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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Ezekiel XXXV].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>E Z E K I E L.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXXV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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It was promised, in the foregoing chapter, that when the time to favour
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Zion, yea, the set time, should come, especially the time for sending
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the Messiah and setting up his kingdom in the world, God would cause
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the enemies of his church to cease and the blessings and comforts of
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the church to abound. This chapter enlarges upon the former promise,
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concerning the destruction of the enemies of the church; the next
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chapter upon the latter promise, the replenishing of the church with
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blessings. Mount Seir (that is, Edom) is the enemy prophesied against
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in this chapter, but fitly put here, as in the prophecy of Obadiah, for
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all the enemies of the church; for, as those all walked in the way of
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Cain that hated Abel, so those all walked in the way of Esau who hated
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Jacob, but over whom Jacob, by virtue of a particular blessing, was to
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have dominion. Now here we have,
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I. The sin charged upon the Edomites, and that was their spite and
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malice to Israel,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:5,10-13">ver. 5, 10-13</A>.
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II. The ruin threatened, that should come upon them for this sin. God
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will be against them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:3">ver. 3</A>)
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and then their country shall be laid waste
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:4">ver. 4</A>),
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depopulated, and made quite desolate
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:6-9">ver. 6-9</A>),
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and left so when other nations that had been wasted should recover
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themselves,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:14,15">ver. 14, 15</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Eze35_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze35_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze35_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze35_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze35_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze35_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze35_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze35_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze35_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Fall of Edom.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 587.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Moreover the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came unto me, saying,
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2 Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy
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against it,
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3 And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; Behold, O mount
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Seir, I <I>am</I> against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand
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against thee, and I will make thee most desolate.
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4 I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and
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thou shalt know that I <I>am</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed <I>the
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blood of</I> the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the
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time of their calamity, in the time <I>that their</I> iniquity <I>had</I>
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an end:
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6 Therefore, <I>as</I> I live, saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>, I will prepare
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thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not
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hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.
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7 Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from
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it him that passeth out and him that returneth.
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8 And I will fill his mountains with his slain <I>men:</I> in thy
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hills, and in thy valleys, and in all thy rivers, shall they fall
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that are slain with the sword.
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9 I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall
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not return: and ye shall know that I <I>am</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Mount Seir was mentioned as partner with Moab in one of the
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threatenings we had before
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+25:8"><I>ch.</I> xxv. 8</A>);
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but here it is convicted and condemned by itself, and has woes of its
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own. The prophet must boldly <I>set his face against Edom,</I> and
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<I>prophesy</I> particularly <I>against it;</I> for the God of Israel
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has said, <I>O Mount Seir! I am against thee.</I> Note, Those that have
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God against them have the word of God against them, and the face of his
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ministers, nor dare they prophesy any good to them, but evil. The
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prophet must tell the Edomites that God has a controversy with them,
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and let them know,</P>
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<P>
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I. What is the cause and ground of that controversy,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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God espouses his people's cause, and will plead it, takes what is done
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against them as done against himself, and will reckon for it; and it is
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upon their account that God now contends with the Edomites.
