Bible Commentaries
Ezekiel 25

Verses 1-17

Chapter 25

Now beginning with chapter 25, God begins to pronounce His judgment upon the surrounding nations of Israel. And the first, of course, that of the Ammonites. We have today the city of Ammon, which comes from Ammonites, and the city of Ammon is the capitol of Jordan. And so the Ammonites and the Moabites who are going to be reviewed here for judgment are modern-day Moab. When we get to Edom, you are moving down to the southern part--or modern-day Jordan-when you move down into Edom, you are getting into southern Jordan and into Dedan, which is Saudi Arabia. And so these are the judgments proclaimed of God against these nations at that time.

Say to the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned ( Ezekiel 25:3 );

Because they rejoiced, danced in the streets when they heard that the sanctuary was profaned and the people were slaughtered. They had a big celebration. Much like they did when they got news that Sadat was assassinated. Same thing. You see, people haven't changed much. There's still that certain amount of barbarity in man. "When you said, 'Aha,' against My sanctuary when it was profaned."

and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity; Behold, therefore I will deliver you to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk. And I will make Rabbah [which was the capitol of Ammon] a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couching place for flocks: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. For thus saith the Lord GOD; Because you have clapped your hands, and stamped with your feet, and rejoiced in your heart with all of your hatred and animosity against the land of Israel ( Ezekiel 25:3-6 );

When they heard of the destruction and desolation, they danced, they jumped, they clapped their hands and stamped their feet rejoicing in the destruction.

Behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee off from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD ( Ezekiel 25:7 ).

Against Moab:

Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Moab and Seir [Mount Seir in Moab] do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like the heathen ( Ezekiel 25:8 );

Again, exalting over their destruction.

Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Bethjeshimoth, Baalmeon, and Kiriathaim, Unto the men of the east with the Ammonites, and will give them in possession, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations. And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the LORD ( Ezekiel 25:9-11 ).

So God is going to prove who He is to the surrounding nations.

Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance ( Ezekiel 25:12 ),

Now when the enemies came against Judah and it was obvious that they were going to fall, then the Edomites also attacked that they might take loot. And so they added insult to injury, actually.

taking vengeance, you have greatly offended, and you have revenged himself upon them; Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; 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 ( Ezekiel 25:12-13 );

Where one of the counselors of Job had come, from the east there in Teman, the Temanite.

and they of Dedan ( Ezekiel 25:13 )

Dedan is Saudi Arabia today, Sheba Dedan.

and they shall fall by the sword. And I will lay 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 GOD. Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a [hateful] despiteful heart, to destroy it for their old hatred; Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethims, and destroy the remnant of the seacoast. And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them ( Ezekiel 25:13-17 ).

Now as we continue on, he goes to Tyre. And in the prophecy against Tyre, we find one of those fascinating, remarkable prophecies of the Old Testament which ranks to me one of the most remarkable of the prophecies of the Old Testament, as God prophesies the destruction of the city of Tyre. And as we read it, you'll be absolutely astounded with what accuracy God made the record in advance. Again, that we may know that He is God.

And then as he gets into the king of Tyre, you have a very interesting description of Satan prior to his fall. And a description of his fall and the results thereof. And so we're starting to get into the more interesting aspects. Of course, then we will finish next week the prophecies against Egypt, and that takes on a modern-day significance too.

So next week, next five chapters, twenty-six through thirty that we will be studying next Sunday night. The scripture comes back into mind, "And the Lord sought for a man among them to fill up the hedge, to stand in the gap," stand between the Lord and the land that He would not destroy it. But He found none. Therefore the wrath of His judgment came. His indignation, the fire of His wrath, and they were destroyed. I think of the conditions that perpetrated that judgment of God and I tremble as I read my daily newspaper. And I see the same things prevalent here as were prevalent there. How long will God forebear? How long before God's judgment falls upon the United States? How long before His sword comes through the land? How long will God allow this iniquity to prevail? Only God knows. But in the meantime, God is searching for men and women who will stand before the Lord for the land and who will intercede. I pray that God will speak to your heart about the ministry of intercessory prayer and you'll become involved. It's a matter of life and death as far as our nation is concerned.

God bless you as His child. May His hand be upon your life. It is good to know that God has not appointed us unto wrath. We will not see the day of wrath and the judgment of God. For Jesus has delivered us by His love from that day of wrath that is to come. But oh, my heart goes out for those who know not Jesus Christ, those who will be left when He takes His church away. Those who must face the fiery indignation of His wrath by which He will devour His adversaries. It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God.

Let's pray. As the scripture said, let's take them as plucking brands out of the fire. Seeking to deliver them from the judgment to come. By intercessory prayer, setting them free from the power of sin. God bless you and make you an intercessor and use you for His glory. In Jesus' name. "