mh_parser/vol_split/26 - Ezekiel/Chapter 25.xml

<div2 id="Ez.xxvi" n="xxvi" next="Ez.xxvii" prev="Ez.xxv" progress="59.92%" title="Chapter XXV">
<h2 id="Ez.xxvi-p0.1">E Z E K I E L.</h2>
<h3 id="Ez.xxvi-p0.2">CHAP. XXV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ez.xxvi-p1" shownumber="no">Judgment began at the house of God, and therefore
with them the prophets began, who were the judges; but it must not
end there, and therefore they must not. Ezekiel had finished his
testimony which related to the destruction of Jerusalem. As to that
he was ordered to say no more, but stand upon his watch-tower and
wait the issue; and yet he must not be silent; there are divers
nations bordering upon the land of Israel, which he must prophesy
against, as Isaiah and Jeremiah had done before; and must proclaim
God's controversy with them, chiefly for the injuries and
indignities which they had done to the people of God in the day of
their calamity. In this chapter we have his prophecy, I. Against
the Ammonites, <scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.1-Ezek.25.7" parsed="|Ezek|25|1|25|7" passage="Eze 25:1-7">ver. 1-7</scripRef>.
II. Against the Moabites, <scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.8-Ezek.25.11" parsed="|Ezek|25|8|25|11" passage="Eze 25:8-11">ver.
8-11</scripRef>. III. Against the Edomites, <scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.11-Ezek.25.14" parsed="|Ezek|25|11|25|14" passage="Eze 25:11-14">ver. 11-14</scripRef>. IV. Against the Philistines,
<scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.15-Ezek.25.17" parsed="|Ezek|25|15|25|17" passage="Eze 25:15-17">ver. 15-17</scripRef>. That which
is laid to the charge of each of them is their barbarous and
insolent conduct towards God's Israel, for which God threatens to
put the same cup of trembling into their hand. God's resenting it
thus would be an encouragement to Israel to believe that though he
had dealt thus severely with them yet he had not cast them off, but
would still own them and plead their cause.</p>
<scripCom id="Ez.xxvi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25" parsed="|Ezek|25|0|0|0" passage="Eze 25" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ez.xxvi-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.1-Ezek.25.7" parsed="|Ezek|25|1|25|7" passage="Eze 25:1-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xxvi-p1.7">
<h4 id="Ez.xxvi-p1.8">Various Nations Threatened. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxvi-p1.9">b. c.</span> 590.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xxvi-p2" shownumber="no">1 The word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxvi-p2.1">Lord</span> came again unto me, saying,   2 Son of
man, set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them;
  3 And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord
<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxvi-p2.2">God</span>; Thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxvi-p2.3">God</span>; Because thou saidst, 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;   4 Behold, therefore I will deliver thee
to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall set their
palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee: they shall eat
thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk.   5 And I will make
Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couching-place for
flocks: and ye shall know that I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxvi-p2.4">Lord</span>.   6 For thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxvi-p2.5">God</span>; Because thou hast clapped
<i>thine</i> hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in
heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel;   7
Behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will
deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee off
from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the
countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I
<i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxvi-p2.6">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxvi-p3" shownumber="no">Here, I. The prophet is ordered to address
himself to the Ammonites, in the name of <i>the Lord Jehovah</i>
the <i>God of Israel,</i> who is also the God of the whole earth.
But what can Chemosh, the god of the children of Ammon, say, in
answer to it? He is bidden to <i>set his face against the
Ammonites,</i> for he is God's representative as a prophet, and
thus he must signify that God <i>set his face against them,</i> for
<i>the face of the Lord is against those that do evil,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.16" parsed="|Ps|34|16|0|0" passage="Ps 34:16">Ps. xxxiv. 16</scripRef>. He must
speak with boldness and assurance, as one that knew whose errand he
went upon, and that he should be borne out in delivering it. He
must therefore <i>set his face as a flint,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.1.7" parsed="|Isa|1|7|0|0" passage="Isa 1:7">Isa. i. 7</scripRef>. He must show his displeasure
against these proud enemies of Israel, and face them down, though
they were very impudent, and thus must show that, though he had
prophesied so much and so long <i>against Israel,</i> yet still he
was for Israel, and, while he witnessed against their corruptions,
he adhered to and gloried in God's covenant with them. Note, Those
are miserable that have the preaching and praying of God's prophets
against them, against whom their faces are set.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxvi-p4" shownumber="no">II. He is directed what to say to them.
