Ezekiel 25

Ezekiel 25:1-7

Immediate Neighbors of Judah (25:1-17) Ammon (25:1-7) The contempt in which Ammon was held by the Hebrews is best reflected in the account of this nation’s origin, which explains that Ammon is the issue of the drunken, incestuous activity of Lot (Genesis 19:30-38). Subsequent history unfolded a series of incidents which deepened the enmity between the two neighboring states (for example, Judges 11:4-33; 1 Samuel 11:1-4; 1 Samuel 14:47; 2 Samuel 8:11-12; 2 Samuel 10:1-14). In Judah’s present extremity Ammon showed great delight at the tragedy which had befallen God’s people, not because the tragedy vindicated God, but because it satisfied a sadistic bestiality in the Ammonites.

The warning to the culprit Ammon is that marauders from the East will dwell in her land, which will become a “pasture for camels”; her cities will be a “fold for flocks” (vs. 5). Because Ammon has enjoyed the grief of others, she shall herself be brought to grief. In such action God will reveal that behind all events stands the Author and Finisher of history, who becomes Judge of all men and nations.

Ezekiel 25:8-11

Moab (25:8-11) Moab showed herself to be insensitive to the peculiarity of Judah’s mission, saying, “Judah is like all the other nations.” When this people, who had a long history of violence against Judah, saw the land destroyed they were delighted that the Hebrews did not have, as they had claimed, the special blessing and protection of God. Since Moab had rejoiced she, too, would be invaded and her cities destroyed.

Ezekiel 25:12-14

Edom (25:12-14) Judah’s third neighbor, Edom, whose kinship with the Hebrews is traced back to the Esau-Jacob cycle of stories in Genesis, was guilty of taking vengeance upon the house of Judah, apparently during a period when Judah was helpless against attack. This vengeance was not of God, hence it offended him. The whole country of Edom is consigned to desolation from one end to the other (from Teman to Dedan), and God’s vengeance will be meted out by the hand of his people Israel. This became a reality during the Maccabean ascendancy in the second century B.C. Those who arrogate to themselves the vengeance of God will quickly learn what God’s vengeance really is (vs. 14).

Ezekiel 25:15-17

Philistia (25:15-17) Since the period of the Judges, “never-ending enmity” had existed between the Hebrews and the Philistines and related sea peoples (“Cherethites”). Because the remnants of Philistia had taken advantage of Judah in the past, destruction now casts a heavy shadow on their future. The brief oracle, however, is not as vibrant with anger as the previous three oracles.