Against Mount Seir
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Introduction
Introduction
[Illus] I remember a snippet of a conversation between my mom and dad when I was a little boy. We were planning a trip to north Mississippi to see my dad’s side of the family, but my dad was not really excited to see his brother because of money. It wasn’t that anyone owed anyone money, it was that my dad’s brother (my uncle) made more money that my dad and I guess sometimes found a way to bring up that fact.
My mom responded to my dad’s concern like an evil Hallmark Card, “Well, you’ll never make as much money as he does, so you might as well not worry about it.”
We expect siblings to fight when they are younger, but we also expect them to eventually grow out of it. Sadly, that doesn’t always happen.
Even sadder is when the sibling rivalry becomes bitterness between families.
But what we have here in is something different. It’s a sibling rivalry between Jacob and Esau that grew into continual conflict between the two nations those men spawned; between Israel and Edom; between Mount Zion and Mount Seir.
Mount Seir was the name of the mountain range in Edom. And if we had been alive at the time of , we would have invested in Edom and thought Judah (Israel) was going out of business.
[CONTEXT] Judah and its capital, Jerusalem, had fallen to the Babylonians. While God’s people mourned, some nations rejoiced and others, like Edom, saw an opportunity to exploit.
Weakened by Babylon, Edomite raids increased in the land of Judah in or around the year 586 B.C., but God had a glorious future prepared for his people. Of course, in order for that glorious future to become a reality, Judah’s enemies would have to be dealt with. Here in God promised to deal with one such enemy - the people of Esau, Mount Seir, or Edom.
[CIT] God judged Edom for exploiting and persecuting Judah when it was at its weakest, promising to do to them as they had done to his people.
Edom thought of itself as big stuff when it was actually small stuff and would soon be no stuff at all.
Edom thought of itself as big stuff when it was small stuff and would soon be no stuff at all.
At the time
[PROP] This chapter teaches us many lessons as we’ll see, but perhaps chief among them is this: God disciplines and defends his people because he loves his people and is jealous for his own glory.
[TS] We’ll look at this chapter in three SEGMENTS...
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“You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were a sojourner in his land.
Deuteronomy
Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.
would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart.
Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 35
Edom aspired to expand into areas formerly controlled by Judah. Archaeological evidence from the end of the Judaean monarchy supports the accusation of Edom’s gradual encroachment into Judah’s territory south of Jerusalem. A Judaean letter from the southern outpost of Arad reflects concern over Edomite expansion. An inscription found in southern Judah also suggests an Edomite presence, since the text invokes a blessing from Edom’s national deity, Qaus.
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Segment #1: Desolation and Waste ()
Segment #1: Desolation and Waste ()
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, and say to it, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and a waste. I will lay your cities waste, and you shall become a desolation, and you shall know that I am the Lord. Because you cherished perpetual enmity and gave over the people of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment, therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; because you did not hate bloodshed, therefore blood shall pursue you. I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation, and I will cut off from it all who come and go. And I will fill its mountains with the slain. On your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those slain with the sword shall fall. I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
[Exp] The Lord is clear; he is against Mount Seir. Mount Seir, Edom, and its people(cf. v. 15) will know God’s wrath as he stretches out his hand and turns Edom into a desolation and waste. In fact, because they cherished perpetual enmity (v. 5), God would make them a perpetual desolation (v. 9), pursued by blood (v. 6), cutoff (v. 7), with mountains, valleys, and ravines filled with the corpses of their slain (v. 8).
The reason for God’s judgment on the Edomites is given in v. 5...
Because you cherished perpetual enmity and gave over the people of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment,
That phrase at the end of v. 5, “at the time of their final punishment,” could also be rendered “when their punishment was at its worst.” The Edomites loved to hate Israel even though the Israelites were commanded by God not to hate them in . Nevertheless, the Edomites loved to strike at Israel when it was at its weakest point.
In fact, when the heartbroken exiles in Babylon were commanded by their captors to sing after the fall of Jerusalem, they asked in ...
How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?
We can hear the heartbreak turn to indignation, however, as they sing in ...
The Edomites surely did this. A prophecy in at around the same time as Jerusalem was being taken captive by Babylon and as people were fleeing for their lives warned Edom not to stand at the crossroads of those who fled to cut them off or take advantage of them. If they did, God promised the Edomites in ...
Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!”
At around the same time Jerusalem fell to Babylon and people fled for their lives, a prophecy in warned Edom not to stand at the crossroads to cut off or take advantage of those who fled. If they did, God promised the Edomites in ...
A prophecy in at around the same time as Jerusalem was being taken captive by Babylon and as people were fleeing for their lives warned Edom not to stand at the crossroads of those who fled to cut them off or take advantage of them. If they did, God promised the Edomites in ...
Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever.
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This reminds us of many of the prophecies in chapters 25-32 of Ezekiel. Many of the nations mentioned in those chapters found that the Lord was against them because they saw Judah’s fall to the Babylonians as an opportunity to exploit. However, Babylon’s sacking of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem, was the discipline of God and God only disciplines those he loves. So, when those nations saw an opportunity to be exploited, God saw a people he loved in need of discipline and a people he would defend because they were his own.
[Illus] This reminds us of many of the prophecies in chapters 25-32 of Ezekiel. Many of the nations mentioned in those chapters found that the Lord was against them because they saw Judah’s fall to the Babylonians as an opportunity to exploit.
However, Babylon’s sacking of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem, was the discipline of God and God only disciplines those he loves. So, when those nations saw an opportunity to be exploited, God saw a people he loved in need of discipline and a people he would defend because they were his own.
God’s people in Judah needed discipline so they would turn from their sins by turning back to him. They needed defending because the glory of his Name was attached to them. Allowing the nations to take advantage of his people would make God look weak and God wasn’t weak. The Edomites were going to learn that same lesson. They too would know God in his wrath.
[App] Here are a few lessons for us from these first nine verses...
God is clear.
God is clear.
God’s clarity is not confusing.
We noticed the clarity of God in saying, “Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir,” (v. 3).
People accuse God of being unclear or confusing, but neither accusation will stick in light of the Bible. God’s is more than clear! He is repetitively clear about who will be saved and who will not be saved; about who belongs to him and who does not belong to him.
The problem is not God’s clarity but our unwillingness to believe what he says.
God’s discipline is not desertion.
God’s discipline is not desertion.
Judah experienced severe discipline as God used Babylon to conquer the nation and the capital city, Jerusalem. God’s discipline surely didn’t feel like love, but it was loving. God’s discipline was evidence that he had not deserted his people.
When God disciplines, rebukes, corrects, and convicts us, it is a sign of God’s love for us and his continued presence with us
God’s defends his people.
God’s defends his people.
God is covenant-ally attached to his people; God and his people are bound up together. God will defend and finally deliver his people because he will not allow his Name to suffer loss.
If belong to God through faith in Christ, we need not worry. God will defend us and ultimately deliver us because he loves us, but just as importantly, for his own glory.
Perpetual enmity leads to perpetual desolation.
Perpetual enmity leads to perpetual desolation.
“Why does Hell last forever?” That’s a question we can understand people asking because the idea of eternal punishment seems heavy handed. “Couldn’t God lighten up a little bit? Couldn’t he let people out of Hell after awhile? Surely they would have learned their lesson by then.” But they wouldn’t have.
Hell is eternal or infinitely long because God is eternal or infinite in his Being. To sin against God then is an eternal or infinite crime for which their must be infinite payment. Amazingly, God has provided just that in Jesus Christ, the God-man, on the cross. There Jesus took upon himself the infinite wrath of God for all those who would trust him and follow him as Savior and Lord. Those who reject Jesus will pay that infinite price themselves in Hell.
But even if God said, “Ok. Enough’s enough. Let’s let ‘em out,” do you know what those unrepentant sinners would do? They’d go right back to rebelling against God! They’d go right back to rejecting his grace! They’d go right back to their old sinful ways!
God knows that. He can look into the future of unrepentant sinners and see their perpetual wickedness with divine clarity, so he is perfectly in sentencing them to perpetual desolation in Hell.
We might think of it as if God looked into the future of unrepentant sinners and saw with divine clarity a future filled with perpetual rebellion against him, so the unrepentant are sentenced to perpetual desolation in Hell.
[Illus] There’s a movie called Minority Report starring Tom Cruise. In it, these beings see future crimes and people are arrested for crimes they haven’t committed but certainly would have. But is it so certain?