Ezekiel is now a captive in Babylon, and has been so many years,
and knows little of the state of his own nation, much less of the
nations that were about it; but God tells him both what they were
doing and what he was about to do with them. And thus by the spirit
of prophecy he is enabled to speak as pertinently to their case as
if he had been among them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxvi-p5" shownumber="no">1. He must upbraid the Ammonites with their
insolent and barbarous triumphs over the people of Israel in their
calamities, <scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.3" parsed="|Ezek|25|3|0|0" passage="Eze 25:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>.
The Ammonites said, when all went against the Jews, <i>Aha! so
would we have it.</i> They were glad to see, (1.) The temple
burned, <i>the sanctuary profaned</i> by the victorious Chaldeans.
This is put first, to intimate what was the cause of the
controversy; they had an enmity to the Jews for the sake of their
religion, though it was only some poor remains of the profession of
it that were to be found among them. (2.) The nation ruined. They
rejoiced when <i>the land of Israel was made desolate,</i> the
cities burnt, the country wasted, and both depopulated, and when
the house of <i>Judah went into captivity.</i> When they had not
power to oppress God's Israel themselves they were pleased to see
the Chaldeans oppress them, partly because they envied their wealth
and the good land they enjoyed, partly because they feared their
growing power, and partly because they hated their religion and the
divine oracles they were favoured with. It is repeated again
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.6" parsed="|Ezek|25|6|0|0" passage="Eze 25:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): <i>They
clapped with their hands,</i> to irritate the rage of the
Chaldeans, and to set them on as dogs upon the game; or they
clapped their hands in triumph, attended this tragedy with their
<i>Plaudite—Give us your applause,</i> thinking it well acted;
never was there any thing more diverting or entertaining to them.
They <i>stamped with their feet,</i> ready to leap and dance for
joy upon this occasion; they not only <i>rejoiced in heart,</i> but
they could not forbear showing it, though every one that had any
sense of honour and humanity would cry shame upon them for it,
especially considering that they rejoiced thus, not for any thing
they got by Israel's fall (if so, they would have been the more
excusable: most people are for themselves); but this as purely from
a principle of malice and enmity: <i>Thou hast rejoiced in heart
with all thy despite</i> (which signifies both scorn and hatred)
<i>against the land of Israel.</i> Note, The people of God have
always had a great deal of ill-will borne them by this wicked
world; and their calamities have been their neighbours'
entertainments. See to what unnatural instances of malice the
enmity that is in the seed of the serpent against the seed of the
woman will carry them. The Ammonites, of all people, should not
have rejoiced in Jerusalem's ruin, but should rather have trembled,
because they themselves had such a narrow escape at the same time;
it was but "cross or pile" [the toss of a halfpenny] which should
be besieged first, Rabbath or Jerusalem, <scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.21.20" parsed="|Ezek|21|20|0|0" passage="Eze 21:20"><i>ch.</i> xxi. 20</scripRef>. And they had reason to
think that the king of Babylon would set upon them next. But thus
were their hearts hardened to their ruin, and their insolence
against Jerusalem was to them an <i>evident token of perdition,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Phil.1.28" parsed="|Phil|1|28|0|0" passage="Php 1:28">Phil. i. 28</scripRef>. It is a very
wicked thing to be glad at the calamities of any, especially of
God's people, and a sin that God will surely reckon for; such
delight has God in showing mercy, and so backward is he to punish,
that nothing is more pleasing to him than to be stopped in the ways
of his judgments by intercessions, not any thing more provoking
than to <i>help forward the affliction</i> when he is but <i>a
little displeased,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Zech.1.15" parsed="|Zech|1|15|0|0" passage="Zec 1:15">Zech. i.
