Ezekiel 35:1-15

Introduction:

After Jerusalem is destroyed, God condemns the Edomites again for regarding their brothers, the Israelites, their enemy (1-9)

Ezekiel 35:1–9 ESV

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, 3 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. 4 I will lay your cities waste, and you shall become a desolation, and you shall know that I am the Lord. 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, 6 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. 7 I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation, and I will cut off from it all who come and go. 8 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. 9 I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

God judges them for three offenses (10-15)

1. Their treachery (5)

Ezekiel 35:5 ESV

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,

“The Edomites struck Judah ‘at the time of their calamity’ (35:5). Some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem managed to escape the lengthy Babylonian siege (one which resulted in such awful atrocities as cannibalism caused by starvation), only to be caught and slaughtered by the Edomites (Obad. 10, 14). The Edomites had ‘harboured an ancient hostility’ which went back over a thousand years (35:5).”

2. Their expansionist policies (10)

Continue reading verses 10-12.

Ezekiel 35:10–12a ESV

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— 11 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.

“The Edomites had eyes for both Judah and Israel (35:10). They coveted that which was not theirs. It is the drive for more that is the cause of the world’s ills.”

“In our own economy-dependent society, policy-makers need to reevaluate the role of covetousness in ‘market forces’. Covetousness, it can be argued, lies behind economic recession and the instability of the world’s currencies, and unemployment.”

“It is the same ill as befell King David when sexual greed overcame him as he looked across the rooftops of the city at Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11). Covetousness can sting the best of men as well as the worst of men.”

3. Their blasphemous boasting (13)

Ezekiel 35:13–15 ESV

13 And you magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and multiplied your words against me; I heard it. 14 Thus says the Lord God: While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate. 15 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.

“The Edomites gloated in the downfall of Israel. But Israel belonged to God and thus their boasting was an insult against God himself”

Here’s a few things that are revealed about Edom’s boasting.

1. Their Irreverence

2. Their bad language

“The Edomites referred to God euphemistically, not mentioning him by name, but speaking in derogatory terms of ‘the mountains of Israel’ (35:12; 36:1–2). But in doing so they might as well have used God’s name, for their insults meant the same thing in the end. Words that are uttered in times of rage can be blasphemous, even though God’s name has not been used.”

3. They are exposed in God’s sight

We aren’t told what the Edomites said, but“whatever it was the Edomites actually said, God heard it! Nothing can be hidden from him. He knows the secrets of our hearts”.

4. Their arrogance is short-lived

“It is difficult to be sympathetic when you learn of the downfall of those who have claimed invincibility, particularly when they have mocked your own afflictions.”

Illustration: kids rough-housing then complaining about getting hurt

Conclusion: God shows no sympathy or love to an arrogant heart