Ezekiel 25, Four Nations Rejoice at Judah's Defeat

For seven years (and 24 chapters) Ezekiel has been prophesying about the coming destruction of Jerusalem. Now that it has occurred, and the elders living in Babylon have heard the news, the ministry of Ezekiel takes a turn. As the nations around Judah rejoice in the destruction of that country, Ezekiel has a message for them.

Ezekiel 25:1-5, Ammon too

The word of the LORD came to me:

"Son of man, set your face against the Ammonites and prophesy against them. Say to them, `Hear the word of the Sovereign LORD. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you said "Aha!" over my sanctuary when it was desecrated and over the land of Israel when it was laid waste and over the people of Judah when they went into exile, therefore I am going to give you to the people of the East as a possession. They will set up their camps and pitch their tents among you; they will eat your fruit and drink your milk.

I will turn Rabbah into a pasture for camels and Ammon into a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the  LORD.   

Ammon will also be judged and destroyed. The capital, Rabbah, will become pastureland. The Ammonites should not have rejoiced over the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.

Rabbah was probably at the site of modern Amman, Jordan.

Ezekiel 25:6-7, Because you cheered...

For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: 

Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet, rejoicing with all the malice of your heart against the land of Israel, therefore I will stretch out my hand against you and give you as plunder to the nations. I will cut you off from the nations and exterminate you from the countries. I will destroy you, and you will know that I am the LORD.'"   

The people of Ammon are portrayed as celebrating by clapping their hands and stomping their feet. Delight in the destruction of others (especially with powerful Babylonia off to the east) is not a good idea.

Ezekiel 25:8-11, Moab

"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: 

`Because Moab and Seir said, "Look, the house of Judah has become like all the other nations," therefore I will expose the flank of Moab, beginning at its  frontier towns--Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon and Kiriathaim--the glory of that land. I will give Moab along with the Ammonites to the people of the East as a possession, so that the Ammonites will not be remembered among the nations; and I will inflict punishment on Moab. Then they will know that I am the LORD.'"   

Moab, home of Mount Seir, will be judged just like Ammon. 

According to Genesis 19:30-38, the Moabites and Ammonites descended from the incestuous relationship of Lot and his two daughters. Both tribes were longtime enemies of the descendants of Jacob/Israel.

Ezekiel 25:12-14, Edom

"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: 

`Because Edom took revenge on the house of Judah and became very guilty by doing so, therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will stretch out my hand against Edom and kill its men and their animals. I will lay it waste, and from Teman to Dedan they will fall by the sword. I will take vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they will deal with Edom in accordance with my anger and my wrath; they will know my vengeance, declares  the Sovereign LORD.'"   

Edom, which took advantage of Judah's defeat, will also feel God's wrath. If one were to look down on a map of the ANE and beginning with Ammon,  go in a clockwise circle, name nations bordering Judah, they would name Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre. (This online article at the Biblical Archaeology Society, describes the ancient kingdoms of Ammon, Moab and Edom.) The Edomites were descendants of Esau, brother of Jacob. These tribes all had close connections to the Israelites.

Ezekiel 25:15-17, Philistia

"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: 

`Because the Philistines acted in vengeance and took revenge with malice in their hearts, and with ancient hostility sought to destroy Judah, therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Kerethites and destroy those remaining along the  coast. I will carry out great vengeance on them and punish them in my wrath. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I take vengeance on them.'"

As Edom took advantage of Judah's defeat, so too did Philistia. Because of this, YHWH will show his power and wreck vengeance on Philistia. 

The term Kerethites is probably a synecdoche, for Philistia. Replacing "Philistia" with "Kerethites" is wordplay, as the Hebrew word translated "cut off" is karath; God will "karath" the Kerethites. 

Faraway in Jerusalem, at about the same time, Jeremiah has a number of prophecies about the destruction of Egypt, Judah, Ammon, Moab and Edom. (See Jeremiah 9:25-26, 25:1-26, 27:1-11 and 48:1-49:22.) According to the ancient Antiquities of Josephus, Book 10, chapter 9, paragraph 7, in the fifth year after the fall of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar conquered Ammon and Moab and then Egypt.