Thus saith the Lord Jehovah Because Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath made himself very guilty, and revenged himself upon them,
Edom was Judah's relative, the nation that came from Esau, the brother of Jacob. When Jerusalem fell, Edom used the moment to settle an old family score, and God counted that revenge as deep guilt.
The chapter has already dealt with Ammon and Moab, and it named Mount Seir alongside them. Yet Edom gets his own word. The charge against him is not just hostility. It is the betrayal of a brother.
Seir had been coupled with Moab; but Edom's relentless hatred must have a distinct place too… Should not Edom have grieved for his brother? Instead he seized their ruin at the hands of the foreign stranger as a way to avenge himself for his old grudge. But God was not mocked then any more than now.
Chapters 25 through 32 turn from Israel's own sins to the nations around her. They were glad when Jerusalem fell.
Ezekiel 25 to 32 detail God's threatened judgments on the various nations around Israel. The reason is their past conduct towards His people and their present spirit of hatred to them. They would rejoice at the destruction of Jerusalem and the setting aside of God's earthly sanctuary. He would let them know that though His earthly people had failed, He still was God. If judgment fell on His own people because of their sin, His hand would also be on those who hated the objects of His love.
The verse names the offence but gives no motive. One writer traces it back to a birthright Esau sold. He reads Edom as a picture of our own fallen nature.
Edom, the typical enemy of Israel… shows us the world of the old man — the natural fallen man. He is the most real enemy we have as Christians. He is no less our enemy for being related to us all by nature, just as Edom was the unbrotherly brother of Israel. The passage describes his hostility as revenge. He had a quarrel from the beginning: the first loss of his birthright-blessing. He has forgotten that he sold it for a bowl of stew. Nothing here explains the cause of his hostility. It is in fact built into his nature.
Verses 13 and 14 answer verse 12. God will return the revenge Edom took, and He picks an instrument that makes the point unmistakable.
By the judgment that should fall on them, these nations should know that, although Jerusalem had not been a faithful witness, Jehovah alone is God… There is another remarkable feature here, found in other prophecies about Edom as well. It gives a wider meaning to the one we are considering. It declares that the judgment falling on Edom in the end will come by the hand of Israel.
The other nations facing judgment keep a surviving remnant. Edom does not, and one writer gives the reason.
Edom is the only one of all the nations reappearing at the time of the end for judgment that will have no "remnant" preserved. God will judge the Edomites without mercy because of the way they behaved toward His people. They were the most wicked, and the most eager to destroy Israel.
The lesson is not only about ancient borders. It is about how we react when God's people fail.
Let us take the moral of it to heart, for we may easily fall into the same spirit as the Edomite. Jeremiah saw the failures and sins of God's people, but he wept over them. Daniel and other godly men confessed those sins as their own. But the spirit of the Edomite is bitter hatred against those who are still the people of God, however they may have failed. This spirit is particularly displeasing to Him.
There is a further reason never to copy Edom. Payback is not ours to give.
It is not for believers to seek to avenge themselves. God cannot trust His people to take vengeance. The word is: "Never avenge yourselves… for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'"
- The grudge. Edom's hostility went back to a sold birthright he had forgotten, but God had not — an old quarrel looking for a new occasion.
- The moment. Judah's collapse gave Edom his chance. He did not grieve for his brother; he used the ruin to settle the score.
- The offence. God may chasten His people for their sin, but His hand falls on those who hate the objects of His love.
- The repayment. God takes the word "vengeance" out of Edom's mouth and puts it in His own — and repays it through the very people Edom attacked.
- The mirror. Jeremiah wept over failing saints and Daniel confessed their sin as his own; the Edomite gloated. Vengeance is God's, never ours.
therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah I will also stretch out my hand upon Edom; and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and unto Dedan shall they fall by the sword.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And I will execute my vengeance upon Edom, by the hand of my people Israel; and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord Jehovah.