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1. Because of the enmity they had against the people of God, that was
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rooted in the heart. "Thou hast had a <I>perpetual hatred</I> to them,
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to the very name of an Israelite." The Edomites kept up an
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<I>hereditary</I> malice against Israel, the same that Esau bore to
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Jacob, because he got the birth-right and the blessing. Esau had been
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reconciled to Jacob, had embraced and kissed him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+33:1-20">Gen. xxxiii.</A>),
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and we do not find that ever he quarrelled with him again. But the
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posterity of Esau would never be reconciled to the seed of Jacob, but
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hated them with a perpetual hatred. Note, Children will be more apt to
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imitate the vices than the virtues of their parents, and to tread in
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the steps of their sin than in the steps of their repentance. Parents
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should therefore be careful not to set their children any bad example,
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for though, through the grace of God, they may return, and prevent the
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mischief of what they have done amiss to themselves, they may not be
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able to obviate the bad influence of it upon their children. It is
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strange how deeply rooted national antipathies sometimes are, and how
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long they last; but it is not to be wondered at that profane Edomites
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hate pious Israelites, since the old <I>enmity</I> that was put between
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the <I>seed of the woman</I> and the seed of the serpent
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+3:15">Gen. iii. 15</A>)
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will continue to the end. <I>Marvel not if the world hate you.</I>
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2. Because of the injuries they had done to the people of God. They
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<I>shed their blood by the force of the sword, in the time of their
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calamity;</I> they did not attack them as fair and open enemies, but
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laid wait for them, to <I>cut off</I> those of them that had escaped
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ob+1:14">Obad. 14</A>),
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or they drove them back upon the sword of the pursuers, by which they
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fell. It was cowardly, as well as barbarous, to take advantage of their
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distress; and for neighbours, with whom they had lived peaceably, to
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<I>smite them secretly</I> when strangers openly invaded them. It was
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in the time <I>that their iniquity had an end,</I> when the measure of
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it was full and destruction came. Note, Even those that suffer justly,
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and for their sins, are yet to be pitied and not trampled upon. If the
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father corrects one child, he expects the rest should tremble at it,
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not triumph in it.</P>
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<P>
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II. What should be the effect and issue of that controversy. If God
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stretch out his hand against the country of Edom, he will <I>make it
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most desolate,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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<I>Desolation and desolation.</I>
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1. The inhabitants shall be slain with the sword
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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<I>I will prepare thee unto blood.</I> Edom shall be gradually
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weakened, and so be the more easily conquered, and the enemy shall
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gather strength the more effectually to subdue it. Thus preparation is
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in the making a great while before for this destruction. <I>Thou hast
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not hated blood;</I> it implies, "Thou hast delighted in it and
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thirsted after it." Those that do not keep up a rooted hatred of sin,
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when a temptation to it is very strong, will be in danger of yielding
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to it. Some read it, "<I>Unless thou hatest blood</I>" (that is,
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"unless thou dost repent, and put off this bloody disposition) <I>blood
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shall pursue thee.</I>" And then it is an intimation that the judgment
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may yet be prevented by a thorough reformation. <I>If he turn not, he
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will whet his sword,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+7:12">Ps. vii. 12</A>.
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But, if he turn, he will lay it by. <I>Blood shall pursue thee,</I>
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the <I>guilt</I> of the blood which thou hast shed or the
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<I>judgment</I> of blood; thy blood-thirsty enemies shall pursue thee,
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which way soever thou seekest to make thy escape. A great and general
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slaughter shall be made of the Idumeans, such as had been foretold
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+34:6">Isa. xxxiv. 6</A>):
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The <I>mountains and hills, the valleys and rivers,</I> shall be
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<I>filled with the slain,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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The pursuers shall overtake those that flee and shall give no quarter,
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but put them all to the sword. Note, When God comes to make inquisition
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for blood those that have shed the blood of his Israel shall have blood
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given them to drink, for they are worthy. <I>Satia te sanguine quem
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sitisti--Glut thyself with blood, after which thou hast thirsted.</I>
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2. The country shall be laid waste. The cities shall be destroyed
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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the <I>country made most desolate</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>);
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for God will <I>cut off</I> from both him that <I>passes out</I> and
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<I>him that returns;</I> and when the inhabitants are cut off that
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should keep the cities in repair they will decay and go into ruins, and
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when those are cut off that should till the land that will soon be
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over-run with briers and thorns and become a wilderness. Note, Those
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that help forward the desolations of Israel may expect to be themselves
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made desolate. And that which completes the judgment is that Edom shall
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be made <I>perpetual desolations</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>)
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and the cities shall never return to their former state, nor the
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inhabitants of them come back from their captivity and dispersion.
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Note, Those that have a perpetual enmity to God and his people, as the
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carnal mind has, can expect no other than to be made a perpetual
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desolation. Implacable malice will justly be punished with irreparable
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ruin.</P>
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<A NAME="Eze35_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze35_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze35_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze35_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze35_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Eze35_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Fall of Edom.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 587.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>10 Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two
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countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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was there:
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11 Therefore, <I>as</I> I live, saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>, I will even do
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according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou
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hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself
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known among them, when I have judged thee.