15</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxvi-p6" shownumber="no">2. He must threaten the Ammonites with
utter ruin for this insolence which they were guilty of. God turns
away his wrath from Israel against them, as is said, <scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.24.17-Prov.24.18" parsed="|Prov|24|17|24|18" passage="Pr 24:17,18">Prov. xxiv. 17, 18</scripRef>. God is jealous
for his people's honour, because his own is so nearly interested in
it. And therefore those that touch that shall be made to know that
they touch the apple of his eye. He had before predicted the
destruction of the Ammonites, <scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.21.28" parsed="|Ezek|21|28|0|0" passage="Eze 21:28"><i>ch.</i> xxi. 28</scripRef>. Had they repented, that
would have been revoked; but now it is ratified. (1.) A destroying
enemy is brought against them: <i>I will deliver thee to the men of
the east,</i> first to the Chaldeans, who came from the north-east,
and whose army, under the command of Nebuchadnezzar, destroyed the
country of the Ammonites, about five years after the destruction of
Jerusalem (as Josephus relates, <i>Antiq.</i> 10.181), and then to
the Arabians, who were properly the <i>children of the east,</i>
who, when the Chaldeans had made the country desolate, and quitted
it, came and took possession of it for themselves, probably with
the consent of the conquerors. Shepherds' tents were their palaces;
these they set up in the country of the Ammonites; there they
<i>made their dwellings,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.4" parsed="|Ezek|25|4|0|0" passage="Eze 25:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>. They enjoyed the products of the country: <i>They
shall eat thy fruit and drink thy milk;</i> and the milk from the
cattle is the fruit of the ground at second-hand. They made use
even of the royal city for their cattle (<scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.5" parsed="|Ezek|25|5|0|0" passage="Eze 25:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): <i>I will make Rabbath,</i>
that was a nice and splendid city, to be <i>a stable for
camels;</i> for its new masters, whose wealth lies all in cattle,
will not think they can put the palaces of Rabbath to a better use.
Rabbath had been a habitation of brutish men; justly therefore is
it now made a <i>stable for camels</i> and the country a
<i>couching-lace for flocks,</i> more innocent beasts than those
with which it had been before replenished. (2.) God himself acts as
an enemy to them (<scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.7" parsed="|Ezek|25|7|0|0" passage="Eze 25:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>): <i>I will stretch out my hand upon thee,</i> a hand
that will reach far and strike home, which there is no resisting
the blow of, for it is a mighty hand, nor bearing the weight of,
for it is a heavy hand. God's hand stretched out against the
Ammonites will not only deliver them <i>for a spoil to the
heathen,</i> so that all their neighbours shall prey upon them, but
will <i>cut them off from the people</i> and <i>made them perish
out of the countries,</i> so that there shall be no remains of them
in that place. Compare with this, <scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.49.1" parsed="|Jer|49|1|0|0" passage="Jer 49:1">Jer.
xlix. 1</scripRef>, &amp;c. What can sound more terrible than that
resolution (<scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p6.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.7" parsed="|Ezek|25|7|0|0" passage="Eze 25:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>),
<i>I will destroy thee?</i> For the almighty God is able both <i>to
save and to destroy,</i> and it is <i>a fearful thing to fall into
his hands.</i> Both the threatenings here (<scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p6.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.5 Bible:Ezek.25.7" parsed="|Ezek|25|5|0|0;|Ezek|25|7|0|0" passage="Eze 25:5,7"><i>v.</i> 5 and <i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>) conclude with
this, <i>You shall know that I am the Lord.</i> For, [1.] Thus God
will maintain his own honour, and will make it appear that he is
the God of Israel, though he suffers them for a time to be captives
in Babylon. [2.] Thus he will bring those that were strangers to
him into an acquaintance with him, and it will be a blessed effect
of their calamities. Better know God and be poor than be rich and
ignorant of him.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xxvi-p6.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.8-Ezek.25.17" parsed="|Ezek|25|8|25|17" passage="Eze 25:8-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xxvi-p6.10">
<h4 id="Ez.xxvi-p6.11">Various Nations Threatened. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxvi-p6.12">b. c.</span> 590.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xxvi-p7" shownumber="no">8 Thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxvi-p7.1">God</span>; Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold,
the house of Judah <i>is</i> like unto all the heathen;   9
Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities,
from his cities <i>which are</i> on his frontiers, the glory of the
country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim,   10 Unto
the men of the east with the Ammonites, and will give them in
possession, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the