You see, the plot of the movie hinges on the question of whether or not those beings see the future perfectly. Of course, they’re not perfect so they make mistakes and get tricked by an especially astute bad guy in the movie.
God, however, is incapable of such mistakes. If he looks into your future and sees perpetual rebellion, then you will perpetually rebel.
And as God, he is perfectly justified in perpetually punishing you for that rebellion.
[TS] {on to SEGMENT #2}
God Strengthens: Ezekiel Simply Explained 1. Their Treachery
It is the memory of past wrongs that is the cause of conflict today in Northern Ireland, former Yugoslavia and Southern Africa, to name but three areas of the world. Times have not changed and once again the relevance of these chapters in Ezekiel comes to the surface.
Paragraph #2: Anger and Envy ()
Paragraph #2: Anger and Envy ()
“Because you said, ‘These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will take possession of them’—although the Lord was there— therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, I will deal with you according to the anger and envy that you showed because of your hatred against them. And I will make myself known among them, when I judge you. And you shall know that I am the Lord. “I have heard all the revilings that you uttered against the mountains of Israel, saying, ‘They are laid desolate; they are given us to devour.’
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[Exp] As I said, there had been a long history of animosity between Mt. Zion and Mt. Seir, between Israel and Edom, between Jacob and Esau.
Although it seems that Esau really forgave Jacob for stealing his birthright and blessing, it didn’t stop the growing animosity between the two nations that came from these men. Just as Esau once comforted himself with thoughts of murdering his brother, Edom comforted itself with thoughts of Israel and Judah’s demise and, of course, celebrated when they saw nations like Assyria and Babylonian conquer and carry off God’s people.
Because of their hatred, God said that he would deal with the Edomites according to the “anger and envy” that they showed to the Israelites.
Like a genetic memory, the anger Esau initially felt at being cheated out of his birthright and blessing were passed down to subsequent generations of Edomites. They were envious of the Promised Land that had been given to Jacob and his descendents while they lived a nomadic lifestyle in the wilderness south of the Dead Sea.
The opportunity Edom saw, however, in the fall of Judah was the opportunity to occupy the land that once belonged to God’s people. They said in v. 10...
“Because you said, ‘These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will take possession of them’—although the Lord was there—
They wanted to occupy the Promised Land, but they had failed to realize that the land was already occupied - by God! He may have left the Temple (Ezekiel) and his people may have been exiled, but the Promised Land still belonged to God and he still occupied it.
He would show up in defense of his people, judging the Edomites (v. 11). And, again, that they would know God in his wrath as God reiterates in v. 12.
[App] A few lessons for us in vv. 10-12...
Anger is most often motivated by sin and expressed sinfully.
Anger is most often motivated by sin and expressed sinfully.
This was true in Edom’s case. It was angry, but why? Because it was envious. Envy is a sin that sometimes goes by the name of covetousness. says...
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Edom’s anger with Israel was motivated by covetousness or envy. They pined for the Promised Land just as Esau once pined for the birthright and blessing that he felt should’ve been rightfully his.
The sinful motivation of their anger led to a sinful expression of it as we saw in the previous passage as they “gave over the people of Israel to the power of the sword,” (v. 5). As Jesus said, anger leads to murder ().
While it is possible to be righteously angry () and to be angry and not sin (), its more common that our anger would be motivated by sin and expressed sinfully. As says...
for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
God must not be disregarded even if his people have been deported.
God must not be disregarded even if his people have been deported.
God must not be disregarded even if his people have been deported.
God had left the Temple. Babylon had deported a good many of the people. But God was not absent. The Edomites may have rejoiced in the fall of Jerusalem and Judah, but they would still have to contend with God.
[Illus] I served as the editor for our college newspaper. One day one of our writers brought in a review of a movie about Africa, in which she described the continent as godless.
I pushed back on that description because God is everywhere even in a place that seems to be completely devoid of his presence. But I understood her point. The part of Africa she was describing seemed devoid of God’s benevolent presence, but even so he was there and the wicked would have to face him if not now then in eternity.
Now, describing a place as “godless” could be true in the sense of (1) God removing his benevolent presence from a place or (2) people ignoring God and his word so that it seems as if there is not consideration of God in that place, but even so the wicked in every place will have to contend with God, if not now then in eternity; the same would be true of the Edomites
The same would be true of the Edomites. The looked at the desolation of Israel and Judah and the deportation of its inhabitants and concluded, “Israel’s God must be weak, or a joke, or non-existent.” They would soon learn otherwise.
