Ezekiel 25:12-14

III. THE WORD AGAINST EDOM 25:12-14

TRANSLATION

(12) Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Edom's dealings with the house of Judah have been the result of vengeful conduct, and he has incurred enormous guilt by executing vengeance against them, (13) therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: I will stretch out MY hand against Edom, and I will cut off from it man and beast. And I will make it a desolation from Teman; even toward Dedan they shall fall by the sword. (14) And I will put My vengeance in Edom by the hand of My people Israel, and they shall deal with Edom according to My wrath and according to MY anger; thus they will know My vengeance (oracle of the Lord GOD).

COMMENTS

The Edomites were descended from Esau. They occupied the territory south of the Dead Sea. Although the twins Esau and Jacob were reconciled during their lifetime (Genesis 33), their descendants were involved in perpetual hostilities. The Edomites had not allowed the Israelites to pass through their land in the days of Moses (Numbers 20:14-21). Amos (Ezekiel 1:11-12) and Obadiah[373] condemned the Edomites for early attacks against Israel.[374] Jeremiah lashed out against them (Jeremiah 49:7-11; Lamentations 4:21-22), and later Malachi would blast them (Malachi 1:2-5).

[373] The date of Obadiah is in dispute among Bible scholars. Many scholars consider Obadiah as one of the earliest of the writing prophets, He may have been active during the reign of Jehoram of Judah (848-841 B.C.)

[374] The historical record Indicates that Israel had responded in kind to the viciousness of the Edomites (2 Samuel 8:13, 1 Kings 11:15; 1 Kings 11:15; 2 Chronicles 25:11-12).

Edom's sin was a vengeful spirit toward the people of God. Apparently, at the time of the Babylonian invasion of Judah, the Edomites had seized the opportunity to get revenge against Judah. Thus they had committed a grave offense (Ezekiel 25:12).

For the crimes committed against His people God would stretch out His hand against Edom. Man and beast would be cut off from the land. Even Teman, one of the leading cities of Edom, would become desolate. The slaughter would extend south of Edom as far as Dedan[375] (Ezekiel 25:13). The devastation of Edom would be wrought by the hands of the Israelites. Acting as God's agents, they would teach Edom the vengeance of the true Lord, Yahweh of Israel (Ezekiel 25:14).

[375] The Dedan most frequently mentioned in the Scripture was located in Arabia, about 300 miles southeast of Teman. Dedan is elsewhere mentioned in connection with Edom only in Jeremiah 49:8. Possibly Jeremiah and Ezekiel are referring to a settlement of Dedanites within the territory of Edom rather than to the famous caravan city of that name. On the other hand, the two prophets may be suggesting that the disaster which would befall Edom would sweep southward even to Dedan.

As in most of the prophecies against foreign nations, the predicted demise of Edom occurred gradually. Edom proper fell into Arab hands in the fifth century B.C. In the third century B.C. the area was overrun by the Nabataeans. In the second pre-Christian century the remnant of the Edomites were conquered by the Jewish general Judas Maccabeus (1Ma. 5:65). They were finally forced to accept circumcision and the Jewish faith. In this amalgamation the Edomites disappeared from history.