Commentary - Ezekiel 35:1-15

Bird's-eye view

In this sobering prophecy, the Lord turns His attention from the failed shepherds of Israel to one of Israel's most ancient and bitter enemies: Edom, the descendants of Esau. This is not merely a political denunciation; it is a covenantal lawsuit against a brother nation that chose perpetual hatred over kinship. The central charge against Edom, also called Mount Seir, is that they reveled in Judah's downfall. When God was chastening His own people with the Babylonian invasion, Edom did not show sympathy but rather kicked them when they were down, seeking to profit from their disaster. This profane opportunism, this gloating over the affliction of God's people, is revealed to be a direct assault on God Himself. They thought the land of promise was now vacant and up for grabs, failing to understand that even in judgment, "Yahweh was there."

The Lord's response is a classic example of lex talionis, the principle of retributive justice. The punishment is tailored to fit the crime with a terrifying precision. Because Edom loved bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue them. Because they rejoiced in Israel's desolation, they themselves will be made an everlasting desolation, and the world will rejoice over their fall. The prophecy is a stark reminder that God is fiercely jealous for His people and His name. He hears the arrogant words of the nations, and He will not allow the enemies of His church to have the last laugh. The judgment on Edom is a historical down payment on the final judgment, when all who oppose Christ and His kingdom will be laid waste.

Outline

Context In Ezekiel

Ezekiel 35 is strategically placed. It comes directly after the prophecy against the unfaithful shepherds of Israel and the promise of the True Shepherd, the Messiah, in chapter 34. It comes directly before the magnificent prophecy of Israel's restoration and regeneration in chapter 36. This positioning is theologically significant. Before God can restore His people to their land, He must first deal with the squatters and the vultures who sought to claim that land for themselves. The judgment on Edom is a necessary clearing of the ground. It demonstrates that God's judgment on His own people (the exile) was not an abandonment of His covenant promises. He was pruning His vine, not uprooting it. By judging Edom, God shows His continued sovereignty over the land and His unwavering commitment to His people, setting the stage for the glorious restoration to come.

Key Issues

The Brother-Hater's Reward

The conflict between Israel and Edom is not just another border dispute between ancient near-eastern tribes. It is a family feud that began in the womb. Jacob and Esau, Israel and Edom. This is the story of two brothers, and by extension, two nations, two ways of life, and two ultimate destinies. Esau was the profane man, the one who despised his birthright for a pot of stew (Gen 25:34; Heb 12:16). Edom, his descendants, inherited this profane spirit. Their "everlasting enmity" against Israel was not just political; it was spiritual. It was the hatred of the man of the flesh for the man of the promise. When God brought judgment on His own house, Judah, the Edomites saw their chance. They rubbed their hands together with glee. This is the sin that God addresses here, and the entire book of Obadiah is dedicated to it. It is the sin of kicking a man when he is down, and when that man is God's covenant son, it is a sin of the highest order.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1-4 Moreover, the word of Yahweh came to me saying, “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it and say to it, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, And I will stretch out My hand against you And make you a desolation and a desecration. I will lay waste your cities, And you will become a desolation. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.

The command to Ezekiel is intensely personal and confrontational. "Set your face against Mount Seir." This is not a detached oracle; it is a declaration of hostilities. God is picking this fight. And the message is just as direct: "Behold, I am against you." When the sovereign God of the universe declares Himself to be your personal enemy, the battle is already over. The result is certain: desolation and desecration. The language is absolute. And as is so often the case in Ezekiel, the ultimate purpose of this devastating judgment is theological. It is a revelation of God's character to a watching world and to Edom itself: "Then you will know that I am Yahweh." God's judgments are His resume.

5 Because you have had everlasting enmity and have delivered the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their disaster, at the time of the punishment of the end,

Here is the first item on the charge sheet. This was not a momentary flare-up but an "everlasting enmity." This hatred was a cherished part of their national identity, passed down from generation to generation since Esau. And it manifested itself in the most cowardly way possible. They did not face Israel in a fair fight; they waited until Israel was broken and being judged by God through Babylon. At the "time of their disaster," Edom joined the slaughter, delivering the sons of Israel to the sword. This is the sin of the jackal, feasting on a lion brought down by another. It is a profound violation of the bond of brotherhood, however distant.

6 therefore as I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “I will prepare you for bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you; you surely have not hated bloodshed, so bloodshed will pursue you.

God confirms His sentence with a solemn oath: "as I live." What follows is a perfect example of divine, poetic justice. The punishment fits the crime like a glove. Edom had a lust for blood, so God will give them a surfeit of it. "Bloodshed will pursue you." It will be like a relentless predator that cannot be shaken off. The logic is inescapable: since you did not hate bloodshed when it was someone else's, you will have no grounds to complain when it is your own. You made your bloody bed, and now you will lie in it.