Many people today think that our God is weak, a joke, or non-existent, but one day soon they too will learn otherwise.
The judgment of Israel’s enemies is the revelation of God to his people.
The judgment of Israel’s enemies is the revelation of God to his people.
Notice at the end of v. 11 God said...
therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, I will deal with you according to the anger and envy that you showed because of your hatred against them. And I will make myself known among them, when I judge you.
Despite God’s righteous anger with his people; despite his discipline of them; despite they fact that many of the them have been or will be deported; God’s people are still God’s people and as their enemies are defeated, God whispered to them, “You’re still mine. I’m still with you.”
Despite God’s righteous anger with his people; despite his discipline of them; despite they fact that many of the them have been or will be deported; God’s people are still God’s people and as their enemies are defeated, God would be whispering to them, “You’re still mine. I’m still with you.”
God has forever defeated our old enemies sin and death through the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus. As we read in the Bible of Jesus defeating these enemies through his work on the cross, God saying is saying to us, “You’re mine. I’ll always be with you.”
[TS] {on to SEGMENT #3}
Paragraph #3: Magnified and Multiplied ()
Paragraph #3: Magnified and Multiplied ()
And you shall know that I am the Lord. “I have heard all the revilings that you uttered against the mountains of Israel, saying, ‘They are laid desolate; they are given us to devour.’ And you magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and multiplied your words against me; I heard it. Thus says the Lord God: While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate. As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so I will deal with you; you shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
[Exp] God said to the Edomites that to speak against his people was to speak against him. They may have spoken their revilings in hushed tones or secret places, but God heard (v. 12). As they magnified themselves and multiplied their complaints, taunts, and threats, God heard them all (v. 13). While others rejoiced, God would make them mourn (v. 14). Just as they rejoiced in the desolation of Israel’s Promised Land, God would make them desolate - “Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it,” (v. 15). They would once again know God in his wrath (v. 15).
[Apps] Lessons...
Be careful with your complaining, taunting, and threats against God’s people - even if they only take place in your mind - because God hears!
Be careful with your complaining, taunting, and threats against God’s people - even if they only take place in your mind - because God hears!
Yes, we are the people of God as the church, but we often get frustrated or angry with others who belong to the church. While we should avoid complaining against, taunting, or threatening anyone made in God’s image, we should be especially wary of complaining against, taunting, or threatening another follower of Jesus. God surely hears and will rise up to defend his people. Rather than complain, why not pray. Rather than taunt, why not repent of arrogance? Rather than threaten, why not walk away and pray and, if necessary, repent of pride or confront peacefully if possible?
Understand that your words against another believer are really words against God.
Understand that your words against another believer are really words against God.
Just as the Edomites, perhaps without knowing it, multiplied words against God as they multiplied words against Israel and Judah, so we multiply words against God as we continue to complain against one another.
What we are basically saying when we complain about someone is that we are not satisfied with God’s sanctification of that person and perhaps that is with good reason, but even if so, we should pray to God for that person rather than complain about God’s work in that person.
If we are complained against, we should trust that God will deal with our accusers.
If we are complained against, we should trust that God will deal with our accusers.
God rose up to defend his people from the Edomites and God will rise up to defend us when we are unjustly accused.
Others’ unjust words against us are really words against God.
Others’ unjust words against us are really words against God.
Don’t let others complaints about you get to you too much. Continually repent of your sins and trust that God is making you more like Jesus.
However, even as you repent and trust, people will still complain about you. When that happens just trust God to deal with it and praise God that he has brought you this far in your pursuit of holiness.
[TS] {to Conclusion}
Conclusion
Conclusion
Well, God kept his word. Edom was desolated just as God said it would be by his hand. In his commentary on Ezekiel, Douglas Stuart said...
The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 20: Ezekiel Desolation for Mount Seir (a Final Oracle Against Edom)
Edom declined steadily under Babylonian, then Persian, then Greek, then Roman rule (in the latter empire as the region of “Idumea”). Its former mountain strongholds are now merely deserted curiosities in southern Jordan.
God disciplines and defends his people because he loves his people and is jealous for his own glory.