1 7<\/strong>. Prophecy against Ammon<\/p>\n The name of this people is usually the children of Ammon (Beni Ammon). This is the name both of the people and the country (in the latter case construed as fem. Eze 25:3<\/em><\/span><\/em> ; Eze 25:10<\/em><\/span><\/em>). Ammon was recognised by Israel as a distant member of the same family with themselves (Gen 19:38<\/span>). At an early period the people was settled on the E. of the Jordan, between the Arnon and the Jabbok (Jdg 11:13<\/span>), but before the Exodus they had been dispossessed of this territory by Amorites from the W. of the Jordan, and pushed eastward towards the desert (Num 21:21<\/span>), though they could not forget their ancient claims to their former seat, even when Israel had wrested it from the Amorites (Jdg 11:19<\/span>; cf. Jos 13:25<\/span>). The relations of Ammon to Israel were for the most part unfriendly. In the times of the Judges they harassed the tribes E. of the Jordan, and were crushed by Jephthah (Judges 10-11). Saul signalised his early reign by defeating their king, who had laid siege to Jabesh in Gilead (1 Samuel 11<\/span>). Owing to the affront offered to his ambassadors David invaded the country and took cruel vengeance on the inhabitants (2Sa 10:1<\/span>; 2Sa 11:14<\/span>; 2Sa 12:26<\/span>). The Ammonites continued when opportunity offered to carry on a savage warfare with the tribes across the Jordan (Amo 1:13<\/span>); and when these were carried away by the Assyrians they naturally in company with Moab seized the depopulated country (Jer 49:1<\/span>; Zep 2:8<\/span>). During the struggle of Judah with Babylon they shewed the old mischievous animosity (2Ki 24:2<\/span>), and after the fall of the city the treacherous murder of Gedaliah the Babylonian governor by Ishmael was instigated by their king (Jer 40:14<\/span>). After the Return Ammonites are again found obstructing the pious aspirations of the restored community (Neh 4:3<\/span>; cf. Neh 2:10<\/span>; cf. Neh 2:19<\/span>), and true to their old instincts they appear on the side of the Syrians in the Maccabean war of independence ( 1Ma 5:6 ).<\/p>\n It was a distinct part of scriptural prophecy to address pagan nations. In Isaiah Isa. 1319, Jeremiah Jer. 4651, and here Ezek. 2532, one section is specially devoted to a collection of such prophecies. Every such prediction had the general purpose of exhibiting the conflict ever waging between the servants of God and the powers of the world, the struggle in which the Church of Christ has still to wrestle against her foes Eph 6:12<\/span>, but in which she will surely prevail.<\/P> It was a distinct part of scriptural prophecy to address pagan nations. In Isaiah Isa. 1319, Jeremiah Jer. 4651, and here Ezek. 2532, one section is specially devoted to a collection of such prophecies. Every such prediction had the general purpose of exhibiting the conflict ever waging between the servants of God and the powers of the world, the struggle in which the Church of Christ has still to wrestle against her foes Eph 6:12<\/span>, but in which she will surely prevail.<\/P> This series of prophecies, with one exception, was delivered at the time of the fall of Jerusalem; some shortly before, and some shortly after, the capture of the city. They were collected together to illustrate their original purpose of warning the nations not to exult in their neighbors fall. Seven nations are addressed, which have had most contact with the children of Israel – on their eastern borders Moab and Ammon, to the south, Edom, on the south-west Philistia, northward Tyre (the merchant city) and the more ancient Sidon, and lastly Egypt, alternately the scourge and the false stay of the chosen people. The number seven is symbolic of completeness. Seven prophecies against Egypt the chief of seven nations, denote the completeness of the overthrow of the pagan power, the antagonist of the kingdom of God. While other prophets hold out to these pagan nations some prospect of future mercy (e. g., Isa 16:14<\/span>; Jer 49:6<\/span>, Jer 49:11<\/span>), Ezekiel speaks of their complete ruin. He was contemplating national ruin. In the case of Jerusalem there would be national restoration, but in the case of the pagan no such recovery. The national ruin was irretrievable; the remnant to whom the other prophets hold out hopes of mercy were to find it as individuals gathered into Gods Church, not as nations to be again set up. Ezekiel does not, like other prophets, prophesy against Babylon; it was his mission to show that for the moment, Babylon was the righteous instrument of the divine wrath, doing Gods work in punishing His foes. In prophesying against foreign nations, Ezekiel often adopts the language of those who preceded him.<\/P> In Ezek. 25<\/span>, the four nations most closely connected with one another by geographical position and by contact, are addressed in a few brief sentences concluding with the same refrain – Ye shall know that I am the Lord (e. g. Eze 25:5<\/span>). This prophecy was delivered immediately after the capture of the city by Nebuchadnezzar, and so is later, in point of time, than some of the prophecies that follow it.