Ezekiel 25

Ezekiel turns from Judah to four neighboring nations: Ammon, Moab, Edom and Philistia. Each gloated over Israel’s fall or took revenge on her. God answers that He sees it, and He will judge them. The refrain is that they will know that He is the LORD.

Ezekiel 25:1-2

After many chapters of judgment on Jerusalem, a new message comes. Ezekiel is told to face the Ammonites and speak against them. Ammon was a neighbor east of the Jordan, descended from Lot. God cares how nations treat His people.

BSA: set (“appoint, place”): Ezekiel is to turn deliberately toward Ammon, fixing his gaze as a messenger with a settled commission.

See also: Genesis 19:36-38.

Ezekiel 25:3

Ammon had cried “Aha!” when God’s sanctuary was profaned, the land laid waste and Judah exiled. They cheered at another’s disaster. The sanctuary was holy to the Lord, so mocking its ruin was mocking Him.

BSA: profaned (“desecrated, polluted”): The temple was made common and unclean. Ammon treated as a joke what God had set apart as holy.

See also: Obadiah 1:12.

Ezekiel 25:4-5

God will hand Ammon over to desert peoples from the East. They will camp in its land, eat its crops and drink its milk. Rabbah, the capital, will become a pasture for camels. Ruin will teach Ammon who the LORD is.

BSA: possession (“inheritance, heritage”): Ammon’s land, once its own inheritance, will become the inheritance of others. know (“be certain, ascertain by seeing”): Ammon will learn by plain experience that the LORD is real and rules.

Ezekiel 25:6-7

Ammon did not only say “Aha”; it clapped, stomped and rejoiced with real contempt in its heart. God answers with His outstretched hand. Ammon will be plundered and wiped out. Gloating over another’s suffering is not hidden from God.

BSA: contempt (“scorn, disdain, hatred”): The joy came from a heart that despised Israel, not from a passing remark. plunder (“spoil, booty”): Ammon would be treated as spoil is, taken as loot by other nations.

See also: Proverbs 24:17-18.

Ezekiel 25:8

Moab, joined by Seir (another name for Edom’s hill country), said Judah was just like every other nation. This denied that Israel was special, and that her God was truly God. Judah’s fall seemed to prove her God was weak.

BSA: like (“similar to, comparable with”): Moab flattened Judah to the common level, ignoring the covenant that set her apart.

See also: Deuteronomy 7:6.

Ezekiel 25:9-10

God will lay Moab’s border open, starting with its frontier towns, which were its pride. These border cities were its defense. When they fall, the whole land is exposed. Moab and Ammon alike will pass to eastern peoples, and Ammon will be forgotten.

BSA: expose (“open, uncover, lay bare”): The land’s defenses will be stripped away so that nothing protects it. glory (“beauty, splendor, renown”): The cities Moab was proud of will be the first to go.

Ezekiel 25:11

The verdict on Moab is short. God will carry out judgments, and Moab will know that He is the LORD. These nations were judged by the God they ignored, who watches how all peoples treat His people.

BSA: judgments (“sentences, acts of justice”): These are formal rulings from a righteous Judge, not random disasters.

Ezekiel 25:12

Edom, descended from Esau, took revenge on Judah and so became deeply guilty. The old family quarrel between Jacob and Esau had become lasting bitterness. When Judah fell, Edom joined in rather than helping a brother.

BSA: acted vengefully (“with vicious revenge, taking payment”): Edom took cruel payment from a weakened Judah.

See also: Obadiah 1:10-14; Psalm 137:7.

Ezekiel 25:13

God will stretch out His hand against Edom, cutting off people and animals and leaving a wasteland. From Teman to Dedan, places within Edom’s region and its neighbors, people will fall by the sword. The judgment will be thorough.

BSA: wasteland (“desolate, barren”): A land once full of life will lie empty.

Ezekiel 25:14

God will use His own people Israel to carry out vengeance on Edom. The vengeance is His, not simply Israel’s. It matches His anger and is fully just. Edom will then know what it is to face the God it offended.

BSA: vengeance (“punishment, retribution”): This is justice carried out by God, not private spite.

See also: Romans 12:19; Deuteronomy 32:35.

Ezekiel 25:15

The Philistines, on the coastal plain, acted in vengeance with malice in their souls. Their hostility was ancient, reaching back through the days of the judges and kings. They wanted Judah destroyed, and they held the grudge for generations.

BSA: malice (“hatred, spite”): Their hatred was inward and deliberate, not only a matter of war. ancient (“long-standing, perpetual”): The enmity had lasted for generations.

Ezekiel 25:16

God again stretches out His hand, this time against the Philistines. The Cherethites, a related people probably linked to Crete, and the remnant along the coast will be cut off. No one on that shore will remain to carry on the feud.

BSA: remnant (“what is left, the surviving ones”): Even those who survive the first blows will be finished.

See also: Zephaniah 2:5.

Ezekiel 25:17

The chapter closes with great vengeance and furious reproof. When it falls, the Philistines will know that He is the LORD. Behind all four oracles stands a God who defends His people and is known by His justice.

BSA: reproof (“rebuke, correction”): God’s anger is a plain rebuke aimed at wrong that has been done.