Ezekiel 25:1 - Meaning and Application

Here, the prophet is told to speak to the Ammonites in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, who is also Lord over the whole earth. But what can Chemosh, the god of the Ammonites, say in reply? Ezekiel is told to set his face against them, because he stands as God’s messenger. That means he must show that God himself has set his face against them, for the Lord opposes those who do evil (Psalm 34:16). He must speak with courage and certainty, as one who knows who sent him and will support him. He must harden his face like flint (Isaiah 1:7), show his displeasure against these proud enemies of Israel, and stand firm before them, even though they were bold and shameless.

This also shows that, though Ezekiel had spoken so much against Israel, he still stood for Israel. While he pointed out their sins, he still held to God’s covenant with them and took pride in it. Those are in a miserable state against whom God’s prophets set their faces, and whose prayers and warnings rise up against them.

Ezekiel is then told what to say. He is a captive in Babylon and has been there many years. He knows little about the state of his own people, much less about the nations around them. Yet God tells him both what the Ammonites are doing and what God is about to do to them. By the Spirit of prophecy, Ezekiel can speak to their case as clearly as if he were living among them.

First, he must rebuke the Ammonites for their rude and cruel joy over Israel’s trouble (Ezekiel 25:3). They said, in effect, “Aha, so this is what we wanted.” They were glad when the temple was burned and the sanctuary was dishonored by the victorious Babylonians. That is mentioned first because it was the main cause of God’s dispute with them. They had hostility to the Jews because of their religion, even though only a small remnant of true worship was left among them.

They were also glad when the whole nation was ruined. They rejoiced when the land of Israel was laid waste, the cities burned, the country emptied, and Judah carried into captivity. Since they could not oppress God’s people themselves, they were pleased to see the Babylonians do it for them. Part of this came from envy of Israel’s wealth and good land, part from fear of Israel’s growing strength, and part from hatred of Israel’s religion and the messages God had given them.

This is repeated in verse 6. They clapped their hands, as if they were urging the Babylonians on like dogs after game. Or they clapped in triumph, treating the disaster like a public performance that pleased them. They stamped with their feet, ready to leap and dance for joy. They did not only rejoice inwardly, they could not hide it. Anyone with even a little honor or humanity should have been ashamed of them, especially because they rejoiced not over any gain to themselves, but out of pure malice and hatred. The people of God have always found ill will from this wicked world, and the troubles of God’s people have often been their neighbors’ amusement.

The Ammonites, of all people, should have been alarmed instead of glad. They had barely escaped the same fate, since it was almost a toss-up whether Rabbah or Jerusalem would be besieged first (Ezekiel 21:20). They also had reason to think Babylon would come for them next. But their hearts were hardened to their own ruin, and their insulting joy over Jerusalem showed that judgment was near them too (Philippians 1:28). It is a wicked thing to be glad when others suffer, especially God’s people, and God will certainly remember it. He takes pleasure in mercy and is slow to punish, so it pleases him when intercession turns back judgment. Nothing angers him more than helping forward another’s misery when he has only a little anger in view (Zechariah 1:15).

Second, Ezekiel must warn the Ammonites of complete ruin because of this insult. God turns his wrath away from Israel and against them, as Scripture says, “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls” (Proverbs 24:17-18). God is jealous for his people’s honor because his own honor is tied to it. So those who touch his people learn that they have touched the apple of his eye. God had already foretold the Ammonites’ destruction (Ezekiel 21:28). If they had repented, that sentence could have been lifted. But now it is confirmed.

A destroying enemy is coming against them. God says, “I will hand you over to the men of the east.” This first points to the Babylonians, who came from the northeast and destroyed the Ammonite land under Nebuchadnezzar, about five years after Jerusalem fell, as Josephus says. It also includes the Arabians, who were properly the children of the east. After the Babylonians had made the land empty and left it, the Arabians came and took it over, likely with the conquerors’ consent. Their shepherd tents became their palaces, and they set up their homes there (Ezekiel 25:4). They would eat its fruit and drink its milk. Even the milk from their cattle is called the fruit of the land in a second step.

They would even use the royal city for their animals (Ezekiel 25:5). God says he will make Rabbah, once a rich and beautiful city, into a camel stable. For its new owners, whose wealth is in livestock, that will seem the best use for it. Rabbah had been a home for brutish men, so now it is rightly made a stable for camels, and the land becomes a resting place for flocks, gentler animals than the people who lived there before.

God himself will act against them too (Ezekiel 25:7). He says, “I will stretch out my hand against you.” That is a hand that reaches far and strikes hard. No one can resist its blow, because it is a mighty hand, or bear its weight, because it is a heavy hand. When God stretches out his hand against the Ammonites, he will not only leave them open to plunder by the nations around them, but will cut them off from the peoples and destroy them from the countries, so that no remnant of them will remain there. Compare this with Jeremiah 49:1 and following.

What can sound more terrible than this resolve, “I will destroy you” (Ezekiel 25:7)? The almighty God can both save and destroy, and it is a fearful thing to fall into his hands. The threats here, in (Ezekiel 25:5) and (Ezekiel 25:7), both end with the same words, “You will know that I am the Lord.”

This serves two purposes. First, God will defend his own honor, and show that he is the God of Israel, even when he lets his people be captives in Babylon for a time. Second, he will bring people who were strangers to him into a true knowledge of him, and that is a blessed result of their troubles. It is better to know God and be poor than to be rich and not know him.