CHAPTER 25

(590 B.C.)

THE PROPHECY AGAINST THE AMMONITES

¹The Word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,

²Son of man, set your face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them (the country of Ammon, with Rabbah as its chief city, bordered Israel on the east [modern day Jordan]. The Holy Spirit tells Ezekiel: Prophesy against them);

³And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the Word of the Lord GOD; Thus says the Lord GOD; Because 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 (the Ammonites rejoiced when Judah and Jerusalem fell. We must learn from this that we should not rejoice when God punishes guilty men, for that will bring His Anger upon those who do so. Psalm 83, the Prophecy of Obadiah, Psalm 137, Amos 1:11, and Lamentations, Chapter 4 should be read in connection with this Prophecy);

⁴Behold, therefore I will deliver you to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall set their palaces in you, and make their dwellings in you: they shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk. (The men of the east referred to Babylon. About five years after the destruction of Jerusalem, the Babylonians took Ammon.)

⁵And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couching place for flocks: and you shall know that I Am the LORD. (As Ammon had humiliated Judah, now they would be humiliated.)

⁶For thus says the Lord GOD; Because you have clapped your hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all your despite against the land of Israel (Stamped with the feet, means that they danced with joy when the Temple was burned and Jerusalem was destroyed);

⁷Behold, therefore I will stretch out My Hand upon you, and will deliver you for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut you off from the people, and I will cause you to perish out of the countries: I will destroy you; and you shall know that I Am the LORD. (Exactly as predicted, the Babylonians destroyed Ammon, and the country actually ceased to exist about 300 years later.)

PROPHECY AGAINST MOAB

⁸Thus says the Lord GOD; Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the House of Judah is like unto all the heathen (the sin of Moab and Seir was like that of Ammon in that they exulted in the fall of Jerusalem);

⁹Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim (Moab and Seir bordered Israel on the east and lay immediately south of Ammon),

¹⁰Unto the men of the east with the Ammonites, and will give them in possession, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations. (This is the second time that the Lord says that Ammon will be no more. This is not idle repetition, but to denote the certitude of the promised action.)

¹¹And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I Am the LORD. (As Ammon, the Lord says, So will be Moab.)

PROPHECY AGAINST EDOM

¹²Thus says the Lord GOD; Because that Edom has dealt against the House of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them (Judgment is pronounced upon Edom likewise, and for the same sin of rejoicing in the fall of Judah and Jerusalem);

¹³Therefore thus says 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; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword. (The Judgment upon Edom is demanded by Gen. 25:23.)

¹⁴And I will lay My Vengeance upon Edom by the hand of My People Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to My Anger and according to My Fury; and they shall know My Vengeance, says the Lord GOD. (Edom took vengeance upon Judah [Vs. 12], and now the Lord will take vengeance upon them.)

PROPHECY AGAINST THE PHILISTINES

¹⁵Thus says the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance, with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred. (Old hatred, proclaims the fact that the Philistines and Israel had been enemies for centuries. It is from their name that the modern name Palestine is derived. However, the modern Palestinians are not descendants of the Philistines, but rather they are Egyptians, Syrians, Jordanians, etc.)

¹⁶Therefore thus sa ys the Lord GOD; Behold, I will stretch out My Hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethims, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast. (The Cherethims are probably the same as the Cherethites [II Sam. 8:18; 15:18]. They also would be destroyed. All of this proclaims the Lords Dominion over all Gentile powers, in fact, the entirety of the world.)

¹⁷And 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. (Thus, these four nations [Vss. 5, 11, 14, 17] would get to know, to their sorrow, that the God of Israel exists, and that He judges sin.)