“ ‘ “Because you have said, ‘These two nations and these two countries will be mine, and we will possess it;’ whereas Yahweh was there:
Parallel Translations
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“ ‘ “Because you have said, ‘These two nations and these two countries will be mine, and we will possess it;’ whereas Yahweh was there:
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Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD was there:
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Because thou hast said: These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD was there;
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Ezekiel 35:10 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ezekiel 36:5 therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Surely in the fire of my jealousy I have spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all Edom, that have appointed my land to themselves for a possession with the joy of all their heart, with despite of soul, to cast it out for a prey.” ’
- Psalms 83:4-12 “Come,” they say, “let’s destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” For they have conspired together with one mind. They form an alliance against you. The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagrites; Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also is joined with them. They have helped the children of Lot. Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the river Kishon; who perished at Endor, who became as dung for the earth. Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, who said, “Let’s take possession of God’s pasture lands.”
- Ezekiel 48:35 “It shall be eighteen thousand reeds around: and the name of the city from that day shall be, ‘Yahweh is there.’
- Psalms 48:1-3 Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, in his holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the north sides, the city of the great King. God has shown himself in her citadels as a refuge.
- Ezekiel 36:2 The Lord Yahweh says: ‘Because the enemy has said against you, “Aha!” and, “The ancient high places are ours in possession!” ’
- Psalms 132:13-14 For Yahweh has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his habitation. “This is my resting place forever. I will live here, for I have desired it.
- Isaiah 12:6 Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion; for the Holy One of Israel is great among you!”
- Obadiah 1:13 Don’t enter into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity. Don’t look down on their affliction in the day of their calamity, neither seize their wealth on the day of their calamity.
- Zephaniah 3:15 Yahweh has taken away your judgments. He has thrown out your enemy. The King of Israel, Yahweh, is among you. You will not be afraid of evil any more.
- Zechariah 2:5 For I,’ says Yahweh, ‘will be to her a wall of fire around it, and I will be the glory in the middle of her.
- Isaiah 31:9 His rock will pass away by reason of terror, and his princes will be afraid of the banner,” says Yahweh, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.
- Psalms 76:1 In Judah, God is known. His name is great in Israel.
- Jeremiah 49:1 Of the children of Ammon. Yahweh says: “Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then does Malcam possess Gad, and his people dwell in its cities?
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain And so by fighting against God’s people, they should…
And so by fighting against God’s people, they should go about to put him out of his own possession.
Meaning, Israel and Judah.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 35:10 Because thou hast said, These two nations…
Eze 35:10 Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD was there:
Ver. 10. Because thou hast said.] Ungodly men must answer for their ungodly speeches also. {Jdg 1:15}
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These two nations.] Israel and Judah.
Shall be mine.] Such was their avarice and ambition that they made account all was their own; they had in their hopes devoured these two countries which God had reserved for a better purpose. He kept the room empty till the return of the natives; and the land kept her sabbaths, resting from tillage, &c. And yet these miscreants added,
Whereas the Lord was there.] Or, Though it be a Jehovahshammah, as Eze 48:35; be it that the Lord is there - scil., to keep possession against us - we will out him, and have it in despite of him. O tongues worthy to be pulled out, cut in gobbets, and driven down their throats, that did thus blaspheme!
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Covetousness is here charged upon these Edomites.
Covetousness is here charged upon these Edomites.
These two; Israel and Judah, two ever after the revolt of the ten tribes.
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We will possess it; with arrogance they determine what they will do; they reckon the right was theirs, as being the descendants of the elder brother, and now the possession they say shall be theirs too.
