Ezekiel 35 - Introduction

XXXV.

This and the following chapter are closely connected: in fact, Ezekiel 35:1 to Ezekiel 36:15 form one continuous prophecy, while Ezekiel 36:16 is another and distinct one, and the division of the Chapter s should have been made between them. The prophecy contains a denunciation of Mount Seir as the enemy of Israel (Ezekiel 35), and in contrast with this, a promise of the richest blessings upon the mountains of Israel. Ezekiel had already foretold the desolation of Edom (Mount Seir, Ezekiel 25:12); but in the present prophecy this becomes a foil to set off the prosperity of Israel, and in fact, under the circumstances, a necessary element of that prosperity. Moreover, as in the last chapter Israel stood as the representative of the Church of God, so here Edom and Israel, while they stand in the foreground as actually existing nations, are yet evidently regarded in the Divine Word as representing, the one the kingdom of God, and the other all hostile powers of the world. This typical and symbolical way of looking at present things becomes increasingly prominent in all the latter part of Ezekiel.