<\/P> The Ammonites were inveterate foes of the descendants of Abraham.<\/P> Eze 25:4<\/B><\/span><\/P> Men of the east – <\/B>The wild wandering Arabs who should come in afterward upon the ruined land. The name was a common term for the nomadic tribes of the desert. Compare Isa 13:20<\/span>.<\/P> Palaces – <\/B>encampments. The tents and folds of nomadic tribes. After subjugation by Nebuchadnezzar Eze 21:28<\/span>, the land was subjected to various masters. The Graeco-Egyptian kings founded a city on the site of Rabbah Eze 25:5<\/span>, called Philadelphia, from Ptolemy Philadelphus. In later times, Arabs from the east have completed the doom pronounced against Rabbah.<\/P> Eze 25:7<\/B><\/span><\/P> For a spoil – <\/B>Or, for a portion.<\/P> <\/p>\n Eze 25:1-7<\/span><\/p>\n Set thy face against the Ammonites.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Prophecies against foreign nations<\/strong><\/p>\n At the outset it must be understood that prophecies of this kind form part of Jehovahs message to Israel. Although they are usually cast in the form of direct address to foreign peoples, this must not lead us to imagine that they were intended for actual publication in the countries to which they refer. A prophets real audience always consisted of his own countrymen, whether his discourse was about themselves or about their neighbours. And it is easy to see that it was impossible to declare the purpose of God concerning Israel in words that came home to mens business and bosoms, without taking account of the state and the destiny of other nations. Just as it would not be possible nowadays to forecast the future of Egypt without alluding to the fate of the Ottoman Empire, so it was not possible then to describe the future of Israel in the concrete manner characteristic of the prophets without indicating the place reserved for those peoples with whom it had close intercourse. Besides this, a large part of the national consciousness of Israel was made up of interests, friendly or the reverse, in neighbouring states. We cannot read the utterances of the prophets with regard to any of these nationalities without seeing that they often appeal to perceptions deeply lodged in the popular mind, which could be utilised to convey the spiritual lessons which the prophets desired to teach. It must not be supposed, however, that such prophecies are in any degree the expression of national vanity or jealousy. What the prophets aim at is to elevate the thoughts of Israel to the sphere of eternal truths of the kingdom of God; and it is only in so far as these can be made to touch the conscience of the nation at this point that they appeal to what we may call its international sentiments. Now, the question we have to ask is, What spiritual purpose for Israel is served by the announcements of the destiny of the outlying heathen populations? Speaking generally, prophecies of this class had a moral value for two reasons. In the first place, they re-echo and confirm the sentence of judgment passed on Israel herself. They do this in two ways: they illustrate the principle on which Jehovah deals with His own people, and His character as the righteous judge of men. Wherever a sinful kingdom was found, whether in Israel or elsewhere, that kingdom must be removed from its place among the nations. But again, not only was the principle of the judgment emphasised, but the manner in which it was to be carried out was more clearly exhibited. In all cases the pre-exilic prophets announce that the overthrow of the Hebrew states was to be effected either by the Assyrians or the Babylonians. These great world powers were in succession the instruments fashioned and used by Jehovah for the performance of His great work in the earth. Now it was manifest that if this anticipation was well founded, it involved the overthrow of all the nations in immediate contact with Israel. The people of Israel or Judah were thus taught to look on their fate as involved in a great scheme of Divine providence, overturning all the existing relations which gave them a place among the nations of the world, and preparing for a new development of the purpose of Jehovah in the future. When we turn to that ideal future we find a second and more suggestive aspect of these prophecies against the heathen. All the prophets teach that the destiny of Israel is inseparably bound up with the future of Gods kingdom on earth. What men needed to be taught then, and what we need to remember still, is that each nation holds its position in subordination to the ends of Gods government; that no power or wisdom or refinement will save a state from destruction when it ceases to serve the interests of His kingdom. The foreign peoples that come under the survey of the prophets are as yet strangers to the true God, and are therefore destitute of that which could secure them a place in the reconstruction of political relationships of which Israel is to be the religious centre. And whether any particular nation should survive to participate in the glories of that latter day depends on the view taken of its present condition and its fitness for incorporation in the universal empire of Jehovah soon to be established. We now know that this was not the form in which Jehovahs purpose of salvation was destined to be realised in the history of the world. Since the coming of Christ the people of Israel has lost its distinctive and central position as the bearer of the hopes and promises of the true religion. In its place we have a spiritual kingdom of men united by faith in Jesus Christ, and in the worship of one Father in spirit and in truth–a kingdom which from its very nature can have no local centre or political organisation. Hence the conversion of the heathen can no longer be conceived as national homage paid to the seat of Jehovahs sovereignty on Zion; nor is the unfolding of the Divine plan of universal salvation bound up with the extinction of the nationalities which once symbolised the hostility of the world to the kingdom of God. This fact has an important bearing on the question of the fulfilment of the foreign prophecies of the Old Testament. As concrete embodiments of the eternal principles exhibited in the rise and fall of nations, they have an abiding significance for the Church in all ages; but the actual working out of these principles in history could not, in the nature of things, be complete within the limits of the world known to the inhabitants of Judaea. If we are to look for their ideal fulfilment, we shall only find it in the progressive victory of Christianity over all forms of error and superstition, and in the dedication of all the resources of human civilisation–its wealth, its commercial enterprise, its political power–to the advancement of the kingdom of our God and His Christ. (John Skinner, M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n CHAPTER XXV <\/P> This chapter contains threatenings of the heavy judgments of<\/I><\/P> God against the Ammonites<\/I>, 1-7;<\/P> Moabites<\/I>, 8-11;<\/P> Edomites<\/I>, 12-14;<\/P> and Philistines<\/I>, 15-17;<\/P> on account of their hatred to his people, and their insulting<\/I><\/P> them in the time of their distress. These prophecies were<\/I><\/P> fulfilled by the instrumentality of Nebuchadnezzar, about<\/I> five<\/P> years after the destruction of Jerusalem. The same events were<\/I><\/P> predicted by several of the other prophets, as may be seen from<\/I><\/P> the citation of parallel texts in the margin.<\/I> <\/P> NOTES ON CHAP. XXV<\/P> <\/P> Verse 1<\/span>. The word of the Lord<\/B><\/I>] The chronological order of this chapter is after Eze 33:21<\/span>, &c. See Abp. Newcome<\/I>.<\/P> <\/p>\n Though he had order no more yet awhile to prophesy against the Jews, he was to be dumb as to them, yet he hath commission to foretell sad tidings to other nations round about the Jews. <\/P> <\/p>\n The word of the Lord came unto me<\/strong>,…. After he had done prophesying to the Jews, he is bid to prophesy against the Gentiles, the nations that lay nearest the Jews: saying<\/strong>; as follows:<\/p>\n Against the Ammonites<\/p>\n Eze 25:1<\/span>. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, <\/em> Eze 25:2<\/span>. Son of man, direct thy face towards the sons of Ammon, and prophesy against them, <\/em> Eze 25:3<\/span>. And say to the sons of Ammon, Hear ye the word of the Lord Jehovah! Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thou sayest, Aha! concerning my sanctuary, that it is profaned; and concerning the land of Israel, that it is laid waste; and concerning the house of Judah, that they have gone into captivity; <\/em> Eze 25:4<\/span>. Therefore, behold, I will give thee to the sons of the east for a possession, that they may pitch their tent-villages in thee, and erect their dwellings in thee; they shall eat thy fruits, and they shall drink thy milk. <\/em> Eze 25:5<\/span>. And Rabbah will I make a camel-ground, and the sons of Ammon a resting-place for flocks; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. <\/em> Eze 25:6<\/span>. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thou hast clapped thy hand, and stamped with thy foot, and hast rejoiced in soul with all thy contempt concerning the house of Israel, <\/em> Eze 25:7<\/span>. Therefore, behold, I will stretch out my hand against thee, and give thee to the nations for booty, and cut thee off from the peoples, and exterminate thee from the lands; I will destroy thee, that thou mayst learn that I am Jehovah.<\/em> – In Eze 21:28<\/span>., when predicting the expedition of Nebuchadnezzar against Jerusalem, Ezekiel had already foretold the destruction of the Ammonites, so that these verses are simply a resumption and confirmation of the earlier prophecy. In the passage referred to, Ezekiel, like Zephaniah before him (Zep 2:8<\/span>, Zep 2:10<\/span>), mentions their reviling of the people of God as the sin for which they are to be punished with destruction. This reviling, in which their hatred of the divine calling of Israel found vent, was the radical sin of Ammon. On the occasion of Judah’s fall, it rose even to contemptuous and malicious joy at the profanation of the sanctuary of Jehovah by the destruction of the temple (a comparison with Eze 24:21<\/span> will show that this is the sense in which is to be understood), at the devastation of the land of Israel, and at the captivity of Judah, – in other words, at the destruction of the religious and political existence of Israel as the people of God. The profanation of the sanctuary is mentioned first, to intimate that the hostility to Israel, manifested by the Ammonites on every occasion that presented itself (for proofs, see the comm. on Zep 2:8<\/span>), had its roots not so much in national antipathies, as in antagonism to the sacred calling of Israel. As a punishment for this, they are not only to lose their land (Eze 25:4<\/span> and Eze 25:5<\/span>), but to be cut off from the number of the nations (Eze 25:6<\/span> and Eze 25:7<\/span>). The Lord will give up their land, with its productions, for a possession to the sons of the east, i.e., according to Gen 25:13-18<\/span>, to the Arabs, the Bedouins (for , see the comm. on Jdg 6:3<\/span> and Job 1:3<\/span>). The Piel<\/em> , although only occurring here, is not to be rejected as critically suspicious, and to be changed into Kal<\/em>, as Hitzig proposes. The Kal<\/em> would be unsuitable, because the subject of the sentence can only be , and not ; and in the Kal<\/em> has an intransitive sense. For , tent-villages of nomads, see the comm. on Gen 25:16<\/span>. , dwellings, are the separate tents of the shepherds. In the last clauses of Eze 25:4<\/span>, is repeated for the sake of emphasis; and Hitzig’s opinion, that the first corresponds to the subject in the clause ‘ , the second to that in , is to be rejected as a marvellous flight of imagination, which approaches absurdity in the assertion that signifies the folds, i.e., the animals, of the land. Along with the fruit of the land, i.e., the produce of the soil, milk is also mentioned as a production of pastoral life, and the principal food of nomads. On the wealth of the Ammonites in flocks and herds, see Jdg 6:5<\/span>. The words are addressed to Ammon, as a land or kingdom, and hence the feminine suffix. The capital will also share the fate of the land. Rabbah<\/em> (see the comm. on Deu 3:11<\/span>) will become a camel-ground, a waste spot where camels lie down and feed. This has been almost literally fulfilled. The ruins of Ammn<\/em> are deserted by men, and Seetzen found Arabs with their camels not far off (vid., von Raumer, Palestine<\/em>, p. 268). In the parallel clause, the sons of Ammon, i.e., the Ammonites, are mentioned instead of their land.<\/p>\n In Eze 25:6<\/span> and Eze 25:7<\/span>, the Lord announces to the nation of the Ammonites the destruction that awaits them, and reiterates with still stronger emphasis the sin which occasioned it, namely, the malicious delight they had manifested at Israel’s fall. is strengthened by : with all thy contempt in the soul, i.e., with all the contempt which thy soul could cherish. In Eze 25:7<\/span> the . . occasions some difficulty. The Keri<\/em> has substituted , for booty for the nations (cf. Eze 26:5<\/span>); and all the ancient versions have adopted this. Consequently might be a copyist’s error for ; and in support of this the circumstance might be adduced, that in Eze 47:13<\/span>, where stands for , we have unquestionably a substitution of for . But if the Chetib<\/em> be correct, the word is to be explained – as it has been by Benfey ( Die Montasnamen<\/em>, p. 194) and Gildemeister (in Lassen’s Zeitschrift fr die Kunde des Morgenlandes<\/em>, iv. 1, p. 213ff.) – from the Sanscrit bha=ga , pars , portio<\/em>, and has passed into the Semitic languages from the Aryan, like the Syriac bagaa’ , esca<\/em>, which P. Boetticher ( Horae aram <\/em>. p. 21) has correctly traced to the Sanscrit bhaj , conquere<\/em>. – The executors of the judgment are not named; for the threat that God will give up the land of the Ammonites to the Bedouins for their possession, does not imply that they are to exterminate the Ammonites. On the contrary, a comparison of this passage with Amo 1:13-15<\/span> and Jer 49:1-5<\/span>, where the Ammonites are threatened not only with the devastation of their land, but also with transportation into exile, will show that the Chaldeans are to be thought of as executing the judgment. (See the comm. on Eze 25:11<\/span>.)<\/p>\n Various Nations Threatened.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD> B. C.