Ezekiel 25

CHAPTER 25THEME: Prophecies against the nations: the Ammonites, Moab, Edom, the PhilistinesThis brings us to a new section (chs. 25-32) which deals with the prophecies concerning the nations around Israel. All of these nations, as far as we are concerned today, have long since disappeared from the face of the earth, and the prophecies about them have been literally fulfilled. Up to this point, Ezekiel has been giving out prophecies concerning Jerusalem and the land of Israel because the final deportation of the children of Israel has not yet arrived. To the very last, the people held on to the faint hope, at the urging and encouragement of the false prophets, that God would not destroy Jerusalem and the land of Israel would remain. After all, wasn’t it God’s method of communication to the world? When the destruction of Jerusalem occurred, the people were startled; they were dumbfounded. I imagine the word came when the headline in the Babylonian Bugle read: JERUSALEM DESTROYED! And the opening line read something like this: “On this day Nebuchadnezzar with his armies entered the city of Jerusalem, having breached the wall.” Ezekiel was proved accurate in his prophecies, and from here on he will not be giving any prophecies concerning the destruction of Jerusalem because he is not writing history; he is writing prophecy. So now he turns to the surroundings nations. What will be their fate? There is a tremendous message for us in this chapter. There lies God’s city in ruins. I see standing over that city a man by the name of Jeremiah. Tears are coursing down his cheeks; he is a man with a broken heart. He is the one who mirrors the One who will be coming to earth in five hundred or so years. He, too, will sit over Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives and will weep over the city knowing that destruction is coming again because its people will have turned their backs on the living and true God. I see another prophet. He is not weeping, and I will tell you why. At this same time his lovely wife died, and the Scriptures make it clear that he loved her. This prophet is Ezekiel, and he is told not to mourn. On the surface he is hard-boiled. God said that He would be that way. Jeremiah and Ezekiel reveal the two sides of God in this matter. This is something we need to see today. God is tenderhearted. Like Jeremiah, the Lord Jesus Christ is merciful and kind. He was not willing that any should perish, so He died on the cross for us.

But listen to Him speaking to the cities that rejected Him: “Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell” (Luk_10:13-15). That is strong language coming from the gentle Jesus! He also said, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them” (Luk_11:44). The Lord denounced them in such a way that it makes your hair curl!

There are two sides to God, and He is the same today. We get a warped view of Him when all we hear is, “God is love, God is love.” It is true that God is love, but don’t lose sight of the fact that God is also holy. He is righteous and He will judge. You are not rushing into heaven on the little love boat today. You will go to heaven only if you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, who shed His blood and gave His life on the cross. Then you will have eternal life and will be covered with the righteousness of Christ, standing complete and acceptable in Him.

If you reject His salvation, there will be nothing left but judgment. We have a warped view of God today. In this connection I always think of a judge who lived in west Texas many years ago. He had a reputation for making quick decisions. Other judges just didn’t move as fast as he did. A friend asked him one day, “What is the secret of your making quick decisions?” “Well,” he replied, “I’ll tell you what I do. I just listen to the defense, and then I hand in a decision.” The friend was startled.

He asked the judge, “Don’t you ever listen to the prosecution?” The judge said, “I used to, but that always confused me.” And there are a lot of confused folks running around talking about the love of God, but we must never forget that He is also a God of judgment. Maybe that is the reason Ezekiel is a closed book, a sealed book to so many people. Liberal ministers encourage this by saying, “Nobody can understand the Book of Ezekiel.” Well, you cannot understand it until you study it, that is for sure. We have had a remarkable principle laid down for us so far, and I hope we don’t miss its message for us. Now we come to the judging of the nations around Israel. I am not going to spend much time with them because they have long since passed off the stage, but they are important because they are to return. Only God can bring them back, and He says He will do that.

Ezekiel 25:3

PROPHECY AGAINST THE AMMONITESThe Ammonites had a very bad beginning. They were a nomadic race descended from an incestuous relationship between Lot and his younger daughter (see Gen_19:33-38). Their country lay along the Dead Sea. God said they would be made subject to Nebuchadnezzar, and they were. Now God gives the reason for His judgment against them: The Ammonites applauded the enemy that destroyed Israel. They were allies. But the same enemy destroyed Ammon. In Jer_49:6 we read concerning them, “And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the LORD.” God judged them so that they might know that He is the Lord.

Ezekiel 25:8

PROPHECY AGAINST MOABThe Moabites were more civilized than the Ammonites, but they, too, were descended from an incestuous relationshipbetween Lot and his older daughter (Gen_19:33-38). Moab was situated on the east of Israel but along the northern part of the Dead Sea. This is the land that Ruth the Moabitess came from. She was an ancestor of King David, which makes her also an ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christher name appears in His genealogy (Mat_1:5). Notice the reason God will judge Moab:

Ezekiel 25:12

PROPHECY AGAINST EDOMEdom is the nation that came from Esau, whose beginning is found in Genesis 25. The little Book of Obadiah details the judgment against Edom and the rock-hewn city of Petra. God gives His reason for judging Edom: Edom’s treatment of His chosen people is the cause of God’s judgment.

Ezekiel 25:15

PROPHECY AGAINST THE PHILISTINESThe Philistines have disappeared; they are no longer in that land. This judgment against them has been so literally fulfilled that the unbelieving critic wants to place Ezekiel’s prophecy at a much later date so it can be considered history! My friend, we will do well to take note of the fact that God judged the nations who had sinned against Him and His people.