nations.   11 And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they
shall know that I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxvi-p7.2">Lord</span>.   12 Thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxvi-p7.3">God</span>; Because that Edom hath dealt against the
house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and
revenged himself upon them;   13 Therefore thus saith the Lord
<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxvi-p7.4">God</span>; I will also stretch out mine
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.   14 And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand
of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine
anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance,
saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxvi-p7.5">God</span>.   15 Thus
saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxvi-p7.6">God</span>; Because the
Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a
despiteful heart, to destroy <i>it</i> for the old hatred;  
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxvi-p7.7">God</span>; Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon
the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethims, and destroy the
remnant of the sea coast.   17 And I will execute great
vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that
I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xxvi-p7.8">Lord</span>, when I shall
lay my vengeance upon them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxvi-p8" shownumber="no">Three more of Israel's ill-natured
neighbours are here arraigned, convicted, and condemned to
destruction, for contributing to and triumphing in Jerusalem's
fall.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxvi-p9" shownumber="no">I. The Moabites. Seir, which was the seat
of the Edomites, is joined with them (<scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.8" parsed="|Ezek|25|8|0|0" passage="Eze 25:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), because they said the same as
the Moabites; but they were afterwards reckoned with by themselves,
<scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.12" parsed="|Ezek|25|12|0|0" passage="Eze 25:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. Now
observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxvi-p10" shownumber="no">1. What was the sin of the Moabites; they
said, <i>Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the
heathen.</i> They triumphed, (1.) In the apostasies of Israel, were
please to see them forsake their God and worship idols, and hoped
that in a while their religion would be quite lost and forgotten
and the <i>house of Judah</i> would be <i>like all the heathen,</i>
perfect idolaters. When those that profess religion walk unworthy
of their profession they encourage the enemies of religion to hope
that it will in time sink, and be run down, and quite abandoned;
but let the Moabites know that, though there are those of the house
of Judah who have made themselves <i>like the heathen,</i> yet
there is a remnant that retain their integrity, the religion of the
house of Judah shall recover itself, its peculiarities shall be
preserved, it shall not lose itself <i>among the heathen,</i> but
distinguish itself from them, till it deliver itself honourably
into a better institution. (2.) In the calamities of Israel. They
said, "<i>The house of Judah is like all the heathen,</i> in as bad
a state as they; their God is no more able to deliver them from
this <i>overflowing scourge</i> of these parts of the world than
the gods of the heathen are to deliver them. Where are the promises
they gloried in and all the wonders which they and their fathers
told us of? What the better are they for the covenant of
peculiarity, upon which they so much valued themselves? Those that
looked with so much scorn upon <i>all the heathen</i> are now set
upon a level with them, or rather sunk below them." Note, Those who
judge only by outward appearance are ready to conclude that the
people of God have lost all their privileges when they have lost
their worldly prosperity, which does not follow, for good men, even
in affliction, in captivity among the heathen, have graces and
comforts within sufficient to distinguish them from all the
heathen. Though the event seem one to the <i>righteous and
wicked,</i> yet indeed it is vastly different.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxvi-p11" shownumber="no">2. What should be the punishment of Moab
for this sin; because they triumphed in the overthrow of Judah,
their country shall be in like manner overthrown with that of the
Ammonites, who were guilty of the same sin (<scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.9-Ezek.25.10" parsed="|Ezek|25|9|25|10" passage="Eze 25:9,10"><i>v.</i> 9, 10</scripRef>): "<i>I will open the side
of Moab,</i> will uncover its shoulder, will take away all its
defences, that it may become an easy prey to any that will make a
prey of it." (1.) See here how it shall be exposed; the
frontier-towns, that were its strength and guard, shall be
demolished by the Chaldean forces, and laid open. Some of the
cities are here named, which are said to be <i>the glory of the
country,</i> which they trusted in, and boasted of as impregnable;
these shall decay, be deserted, or betrayed, or fall into the
enemies' hands, so that Moab shall lie exposed, and whoever will
