Ezekiel · chapter 25 of 48
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Ezekiel 25 opens the section of oracles against the nations with four short judgments on Ammon, Moab, Edom and Philistia. Each people gloated or took revenge when Judah fell, and the Lord announces that he will hold them accountable. The refrain that returns is that they will know that he is the Lord.
Through Ezekiel 24 the prophet has announced judgment on Jerusalem, and chapter 24 ended with the death of his wife as a sign and his silence until news of the city's fall arrived. Chapters 25 to 32 turn to the surrounding nations. This is not a detour: it shows that the God who judges his own people is also the Lord of every people, and that he does not overlook the pride of those who mocked Israel.
The Lord tells Ezekiel to direct his message at Ammon, the people east of the Jordan. The Ammonites cheered when the sanctuary was profaned, when Israel's land lay desolate and when Judah went into exile. So the Lord will give them to the peoples of the east, who will settle in their land, eat their fruit and turn their capital into a pasture for camels.
Moab is judged too, because it said that Judah was like every other nation and had nothing special about it. The Lord will open the flank of Moab's border cities to the peoples of the east. Edom is accused of acting with lasting grudge and revenge against the house of Judah, and its punishment will come by the hand of Israel. Philistia acted with vengeance and contempt in its heart, and the Lord will stretch out his hand against the Cherethites and destroy the rest of the coast.
Every oracle follows the same pattern: the accusation, the announced punishment and the final purpose. At the end of the chapter the Lord declares that when he carries out his vengeance in fury, they will know that he is the Lord.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The Ammonites must hear the word of the Lord because they rejoiced when the sanctuary was profaned and the land lay desolate. Mocking someone else's pain, and above all the suffering of God's people, is an offense God does not ignore.
Moab claimed that the house of Judah was like all the nations. By saying so it denied that Israel was God's chosen people, and the Lord takes the insult as aimed at his own name.
Edom took revenge on Judah and became deeply guilty. This was not just a quarrel between neighbors but the grudge of a kindred people. God promises to stretch out his hand against Edom, a theme developed in chapter 35.
The chapter closes with the promise that the Lord will carry out vengeance in fury and that then they will know that he is the Lord. Judgment is not an end in itself: it reveals who God is and that no pride can stand against him.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Ammon, Moab, Edom and Philistia. — Ezekiel 25:1-17
Answer: Because it rejoiced when the sanctuary was profaned, Israel's land was made desolate and the house of Judah went into exile. — Ezekiel 25:3
Answer: That it was like all the other nations. — Ezekiel 25:8
Answer: That it took revenge on the house of Judah and so became deeply guilty. — Ezekiel 25:12
Answer: By the hand of his people Israel. — Ezekiel 25:14
Answer: That they will know that he is the Lord. — Ezekiel 25:17
Ezekiel 25 reminds us that God is not indifferent to mockery or to delight in someone else's misfortune. It is easy to comment with satisfaction on the fall of someone we disagreed with, whether a relative, a neighbor or even another church. A small group can ask honestly: when have I been glad at another person's stumble? The chapter invites us to replace that attitude with compassion.
It also comforts. When God's people suffer, they are not forgotten: the Lord sees those who take advantage of their pain and will hold them to account in his time. That lets us leave vengeance in his hands instead of living with resentment.
Ezekiel 25 makes it clear that no neighboring nation will escape God's judgment for mocking Judah. Chapter 26 continues with Tyre, the commercial city that also gloated over Jerusalem's fall and receives a much longer oracle.
Israel's prophets proclaimed that the Lord rules over all peoples, not only over Israel. For the exiles in Babylon, these oracles were an assurance that those who mocked them would not have the last word. They also made clear that judgment on Jerusalem did not mean the defeat of its God.
Edom descended from Esau, Jacob's brother, so its conduct is seen as especially grave: a kindred people took advantage of Judah's pain. The prophet returns to Edom with a separate oracle in Ezekiel 35, and other prophets, such as Obadiah, also single it out.