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[0:00] Ezekiel chapter 35 Ezekiel chapter 35 Ezekiel chapter 36

[1:30] I have heard all the revilings that you uttered against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to devour. And you magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and multiplied your words against me.

[1:44] I heard it. Thus says the Lord God, While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate, as you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate.

[1:55] So I will deal with you. You shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am the Lord. Ezekiel chapters 35 and 36 continue the collection of prophecies of restoration and renewal, with which the book of Ezekiel concludes.

[2:12] The two chapters likely belong together, directed to contrasting mountains. Mount Seir of Edom in chapter 35, and the mountains of Israel in chapter 36.

[2:23] The first will be desolated, and the others will be restored. Both Edom and Israel are addressed with a focus upon their respective lands and features of their terrain. Mountains, hills, valleys, and ravines are mentioned in both chapter 35 verse 8 and chapter 36 verse 6.

[2:40] The prophecies seem to come under the same divine address, with the introduction of chapter 35 verse 1, functioning for both of the chapters. And Edom continues to be in view into chapter 36, for instance in verse 5 of that chapter.

[2:54] Therefore thus says the Lord God, Surely I have spoken in my heart jealousy against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who gave my land to themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, that they might make its pasture lands a prey.

[3:09] As Daniel Block notes, chapters 35 and 36 verses 1 to 15 can be read together as two panels, one speaking of removal of obstacles to restoration and former causes of devastation, and the other speaking of the renewal that the Lord will then accomplish.

[3:26] A similar pattern can be seen in the preceding chapter concerning the Lord's judgment upon the unfaithful shepherds of Israel and his regathering of his flock. Mount Seir stood for the territory of Edom, of which it was a part.

[3:38] It was the mountainous region to the south-east of Judah, between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, with the Araba on its east. Formerly occupied by the Horites, it had been taken over by Esau and his descendants.

[3:51] Under the regional sway of Israel at several points in its history, the ancient twinning and rivalry between Esau and Jacob continued in the relations between these two nations. In Genesis chapter 36, for instance, we can see the descendants of Esau functioning in some respects as a mirror of those of his twin to the north.

[4:10] In Deuteronomy chapter 23 verse 7, for instance, we see a continued remembrance in Israel of the fact that Edom was Israel's brother. Judgment against Edom was declared earlier in the book, in chapter 25 verses 12 to 14.

[4:24] Thus says the Lord God, Edom had not come to the aid of Judah in his day of distress.

[4:59] What was worse, however, was the fact that they had rejoiced in the day of Israel's calamity, taken advantage of its brother's weakness, and prayed upon it. As Psalm 137 verse 7 declares, This betrayal of the bond of brotherhood is spoken of on several occasions in the scriptures, most notably, perhaps, in the book of Obadiah.

[5:26] A similar message to Ezekiel chapter 35 and 6 is expressed in condensed form in Lamentations chapter 4 verses 21 to 22. Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz.

[5:40] But to you also the cup shall pass. You shall become drunk and strip yourself bare. The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished. He will keep you in exile no longer.

[5:52] But your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish. He will uncover your sins. Other condemnations of and declarations of judgment upon Edom for their behavior at the time of Judah's downfall can be seen in Joel chapter 3 verse 19 and Malachi chapter 1 verses 2 to 5.

[6:09] For Edom's part in making Judah a waste and a desolation, they would themselves be rendered a waste and a desolation. In this judgment God would demonstrate his justice and his sovereignty, proving that he is the Lord.

[6:21] They had rejoiced over Judah's downfall, gloating over their brother. Now they would suffer the same fate. The Lord is against them. The cause of the Lord's firm opposition to Edom is unpacked in the verses that follow.

[6:34] Edom continues to cherish perpetual enmity, still nursing the rivalry that set Esau against his brother Jacob from the womb onwards and led him to seek to take his brother's life.

[6:44] This deep hatred for their brother led them to take delight in giving Israel over to the sword. The rivalry between Edom and Israel will continue in history, also being expressed in the actions of Haman the Agagite and the Idumeans at the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

[7:00] Edom had first received the name Edom in Genesis chapter 25 verse 30, when he had sought some of Jacob's red, red stew from him. He had received that name in connection with the color of the stew.

[7:11] Some commentators have speculated that Esau thought that the stew was a forbidden blood stew, a position strengthened by various allusions back to the full narrative of Genesis chapter 3 in the passage.

[7:23] In addition to playing off the term for red, and likely the name Adam also, the name Edom was close to the word for blood, dam. Ezekiel's prophecy plays with this near homophone in verse 6, repeating the word blood four times.

[7:38] Edom had quite possibly received his name at first out of a hunger for forbidden blood, and his bloodthirstiness continues. He would be judged accordingly. He would be prepared for and pursued by blood.

[7:49] His territory would be littered with the bodies of the slain, and his cities would suffer the same fate as the fate that caused him to rejoice over his brother. This would all demonstrate the Lord's identity, sovereignty and power.

[8:02] With the deportation of Judah by the Babylonians, leaving only a small remnant of poor Israelites in the land, the Edomites had fancied that they would be able to possess the land of their brother Israel, in addition to their own territory, not considering that the land was actually not the possession of Israel, but the inheritance of the Lord, with Israel dwelling there only on his sufferance.

[8:23] The time would come when Israel would be restored to the land, and the Lord would not accept Edom exceeding the bounds of his own portion to seize the possession of his brother, continuing the rivalry over the blessing and the firstborn portion that had continued since the time of the patriarch Isaac, their father.

[8:39] According to Edom's hubris and hatred, the Lord would judge them, once again demonstrating his identity and power to them in the process. The way that Edom had spoken concerning the mountains of Israel, to which Ezekiel will soon turn his address in a few verses' time, at the beginning of chapter 36, failed to consider the Lord.

[8:58] Indeed, it was a matter of magnifying themselves against the Lord in their pride, fancying that the Lord's own land was theirs to consume in their hatred and envy. While there would be a more general reversal of fortunes in the region, the Edomites would not benefit from this.

[9:13] Indeed, they would be rendered desolate, suffering the fate that they had gloated over when it befell Israel. A question to consider.

[9:24]  In what way ought the Edomites have related to Israel? What might a faithful Edomite have been like?ふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふふ