Ezekiel 35: A Bible Commentary By Charles R. Sabo

???Ezekiel:?A Bible Commentary

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??????????????????????????????????????????? Chapter 35

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As I had disclosed within my commentary of 25:13-14, the Edomites had been defeated in the second century B.C. by the Maccabees. They, as a tribe, never really rose up in power after that time in history.

Then Judas and his brothers went out and attacked the Edomites in the land toward the south; he took Hebron and its villages, and he destroyed its strongholds and burned the towers around it. (1 Macc. 5:65)??????

I took a day of prayer and research for answers towards this prophecy here in 35:4, and found it difficult, until the Lord pointed out that this prophecy was not towards just the people of Edom. This prophecy is against the land that has hosted the hostiles against Israel for over three millenniums. Mount Seir had been inhabited by the Horites (Gen. 14:6), then the Edomites (Esau [Gen. 32:3]), Moabites and Ammonites (2 Chron. 20:22-23 [mid ninth century B.C.]) then the Nabataeans (late fourth century B.C. until 106 A.D.), Romans (106 A.D. – 313 A.D.), the Byzantines (313 A.D. - 630 A.D. [as Roman Empire until 476 A.D.]), the Arabians (630 A.D. – mid-thirteenth century A.D.), the Mamluk of Egypt (mid-thirteenth century A.D. – early seventeenth century A.D.), the Ottomans (early seventeenth century A.D. – 1916 A.D.); this was renamed in 1949 to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan after the country captured the West Bank during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Mount Seir is in modern-day Jordan and has never been decimated as the Lord is declaring in 35:3-8. This prophecy has yet to be fulfilled, therefore we must look to the futuristic prophecies of the Old and New Testaments for answers. I will reveal to you now what this means in Ezekiel 35, which will be pointing to a future event.?

Ezekiel 35:1 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, The English translators have mistranslated the Hebrew verb “hāya” as a Qal perfect verb, when the manuscript is actually inflected as a Qal imperfect verb; this should be an ongoing action, which would be a continuation of God’s word immediately after verse 34:31. The conjunction “moreover” was added to this, when it was not called for in the original manuscript; wrongfully using the past perfect tense insinuates this came anywhere from immediately after 33:33, to as many as sixteen years later! The proper translation of this verse should say: “The word of the Lord continued unto me, saying,” which means that there was very little time elapsed between 34:31 and 35:1. As was disclosed in Ezekiel 33:21, this word of God came to Ezekiel in the twelfth year of the captivity of King Jehoiachin and Ezekiel at the Chebar River. It was the fifth day of the month of Tevet; this would be Tevet 5, 586 B.C.

Ezekiel 35:2 Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, Ezekiel was being commanded to focus (set your face) against an adversary of God. This time Ezekiel was to focus the Lord’s declaration (prophesy) of judgment against Mount Seir.

Ezekiel 35:3 And say unto it, Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, Oh Mount Seir, I am against you, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you most desolate.” The Lord declared judgment by letting the people of Mount Seir know that He was against them. As scary as it sounds, the Lord God Almighty was indicating that He was against these people. The Lord has used the expression “I will stretch out my hand against” in previous declarations of judgment. It can be best understood as God’s sovereign wrath against His enemies.

And?I?will?stretch?out?my?hand, and smite Egypt with all?my?wonders which?I?will?do?in the midst thereof: and after that he?will?let you go. (Ex. 3:20)

Anytime the Lord declares a desolation, it comes to pass. The Exodus 3:20 desolation came as a result of the ten plagues over Egypt that brought Egypt’s land to desolation during the Exodus. ?The Lord cause Israel to be desolate after the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C., as well as 70 A.D.??