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12 And thou shalt know that I <I>am</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, <I>and that</I> I have
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heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the
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mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are
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given us to consume.
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13 Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have
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multiplied your words against me: I have heard <I>them.</I>
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14 Thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I
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will make thee desolate.
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15 As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of
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Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou
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shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, <I>even</I> all of
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it: and they shall know that I <I>am</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. A further account of the sin of the Edomites, and their bad conduct
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towards the people of God. We find the church complaining of them for
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setting on the Babylonians, and irritating them against Jerusalem,
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saying, <I>Rase it, rase it,</I> down with it, down with it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+137:7">Ps. cxxxvii. 7</A>),
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inflaming a rage that needed no spur; here it is further charged upon
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them that they triumphed in Jerusalem's ruin and in the desolations of
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the country. Many <I>blasphemies</I> they spoke against the
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<I>mountains of Israel,</I> saying, with pride and pleasure, <I>They
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are laid desolate,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
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Note, The troubles of God's church, as they give proofs of the
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constancy and fidelity of its friends, so they discover and draw out
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the corruptions of its enemies, in whom there then appears more brutish
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malice than one would have thought of. Now their triumphing in
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Jerusalem's ruin is here said to proceed,
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1. From a sinful passion against the people of Israel; from
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<I>anger</I> and <I>envy,</I> and <I>hatred against them</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
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that <I>perpetual hatred</I> spoken of
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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Though they were not a match for them, and therefore could not do them
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a mischief themselves, yet they were glad when the Chaldeans did them a
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mischief.
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2. From a sinful appetite to the land of Israel. They pleased
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themselves with hopes that when the people of Israel were destroyed
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they should be let into the possession of their country, which they had
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so often grudged and envied them. They thought they could make out
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something of a title to it, <I>ob defectum sanguinis--for want of other
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heirs.</I> If Jacob's issue fail, they think that they are next in the
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entail, and that the remainder will be to his brother's issue:
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"<I>These two nations of Judah and Israel shall be mine.</I> Now is the
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time for me to put in for them." At least they hope to come in as first
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occupants, being near neighbours: <I>We will possess it</I> when it is
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deserted. <I>Ceditur occupanti--Let us get possession and that will be
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title enough.</I> Note, Those have the spirit of Edomites who desire
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the death of others because they hope to get by it, or are pleased with
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their failing because they expect to come into their business. When we
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see the vanity of the world in the disappointments, losses, and
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crosses, that others meet with in it, instead of showing ourselves,
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upon such an occasion, greedy of it, we should rather be made thereby
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to sit more loose to it, and both take our affections off it and lower
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our expectations from it. But in this case of the Edomites' coveting
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the land of Israel, and gaping for it, there was a particular affront
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to God, when they said, "<I>These lands are given us to devour,</I> and
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we shall have our bellies full of their riches." God says, <I>You have
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boasted against me and have multiplied your words against me;</I> for
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they expected possession upon a vacancy, because Israel was driven out,
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<I>whereas the Lord was</I> still <I>there,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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His temple indeed was burnt, and the other tokens of his presence were
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gone; but his promise to give that land to the seed of Jacob for an
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inheritance was not made void, but remained in full force and virtue;
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and by that promise he did in effect still keep possession for Israel,
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till they should in due time be restored to it. That was Immanuel's
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land
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+8:8">Isa. viii. 8</A>);
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in that land he was to be born, and therefore that people shall
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continue in it of whom he is to be born, till he has passed his time in
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it, and then let who will take it. <I>The Lord is there,</I> the Lord
|
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Jesus is to be there; and therefore Israel's discontinuance of
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possession is no defeasance of their right, but it shall be kept for
|
|
them, and they shall have, hold, and enjoy it by virtue of the divine
|
|
grant, till the promise of this Canaan shall by the Messiah be changed
|
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into the promise of a far better. Note, It is a piece of presumption
|
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highly offensive to God for Edomites to lay claim to those privileges
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and comforts that are peculiar to God's chosen Israel and are reserved
|
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for them. It is <I>blasphemy against the mountains of Israel,</I> the
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holy mountains, to say, because they are for the present made a prey of
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and <I>trodden under foot of the Gentiles</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+11:2">Rev. xi. 2</A>),
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even the <I>holy city</I> itself, that therefore the <I>Lord has
|
|
forsaken them,</I> their <I>God has forgotten them.</I> The apostle
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will by no means admit such a thought as this, that <I>God hath cast
|
|
away his people,</I>
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:1">Rom. xi. 1</A>.
