Ezekiel 35:10

Mount Seir is Edom's possession, a "rough," or "rugged place," as the word means. Esau has chosen for himself; therefore he has not chosen well. Does anyone ever choose well who chooses for himself?

Yet Jacob's portion appealed to Edom too. But his craving for it only stirred up hatred in his heart against its owner. So Edom is the typical enemy of Israel all through his history.

Edom hated them with a hatred that never ended. In the day of their disaster he took revenge, and he tried to seize the two countries of Israel and Judah (Ezekiel 35:5, 10). Edom becomes the possession of Israel.

We may say again: laying hands on Israel like this, this contempt and hatred of Zion, whether by the Assyrian, by Babylon, by Edom, or anyone else, is a bold act. It shows contempt and defiance of God Himself, because God was with Israel. As Ezekiel puts it, "the LORD was there." The enemies of Israel ought to have felt this. Even if they served as the Lord's rod on His people, they should have done their work remembering what Israel was or had been.

Edom is the ancient unbeliever about God. He sees Israel's land, but he does not see Jehovah's presence in it. So he thinks he can seize the very thing where he will find Jehovah as his adversary, and the bitter fruit of his unbelief is given to him as the thing he really chose.

But the enemy's wrath is not righteous; it is of another character. It is against Jehovah at bottom, as all unbelief is; and this is what comes out in the result here. The question is not between Edom and Israel, but between Edom and God. If they said of the mountains of Israel that they were desolate, was it not true? But they did not see the difference between discipline and rejection. So they said, "They are given us to devour."

The Land — "My Land," whatever its state or divisions. It is Jehovah's Land, and if the people fail in every way, it falls into His hands. He only entrusted it to Israel. The Gentiles have no right to it except through Israel's sin, and no right at all against the Lord.

There is no doubt that Edom is the special object of judgment in the last days... Ezekiel 35 refers directly to the time of the Babylonian captivity, when Edom, Jacob's rival, took cruel delight in the ruin of Jerusalem. But it goes on to the final desolation of Mount Seir.

They too forget that God is truly in His saints... A bad conscience rouses the evil of the natural heart. No words are too bitter, no insinuations too vile, against those who at this moment are holding to the revealed will of the Lord for the church... What people say against the church and its privileges, where these are truly understood and acted on, is no light sin in God's eyes. As with Israel of old, so now: what is said with contempt against His people, who hold in their weakness to His grace and word, He treats as said against Himself — "I have heard."