The Lord was there: either thus, though God was with Israel, their patron and their right; this is blasphemous pride, to resolve thus against God himself; or though he was present among them, heard their resolutions, and would disappoint them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here is, I. A further account of the sin…
Here is, I. A further account of the sin of the Edomites, and their bad conduct towards the people of God. We find the church complaining of them for setting on the Babylonians, and irritating them against Jerusalem, saying, Rase it, rase it, down with it, down with it (Psa 137:7), inflaming a rage that needed no spur; here it is further charged upon them that they triumphed in Jerusalem's ruin and in the desolations of the country. Many blasphemies they spoke against the mountains of Israel, saying, with pride and pleasure, They are laid desolate, Eze 35:12. Note, The troubles of God's church, as they give proofs of the constancy and fidelity of its friends, so they discover and draw out the corruptions of its enemies, in whom there then appears more brutish malice than one would have thought of. Now their triumphing in Jerusalem's ruin is here said to proceed, 1. From a sinful passion against the people of Israel; from anger and envy, and hatred against them (Eze 35:11), that perpetual hatred spoken of Eze 35:5. Though they were not a match for them, and therefore could not do them a mischief themselves, yet they were glad when the Chaldeans did them a mischief. 2. From a sinful appetite to the land of Israel. They pleased themselves with hopes that when the people of Israel were destroyed they should be let into the possession of their country, which they had so often grudged and envied them. They thought they could make out something of a title to it, ob defectum sanguinis - for want of other heirs. If Jacob's issue fail, they think that they are next in the entail, and that the remainder will be to his brother's issue: "These two nations of Judah and Israel shall be mine. Now is the time for me to put in for them." At least they hope to come in as first occupants, being near neighbours: We will possess it when it is deserted. Ceditur occupanti - Let us get possession and that will be title enough. Note, Those have the spirit of Edomites who desire the death of others because they hope to get by it, or are pleased with their failing because they expect to come into their business. When we see the vanity of the world in the disappointments, losses, and crosses, that others meet with in it, instead of showing ourselves, upon such an occasion, greedy of it, we should rather be made thereby to sit more loose to it, and both take our affections off it and lower our expectations from it. But in this case of the Edomites' coveting the land of Israel, and gaping for it, there was a particular affront to God, when they said, "These lands are given us to devour, and we shall have our bellies full of their riches." God says, You have boasted against me and have multiplied your words against me; for they expected possession upon a vacancy, because Israel was driven out, whereas the Lord was still there, Eze 35:10. His temple indeed was burnt, and the other tokens of his presence were gone; but his promise to give that land to the seed of Jacob for an inheritance was not made void, but remained in full force and virtue; and by that promise he did in effect still keep possession for Israel, till they should in due time be restored to it. That was Immanuel's land (Isa 8:8); in that land he was to be born, and therefore that people shall continue in it of whom he is to be born, till he has passed his time in it, and then let who will take it. The Lord is there, the Lord Jesus is to be there; and therefore Israel's discontinuance of possession is no defeasance of their right, but it shall be kept for them, and they shall have, hold, and enjoy it by virtue of the divine grant, till the promise of this Canaan shall by the Messiah be changed into the promise of a far better. Note, It is a piece of presumption highly offensive to God for Edomites to lay claim to those privileges and comforts that are peculiar to God's chosen Israel and are reserved for them. It is blasphemy against the mountains of Israel, the holy mountains, to say, because they are for the present made a prey of and trodden under foot of the Gentiles (Rev 11:2), even the holy city itself, that therefore the Lord has forsaken them, their God has forgotten them. The apostle will by no means admit such a thought as this, that God hath cast away his people, Rom 11:1. No; though they are cast down for a time, they are not cast off for ever. Those reproach the Lord who say they are.