Ezekiel 25 turns from Jerusalem's fall to the neighbouring nations that cheered it on. Edom, Israel's brother nation, gets its own sentence. God names the punishment and the hand that will carry it: His own vengeance, dealt out by the people Edom had hunted.
Four neighbouring nations share this chapter, and they shared one reaction to Israel's ruin. Edom's sentence reaches furthest.
Ezekiel 25 has a special character. The nations around Israel, and those inside its land, rejoiced when Jerusalem and the sanctuary fell. So God would execute judgment on them. Ammon, Moab, Edom and the Philistines are the objects of this prophecy... Another remarkable element is found in other prophecies about Edom too, and it gives a wider meaning to the one we are considering. This prophecy declares that Israel's own hand will carry out the judgment which falls on Edom in the end.
The verses just before charge Edom with taking revenge on the house of Judah. The family tie made it worse.
Seir, Edom's own land, had been coupled with Moab, but Edom's relentless hatred must have a distinct place too... Should not Edom have been grieved for his brother? Instead he seized on their ruin at the hands of the Gentile stranger to pay off his old grudge. But God was not mocked then any more than now. In this case He inflicts His vengeance on Edom by the hand of His people Israel: "they shall know my vengeance" — not simply "that I am the LORD."
The instrument is the point. God does not simply crush Edom; He hands the sword to Israel.
Obadiah describes the judgment of Edom vividly. Verses 17 and 18 of his prophecy confirm God's threats in our chapter: "I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel." Daniel gives remarkable further instruction on this. He says that when the king of the north attacks Israel, Edom, Moab and the leaders of the Ammonites will escape out of his hand (Daniel 11:41). The reason for this is plain. God will finally punish them, and the Philistines too, by the very people they so persistently persecuted... Israel will yet carry out God's retributive judgment on these nations, which long ago oppressed them so badly.
That different wording matters. One writer reads the prophecy's timing out of it.
About Edom (Ezekiel 25:14), it only says that Edom will know the vengeance of Jehovah through Israel. That is further proof that this prophecy reaches to the last days in some respects. So these prophecies show Jehovah's power in general. They make Him known to everyone by the judgments He carried out. The conquests of Nebuchadnezzar already realised part of this, but the full accomplishment comes later, in Israel's favour.
The same writer sets this verse in a sequence. Israel is at peace at home first; then Israel carries God's judgment outside.
I have no doubt that Jesus will reign in the character of David before He takes that of Solomon. He will reign as David, with Israel blessed and accepted, but with their enemies not yet all destroyed. Finally He will reign as Solomon, that is to say, as Prince of peace. Many passages speak of this time — Micah 5, several chapters in Zechariah, Jeremiah 51:20-21, Ezekiel 25:14. In it Israel is already reconciled, acknowledged and at peace within, and will be the instrument for carrying out Jehovah's judgments outside.
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Edom's future is worse than that of the surrounding nations, and one writer turns that into a warning for the reader.
It is a remarkable fact that, while a remnant of the other nations will come in for blessing in a future day, Edom will not... Let us take the moral of it to heart, for we may easily fall into the same kind of spirit as the Edomite. Jeremiah saw the failures and sins of God's people, but he wept over them. Daniel and other godly men confessed them as their own. But the Edomite spirit is bitter hatred against those who have failed, yet are still the people of God. This spirit is particularly displeasing to Him.
- Cause. Edom took revenge on Judah when Judah was already down. A brother seized on their ruin to settle an old grudge.
- Vengeance. God answers Edom's revenge with His own. The other nations learn that He is the LORD; Edom learns His vengeance.
- Hand. God puts the sword in the hand of the people Edom persecuted. Obadiah 17-18 says the same.
- Timing. Nebuchadnezzar's conquests fulfilled part of this. The rest waits for the last days, when a restored and peaceful Israel carries out the judgment.
- Warning. Other nations keep a remnant in the coming blessing; Edom keeps none. Jeremiah wept over God's failing people and Daniel confessed their sin. The Edomite hates them instead, and God finds that spirit especially displeasing.