During the Iron Age, approximately 1200 BC, an area known as the mountains of Seir was inhabited by the Edomites; Edom is the Aramaic word for "red;" the name was taken by these people, because they descended from red-haired Esau, who was the twin brother of Jacob (Israel). The Edomites controlled the trade routes between the Arabian Peninsula and Damascus in what is today Syria. According to the Bible, King David subdued the Edomites around 1000 B.C. (2 Sam. 8:13-15). The Edomites continued to fight against Israel, until in one battle, the Judean King Amaziah defeated ten thousand Edomites in the valley of Salt and captured Sela in battle (2 Kings 14:25). Sela, also meaning "rock" in Greek, is sometimes thought to be the high outcropping of Umm al-Biyara.[1]

The Edomites lived under Assyrian, Babylonian, and eventually Persian influence, until the 4th Century BC; the area had attracted the attention of the Nabataeans moving slowly north with their cattle and sheep from the Arabian Peninsula. The first recorded reference to the Nabataeans is from the first century BC, Greek historian Diodorus; he wrote that the Seleucid King Antigonus, a one-eyed successor to Alexander the Great, sent his General Athenaeus to attack the land of the Arabs in 312 B.C.; these Arabs were called Nabataeans. The Nabataeans resisted the Seleucids, and by the 2nd century BC, were firmly settled in the area with Petra as their capital.[2] ????

Ezekiel 35:4 I will lay your cities waste, and you shall be desolate, and you shall know that I am the Lord. As I had disclosed within my commentary of 25:13-14, the Edomites had been defeated in the second century B.C. by the Maccabees. They, as a tribe, never really rose up in power after that time in history.

Then Judas and his brothers went out and attacked the Edomites in the land toward the south; he took Hebron and its villages, and he destroyed its strongholds and burned the towers around it. (1 Macc. 5:65)??????

I took a day of prayer and research for answers towards this prophecy here in 35:4, and found it difficult, until the Lord pointed out that this prophecy was not towards just the people of Edom. This prophecy is against the land that has hosted the hostiles against Israel for three millenniums. Mount Seir had been inhabited by the Horites (Gen. 14:6), then the Edomites (Esau [Gen. 32:3]), Moabites and Ammonites (2 Chron. 20:22-23 [mid-ninth century B.C.]) then the Nabataeans (late fourth century B.C. until 106 A.D.), Romans (106 A.D. – 313 A.D.), the Byzantines (313 A.D. - 630 A.D. [as Roman Empire until 476 A.D.]), the Arabians (630 A.D. – mid-thirteenth century A.D.), the Mamluk of Egypt (mid-thirteenth century A.D. – early seventeenth century A.D.), the Ottomans (early seventeenth century A.D. – 1916 A.D.); this was renamed in 1949 to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan after the country captured the West Bank during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Mount Seir is in modern-day Jordan and has never been decimated as the Lord is declaring here in 35:4. This prophecy has yet to be fulfilled, therefore we must look to the futuristic prophecies of the Old and New Testaments for answers. I will reveal to you now what this means in Ezekiel 35, which will be pointing to a future event. ?

22?And when they began to sing and to praise, the?Lord?set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.

23?For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. (2 Chron. 20:22-23)

So many scholars, theologians, and pastors have not researched, nor properly discerned this prophecy; they make assumptions that indicate that this desolation of Mount Seir has been completely fulfilled. When the Lord God says a land will be desolate and waste, He is specific enough to understand this to be completely decimated of all inhabitants; this has never happened to Mt. Seir. A person must not confuse the 2 Chronicles 20:22-23 historical account, of the annihilation of the inhabitants of Mt. Seir, because this had occurred nearly three centuries before this Ezekiel 35 prophecy (Tevet 15, 586 B.C.). Never in Ezekiel 35 does the Lord pick out a particular race of people to exterminate, so why would ignorant people make assumptions that this occurred to the Edomites? The last we heard of the Edomites being of any substantial power was when Judas Maccabeus destroyed the last army of Edomites in the second century A.D. (1 Macc. 5:65). This was a specific prophecy fulfillment within 25:13-14. Since the judgment of Edom was complete, this prophecy here points to the land called Mount Seir.

The land of Israel, as described by Joshua, extended from “the Mount Halak that goes up to Seir, even unto Baal Gad” (Josh. 11:17). As no part of Edom was given to Israel, Mount Halak must have been upon Mount Seir’s northern border. The height of this mountain range elevates from 600-670 meters at its highest points. ?

13?For I have sworn by myself, saith the?Lord, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes. (Jer. 49:13) ?