may penetrate into the heart of the country. Note, Those who glory
in any other defence and protection than that of the divine power,
providence, and promise, will sooner or later see cause to be
ashamed of their glorying. (2.) See here to whom it shall be
exposed: <i>The men of the east,</i> when they come to take
possession of the country of the Ammonites, shall seize that of the
Moabites too. God, the Lord of all lands, will give them that land;
for the kingdoms of men he gives to whomsoever he will. The
Arabians, who are shepherds, and live quietly, plain men dwelling
in tents, shall by an overruling Providence be put in possession of
the land of the Moabites, who are soldiers, men of war, and cunning
hunters, that live turbulently. The Chaldeans shall get it by war,
and the Arabians shall enjoy it in peace. Concerning the Ammonites
it is said, They shall no <i>more be remembered among the
nations</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.10" parsed="|Ezek|25|10|0|0" passage="Eze 25:10"><i>v.</i>
10</scripRef>), for they had been accessory to the murder of
Gedaliah, <scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.40.14" parsed="|Jer|40|14|0|0" passage="Jer 40:14">Jer. xl. 14</scripRef>. But
of the Moabites it is said, <i>I will execute judgments upon
Moab;</i> they shall feel the weight of God's displeasure, but
perhaps not to that degree that the Ammonites shall; however, so
far as that <i>they shall know that I am the Lord,</i> that the God
of Israel is a God of power, and that his covenant with his people
is not broken.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxvi-p12" shownumber="no">II. The Edomites, the posterity of Esau,
between whom and Jacob there had been an old enmity. And here
is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxvi-p13" shownumber="no">1. The sin of the Edomites, <scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.12" parsed="|Ezek|25|12|0|0" passage="Eze 25:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. They not only
triumphed in the ruin of Judah and Jerusalem, as the Moabites and
Ammonites had done, but they took advantage from the present
distressed state to which the Jews were reduced to do them some
real mischiefs, probably made inroads upon their frontiers and
plundered their country: <i>Edom has dealt against the house of
Judah by taking vengeance.</i> The Edomites had of old been
tributaries to the Jews, according to the sentence that the elder
should serve the younger. In Jehoram's time they revolted. Amaziah
severely chastised them (<scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.14.7" parsed="|2Kgs|14|7|0|0" passage="2Ki 14:7">2 Kings xiv.
7</scripRef>), and for this they <i>took vengeance.</i> Now they
would pay off all the old scores, and not only incensed the
Babylonians against Jerusalem, crying, <i>Rase it, rase it</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.137.7" parsed="|Ps|137|7|0|0" passage="Ps 137:7">Ps. cxxxvii. 7</scripRef>), but cut
<i>off those that escaped,</i> as we find in the prophecy of
Obadiah, which is wholly directed against Edom, <scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.11-Ezek.25.12" parsed="|Ezek|25|11|25|12" passage="Eze 25:11,12"><i>v.</i> 11, 12</scripRef>, &amp;c. It is called
here <i>revenging a revenge,</i> which intimates that they were not
only eager upon it, but very cruel in it, and recompensed to the
Jews more than double. "Herein he <i>has greatly offended.</i>"
Note, It is a great offence to God for us to revenge ourselves upon
our brother; for God has said, <i>Vengeance is mine.</i> We are
forbidden to <i>revenge</i> or to <i>bear a grudge.</i> Suppose
Judah had been hard upon Edom formerly, it was a base thing for the
Edomites now, in revenge for it, <i>to smite them secretly.</i> But
the Jews had a divine warrant to reign over the Edomites, for that
therefore they ought not to have made reprisals; and it was the
more disingenuous for them to retain the old enmity when God had
particularly commanded his people to forget it. <scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.23.7" parsed="|Deut|23|7|0|0" passage="De 23:7">Deut. xxiii. 7</scripRef>, <i>Thou shalt not abhor an
Edomite.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxvi-p14" shownumber="no">2. The judgments threatened against them
for this sin. God will take them to task for it (<scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.13" parsed="|Ezek|25|13|0|0" passage="Eze 25:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>): <i>I will stretch out my hand
upon Edom.</i> Their country shall be desolate <i>from Teman,</i>
which lay in the south part of it; and <i>they shall fall by the
sword unto Dedan,</i> which lay north; the desolations of war
should go through the nation. (1.) They had taken vengeance, and
therefore God will <i>lay his vengeance</i> upon them (<scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.14" parsed="|Ezek|25|14|0|0" passage="Eze 25:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): <i>They shall know my
vengeance.</i> Those that will not leave it to God to take
vengeance for them may expect that he will take vengeance on them;
and those that will not believe and fear his vengeance shall be
made to know and feel his vengeance; they shall be dealt with
<i>according to God's anger</i> and <i>according to his fury,</i>
not according to the weakness of the instruments that are employed
in it, but according to the strength of the arm that employs them.
