (that is,
"unless thou dost repent, and put off this bloody disposition) blood
shall pursue thee." And then it is an intimation that the judgment
may yet be prevented by a thorough reformation. If he turn not, he
will whet his sword,
Psalms 7:12.
But, if he turn, he will lay it by. Blood shall pursue thee,
the guilt of the blood which thou hast shed or the
judgment of blood; thy blood-thirsty enemies shall pursue thee,
which way soever thou seekest to make thy escape. A great and general
slaughter shall be made of the Idumeans, such as had been foretold
(Isaiah 34:6):
The mountains and hills, the valleys and rivers, shall be
filled with the slain,
Ezekiel 35:8.
The pursuers shall overtake those that flee and shall give no quarter,
but put them all to the sword. Note, When God comes to make inquisition
for blood those that have shed the blood of his Israel shall have blood
given them to drink, for they are worthy. Satia te sanguine quem
sitisti--Glut thyself with blood, after which thou hast thirsted.
2. The country shall be laid waste. The cities shall be destroyed
(Ezekiel 35:4),
the country made most desolate
(Ezekiel 35:7);
for God will cut off from both him that passes out and
him that returns; and when the inhabitants are cut off that
should keep the cities in repair they will decay and go into ruins, and
when those are cut off that should till the land that will soon be
over-run with briers and thorns and become a wilderness. Note, Those
that help forward the desolations of Israel may expect to be themselves
made desolate. And that which completes the judgment is that Edom shall
be made perpetual desolations
(Ezekiel 35:9)
and the cities shall never return to their former state, nor the
inhabitants of them come back from their captivity and dispersion.
Note, Those that have a perpetual enmity to God and his people, as the
carnal mind has, can expect no other than to be made a perpetual
desolation. Implacable malice will justly be punished with irreparable
ruin.
The Fall of Edom.
B. C. 587.
10 Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two
countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD
was there:
11 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do
according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou
hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself
known among them, when I have judged thee.
12 And thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and that I have
heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the
mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are
given us to consume.
13 Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have
multiplied your words against me: I have heard them.
14 Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I
will make thee desolate.
15 As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of
Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou
shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of
it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
Here is,
I. A further account of the sin of the Edomites, and their bad conduct
towards the people of God. We find the church complaining of them for
setting on the Babylonians, and irritating them against Jerusalem,
saying, Rase it, rase it, down with it, down with it
(Psalms 137:7),
inflaming a rage that needed no spur; here it is further charged upon
them that they triumphed in Jerusalem's ruin and in the desolations of
the country. Many blasphemies they spoke against the
mountains of Israel, saying, with pride and pleasure, They
are laid desolate,
Ezekiel 35:12.
Note, The troubles of God's church, as they give proofs of the
constancy and fidelity of its friends, so they discover and draw out
the corruptions of its enemies, in whom there then appears more brutish
malice than one would have thought of. Now their triumphing in
Jerusalem's ruin is here said to proceed,
1. From a sinful passion against the people of Israel; from
anger and envy, and hatred against them
(Ezekiel 35:11),
that perpetual hatred spoken of
Ezekiel 35:5.
Though they were not a match for them, and therefore could not do them
a mischief themselves, yet they were glad when the Chaldeans did them a
mischief.
2. From a sinful appetite to the land of Israel. They pleased
themselves with hopes that when the people of Israel were destroyed
they should be let into the possession of their country, which they had
so often grudged and envied them. They thought they could make out
something of a title to it, ob defectum sanguinis--for want of other
heirs. If Jacob's issue fail, they think that they are next in the
entail, and that the remainder will be to his brother's issue:
"These two nations of Judah and Israel shall be mine. Now is the
time for me to put in for them." At least they hope to come in as first
occupants, being near neighbours: We will possess it when it is
deserted. Ceditur occupanti--Let us get possession and that will be
title enough. Note, Those have the spirit of Edomites who desire
the death of others because they hope to get by it, or are pleased with
their failing because they expect to come into their business. When we
see the vanity of the world in the disappointments, losses, and
crosses, that others meet with in it, instead of showing ourselves,
upon such an occasion, greedy of it, we should rather be made thereby
to sit more loose to it, and both take our affections off it and lower
our expectations from it. But in this case of the Edomites' coveting
the land of Israel, and gaping for it, there was a particular affront
to God, when they said, "These lands are given us to devour, and
we shall have our bellies full of their riches." God says, You have
boasted against me and have multiplied your words against me; for
they expected possession upon a vacancy, because Israel was driven out,
whereas the Lord was still there,
Ezekiel 35:10.