Here, in the twenty-first century A.D., we can look to prophecies concerning this land of Idumea in the place known as “Jibal ash-Sharah” (Mount Seir). Isaiah 34:3-10 declares a day of judgment upon this same land of Idumea, which is to be in Bozrah, formerly the capital of Edom. Here in Ezekiel 35, there is no reference to a specific race of people being judged, but the land that will receive the judgment along with its modern-day inhabitants. The inhabitants will consist of an uncountable military force advancing toward Israel’s hidden place in this timeline. “I have heard a rumor from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, ‘Gather you together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.’” (Jer. 49:14)?

Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcasses, and the mountains (Mount. Seir) shall be melted with their blood. (Is. 34:3)

Isaiah 34:3 is a little difficult, when considering the four different slaughters mentioned from the previous verse (Is. 34:2). Only three of the four slaughters can be included in Isaiah 34:3, because the Battle of Armageddon does not happen in a mountain, but a valley. “I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat.” (Joel 3:2) In addition, the blood from Armageddon cannot melt down the mountains, if the people are to be killed in the Valley of Jehoshaphat (Kidron Valley). With this logic, we must consider this slaughter to be just the one, which indicates an accumulation of blood, such as Revelation 14:14-20. ?

20?And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. (Rev. 14:20)

Blood is a liquid and will flow downhill, so the accumulation of blood to the horse’s bridles would indicate a lake of blood, within the space of sixteen hundred furlongs. The blood somehow melts the mountains to allow this blood to accumulate as the lake described (the mountains shall be melted with their blood). Since this Revelation prophecy discloses the area as one dimension, then we must conclude this to be the area of a circular shape, and not a rectangle. The metric area disclosed is 321.86 kilometers (1,600 furlongs), which would consist of the entire Seir Mountain Range, including the lower elevation of the Transjordan through the mountains. Mt. Seir raises up to its highest elevation 600-670 meters at its highest points.

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In Isaiah 63:3, the Lord declares that He will have trodden the winepress alone. The winepress is what John describes where the blood came out of, within Revelation 14:20. The Revelation 14:14-20 and Isaiah 63:1-6 winepress events are the same. The Israeli remnant, being rescued, will ask the Lord, “Wherefore are you red in your apparel, and your garments like him that treads in the winefat?” (Isaiah 63:2)?In Isaiah 34:6, the description of the blood sacrifice uses the English noun “fatness.” The connection with this blood sacrifice links all three passages together as the same event, especially when Isaiah 63:1 declares: “with dyed garments from Bozrah;” Isaiah 34:6 declares the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah. ??????

Not all of the Jews will make it through to the Second Coming of the Lord.?Two thirds of the Jews will be “cut off and die,” because they have chosen to not believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior. There are even many of the modern-day Jews who are considered atheists, or agnostic, and do not believe in the God of their father Abraham.?Just as Satan has accomplished through the ages, he has deceived them and pulled them away from the one true living God.

8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, says the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God. (Zech. 13:8-9) ?

Jesus Christ provided the children of Israel with a warning in Matthew 24:15-16. Israel obviously doesn’t pay attention to this warning now as unbelievers, but someday it will occur to them and they will be reminded where this warning can be found. The Lord God implies in Revelation 12:14 that Israel (the woman) will be supernaturally taken. “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.” (Rev. 12:14)

15 When you therefore shall see the Abomination of Desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, (whoso reads, let him understand) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: (Matt. 24:15-16)

For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.?(Is. 34:5) ?

The sword of God is bathed (ravah), which means?“to take one's fill.” God’s sword takes His fill in the third heaven, where He dwells. God’s sword will come down upon Idumea, which points to the ancient place of the Edomites. This passage points to the location, rather than the people of ancient Edom. The remaining clause points to the people who the judgment will fall upon (and upon the people of my curse). God’s curse, in this case, is against those who will have chosen to destroy God’s remnant; the remnant will be those whom He will have been protecting for the three and one-half years at Petra. The people of God’s curse will be headed to Petra, but God’s wrath will fall upon them in the land of Idumea. God will bring His sword and take His fill (bathed); He will slaughter the people of His curse in the land of Idumea. ?

The sword of the?Lord?is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: because the?Lord?has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. (Is. 34:6)?

