Heavenly Father, we have come against you and your commands in ways that have cost us dearly. Our sinful ways and disobedience to your commands have resulted in chastisement and punishment from you. You have proven that you will do whatever it takes to correct us and bring us back to you. It is our hearts that you desire. As your Word says, obedience is better than sacrifice. Yet we have failed in obedience to you, and this has opened the door for the devil to grab a foothold in our lives. He has stolen our joy, our health, our finances from us. Father we ask you today to restore that which has been taken from us. We are born into sin, but you have called us to be holy and to walk in a way that brings honor and glory to you. Lord, we come to your throne and ask you for your mercies and grace. Restore to us what we have lost due to our negligence and disobedience. Father make us whole and create in us a clean heart and a right spirit within us. In Your Name we pray, Amen.
Remember from Ezekiel 25:12-14, God spoke a prophecy against Edom. Edom supported Babylon in destroying Jerusalem. The Edomites also took vengeance on Judah, so God enacted vengeance on them. Well, here we are in Ezekiel 35 and God is talking to Mt. Seir, which is the name that is used for the people of Edom.
Edom (Mount Seir) is waiting patiently to jump in on Israel and Judah and attack them while they are down. Well, God doesn’t like it when someone comes in and attempts to attack His children. Even though God had chastised His people for their good, He is not about to allow another nation to come in a pillage His chosen ones. Edom was wanting to pillage, but God was going to show them that they are not allowed to touch His anointed and chosen ones.
Keep in mind, that there had been a long history of conflict between Edom and Israel (and Judah). Even Amos (1:11-12) and Isaiah (34) mentions how Edom regularly pursues Israel with the sword.
Even Obadiah mentions the destruction of Edom:
1. Edom's violence against Jacob, his brother (Obadiah 1:10).
2. Edom was an enemy of Judah at the time of their destruction (Obadiah 1:11).
3. Edom gave assent to the judgment on Judah (Obadiah 1:12).
4. Edom rejoiced at Judah's downfall.
5. Edom spoke proudly in the day of distress of Judah.
6. Edom entered fallen Jerusalem as an enemy to take a spoil (Obadiah 1:13).
7. Edom looked on the affliction of Judah in the day of calamity (disdainfully).
8. Edom laid hands on the substance of Judah when they were defeated.
9. Edom stood at the crossways to kill those of Judah that would escape (Obadiah 1:14).
10. Edom delivered up captives of Judah to be destroyed
We are at a point where God is proclaiming another prophecy against Israel’s enemy. Remember how God has proclaimed that vengeance belongs to Him? We serve a vengeful God.
So, the judgement against Edom is total destruction because they joined with the Babylonians in the destruction of Jerusalem. They supported Nebuchadnezzar's campaign against Jerusalem and celebrated the fall of Judah and Jerusalem. They initiated "bloodshed" against Judah, and therefore "bloodshed" is their judgment (REPEATED 4 TIMES IN VERSE 6).
"But the wicked will perish; And the enemies of the Lord will be like the glory of the pastures, They vanish—like smoke they vanish away." (Psalm 37:20)
"Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered, And let those who hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; As wax melts before the fire, So let the wicked perish before God." (Psalm 68:1–2)
"Therefore they will be like the morning cloud And like dew which soon disappears, Like chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor And like smoke from a chimney." (Hosea 13:3)
"let the rich man glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away." (James 1:10–11)
Archaeological Evidence of Biblical Prophecy
During the Fifth century, the Edomites were overwhelmed by fellow Arabs. Eventually, these groups of Arabs were overtaken by another nomadic group called the Nabataeans. Rome later conquered the Nabataeans around 106 A.D. and the area later became uninhabited from the 7th century AD to the 12th century AD. It mostly remained forgotten and was rediscovered in 1812 by Swiss traveler Johann. L. Burckhardt.
Since archaeologists starting working in Petra (which was once Edom but became the capital of the Nabataeans) in 1979, "… just 15 percent of the city has been uncovered," he says. "The vast majority—85 percent—is still underground and untouched."
James Mangles, a naturalist, visited the ruins of Petra during an expedition in the 1800’s and pointed out ‘the screaming of the eagles, hawks, and owls, who were soaring over our heads in considerable numbers, seemingly annoyed at any one approaching their lonely habitation, added much to the singularity of the scene.’ It was also noted by companions that ‘the scorpions in Petra, that, though it was cold and snowy, we found them under the stones, sometimes two under one stone!’ and ‘both lions and leopards are often seen in Petra, and on the hills immediately beyond it, but that they never descend into the plain beneath.’
Edom was overthrown as a nation.
The nation and city have become a desolation, as Ezekiel 25:13; Ezekiel 35:4,7 and Isaiah 34:11-13 predicted.
It has never been populated again as Jeremiah 49:18 predicted.
It has had bloody history as Ezekiel 25:13 and 35:6,8 predicted.
Edom became populated with wild animals and birds (instead of people) as Isaiah 34:11, 13-15 predicted.
The likelihood that these prophecies came true by some random chain of events is all but impossible.
SO WE HAVE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE THAT WHAT GOD SPOKE, CAME TO PASS. Because Edom continued to attempt to plot against Israel, God said he would completely erase them through bloodshed, and He did.
WHAT CAN WE GET OUT OF THIS?
Remember in Ezekiel 35:6 where God referenced bloodshed 4 times? Well Joel has something to say about this.
Joel 3:19-21-- 19 But Egypt will be desolate, Edom a desert waste, because of violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood. 20 Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all generations. 21 Shall I leave their innocent blood unavenged? No, I will not.”
Remember Abel, where his blood cries out to God from the ground?
Revelation 6:9-11 (NKJV)-- 9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.
WHEN WHAT WE ALIGN OURSELVES WITH IS CONTRARY TO SCRIPTURE, WE ARE IN OPPOSITION TO CHRIST. WHEN WE SIN, WE CRUCIFY AN INNOCENT MAN ALL OVER AGAIN.
We all have the power to choose to sin or not, but we do not have the power to choose the consequences of those sins.
Psalm 37:12-15 (AMP)-- The wicked plots against the righteous And gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him [the wicked one—the one who oppresses the righteous], For He sees that his day [of defeat] is coming. The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow to cast down the afflicted and the needy, to slaughter those who are upright in conduct [those with personal integrity and godly character]. The sword [of the ungodly] will enter their own heart, and their bow will be broken.
SOME CLOSING SCRIPTURES
"... and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed" (II Thessalonians 1:7-10).
"I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3, 5).
""Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways," says the Lord GOD. "Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord GOD. "Therefore turn and live!"" (Ezekiel 18:30-32).
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).
"And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matthew 25:46).
"And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 21:12-15).
