Major Prophets · Chapter 35 of 48

Ezekiel 35

Ezekiel turns from comforting Israel to condemning Mount Seir, the mountain of Edom. Because Edom nursed a perpetual hatred against her brother Israel, shed blood in the day of calamity, and coveted the two nations of Israel and Judah as her own possession, the LORD promises to make Seir a lasting desolation. Edom rejoiced over Israel's ruin; now Edom herself will know that the LORD is God.

What happens in Ezekiel 35

The word of the LORD comes to Ezekiel, sending him to set his face against Mount Seir and prophesy its downfall. The charge is specific. Edom carried a perpetual hatred toward Israel and handed her children over to the sword in the time of their calamity. Because Edom did not hate bloodshed, blood will pursue her. God will fill Seir's hills and valleys with the slain and make her cities perpetual ruins. A second accusation follows: Edom said the two nations and two countries would become hers to possess, forgetting that the LORD was there.

God answers their envy and hatred with judgment, repaying the anger they showed against his people. He has heard their boasts and their claim to consume the mountains of Israel. When the whole earth rejoices, Seir will be made desolate, and all Edom will finally know that the LORD is God.

Ezekiel 35 in context

Edom descended from Esau, Jacob's brother, so the feud between Seir and Israel was ancient family rivalry hardened into hatred. When Babylon crushed Jerusalem, Edom cheered the fall and seized territory, a betrayal the prophets remembered.

This oracle sits between Ezekiel's promises of restoration, contrasting the fate of God's people with the fate of those who gloat over their suffering. It prepares for chapter thirty-six's word of hope to the very mountains Edom coveted.

Main themes of Ezekiel 35

Perpetual hatredEdom's sin was not a single act but a settled, lasting animosity toward her brother nation. Scripture treats such nursed hatred as a form of murder, and here God repays a people who loved bloodshed instead of hating it, letting the blood they shed pursue them.

Coveting what is God'sEdom claimed Israel and Judah as her own possession, forgetting the crucial fact that the LORD was there. To seize the inheritance of God's people is to contend with God himself, and such presumption toward the holy invites certain judgment.

Knowing the LORDThe oracle repeats that Edom shall know that the LORD is God. Judgment here is not merely punitive but revelatory, forcing even the gloating enemy to recognize the God whose presence they ignored and whose people they despised in the day of trouble.

This is prophecy, God's word to a people who had wandered, full of warning and astonishing hope. As you read, hear both His grief over sin and His promise to restore.

Ezekiel 35 (KJV)

1Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it, 3And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate. 4I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD. 5Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end: 6Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee. 7Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him that passeth out and him that returneth. 8And I will fill his mountains with his slain men: in thy hills, and in thy valleys, and in all thy rivers, shall they fall that are slain with the sword. 9I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 10Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD was there: 11Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee. 12And thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume. 13Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them. 14Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate. 15As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Verses to carry from Ezekiel 35

“Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.”Ezekiel 35:6

“Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD was there:”Ezekiel 35:10

“As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.”Ezekiel 35:15

Thematic connection

How Ezekiel 35 points to Jesus

This chapter connects to Christ thematically rather than by prophecy. Edom embodies the brother who hates his brother, and Jesus traced murder back to the hatred in the heart, calling his people instead to love their enemies. Where Edom shed blood in the day of calamity, Christ shed his own blood to reconcile enemies to God. The charge that Edom forgot the LORD was there finds its answer in Immanuel, God with us, the abiding presence Edom could not see.

And the promise that a gloating enemy will finally know the LORD looks ahead to the day every knee bows to the crucified and risen Lord. The chapter warns that hatred harvests what it sows, and points to the one who broke that harvest by mercy.

Questions about Ezekiel 35

Why is Edom singled out among the nations?

Edom was Israel's brother nation, descended from Esau, so her hatred was a betrayal of kinship rather than the ordinary hostility of strangers. When Jerusalem fell, Edom rejoiced and seized land instead of showing family mercy. God judges her not for a distant grievance but for a perpetual hatred that turned a brother into a predator in the very day of calamity.

What does it mean that the LORD was there?

Edom said the two nations would be hers, whereas the LORD was there. The land was not empty territory to be grabbed; it was the place of God's presence and covenant. Edom's error was a practical atheism, acting as if God had abandoned his people and his claim. To covet what God has consecrated is to overlook the God who still stands in the midst of it.

Reflection

Hatred feels like strength, but Edom's story shows it hollowing out a whole people until only desolation remains. Ask where an old grievance has hardened into a settled hostility you now defend. Jesus calls the offended to a harder and better road: to love the enemy, to bless, and to trust that the LORD is there even in your loss.

A prayer from Ezekiel 35

Lord, search my heart for any hatred I have nursed and called justice. Teach me to hate bloodshed and to love my brother. Help me trust that you are present even in my losses. Make me a child of mercy, like Christ.

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