This passage in Isaiah 34:6 reflects the bloodbath of God’s curse. He will destroy the army of the people of His curse (Is. 34:5). As mentioned concerning Isaiah 34:3, the winepress will be full of the fatness of the blood, like a blood sacrifice at God’s altar. The blood of the sacrifice represents life (Gen. 9:4), which God had declared within Leviticus 17:11. Mankind has been breaking God’s Everlasting Covenant, ever since He had declared it upon mankind after the flood (Gen. 9:1-17). The continuous bloodshed of the people, who are made in God’s image, has been an offense to Him. God will bring His final judgment upon all of humanity. The sacrifice in Bozrah represents God’s wrath and sacrifice for mankind’s sin against Him, when they combined to continually break the Everlasting Covenant of Genesis 9. The people of God’s curse will be headed to spill the blood of His remnant of Israel, whom He will have been protecting (for the?Lord?has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea). “As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, says the Lord, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.” (Jer. 49:18) ?

20?And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. (Rev. 14:20)?

The manifestation described within Isaiah 34:4, is directly linked to the sword of God. God’s sword will be His casting to the Earth His stars from heaven. There is imagery that could be interpreted as the destruction by nuclear warheads. As we already know from Isaiah 17:1, Ezekiel 29:8-12, and Zechariah 5:4, nuclear strikes will be brought to the Earth; the devastation described as stars falling from heaven could be in conjunction with the nuclear exchanges upon the face of the Earth (Zech. 5:4), when God will direct His stars to fall upon Bozrah in the land of Idumea, in order to counter Satan’s (Antichrist) attack against protected Israel (Rev. 12:17).

And the unicornis shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. (Is. 34:7)?

The word “unicornis” is derived from a Latin description of the rhinoceros unicornis, which is the one-horned Indian rhinoceros. Its cousin is the black rhinoceros bicornis of Africa. The 1828 Noah Webster’s Dictionary properly referenced the difference between the two types of rhinoceros, but the evil desires of the adversary sought to take this out of the modern day dictionaries. They sought to promote falsehood in the Bible, as well as a pagan fantasy concerning a one-horned horse called a unicorn.

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The rhinoceros unicornis will come down to the slaughter with the people of the curse from verses Isaiah 34:5. Along with the rhinoceros unicornis, the bullocks (young bulls) will come to the land with the adult bulls. This passage implies that when the events were to manifest a land soaked with blood, these animals will come down to the land.

The reference to “their land,” refers back to Isaiah 34:6. The land of the Idumeans is who the pronoun “their” is referencing to. The Idumean’s land will be soaked with blood and the former inhabitant’s dust (when they had died in history) will be made fat with fatness (dashen). The “fat” is an acceptable offering unto the Lord. His blood sacrifice will be an acceptable sacrifice of His judgment to consume the wicked. The land of Idumea will be God’s sacrificial altar, where the blood will be massively accumulated in fatness (cheleb), which is in abundance; this will be an acceptable sacrifice (made fat with fatness). ?

For it is the day of the?Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion. (Is. 34:8)?

The “day of the Lord” is a common theme among the prophets (Isaiah 13:6, Amos 5:18, 20, Joel 1:15, 2:1, 11, 31, Zeph. 1:7, 14, Zech. 14:1); it can be understood to be a time when God will vindicate His people and bless their endeavors, but the prophets also imply it to be a time of great judgment, which would bring destruction and terror.[3]

Isaiah 34:8 is directly referring to the Lord God’s final judgments against the wicked (day of the?Lord's vengeance). The day of the Lord’s recompenses or reward will also be reconciled during this time. The controversy of Zion is the dispute over who is correct in salvation. The religions of the world are in controversy over God’s Eternal Kingdom (the controversy of Zion). The ones who are right about salvation, are those who will not be included in the Lord’s vengeance and will receive their reward (of recompenses). Those who worship Jesus Christ as their God and Savior will be rewarded, while those who deny Him, will face God’s vengeance. ?

And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. (Is. 34:9) ?

The streams refer here to the flowing streams of blood, which were running from the vastness of blood accumulated in the land of Idumea (thereof). God will cause the streams of blood to turn into pitch. Pitch is translated here from the Hebrew noun “zepheth,” which is defined as “pitch, tar.” God will also turn the dust (dirt [Is. 34:7]) of the land of Idumea into brimstone. The noun “brimstone” is translated from the Hebrew word “gophriyth,” which is defined as “sulfur, or inflammable.” The land of Idumea will become burning pitch and brimstone; the brimstone will be a heated incubator for the vastness of the flames.