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> 590.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE> 1 The word of the LORD<\/B> 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 GOD<\/B>; Thus saith the Lord GOD<\/B>; 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 am<\/I> the LORD<\/B>. 6 For thus saith the Lord GOD<\/B>; Because thou hast clapped 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 am<\/I> the LORD<\/B>.<\/P> Here, I. The prophet is ordered to address himself to the Ammonites, in the name of the Lord Jehovah<\/I> the 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 set his face against the Ammonites,<\/I> for he is God’s representative as a prophet, and thus he must signify that God set his face against them,<\/I> for the face of the Lord is against those that do evil,<\/I> Ps. xxxiv. 16<\/I><\/span>. 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 set his face as a flint,<\/I> Isa. i. 7<\/I><\/span>. 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 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> 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> 1. He must upbraid the Ammonites with their insolent and barbarous triumphs over the people of Israel in their calamities, v.<\/I><\/span> 3<\/span>. The Ammonites said, when all went against the Jews, Aha! so would we have it.<\/I> They were glad to see, (1.) The temple burned, 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 the land of Israel was made desolate,<\/I> the cities burnt, the country wasted, and both depopulated, and when the house of 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 (v.<\/I><\/span> 6<\/span>): 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 Plaudite–Give us your applause,<\/I> thinking it well acted; never was there any thing more diverting or entertaining to them. They stamped with their feet,<\/I> ready to leap and dance for joy upon this occasion; they not only 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: Thou hast rejoiced in heart with all thy despite<\/I> (which signifies both scorn and hatred) 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, ch.<\/I><\/span> xxi. 20<\/span>. 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 evident token of perdition,<\/I> Phil. i. 28<\/I><\/span>. 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 help forward the affliction<\/I> when he is but a little displeased,<\/I> Zech. i. 15<\/I><\/span>.<\/P> 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, Pro 24:17<\/span>; Pro 24:18<\/span>. 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, ch.<\/I><\/span> xxi. 28<\/span>. Had they repented, that would have been revoked; but now it is ratified. (1.) A destroying enemy is brought against them: 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, Antiq.<\/I> 10.181), and then to the Arabians, who were properly the 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 made their dwellings,<\/I> v.<\/span> 4<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. They enjoyed the products of the country: 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 (v.<\/I><\/span> 5<\/span>): I will make Rabbath,<\/I> that was a nice and splendid city, to be 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 stable for camels<\/I> and the country a 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 (v.<\/I><\/span> 7<\/span>): 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 for a spoil to the heathen,<\/I> so that all their neighbours shall prey upon them, but will cut them off from the people<\/I> and made them perish out of the countries,<\/I> so that there shall be no remains of them in that place. Compare with this, Jer. xlix. 1<\/span>, c. What can sound more terrible than that resolution (<i>v.<\/span> 7<\/span><\/U><\/span>), I will destroy thee?<\/I> For the almighty God is able both to save and to destroy,<\/I> and it is a fearful thing to fall into his hands.<\/I> Both the threatenings here (Eze 25:5<\/span>; Eze 25:7<\/span>) conclude with this, 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> <\/p>\n EZEKIEL – CHAPTER 25<\/strong><\/p>\n SEVEN HEATHEN NATIONS WHOSE JUDGMENT IS FORETOLD<\/strong><\/p>\n (Chapters 25-32)<\/p>\n Verses 1-7:<\/strong><\/p>\n THE AMMONITES TO BE JUDGED<\/strong><\/p>\n Verses 1, 2 call upon <\/strong>Ezekiel to set his face (testimony) or prophecy against the Ammonites and prophesy against them. They were descendants of Lot, through his incestuous relations with one of his daughters, after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Gen 19:38<\/span>. They too were jealous enemies of Israel on every hand, Eze 21:28<\/span>; Jer 49:1<\/span>; Amo 1:13<\/span>; Zep 2:9<\/span>.