Ezekiel 25:3

We now have a message from the Lord. It is tied to the earlier denunciation of Israel, and of Jerusalem in particular. It also forms a natural transition to foreign nations, who fall under divine judgment one after another. Ammon and Moab had an unhappy and shameful origin, which gave them a false relation to Israel. Edom was nobler in natural descent, but no nearer to God — rather the bitterest of foes.

Both Ammon and Moab had a racial connection with Israel and were the incestuous offspring of Lot (Gen. 19:37-38). They were in constant conflict with Israel… Scripture promises both Ammon and Moab a national restoration in the last days, that is, when the Lord comes (Jer. 48:47; 49:6).

Ammon faces us first. He stands in marked opposition to the sanctuary and to the land of Israel. But the sanctuary is God's dwelling among men. So it is the expression of grace — a grace He has made known more fully in later times. In Christ we have had the fullest expression of it. He dwelt among men in a way that told out His delight in them, and this is a step He will never take back… The land of Israel is the portion God in grace has given them. In it He would show the blessedness of those who draw near to Him.

Can anything be more moving than the grace that breathes in these words? God will not allow the nations to behave strangely toward His poor erring people. He will use them as His rod of discipline. But the moment they indulge their own bitter hatred and try to go beyond their appointed limit, He will break the rod in pieces. He will make it clear to everyone that He Himself is dealing with His beloved though erring people, for their final blessing and His glory.

Ammon was an ancient enemy of Israel, and as a type he shows even more the heart's opposition to what is of God… This is always the work of the enemy of our souls — not merely to win a victory over the people of God, but to take from them the very portion God has given them. Israel's sins had now reached their height and were bringing judgment on them. The desolate land lay open to the attacks of the enemy. But God's eye is on it, and Ammon is not to escape… Ammon misjudges the work of God completely, as the enemy always does. So he brings on himself the wrath he is enjoying as it falls on others.

So this knowledge of the Lord comes by the judgment itself. It does not come from any spiritual knowledge of Him that follows. When all the earth rejoices, God will make Edom desolate. It will be through judgment that all the nations will know that the Lord is God.

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 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 especially displeasing to Him.