The area covered with this pitch and brimstone, will be “by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs (Rev. 14:20).” The land will become a lake of fire burning pitch and brimstone. ?

It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. (Is. 34:10)

The lake of fire burning pitch and brimstone will burn for eternity (forever and ever). It will be quenched neither night, nor day, and from generation to generation will lie waste and burning. The expression “generation to generation” will imply to the generations of mankind, while the Millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ will last one thousand years. This expression should not be implied in the sentence before it. The lake of fire will be there forever, as well as all through the generations of the Millennial Kingdom; it will lie waste during the Millennial Kingdom and no one will ever pass through it for eternity. ?

14?And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15?And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:14-15)?

Ezekiel 35:5 Because you have had a perpetual hatred, and have 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: If we return back to the Babylonian Captivity and the destruction of Jerusalem, we can read of the captive militants who rode with the Babylonian army after King Nebuchadnezzar had defeated those people. They inhabited the land of Moab, Ammon, and Aramea. They had come to destroy their long-time enemy, Israel. This was the first wave of the three that came against Judah and Jerusalem in 606 B.C. ?

2?And the?Lord?sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Arameans, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the?Lord, which he spoke by his servants the prophets. (2 Kgs. 24:2)

From what we have learned from 2 Chron. 20:22-23, the Edomites were already defeated by the Ammonites and Moabites, who then fought against each other afterward for possession of Mount Seir. It is unknown if the same Moabites and Ammonites had stayed within the Babylonian ranks in 598 B.C. and then 587 B.C., but may have, because they were under the reign of the king of Babylon. With the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem in 587 B.C., the iniquity of Israel had an end, but this does not mean these were the only ones guilty of attacking Israel in their calamity. In the Roman destruction of Judea and Jerusalem in 70 A.D., Israel’s iniquity was at an end by Christ if they believed (in the time that their iniquity had an end).

?The Roman military possessed the Idumeans under King Herod. Herod the Great was born in 73 B.C. as one of four sons to Antipater, king of Idumaea and later Judea. Antipater, son of Antipas, married a woman named Cypros, who was from an eminent family of Arabia.?She bore him his four sons: Phasaelus, Herod, Joseph, Perorus and a daughter, Salome.[4] The Idumeans had moved towards Judaism before Herod became king of Judea, but he moved to the Hellenism of the Grecian-Roman Empire as his preferred religion. The destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. was accomplished with the Romans military, which possessed Idumeans of that time. Antipater became a powerful official under the later?Hasmonean?kings and subsequently became a client of the?Roman?general?Pompey the Great,?when Pompey conquered Judah in the name of?the Roman Republic. From the time of Antipater through to the destruction of Judea and Jerusalem, the inhabitants of Mount Seir (Idumeans) were involved in the attacks and persecution of the Jewish people. (have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity)

The militants of Mount Seir came back against Israel once they had been given their land back in May 14, 1948. The Lord Himself brought Israel back to their land for His final judgments to come to pass against the unholy people of the Holy Land. Immediately after the proclamation of the state of Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and Iraq sent troops to join with Jordanian forces in order to defend their brethren, the indigenous inhabitants of Palestine. Then the Jordanian forces again came against Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967. The Mount Seir inhabitants were of the country of Jordan, therefore they participated in the attacks on Israel. (have 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)

Ezekiel 35:6 Therefore, as I live, says the Lord?God, I will prepare you unto blood, and blood shall pursue you: since you have not hated blood, even blood shall pursue you. Since God is eternal, when He swares on His own life, He indicates that His words are eternal as well. After I explained the details of Isaiah 34:3-10 already within 35:4, I will remind you of what the Lord means here. ?

The sword of the?Lord?is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: because the?Lord?has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. (Is. 34:6)?

This passage in Isaiah 34:6 reflects the bloodbath of God’s curse. He will destroy the army of the people of His curse (Is, 34:5). As mentioned concerning Isaiah 34:3, the winepress will be full of the fatness of the blood, like a blood sacrifice at God’s altar.

