Ezekiel 35:1-15--Prophecy Against Mount Seir

Ezekiel 35
English Standard Version

Prophecy Against Mount Seir
35 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.

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. 12 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.’ 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.

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Ezekiel is now told to prophecy against Mount Seir, the mountain that represented Edom as Mount Zion represented Israel.  This was the nation descended from Esau, the brother of Jacob.  From before the time of their conception, the LORD had chosen the younger twin brother, Jacob, and not the older twin brother, Esau.  "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated."  It is not because Jacob deserved the love of God.  The LORD chose him to be the next link in the chain to carry on the Abrahamic Covenant and to be in the genealogy of the Messiah.  Jacob was promised the Land, descendants, and the blessings that come from the LORD's favor, but Esau was to receive none of that because he despised his birthright and hated his brother for God's choice to use him.

The nation of Edom had a long history of mistreating the people of Israel.  They would not allow the people safe passage through their land on the King's Highway when Moses was leading the people out of Egypt.  They assisted the Babylonians with capturing anyone from Judah who tried to escape exile (they were bounty hunters for the Babylonians) and they attempted to take the Land for themselves while the people were in exile and tried to prevent Nehemiah from rebuilding the wall and the city during the time of the return from Exile.  King Herod the Great was an Edomite, and he would fancy himself the King of the Jews and tried to kill Jesus who was born King of the Jews.  In so doing, he would kill all male children two years old and under in the area of Bethlehem.  In biblical prophecy, the land of Edom is portrayed as a place of the unclean people and animals and it is pictures as a place of darkness and eternal judgment.

The LORD promises to make Edom a desolate place--what was once flourishing would become a desert wasteland and wilderness.  The LORD lists his reasons for stretching His hand out in judgment against them.  They are as I have already stated--choosing to be the enemies of the LORD's chosen people, taking up arms against them and always choosing the wrong side in every battle (Edom was for whoever was against Israel, and they would join Israel's enemies in battle or at least offer them safe passage and aid, which they denied to the people of Israel).  Because they hunted the people of God, they will be hunted, and it will be to take their lives.  Their mountain fortresses will offer them no protection from the hand of the LORD.  Corpses will litter the mountains and the valleys.   Their cites will become desolate and will never be rebuilt--this land will live in a state of perpetual desolation because of the wickedness of the people that have lived there (this still goes on to this day as you look at the 

 They tried to take Israel and Judah as their own, to take the birthright and blessing that did not belong to them.  They were motivated by anger, jealousy, and hatred, and all these will come back on their head as the LORD will let them reap what they have sown.  They will feel the anger the LORD feels against those who attack and mistreat His children and they will understand the jealousy that He has for those whom He has chosen.  Only through their judgment will they understand that He is the LORD and they should have submitted to Him, worshiped Him and obeyed Him.

The rejoiced over the destruction of Israel and Judah, especially  the Temple and Jerusalem.  Now, the LORD says the rest of the world will rejoice as He does to them what they wished to happen to His people and His Holy Land.  They will be the ones to be disinherited and dispossessed from their land.  They would quickly die out and be forgotten (though the modern-day Palestinians probably trace their roots back to the Edomites, and that explains a lot about why they hate the Jews, try to steal the Land from them, and are opposed to them.  These modern-day Edomites still seek to destroy Israel at every turn and wish to lend aid and support to anyone else who desires to destroy Israel).  The people of Edom and the land of Edom will become barren and fruitless.  By this, all people will know that the LORD is God and that He is Judge over all the earth--both the living and the dead.  There is no people and no place over which He does not have jurisdiction.  His judgements are always right and He acts differently towards His chosen people Israel than towards those who oppose themselves to His people Israel and that too is a good thing.  The LORD gives us His unmerited favor, but the judgment the LORD pours out on all nations is just and right.  Yet, there is a special judgment reserved for those who set their heart and face against the people of God and try their best to destroy them--in the end, these people will be destroyed and it will be the king of heaven and all the peoples of the earth that belong to the kingdom of heaven that will rejoice when the LORD destroys them.