II. The notice God took of the barbarous insolence of the Edomites, and the doom passed upon them for it: I have heard all thy blasphemies, Eze 35:12. And again (Eze 35:13), You have multiplied your words against me, and I have heard them, I have observed them, I have kept an account of them. Note, In the multitude of words, not one escapes God's cognizance; let men speak ever so much, ever so fast, though they multiply words, which they themselves regard not, but forget immediately, yet none of them are lost in the crowd, not the most idle words; but God hears them, and will be able to charge the sinner with them. All the haughty and hard speeches, particularly, which are spoken against the Israel of God, the words which are magnified (as it is in the margin, Eze 35:13) as well as the words which are multiplied, God takes notice of. For, as the most trifling words are not below his cognizance, so the most daring are not above his rebuke. I have heard all thy blasphemies. This is a good reason why we should bear reproach as if we heard it not, because God will hear, Psa 38:13, Psa 38:15. God has heard the Edomites' blasphemy; let them therefore hear their doom, Eze 35:14, Eze 35:15. It was a national sin (the blasphemies charged upon them were the sense and language of all the Edomites), and therefore shall be punished with a national desolation. And, 1. It shall be a distinguishing punishment. As God has peculiar favours for Israelites, so he has peculiar plagues for Edomites: so that "When the whole earth rejoices I will make thee desolate; when other nations have their desolations repaired, to their joy, thine shall be perpetual," Eze 35:9. 2. The punishment shall answer to the sin: "As thou didst rejoice in the desolation of the house of Israel, God will give thee enough of desolation; since thou art so fond of it, thou shalt be desolate; I will make thee so." Note, Those who, instead of weeping with the mourners, make a jest of their grievances, may justly be made to weep like the mourners, and themselves to feel the weight, to feel the smart, of those grievances which they set so light by. Some read Eze 35:14 so as to complete the resemblance between the sin and the punishment: The whole earth shall rejoice when I make thee desolate, as thou didst rejoice when Israel was made desolate. Those that are glad at the death and fall of others may expect that others will be glad of their death, of their fall. 3. In the destruction of the enemies of the church God designs his own glory, and we may be sure that he will not come short of his design. (1.) That which he intends is to manifest himself, as a just and jealous God, firm to his covenant and faithful to his people and their injured cause (Eze 35:11): I will make myself known among them when I have judged thee. The Lord is and will be known by the judgments which he executes. (2.) His intention shall be fully answered; not only his own people shall be made to know it to their comfort, but even the Edomites themselves, and all the other enemies of his name and people, shall know that he is the Lord, Eze 35:4, Eze 35:9, Eze 35:15. As the works of creation and common providence demonstrate that there is a God, so the care taken of Israel shows that Jehovah, the God of Israel, is that God alone, the true and living God.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Because thou hast said, these two nations and these…
Because thou hast said, these two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it,.... Meaning either Idumea he was now possessed of, and Israel he hoped to be, upon the people of it being carried captive; or rather the two nations of Israel and Judah, and their countries; which he pleased himself with would fall into his hands, as next heir to them; the posterity of his brother being dispossessed of them. This may denote the claim that Rome makes upon each of the Protestant nations and countries; and which she will think all her own, and that she is in the possession of them, upon the slaying of the witnesses; and when she will say, "I sit a queen, and am no widow", Rev 18:7.
Whereas the Lord was there; and heard their words, as Kimchi; and knew their thoughts, as Jarchi; so the Targum,
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"and before the Lord the thoughts of the heart were manifest.''
The land of Judea was Immanuel's land; and as the Lord had been in it, and granted his gracious presence in the tabernacle and temple, so he still continued his powerful presence in it, to protect and keep it for his people; who should return to it after their captivity, and inhabit it until the Messiah came, who was to be born in it. Or it may be rendered, "though the Lord was" or "dwelt there" (x); denoting the great impiety and daring wickedness of the Edomites, to think and talk of possessing a country that was the Lord's, and where he was: and this holds good of the true reformed churches of Christ; the Lord is there, and therefore, though they may be brought very low, and antichrist may triumph over them, and imagine he has got them under his power again, where they shall continue; yet on a sudden his destruction will come, and their deliverance. Or, "where the Lord was" (y); but he has now departed, and will never return more, the temple being destroyed; so they said, encouraging themselves.
(x) "licet Dominus ibi habitaverit", Piscator. So Syr. (y) "Ubi Jehovah fuit", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus; "et Jehovah ibi fuit", Starckius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Though - Though God was with Israel.
Though - Though God was with Israel.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 10. These two nations] Israel and Judah. The…
Verse 10. These two nations] Israel and Judah. The Idumeans thought of conquering and possessing both; and they would have succeeded, but only the Lord was there; and this spoiled their projects, and blasted their hopes.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain These two nations - Israel and Judah.
These two nations - Israel and Judah.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Two. I will add the country of the Jews…
Two. I will add the country of the Jews to my own, or will possess the land belonging to the kingdoms of Juda and of Israel. Their hopes were blasted. They never occupied any thing belonging to the Israelites, and what they had taken from Juda, as far as Hebron, was recovered. --- There, witness of these designs, and guardian of his temple, &c.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain So far from being allowed to enter on Israel's…
So far from being allowed to enter on Israel's vacated inheritance, as Edom hoped (Eze 36:5; Psa 83:4, Psa 83:12; Oba 1:13), it shall be that he shall be deprived of his own; and whereas Israel's humiliation was temporary, Edom's shall be perpetual.
Lord was there-- (Eze 48:35; Psa 48:1, Psa 48:3; Psa 132:13-14). Jehovah claimed Judea as His own, even when the Chaldeans had overthrown the state; they could not remove Him, as they did the idols of heathen lands. The broken sentences express the excited feelings of the prophet at Edom's wicked presumption. The transition from the "two nations and two countries" to "it" marks that the two are regarded as one whole. The last clause, "and Jehovah was there," bursts in, like a flash of lightning, reproving the wicked presumption of Edom's thought.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 10. In aggravation of their historical bearing towards Israel…
10. In aggravation of their historical bearing towards Israel and their participation in her overthrow, Edom has proceeded to lay hands upon the territory of the two houses of Israel, although it is the place of the Lord’s abode and consecrated by his presence.
These two nations] Judah and Israel.
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whereas the Lord] Or, although the Lord was there. The ref. appears to be to the time when the people were in the land, and the Lord dwelt in it in the midst of them, consecrating it by his presence. This relation of his to the land was unalterable; and Edom had “profaned” his holy abode.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (10) These two countries shall be mine.—In Eze_35:3-9 the…
(10) These two countries shall be mine.—In Eze_35:3-9 the sin charged upon Edom is its hatred of Israel; in Eze_35:10-15, its desire to possess itself of Israel’s inheritance. The two nations and countries are, of course, the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
Whereas the Lord was there.—This fact brings out the real sin. Edom desired Israel’s possessions, not as it might have desired those of other nations, but knowing that this was the peculiar inheritance given by God to His people, and which it thought ought to have been given to itself as the elder branch, thus arraying itself in direct opposition to God.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Because thou hast said. The second ground of Edom"s…
Because thou hast said. The second ground of Edom"s punishment lay in this, that she had presumptuously as well as confidently exclaimed, not concerning Idumea and Judah, as Jerome conjectured, but concerning Israel and Judah when she saw them stripped of their inhabitants, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; "it" meaning either the region over which the two countries extended, or, as Schroder suggests, Jerusalem their common capital. (see Eze_36:2; and comp. Psa_83:4-12) And what constituted the gravamen of Edom"s offense was that she had so spoken, whereas (or, though) the Lord was there. It is not necessary, with the LXX and Kliefoth, to read "is there," to guard against the supposition that Ezekiel designed to suggest that, though Jehovah had formerly been in the land, he was there no longer. But, in point of fact, Jehovah had for a time withdrawn his visible presence from the temple and the city, (see Eze_10:18 Eze_11:22, Eze_11:23) though he had by no means renounced his right to the land; and Edom"s error lay in not regarding this, but in acting as if Jehovah had departed from Israel for ever (Havernick); or (better, "and") in thinking he could appropriate to himself what really belonged to Jehovah, viz. the territory out of which Israel and Judah had been cast (Hengstenberg).
A miscalculation.
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Edom had taken for granted that she, in conjunction with the allied nations, no doubt, would be able to seize the territories of Israel and Judah. She had calculated her resources and matched her strength against those of her foes. But she had forgotten one essential element in the reckoning she had failed to take any account of the presence of God. This was a fatal blunder, and it upset the whole scheme. It is very common for people to discuss their prospects with the same mistake in their minds. Worldly reasoning that ignores God is not only irreligious; it is false and foolish. Irreligious thought is bad logic.