(2.) They had taken vengeance on Israel, and God will lay his
vengeance on them <i>by the hand of his people Israel.</i> They
suffered much by the Chaldeans, which seems to be referred to,
<scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.49.8" parsed="|Jer|49|8|0|0" passage="Jer 49:8">Jer. xlix. 8</scripRef>. But besides
that there were <i>saviours</i> to come <i>upon Mount Zion,</i> who
should judge the mount of Esau (<scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Obad.1.21" parsed="|Obad|1|21|0|0" passage="Ob 1:21">Obad.
21</scripRef>), and Israel's Redeemer comes <i>with dyed garments
from Bozrah</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.1" parsed="|Isa|63|1|0|0" passage="Isa 63:1">Isa. lxiii.
1</scripRef>), this implies a promise that Israel should recover
itself again to such a degree as to be in a capacity of curbing the
insolence of its neighbours. And we find (<scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p14.6" osisRef="Bible:1Macc.5.3" parsed="|1Macc|5|3|0|0" passage="1 Mac. v. 3">1 Mac. v. 3</scripRef>) that
<i>Judas Maccabeus fought against the children of Esau in Idumea,
gave them a great overthrow, abated their courage, and took their
spoil;</i> and Josephus says (<i>Antiq.</i> 13.257), that Hircanus
made the Edomites tributaries to Israel. Note, The equity of God's
judgments is to be observed when he not only avenges injuries upon
those that did them, but by those against whom they were done.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xxvi-p15" shownumber="no">III. The Philistines. And, 1. Their sin is
much the same with that of the Edomites: They have <i>dealt by
revenge</i> with the people of Israel, and have <i>taken vengeance
with a despiteful heart,</i> not to disturb them only, but to
<i>destroy them,</i> for <i>the old hatred</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.15" parsed="|Ezek|25|15|0|0" passage="Eze 25:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), the old grudge they bore
them, or (as the margin reads it) <i>with perpetual hatred,</i> a
hatred that began long since and which they resolved to continue.
The anger was implacable: they <i>dealt by revenge,</i> traded in
the acts of malice; it was their constant practice, and their
heart, their spiteful heart, was upon it. 2. Their punishment
likewise is much the same, <scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.16" parsed="|Ezek|25|16|0|0" passage="Eze 25:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>. Those that were for destroying God's people shall
themselves be cut off and destroyed; and (<scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.17" parsed="|Ezek|25|17|0|0" passage="Eze 25:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>) those that were for avenging
themselves shall find that God will <i>execute great vengeance upon
them.</i> This was fulfilled when that country was wasted by the
Chaldean army, not long after the destruction of Jerusalem, which
is foretold, <scripRef id="Ez.xxvi-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.47.1-Jer.47.7" parsed="|Jer|47|1|47|7" passage="Jer 47:1-7">Jer. xlvii</scripRef>.
It was strange that these nations, which bordered upon the land of
Israel, were not alarmed by the success of the Chaldean army, and
made to tremble in the apprehension of their own danger; when their
neighbour's house was on fire it was time to look to their own; but
their impiety and malice made them forget their politics, till God
by his judgments convinced them that the cup was going round, and
they were the less safe for being secure.</p>
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