<\/p>\n Verse 3 announces <\/strong>three occasions of Ammon’s sinful conduct that justified the Divine judgment that should befall her, as certified to Ezekiel by the word of the Lord, as follows: 1) They had said “aha,” rejoiced at the captivity of Israel when her sanctuary was profaned, though they were a neighboring nation to the east of Jordan; 2) They too rejoiced at the desolation of the land of Israel when their residences had been burned, their crops of the fields burned and destroyed; and 3) They had gloated when they learned that the prophets, priests, and princes, leaders and people of Israel and Judah had been carried by cruel hands into captivity in Babylon, Eze 26:2<\/span>; Pro 17:5<\/span>.<\/p>\n Verse 4 prophesied <\/strong>that because of their evil attitude and treatment of the Jews God would deliver them to the men of the east, meaning the Nomadic tribes of the desert of Arabia who would not only move into desolated Israel with their herds and flocks, but also subdue the Ammonites in their own land east of Jordan These Nomads of the east were to eat the fruit and drink the milk of their flocks in their own land, Jer 49:1-28<\/span>; Gen 45:18<\/span>.<\/p>\n Verses 5, 6 declared <\/strong>that God would make Rabbah the chief city of Ammon to be destroyed so completely that it would become a stable for camels and couching-place or fold for flocks of the field so that Ammonites would know or recognize that He was God, 2Sa 12:26<\/span>; Isa 17:2<\/span>; Isa 32:14<\/span>. This was to befall them because they had “clapped their hands,” “stamped” with their feet, with dancing, and spitefully rejoiced in their hearts because of the desolation of Israel. They ignored the warning that God would severely judge those who cursed Israel, Gen 12:3<\/span>; Lam 2:15<\/span>; Zep 2:14-15<\/span>.<\/p>\n Verse 7 continues <\/strong>to explain that because of the sins of the Ammonites against God and Israel He would deliver them for a spoil to loot to the heathen of the east, v. 4. He was to cut them off from the people and cause them to perish out of the countries, so that Rabbah their chief city, should be or exist no more, and they should know that He was the true God. This seems to have been completely effected for the following 300 years under the Greeks and Romans. During those years some splendid buildings were erected in the area, the ruins of which may yet be seen today, Pro 24:17<\/span>.<\/p>\n PREDICTIONS OF JUDGMENTS UPON THE AMMONITES, MOABITES, EDOMITES, AND PHILISTINES. (Chap. 25)<\/p>\n EXEGETICAL NOTES.In chs. 2532, we come to a new group of prophecies. They are predictions of judgment upon the heathen nations. (1) Ammon; (7) Egypt (ch. 2932). These prophecies are divided into thirteen words of God by the introductory formula, the word of Jehovah came to me, the utterances against Ammon, Moab, Edom, and the Philistines, being all comprehended in one word of God whereas there are four separate words of God directed against Tyre, one against Sidon, and seven against Egypt. In the seven nations and the seven words of God directed against Egypt we cannot fail to discover an allusion to the symbolical significance of the number. And in order to make it the more apparent that the number has been chosen on account of its significance, Ezekiel divides his announcement of the judgment upon the seventh people into seven words of God. On the basis of Genesis 1<\/span>, seven is the number denoting the completion of the works of God. When therefore, Ezekiel selects seven nations and utters seven words of God concerning the principal nation, namely Egypt, he evidently intends to indicate thereby that the judgment predicted will be executed and completed upon the heathen world and its peoples through the word and acts of God.(Keil)<\/em>.<\/p>\n (Eze. 25:1-17<\/span>).<\/p>\n Eze. 25:3<\/span>. The Ammonites Because thou saidst, Aha, against My sanctuary, when it was profaned. etc.<\/strong> They were the descendants of Lot, and occupied the territory to the east of the Jordan, beyond that pertaining to the tribes of Reuben and Gad. They formed one of the most powerful of the minor neighbouring states, and were frequently at war with the Hebrews. They were gross idolaters, and had for their national God Moloch or Milcom. On the fall of Jerusalem, to which as auxiliaries they contributed, and the transportation of the inhabitants of Judea to Babylon, they insolently triumphed over them, on which account the present threatening is denounced against them.(Henderson)<\/em>.<\/p>\n Eze. 25:4<\/span>. Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
While the prophets mouth was to be mute to Israel, the Lord directed him to speak against the heathen nations, and to foretell to them the judgment of destruction, that they might not be lifted up by the fall of the people and kingdom of God, but might recognise in the judgment upon Israel a work of the Omnipotence and righteousness of the Lord, the Judge of the whole earth. There are seven heathen nations whose destruction Ezekiel foretells in this section of his book, viz., <\/p>\n
(2) Moab;
(3) Edom;
(4) the Philistines (ch. 25);
(5) Tyre;
(6) Sidon (ch. 2628); and <\/p>\n