I A SELFISH GREED. Edom covets the fair and fruitful land of Israel. This is the common spirit of national plunder. It is the spirit of the veiled warfare of commerce. Men and nations hunger after their neighbors" property. All selfish persons are robbers at heart, though many are restrained by prudential considerations from carrying out their evil desires. Now, the prevalence of this selfish greed gives a very ugly look to the world, and suggests the thought that the weak must be the prey of the strong. It is only when we can look above the scramble for wealth that we can discern the play of higher influences on man"s history and destiny.
II A NARROW VIEW. Edom sees the weakness of Israel clearly enough; and she makes no mistake in estimating the strength of herself and her allies. But she confines her view to these local and earthly facts. Here is the limitation of all worldliness. Men of the world are keen and clear-headed. They see distinctly their points of advantage, and seize them quickly. But their gaze is confined to earthly things. Thus worldliness is essentially low and narrow. It has a sharp vision, but it is very short-sighted. There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in its philosophy.
III A DIVINE FACT. "The Lord was there." This was a fact, although Edom knew nothing of it, just as God was at Bethel before Jacob recognized his presence.
1. God is in human affairs. It is not simply asserted that God interfered from a distance. He was present. Palestine was a God-haunted land. The difference between Israel and Edom was not merely racial or geographical. It was chiefly this that God manifested his presence to the one people as he did not to the other.
2. God takes an active part in the world. God was not merely in Palestine as a spectator. He was present to act. Edom"s error was in not recognizing a real influence. It is like that of the naturalist who dissects a brain to discover the secret of thought, but takes no account of the mind that once inhabited the brain. God is now present actively in the world, not in Palestine especially, but
(1) in Christendom when men acknowledge him and make themselves open to his influence; and also
(2) among all men in his great providential government.
IV A NEEDED CORRECTION. The Divine element must be introduced if the miscalculation is to be corrected. This will make a surprising difference to Edom"s reckoning. So it will in individual affairs. The oppressing Pharaoh did not reckon on God"s power to save Israel; the rich fool counted up his wealth, but forgot that his life was in God"s hand. (Luk_12:16-21) Life and death are more dependent on heavenly influences than moat men suppose. We need a new order of reasoning, a fresh arithmetic that shall not fail to give a large place to the influence of God on air things.
Vers. 10-13. The supreme mistake.
The two striking and significant sentences in this passage are in the tenth and thirteenth verses: "And Jehovah was there" (ver. 10); "I have heard" (ver. 13). They bring out
I EDOM"S GREAT MISCALCULATION. No doubt Edom had its princes, its statesmen, its warriors, of whom it was proud, on whose sagacity and prowess it was leaning. But however astute her ministers may have been, they made one great and fatal mistake they left out of the account one factor, the presence of which made all the difference to the issue. Under their false guidance Edom thought itself more than a match for Israel, which, with its pastoral and agricultural pursuits, was less warlike than itself. And Edom said to itself, "These two nations shall be mine, and we will inherit it" (ver. 10). "And Jehovah was there," interjects the prophet, with burning indignation. Edom, forsooth, going to appropriate Israel, and swallow it up as a dainty morsel, as if it had only to stretch out its hand and take it "And Jehovah was there that One in whose presence all Edom, with all its civil and military power, was but the dust of the balance, was nothing and less than nothing and vanity; that Holy One who held Edom responsible for its enmity and its cruelty; that Mighty One at the breath of whose mouth all its proud soldiery would go down as saplings before the storm! What senseless infatuation! what infinite presumption! to remember and to covet Israel"s well-watered meadows and well-cultivated fields, and to forget that "Jehovah was there! to resolve to go up and possess its pleasant places, and occupy its strong cities, and plant its flag on Mount Zion without taking into the account that "Jehovah was there!" Edom was entertaining proud, ambitious schemes, and it was making "scornful speeches against the mountains of Israel, saying, A desolation, to us they are given for fire," and was thus "magnifying itself against" the Lord. But what depth of meaning, and what vigor of action, and what certainty of doom lies in those simple words of Jehovah, "I have heard!" Those disdainful words of theirs have entered the Divine ear, and they will move that mighty hand to its work of righteousness and judgment.
