Prophecy Against Mount Seir

 

Ezekiel 35:1-15

 

January 25, 2024

 

Prophecy Against Mount Seir

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, and say to it, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and a waste.  I will lay your cities waste, and you shall become a desolation, and you shall know that I am the Lord.  Because you cherished perpetual enmity and gave over the people of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment, therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; because you did not hate bloodshed, therefore blood shall pursue you.  I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation, and I will cut off from it all who come and go.  And I will fill its mountains with the slain. On your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those slain with the sword shall fall.  I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

“Because you said, ‘These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will take possession of them’—although the Lord was there—therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, I will deal with you according to the anger and envy that you showed because of your hatred against them. And I will make myself known among them when I judge you.   And you shall know that I am the Lord.

“I have heard all the reviling’s that you uttered against the mountains of Israel, saying, ‘They are laid desolate; they are given us to devour.’  And you magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and multiplied your words against me; I heard it.  Thus says the Lord God: While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate.  As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will deal with you; you shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

“Got Questions” had this to say on Mount Seir, “The term Mount Seir is most often used simply as a geographical marker to explain where something happened. The primary significance of Mount Seir is that this mountainous region was the territory that God gave to Esau: “The Lord had done the same for the descendants of Esau, who lived in Seir when he destroyed the Horites from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day” (Deuteronomy 2:22). Because Seir belonged to Esau’s descendants, Israel was forbidden from invading or capturing that territory. God explains in Deuteronomy 2:5, “Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.”

 

“Later, when Edom became a threat to Judah, God did allow Judah to attack (2 Chronicles 25). Later, Ezekiel still records prophecies against Edom, using the name Mount Seir. The final mention of Mount Seir is a warning in Ezekiel 35:15: “Because you rejoiced when the inheritance of Israel became desolate, that is how I will treat you. You will be desolate, Mount Seir, you and all of Edom. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

 

I hope everyone has learned from the book of Ezekiel that God desires each of us to have knowledge of Him and to honor Him with our lives.  It is very clear that none are without excuse, for God has manifested Himself in all that He makes clear in Romans 1:18-23, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse.  For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice