Commentary - Ezekiel 25:1-7

Bird's-eye view

Here in the twenty-fifth chapter of Ezekiel, the prophetic lens pivots. For twenty-four chapters, the searing focus of God's word through the prophet has been on Judah and Jerusalem. The covenant people have been in the dock. But now, with Jerusalem fallen, the word of the Lord goes out to the surrounding nations. This is crucial. Yahweh is not some local, tribal deity who was defeated when His city was sacked. He is the sovereign Lord of all creation, and He sits in judgment over all nations. This section begins with Ammon, a cousin-nation to Israel, and the charge against them is simple and profound. It is the sin of malicious glee, of gloating over the downfall of God's people. Their sin was not simply political opportunism; it was theological. They saw the profaning of the sanctuary and the exile of Judah as a defeat for Yahweh, and they rejoiced. God's response is a lesson in divine sovereignty: He will use their scorn as the very reason for their own utter desolation, so that they too will know that He is Yahweh.

Outline

The Sin of Schadenfreude

The central charge against Ammon is what the Germans call Schadenfreude, which is the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, or humiliation of another. But this is a particularly venomous strain of it. Ammon's glee is directed at the covenant people of God, and as the indictment makes clear, their joy is directed at the apparent failure of God Himself. They said "Aha!" over the profaning of His sanctuary, the desolation of His land, and the exile of His people. This is the voice of the serpent in the garden, delighting in the fall. It is the spirit of the world, which always rejoices when the church appears to stumble. In the Psalms, the righteous man constantly prays for deliverance from those who would gloat over him. This is because such gloating is never neutral; it is an attack on the God who has promised to vindicate His people. God takes this sin with the utmost seriousness because it is a direct assault on His name and reputation in the world.

Commentary

Ezekiel 25:1-3

And the word of Yahweh came to me saying, "Son of man, set your face toward the sons of Ammon and prophesy against them and say to the sons of Ammon, 'Hear the word of Lord Yahweh! Thus says Lord Yahweh, "Because you said, 'Aha!' against My sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into exile..."

The prophecy begins with the standard formula, grounding what follows in divine revelation, not human opinion. God commands Ezekiel to "set your face toward" the sons of Ammon. This is a posture of determined opposition. It is a holy glare. God is fixing His attention on Ammon, and it is not a benevolent gaze. He summons them to court: "Hear the word of Lord Yahweh!" They may be a foreign nation, but they are still accountable to the King of the cosmos.

The charge is then laid out. It is a sin of the mouth, a sin of the heart's attitude. "Because you said, 'Aha!'" This single word captures a world of contempt, mockery, and malicious satisfaction. And notice the three objects of their scorn. First, against "My sanctuary when it was profaned." This is listed first because it is the central issue. The temple was the place where God's name dwelt on earth. To rejoice in its defilement is to rejoice in the apparent defeat of God Himself. Second, against "the land of Israel when it was made desolate." This was the land God promised to Abraham, the holy land. Third, against "the house of Judah when they went into exile." These were God's chosen people. Ammon's sin was to see God's chastisement of His own people and mistake it for God's impotence. They kicked a man when he was down, but they failed to see that the man belonged to God.

Ezekiel 25:4-5

"...therefore, behold, I am going to give you to the sons of the east for a possession, and they will set their encampments among you and make their dwellings among you; they will eat your fruit and drink your milk. I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and the sons of Ammon a resting place for flocks. Thus you will know that I am Yahweh."

The word "therefore" connects the sentence directly to the crime. This is not arbitrary; it is justice. The punishment fits the sin with poetic precision. Because Ammon gloated over Judah's dispossession, they themselves will be dispossessed. The "sons of the east," likely nomadic Arab tribes, will be given Ammon as their property. They will not just raid it; they will settle in it, eating their fruit and drinking their milk. This is a picture of complete subjugation.

The humiliation is total. Rabbah, their capital city, a place of pride and strength, will be reduced to a "pasture for camels." The people themselves, the sons of Ammon, will become a "resting place for flocks." The Ammonites will be erased from their own land, and their civilization will be turned back into a wilderness fit only for livestock. The purpose clause is the theological exclamation point on the whole sentence: "Thus you will know that I am Yahweh." God's judgments are self-revelatory. Through this destruction, Ammon will be forced to learn the lesson they refused to learn from observing Judah: Yahweh is the sovereign Lord, and you do not mock Him.

Ezekiel 25:6-7

For thus says Lord Yahweh, "Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and were glad with all the scorn of your soul against the land of Israel, therefore, behold, I have stretched out My hand against you, and I will give you for plunder to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from the lands; I will destroy you. Thus you will know that I am Yahweh."

God is not finished. He restates the charge and sentence to drive the point home. He adds visceral detail to their sin. This was not a passing thought; it was a full-bodied celebration. They "clapped your hands and stamped your feet." This was a victory dance over the ruins of Jerusalem. And it came from the deepest part of them, "with all the scorn of your soul." This is the antithesis in its rawest form, the hatred of the seed of the serpent for the seed of the woman.

And so, the "therefore" comes again. God's response is personal and direct: "I have stretched out My hand against you." This is the language of divine warfare. The result is twofold. First, they will be given for "plunder to the nations." Second, and more permanently, God says, "I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from the lands; I will destroy you." This is a prophecy of national extinction. Other nations might be conquered and subjugated, but God promises to wipe Ammon off the map entirely. And why? The reason is repeated, because it is the most important part. "Thus you will know that I am Yahweh." The existence and non-existence of nations is a tool in God's hand to make His own name known.

Application

There are at least two major points of application for the church today. The first is a word of comfort. The world will often say "Aha!" to the church. When a pastor falls, when a church splits, when Christians are persecuted, the world claps its hands and stamps its feet with the scorn of its soul. This passage is a potent reminder that God sees and God hears. He takes the mockery directed at His people as mockery directed at Himself, and He will not let it stand. He is a jealous God, and He will vindicate His name and protect His bride. Our job is not to fret, but to trust in the sovereign Judge of all the earth, who will do right.

The second application is a word of warning. We must never allow this Ammonite spirit to take root in our own hearts. We are commanded to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. When our ideological or political opponents suffer calamities, our first response must not be "Aha!" Our first response must be one of sober reflection, and where appropriate, compassion. We rejoice in the triumph of truth and righteousness, but we do not rejoice in the destruction of any person made in the image of God. We desire their repentance, not their ruin. We must leave the clapping and foot-stomping to the world, and the vengeance to the Lord, who will repay.