Ezekiel 35:1 - Meaning and Application

Mount Seir was named earlier as an ally of Moab in one of the warnings already given (Ezekiel 25:8). Here it is judged on its own, and it receives its own message of doom. The prophet must boldly turn against Edom and speak against it in particular, for the God of Israel has said, “Mount Seir, I am against you.” When God is against people, his word is against them too, and so are the faithful warnings of his servants. They should not expect kind words, but a true warning of judgment.

The prophet must tell the Edomites that God has a case against them. First, there is the reason for that case (Ezekiel 35:5). God takes up his people’s cause and treats what is done to them as done against himself. He will call people to account for injuries done to his people, and that is why he now contends with Edom. One reason is the deep hatred they had long carried against God’s people. Their hostility was rooted in the heart. “You have had a lasting hatred” toward them, even toward the name of an Israelite.

The Edomites kept alive the old hatred of Esau against Jacob, because Jacob received the birthright and blessing. Esau had once been reconciled to Jacob, and he embraced and kissed him (Genesis 33). We do not read that Esau later quarreled with him again. But Esau’s descendants would never be at peace with Jacob’s descendants. They kept hating them from one generation to the next. Children are often quicker to copy their parents’ sins than their good example, and they often follow repentance less than wrongdoing. Parents should be careful not to leave a bad example behind them, because even when God’s grace helps them recover, they may still pass harm on to their children.

It is sadly common for national hatreds to run deep and last a long time. But it should not surprise us that godless Edomites hated faithful Israelites. The old enmity God put between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent will continue to the end (Genesis 3:15). So do not be surprised if the world hates you.

Another reason for God’s case against Edom is the harm they did to God’s people. They shed blood by the sword when Israel was in trouble. They did not attack as open enemies, but lay in wait to cut off those who escaped (Obadiah 1:14). Or they forced fleeing Israelites back toward the swords of their pursuers, so that they were killed there. This was cowardly as well as cruel. They took advantage of their neighbors in the day of distress, instead of showing mercy.

It was also the time when Israel’s punishment for sin had reached its limit, when their iniquity was complete and judgment had come. Even those who suffer rightly for their sins should still be pitied, not trampled on. If a father corrects one child, he expects the others to tremble at it, not celebrate it.

Now comes the effect and outcome of this dispute. If God stretches out his hand against the land of Edom, he will make it very desolate, “desolation and desolation” (Ezekiel 35:3). The people will be killed by the sword (Ezekiel 35:6). “I will prepare you for blood” means that Edom will be weakened little by little, making conquest easier for the enemy. In that way, the way for destruction is often being prepared long before the final blow falls. “You have not hated blood” means, “You have loved it and thirsted for it.” People who do not truly hate sin, especially when temptation is strong, are in danger of giving in to it.

Some take the words to mean, “Unless you hate blood,” that is, unless you turn from this bloody way, “blood will pursue you.” In that reading, the warning leaves room for mercy if there is real change. If a person does not turn, God will sharpen his sword (Psalm 7:12). But if he does turn, God will put the sword away. Blood will pursue Edom, either as the guilt of the blood they have shed or as the punishment of blood. Bloodthirsty enemies will chase them wherever they try to flee. A great slaughter will be made of the people of Edom, as had been foretold before (Isaiah 34:6). The mountains, hills, valleys, and rivers will be filled with the slain (Ezekiel 35:8). The pursuers will catch those who run, and they will show no mercy.

When God calls blood to account, those who shed the blood of his people will receive blood to drink, because they deserve it. They will get what their own violence called for. The land itself will also be laid waste. The cities will be destroyed (Ezekiel 35:4), and the whole country will become most desolate (Ezekiel 35:7). God will cut off everyone who goes out and everyone who comes in. When the people who keep the cities in repair are gone, the cities will fall into ruin. When the farmers are gone, the land will quickly grow over with thorns and become a wilderness.

Those who help bring ruin on Israel can expect ruin for themselves. And the judgment is complete because Edom will be made a lasting desolation (Ezekiel 35:9). Its cities will never return to their former state, and its people will not come back from exile and scattering. Those who have a lasting hatred toward God and his people, like the fleshly mind does, can expect nothing but a lasting ruin. Stubborn malice is rightly punished with ruin that cannot be repaired.