His temple indeed was burnt, and the other tokens of his presence were
gone; but his promise to give that land to the seed of Jacob for an
inheritance was not made void, but remained in full force and virtue;
and by that promise he did in effect still keep possession for Israel,
till they should in due time be restored to it. That was Immanuel's
land
(Isaiah 8:8);
in that land he was to be born, and therefore that people shall
continue in it of whom he is to be born, till he has passed his time in
it, and then let who will take it. The Lord is there, the Lord
Jesus is to be there; and therefore Israel's discontinuance of
possession is no defeasance of their right, but it shall be kept for
them, and they shall have, hold, and enjoy it by virtue of the divine
grant, till the promise of this Canaan shall by the Messiah be changed
into the promise of a far better. Note, It is a piece of presumption
highly offensive to God for Edomites to lay claim to those privileges
and comforts that are peculiar to God's chosen Israel and are reserved
for them. It is blasphemy against the mountains of Israel, the
holy mountains, to say, because they are for the present made a prey of
and trodden under foot of the Gentiles
(Revelation 11:2),
even the holy city itself, that therefore the Lord has
forsaken them, their God has forgotten them. The apostle
will by no means admit such a thought as this, that God hath cast
away his people,
Romans 11:1.
No; though they are cast down for a time, they are not cast off for
ever. Those reproach the Lord who say they are.
II. The notice God took of the barbarous insolence of the Edomites, and
the doom passed upon them for it: I have heard all thy
blasphemies,
Ezekiel 35:12.
And again
(Ezekiel 35:13),
You have multiplied your words against me, and I have heard
them, I have observed them, I have kept an account of them. Note,
In the multitude of words, not one escapes God's cognizance; let men
speak ever so much, ever so fast, though they multiply words, which
they themselves regard not, but forget immediately, yet none of them
are lost in the crowd, not the most idle words; but God hears them, and
will be able to charge the sinner with them. All the haughty and hard
speeches, particularly, which are spoken against the Israel of God, the
words which are magnified (as it is in the margin,
Ezekiel 35:13)
as well as the words which are multiplied, God takes notice of. For, as
the most trifling words are not below his cognizance, so the most
daring are not above his rebuke. I have heard all thy
blasphemies. This is a good reason why we should bear reproach as
if we heard it not, because God will hear,
Psalms 38:13,15.
God has heard the Edomites' blasphemy; let them therefore hear their
doom,
Ezekiel 35:14,15.
It was a national sin (the blasphemies charged upon them were the sense
and language of all the Edomites), and therefore shall be punished with
a national desolation. And,
1. It shall be a distinguishing punishment. As God has peculiar
favours for Israelites, so he has peculiar plagues for Edomites: so
that "When the whole earth rejoices I will make thee desolate;
when other nations have their desolations repaired, to their joy, thine
shall be perpetual,"
Ezekiel 35:9.
2. The punishment shall answer to the sin: "As thou didst rejoice in
the desolation of the house of Israel, God will give thee enough of
desolation; since thou art so fond of it, thou shalt be desolate; I
will make thee so." Note, Those who, instead of weeping with the
mourners, make a jest of their grievances, may justly be made to weep
like the mourners, and themselves to feel the weight, to feel the
smart, of those grievances which they set so light by. Some read
Ezekiel 35:14
so as to complete the resemblance between the sin and the punishment:
The whole earth shall rejoice when I make thee desolate, as thou
didst rejoice when Israel was made desolate. Those that are glad
at the death and fall of others may expect that others will be glad of
their death, of their fall.
3. In the destruction of the enemies of the church God designs his own
glory, and we may be sure that he will not come short of his design.
(1.) That which he intends is to manifest himself, as a just and
jealous God, firm to his covenant and faithful to his people and their
injured cause
(Ezekiel 35:11):
I will make myself known among them when I have judged thee. The
Lord is and will be known by the judgments which he executes.
(2.) His intention shall be fully answered; not only his own people
shall be made to know it to their comfort, but even the Edomites
themselves, and all the other enemies of his name and people, shall
know that he is the Lord,
Ezekiel 35:4,9,15.
As the works of creation and common providence demonstrate that there
is a God, so the care taken of Israel shows that Jehovah, the God of
Israel, is that God alone, the true and living God.
Matthew Henry "Verse by Verse Commentary for 'Ezekiel' Matthew Henry Bible Commentary".
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