Ammon, Moab, Edom, the Philistines
1 ① The word of Yahweh came to me in these terms, 2“Turn towards the people of the Ammonites and prophesy against them. 3Say to them on my behalf: This is what Yahweh says: Because you mocked when my sanctuary was profaned, when the land of Israel was laid waste and the Judeans were exiled, 4I am giving you over to the people of the East as their possession; they will pitch their camps and settle among you. They will eat your fruit and drink your milk. 5I will turn Rabbah into a pasture for camels and the towns of the Ammonites into a sheepfold and you will know that I am Yahweh.”
6Thus says Yahweh: “Because you clapped your hands and stamped your feet and danced for joy with an evil heart against the land of Israel, 7I will stretch out my hand against you and hand you over as plunder to the nations. I will cut you off from the nations; no longer will you be numbered among them. I will destroy you and you will know I am Yahweh.”
8Thus says Yahweh, “Because Moab said: ‘Judah is like all the other nations,’ 9I will leave Moab unprotected and destroy the towns which are her glory: Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, Kiriathaim. 10I will give Moab along with the Ammonites as a possession to the people of the East so that the Ammonites will not be remembered among the nations. 11When I will punish Moab, they will know I am Yahweh.”
12Word of Yahweh, “Because Edom took revenge on Judah and was guilty in so doing, this is what 13Yahweh says: I will stretch out my hand against Edom, destroying people and animals. I will make it a ruins from Teman and let them be slain as far as Dedan. 14I will put Israel in charge of my revenge against Edom. They will deal with Edom according to my wrath and my fury and Edom will experience my revenge” – word of Yahweh.
15Word of Yahweh, “Because the Philistines have taken revenge with an evil heart and because of their ceaseless hatred, thus says Yahweh: 16I intend to stretch out my hand against the Philistines; I will cut off the Kerethites and destroy the rest of the coast. 17I will take terrible revenge and punish them in my wrath – then they will know I am Yahweh.”
- Ezk 25,1 Chapters 25-32 contain the messages against the pagan nations similar to what is found in other prophets. After announcing the nearly total destruction of Israel, the prophet predicts the final destruction of Israel's enemies, when the time of justice arrives. The prophet's words are inspired by an urgent sense of justice. The Ammonite, Edomite... etc. nations have no right to survive as nations since they have no part in preparing for salvation and Yahweh used them only to purify his people. So, they must disappear in the turmoil of history. It would be a misunderstanding of the Bible if we were led to ask God to punish people who do not believe and who even persecute the Church (see 1 Peter). Neither can we now wish for the destruction of an oppressor since the grace of Christ is at work everywhere. All we can affirm is that any institution which is closed to the Gospel message, will disappear: Every plant which my Father did not plant, will be uprooted (Mt 15:13). Ezekiel announces the destruction of Tyre through shipwreck images. Compare with the fall of Nineveh (Nh 2-3) and of Babylon (Jer 51). In Revelation (18:9) these words would be remembered and applied to the Roman empire and to its capital, Rome, which was the center of the world at the time of the apostles. What a condemnation for our civilization which always places economic success as top priority, even if it praises cultural and spiritual values. One may well see the shipwreck of entire nations, families and individuals in a flood of unemployment, shops stocked with sophisticated articles that have become useless.
