Ezekiel 35:1-15
Mount Seir under Judgment
1Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2“Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it,
3and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Mount Seir. I will stretch out My hand against you and make you a desolate waste.
4I will turn your cities into ruins, and you will become a desolation. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
5Because you harbored an ancient hatred and delivered the Israelites over to the sword in the time of their disaster at the final stage of their punishment,
6therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will give you over to bloodshed and it will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, it will pursue you.
7I will make Mount Seir a desolate waste and will cut off from it those who come and go.
8I will fill its mountains with the slain; those killed by the sword will fall on your hills, in your valleys, and in all your ravines.
9I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
10Because you have said, ‘These two nations and countries will be ours, and we will possess them,’ even though the LORD was there,
11therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will treat you according to the anger and jealousy you showed in your hatred against them, and I will make Myself known among them when I judge you.
12Then you will know that I, the LORD, have heard every contemptuous word you uttered against the mountains of Israel when you said, ‘They are desolate; they are given to us to devour!’
13You boasted against Me with your mouth and multiplied your words against Me. I heard it Myself!
14This is what the Lord GOD says: While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate.
15As you rejoiced when the inheritance of the house of Israel became desolate, so will I do to you. You will become a desolation, O Mount Seir, and so will all of Edom. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
Ezekiel is told to set his face against Mount Seir, the land of Edom. Edom has maintained an ancient hostility toward Israel and handed the people over to the sword when calamity and final punishment came. Its violence is not described as a single moment of anger but as a settled posture.
Edom says the two nations and lands will be mine, even though the LORD was there. The boast treats Judah's desolation as an opportunity for possession and ignores God's presence. The people may have fallen, but the LORD has not surrendered His claim over the land or forgotten His covenant.
Because Edom has rejoiced over Israel's inheritance becoming desolate, the LORD will make Mount Seir a desolation. The land will know that He is the LORD, and the judgment will answer Edom's belief that no one was watching.
The chapter returns to Edom's contempt. When the whole land rejoices, Edom rejoices with malice, but the LORD will make the mountain desolate. The text addresses a particular ancient hostility; it should not be used to turn modern ethnic or national resentment into religious duty.
Questions
1 Which land was addressed?
AnswerMount Seir, the land of Edom, was addressed.
2 What did Edom do during Israel's calamity?
AnswerEdom maintained ancient hostility, handed people over to the sword, and rejoiced over Israel's ruin.
3 What did Edom claim?
AnswerEdom claimed that the two nations and lands would belong to it.
4 What would happen to Mount Seir?
AnswerIt would become a desolation, and its people would know that the LORD had acted.
What This Means for Us
Resentment can wait for a neighbor's weakness and call its own advantage justice. God sees the difference between legitimate protection and delight in another people's ruin.
Do not make inherited hostility a virtue. When someone else suffers, check the part of you that wants to possess, punish, or gloat rather than help.
Prayer
LORD, cleanse us of inherited hostility and secret delight in another person's loss. Give us courage to resist revenge, compassion for the wounded, and wisdom to pursue justice without malice. Amen.