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No; though they are cast down for a time, they are not cast off for
|
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ever. Those <I>reproach the Lord</I> who say they are.</P>
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<P>
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II. The notice God took of the barbarous insolence of the Edomites, and
|
|
the doom passed upon them for it: <I>I have heard all thy
|
|
blasphemies,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
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|
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And again
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
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|
|
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<I>You have multiplied your words against me,</I> and <I>I have heard
|
|
them,</I> I have observed them, I have kept an account of them. Note,
|
|
In the multitude of words, not one escapes God's cognizance; let men
|
|
speak ever so much, ever so fast, though they multiply words, which
|
|
they themselves regard not, but forget immediately, yet none of them
|
|
are lost in the crowd, not the most idle words; but God hears them, and
|
|
will be able to charge the sinner with them. All the haughty and hard
|
|
speeches, particularly, which are spoken against the Israel of God, the
|
|
words which are <I>magnified</I> (as it is in the margin,
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>)
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|
|
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as well as the words which are multiplied, God takes notice of. For, as
|
|
the most trifling words are not below his cognizance, so the most
|
|
daring are not above his rebuke. <I>I have heard all thy
|
|
blasphemies.</I> This is a good reason why we should bear reproach as
|
|
if we heard it not, because <I>God will hear,</I>
|
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|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+38:13,15">Ps. xxxviii. 13, 15</A>.
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God has heard the Edomites' blasphemy; let them therefore hear their
|
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doom,
|
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|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:14,15"><I>v.</I> 14, 15</A>.
|
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|
It was a national sin (the blasphemies charged upon them were the sense
|
|
and language of all the Edomites), and therefore shall be punished with
|
|
a national desolation. And,
|
|
|
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1. It shall be a distinguishing punishment. As God has peculiar
|
|
favours for Israelites, so he has peculiar plagues for Edomites: so
|
|
that "<I>When the whole earth rejoices I will make thee desolate;</I>
|
|
when other nations have their desolations repaired, to their joy, thine
|
|
shall be <I>perpetual,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. The punishment shall answer to the sin: "<I>As thou didst rejoice in
|
|
the desolation of the house of Israel,</I> God will give thee enough of
|
|
desolation; since thou art so fond of it, <I>thou shalt be desolate; I
|
|
will make thee so.</I>" Note, Those who, instead of weeping with the
|
|
mourners, make a jest of their grievances, may justly be made to weep
|
|
like the mourners, and themselves to feel the weight, to feel the
|
|
smart, of those grievances which they set so light by. Some read
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>
|
|
|
|
so as to complete the resemblance between the sin and the punishment:
|
|
<I>The whole earth shall rejoice when I make thee desolate, as thou
|
|
didst rejoice when Israel</I> was made desolate. Those that are glad
|
|
at the death and fall of others may expect that others will be glad of
|
|
their death, of their fall.
|
|
|
|
3. In the destruction of the enemies of the church God designs his own
|
|
glory, and we may be sure that he will not come short of his design.
|
|
|
|
(1.) That which he intends is to manifest himself, as a just and
|
|
jealous God, firm to his covenant and faithful to his people and their
|
|
injured cause
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I will make myself known among them when I have judged thee.</I> The
|
|
Lord is and will be known by the judgments which he executes.
|
|
|
|
(2.) His intention shall be fully answered; not only his own people
|
|
shall be made to know it to their comfort, but even the Edomites
|
|
themselves, and all the other enemies of his name and people, <I>shall
|
|
know that he is the Lord,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+35:4,9,15"><I>v.</I> 4, 9, 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
As the works of creation and common providence demonstrate that there
|
|
is a God, so the care taken of Israel shows that Jehovah, the God of
|
|
Israel, is that God alone, the true and living God.</P>
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