7-9 I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation, and I will cut off from it the one who passes through and returns. I will fill its mountains with its slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those slain by the sword will fall. I will make you an everlasting desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.

The sentence of desolation is now described in graphic detail. It will be total. Commerce will cease; "the one who passes through and returns" will be cut off. The landscape itself will become a graveyard. The slaughter will be so immense that the bodies will fill the hills and valleys. And this is not a temporary setback from which they might recover. It will be an "everlasting desolation." Their cities will become permanent ruins. Historically, this was fulfilled as the Edomites were driven from their land by the Nabateans, and their civilization effectively vanished from history. And once again, the refrain that anchors the whole passage: "Then you will know that I am Yahweh."

10 “Because you have said, ‘These two nations and these two lands will be mine, and we will possess them,’ although Yahweh was there,

This verse reveals the theological arrogance at the root of Edom's sin. They looked at the smoking ruins of the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, and their first thought was, "Real estate opportunity." They saw God's judgment and mistook it for God's abdication. They thought the divine landlord had evicted the tenants and abandoned the property. But they made a fatal miscalculation, captured in that devastating clause: "although Yahweh was there." God's chastisement of His people is not an invitation for their enemies to move in. He was there, watching, listening, and taking notes.

11 therefore as I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “I will deal with you according to your anger and according to your jealousy which you dealt with them because of your hatred against them; so I will make Myself known among them when I judge you.

For the second time, God swears by His own life. His response will be a perfect mirror of their sin. He will repay their anger, jealousy, and hatred in kind. The judgment on Edom will be a public spectacle. God says, "I will make Myself known among them," meaning among His own exiled people, Israel. When Israel sees God settle accounts with Edom, it will be a powerful confirmation to them that their God has not forgotten them and that His justice reigns supreme.

12-13 Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have heard all your contempt which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel saying, ‘They are laid desolate; they are given to us for food.’ And you have magnified yourselves with your mouth against Me and have multiplied your words against Me; I have heard it.”

God makes it plain that He is a God who hears. Edom's sin was not just in their actions, but in their words, their "contempt." They looked at the holy land, the mountains of Israel, and saw nothing more than a carcass to be devoured, "given to us for food." But in despising God's land and God's people, they were actually despising God Himself. "You have magnified yourselves with your mouth against Me." All the proud, boastful talk of the ungodly is ultimately directed at God. And the Lord concludes with the chilling statement, "I have heard it." Not a single arrogant word is missed.

14-15 Thus says Lord Yahweh, “As all the earth delights, I will make you a desolation. As you delighted over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will do to you. You will be a desolation, O Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.” ’

Here is the final, terrible outworking of the lex talionis. Edom's central sin was their delight, their schadenfreude, at Israel's fall. Therefore, their punishment will be to become a desolation that the whole earth delights in. The universe has a moral structure, and when proud evil is brought low, it is an occasion for righteous rejoicing. The judgment will be comprehensive: "all Edom, all of it." There will be no remnant, no recovery. And for the final time, the grand purpose is stated. This act of perfect, reciprocal justice will be one more proof, one more undeniable demonstration, that the God of Israel is Yahweh, the one true and living God.

Application

This ancient prophecy against a long-vanished nation is charged with application for the church today. The spirit of Edom is not dead; it is the spirit of the world in its perpetual hatred of the people of God. Whenever the church is afflicted, or a prominent Christian falls, or a ministry is brought low, the world delights. It sees our disaster as its opportunity. But this passage reminds us that even when God is chastening His church, "Yahweh is there." He has not abandoned us, and He is taking careful notes of the contempt of those who mock His bride.

We must also apply this warning to our own hearts. The spirit of Edom can creep into the church. When we delight in the downfall of a rival church, or a pastor from another tribe, or a fellow believer with whom we have a disagreement, we are standing with Edom. We are showing the heart of a scavenger, not the heart of a brother. We are forgetting that an attack on one part of the body is an attack on the whole body, and on the Head of the body, who is Christ.

Finally, we should take immense comfort from this passage. Our God is a God of perfect justice. He hears every slander, sees every injustice, and remembers every act of hatred directed against His people. He will repay. The cross is the ultimate proof of this. At the cross, the world, in its Edomite hatred, delivered the Son of God to the sword. But God turned their wicked delight into everlasting desolation for their master, the devil, and into everlasting salvation for us. Our security does not rest in our own strength, but in the fierce, covenantal jealousy of a God who has sworn, "as I live," to vindicate His people and His name.