Ezekiel 35:7 Thus will I make Mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him that passes out and him that returns. Through the last three millenniums, the forces of Mount Seir seem to have always come to destroy Israel. God has made a promise here that He will stop anyone from coming out of Mount Seir, and also going in after the previous people had been destroyed in battle. It has always been inhabited, but at the time that this blood event occurs, no one will ever return back (see commentary 35:4).

Ezekiel 35:8 And I will fill his mountains with his slain men: in your hills, and in your valleys, and in all your rivers, shall they fall that are slain with the sword. Here we have the pronoun “his” (??????) with mountains which is inflected as a third-person-masculine-singular; we must ask: “Whose mountain is it that God is referring to?” If we consider who will be ruling the Earth at this time, it would be Antichrist, who will be demonically possessed by Satan (Rev. 13:2, 4). I would have to conclude that to be the only person this third-person-masculine pronoun is referring to. ?

Behold, He shall come up and fly as the Eagle, and spread His wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom (Mt. Seir) be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. (Jer. 49:22)?

The Antichrist’s Mount Seir will be filled with slain men, as well as the lower hills, in the valleys, and in the rivers in this particular region. As tricky as this makes it sound, they will be slain with the sword. We should wonder and realize that it is God’s sword. In Isaiah 34:6, He says “The sword of the?Lord?is filled with blood,” because He will melt the mountains and the hills with this blood. ?

Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains (Mount Seir) shall be melted with their blood. (Is. 34:3) ?

Ezekiel 35:9 I will make you perpetual desolations, and your cities shall not return: and you shall know that I am the Lord. The translators have chosen the English adjective “perpetual” for the Hebrew noun “??lām,” which actually is defined as “continuous existence, perpetual.” These desolations are stated here to be forever, which matches the Isaiah 34:10 declaration. ?

It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up forever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever. (Is. 34:10)

The cities of Mount Seir have always come back after their destruction through the last three millenniums, but in this prophecy, they will never come back again. Through eternity, there will be a lake of fire burning pitch. “The Earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red Sea.” (Jer. 49:21)

Ezekiel 35:10 Because you have said, “These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it;” whereas the Lord was there: It has been Edom, Moab, and Ammon, that had possessed Mount Seir, when Israel was split into two nations (Judah and Israel); God is quoting them from that time, when they lusted for the land of Israel and desired to destroy them. The Lord God is stating here that He was there, when they had said this: “These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it.” In the return of Israel to their land both in the fifth century B.C., as well as 1948 A.D., there had been but one nation of Judea, or Israel. This 35:10 declaration has always been the motivation of the Mount Seir inhabitants, because they have always been jealous of Israel. It may be an obsession that has echoed the jealousy of Esau, when Jacob (Israel) stole their father’s blessing from him (Gen. 27:13-39).

?Ezekiel 35:11 Therefore, as I live, says the Lord?God, “I will even do according to your anger, and according to your envy which you have used out of your hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged you.” Since God is eternal, when He swears on His own life, He indicates that His words are eternal as well. The Lord God has measured the anger and envy of the past 3+ millenniums and will accumulate that into His judgment against them. The Lord declared that when He does this to the people of His curse in Mount Seir, then Israel will know Him. This indicates that upon the event of judgment over the land of Idumea (Mount Seir), Israel will know that it was the Lord God who did it, as He rides in unto them. He will ride in from Bozra, with His venture dipped in blood (Is. 63:1, Rev. 19:13, 15). ?

?Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? “I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.”

Wherefore are you red in your apparel, and your garments like him that treads in the winefat? (Is. 63:1-2)

Ezekiel 35:12 And you shall know that I am the Lord, and that I have heard all your blasphemies which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, “They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume.” The surrounding nations have been salivating over the land of Israel for over three thousand years (closer to 3,500 years), while God reads into all of their hearts. It has been recorded that every time Israel has been removed from their land, the inhabitants of Mount Seir jump at their opportunity to steal the land for themselves. In the expression “They are laid desolate,” the pronoun “they” refers to the valleys, mountains, and waters of the land of Israel. From this understanding, then the second sentence demonstrates the same. Replace the pronoun “they” with “valleys, mountains, and waters” and see how this all fits together. “The valleys, mountains, and waters are given us to consume.” ?These inhabitants of Mount Seir (Idumea) had lusted for millenniums for this land, and twice they became opportunistic in grabbing the vacant land (Jer. 40:11-16; 41:1-15). After the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C., we can read of the Ammonites (at this time reigned over Mt. Seir [see commentary 35:4]), came into the place of the fallen city of Jerusalem. ??

And said unto him, “Do you certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay you?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not. (Jer. 40:14)

After the 70 A.D. destruction, Rome built up a pagan city and temple in Jerusalem; the Idumeans were a part of the Roman military stationed there, because they predominately were followers of King Herod the Great and his descending sons. Thus, these Idumeans were formerly of Mount Seir, but chose the land of Israel for their homes.

Ezekiel 35:13 Thus with your mouth you have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them. The Lord God indicated that He had heard the words coming from Mount Seir and all of their generations. They have always been against the God of Israel, because of their historic animosity towards Jacob, which originated with Esau and his bitterness. Even the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Edomites, the Arabian Nabataeans, the hostile Idumeans, and the Jordanians have all despised Israel, and cursed their God. The Lord God had heard them so many times recite their anger and hostility against Him, and boasted of their victories over Israel including the Lord their God.?

?1Keep not your silence, Oh God: hold not your peace, and be not still, Oh God.

2?For, lo, your enemies make a tumult: and they that hate you have lifted up their head.

3?They have taken crafty counsel against your people, and consulted against your hidden ones.

4?They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. (Ps. 83:1-4)?

Ezekiel 35:14 Thus says the Lord God; “When the whole Earth rejoices, I will make you desolate.” The timing of the calamity over the land of Idumea can be somewhat confusing; after years of prayer, study, and faith, I have come to this conclusion. Because this raining of God’s sword of wrath will occur on the day that the whole Earth rejoices, while Jesus the Messiah will come to the Earth that day with His vesture dipped in blood, we must conclude that the blood sacrifice in Bozrah will occur moments before the Second Coming of Christ. The whole Earth will rejoice once Jesus the Messiah kills all of the heathen, casts the Antichrist and false prophet into the newly made lake of fire, and Satan is chained to the sides of the Bottomless Pit. “The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.” (Is. 14:7)

Only God knows how He will be able to accomplish this, but I can conclude that He will first rescue Israel, after He creates the lake of fire with the blood of the vast military headed to destroy them (35:3-8). Meanwhile, within Earth’s timeline, Jesus the Messiah will be able to gather His forces and touch down on Mt. Olives (Zech 14:4). Within moments He will perform all of Revelation 19:19-21, as well as continue on with the scene in Revelation 20:1-3, which will cause the whole Earth gathered at Armageddon to rejoice and sing together. One thing is for sure, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ will cause the Earth to rejoice, and also will have Israel there. Keep in mind, the Lord Christ will have already created the lake of fire at this time, so Israel will be rejoicing at Armageddon as well.

Ezekiel 35:15 As you did rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto you: you shall be desolate, Oh Mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the?Lord. The history of Mount Seir (in the land of Idumea) was explained as an accusation here to the readers, of the uncountable angry militants of the Muslim world during the endtimes, who will be punished for their antagonistic attitudes from throughout their history (you shall be desolate, Oh Mount Seir, and all Idumea). They rejoiced whenever Israel was defeated and desolate. God declared here that the whole world will rejoice with Israel, when these jealous, envious, angry men of hostility will be gone. The Lord God will be there with the people, and they will live in peace under His completely sovereign reign for one thousand years (Rev. 20:6).

Bibliography

[1] Stephen Hart, "Sela: The Rock of Edom?" (Palestine Exploration Quarterly, July 19, 2013: Vol. 118, No. 2, pp. 91-95).?

[2] Livius.org, "Nabataeans," (Livius.org, 2018: https://www.livius.org/articles/people/nabataeans).

[3] Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, 126.

[4] Charles Foster Kent, Ph.D., The Historical Bible: The Makers and Teachers of Judaism; From the Fall of Jerusalem to the Death of Herod the Great (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1911), 276.