II OUR OWN SUPREME MISTAKE. We never commit so great and so ruinous an error as when we leave out of our account the presence and the handiwork of God. We are never so utterly and so perilously in the wrong as when we lay our plans and make our speeches, forgetful that God is near us, overruling all we do, and hearing every word we speak. We make this supreme mistake:
1. When we think we can sin without his banning. If we lay our schemes to injure our brethren, or if we design to enrich or indulge ourselves in any forbidden way, without smarting for our sin, we shall find, sooner or later, that "Jehovah is there," with his penalty in his hand.
2. When we think we can succeed without his blessing. To succeed without the favoring presence of God and the co-operation of his gracious power is as hopelessly impossible as it is to sin without encountering his Divine displeasure and rebuke. If we prosper in our toil, if we find joy and gladness in our life, it will be only because "Jehovah is there;" because he makes our land to yield its increase, because he fills our soul with the blessedness that abides.
3. When we think we can be wise without his teaching. Neither workman in the field of nature nor student in the realm of truth can leave out of his account the presence and the aid of the Divine. There is nothing sadder than the sight of men seeking and straining after the wisdom that they want for life and for death and for eternity, trying to find their way by the light of the sparks of their own intelligence; this will they have of God they will lie down in sorrow". (Isa_1:10, Isa_1:11) But blessed are they who take into their account the fact that "Jehovah is there," that God is speaking to us in his Word, by that Son who was and is the Eternal Word of God; for they who are wise in his wisdom shall enter the kingdom of truth, the kingdom of God, and they shall rise up in everlasting life and joy. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Whereas the Lord was there.
Eze_35:10
Whereas the Lord was there.
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Jehovah-Shammah
As Palestine was preserved from the enmity of Mount Seir by the presence of Jehovah, so the Church, and each separate member of it, is constantly kept by the power of a present God, despite the rage of adversaries.
I. A despised people constantly triumphant because the Lord was there. The people of God have always been, in every age, a hated and despised people. This may be seen if you will notice a few facts.
1. The adversaries of Gods Israel have often thought in their hearts that they would utterly destroy them. One of the Roman emperors set up a monument, In the memory of a destroyed superstition called Christianity. But was our holy religion destroyed? Could the dragon prevail against the remnant which kept the commandment of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ? Behold the multitudes who this day bow the knees at the name of Jesus of Nazareth. The Lord being there, immortality, nay, eternity was in the Church. God is eternal, He is in the Church, and His Church is immortal too.
2. The enemies of the Church have frequently shown their scorn of her by the ridicule which they have cast upon her attacks. But as the cake of barley bread fell upon the tent of Midian and smote it that it lay along, even so the Church is more than conqueror. Sydney Smith said, when Carey talked of evangelising India, that a consecrated cobbler was going out to preach the Gospel to educated and enlightened Hindoos, but the consecrated cobbler took his post and digged in India a well of which thousands shall yet drink. That man of God has placed the battering-ram of the Gospel in such a position that ere long the hoary bastions of idolatry will tremble, and the world shall see that the weakness of God is stronger than man.
3. The worlds estimation of the Church has frequently been seen in the way in which it will mock at all her teachings. The wise men of this world have always something far superior to anything that the Bible can reveal. Ah! we can well endure their boastings, for the doctrines of grace are the loftiest of all philosophy and the most intellectual of all teachings--because Jehovah-Shammah, the Lord is in them; and where God is, there is perfect wisdom; where God is, there is incomprehensible knowledge.
4. Do they not, also, very frequently cast in our teeth our trials? Nebuchadnezzar can cast in but three, he cannot, however, cast out the fourth; where the Church shall be, Christ shall walk the coals with His people, and they shall come out of their trials triumphant, for God is there. Where God is, there is everlasting love; where God abideth, there is immutable affection; and therefore let this be our comfort, God is with thee, Israel, passing through the fire.
5. The world shows its disesteem of us by the way in which it often treats the Christian. It sees him poor and naked and miserable, and therefore pushes him about as though he were a beggar and not one of the blood royal. Little do they know that, however poor the Christian may be, the Lord is there. The very honour and dignity and majesty of Deity itself guards every follower of the Saviour, however much he may be despised among men.
II. The man opposed and yet a conqueror.
1. The early convictions of a newborn soul are always the subject of Satanic attack. Satan hopes that with the laugh, the jeer, the jest and merriment he will destroy utterly all convictions of sin; little does he dream that the Lord is there, and where God sends the arrow home, no devil can ever draw it out.
2. Then, as the fend has tried to destroy conviction, he will next shoot his arrows against our faith. Poor, feeble follower of Jesus, he will worry thee. But the faith which God gives to us overcometh the world--yea, and overcometh the old dragon too.
3. Have not you always found that not only your faith but all your good works are the subjects of Satans attacks? I never yet had a virtue or possessed a grace but what it was sure to be the target for hellish bullets; whether it was hope bright and sparkling, or love warm and fervent, or patience all enduring, or real flaming like coals of fire, the old enemy of everything that is good has tried if he could destroy or mar it. And why is it that anything virtuous or lovely survives in you? There can be no reason given to this, but God is then.
4. Note how sedulously Satan aims against the perseverance of Gods people. They will never hold on their way, saith he. You and I have thought we never should. And yet you have not fallen from grace yet, not yet have you disgraced your character, not yet gone back to your old lusts. How is this? Why, God was in you, and if He had not been there, then indeed had you been a prey unto your adversaries. A Christian is something like an express train. On some of our railroads, you know, there are express trains which do not stop to take water, the water lies in a trench in the middle between the rails, and as the train runs it sucks up its own supply of cold water, and so continues its course without a pause. Our God in grace has forestalled our needs, He prepares supplies for His own people, so that without their stopping to seek the streams of creature confidence, sometimes without the use of means, He is pleased to speed them on their pathway towards heaven, fed by a Divine arrangement of grace. Oh, it is blessed to think that if God be there, everything a Christian can want for his final persevering, for his eternal life, is ready at hand.
5. I have no doubt, beloved, we shall find that when we come to die, our dying confidence will be the object of the enmity of all the powers of hell. Perhaps like John Knox you may have your blackest day at the last, but oh! thanks be unto God that giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, we have no fear for our dying confidence, for God is there, even there where the billows are the most tempestuous and the water is most chill; we shall feel the bottom and know that it is good, our feet shall stand upon the rock of ages even in our dying moments.
III. A desolate soul not destroyed, because God is there. My purpose is, says Satan, that be shall dwell forever with me, in misery extreme. I have laid hold upon him, says he, and he hath made a league with hell. He is mine, he is mine forever. But stop, stop, the Lord was there before the devil. Does the devil purpose? Ah, but Gods purpose is older than the devils purpose. Does the sinner make a covenant? Ay, but then, Gods covenant was made before that sinner was born, and what is the devils purpose compared with Gods purpose? You see, God is there before him--Whereas the Lord was there. Ah, but, said Satan, he is mine, I will have him, I will go and take possession, he is mine; and so he is about to enter the vineyard, and take possession of the vines of sour grapes, when lo! someone meets him on the threshold, and says, What dost thou here? I am come to take possession, saith he. Take possession! saith Christ; I have a claim upon this vineyard, I bought it and paid for it with drops of blood; what dost thou here? Thou sayest, I will possess this land, whereas the Lord was there: and He shows the fiend the print of the nails, and points to His wounded side, and says, Whatever thy claim may be, Mine is a higher claim; I bought, I paid for, I have the acceptance from the Divine hand, and this vessel of mercy was Mine, Mine long before thou couldst have any claim upon it.
IV. The same, dear friends, is true with regard to the entire world. The world cannot be destroyed, because Jehovah is there. This world once shone, like its sister stars, bright and fair, but a sad shadow of eclipse was thrown upon it--it became swathed in the mists of sin and though the glory of the Lord hath risen upon it, yet still much of the gloom and the thick darkness continues. Shall that darkness cover all the nation? Shall the light become dim forever? No, no; The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Shall its groans and travails end in nothing? No, no; the day cometh when The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Against the Covetousness of Edom
Against the Covetousness of Edom
v. 10. Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, namely, Israel and Judah, and we will possess it, although the inhabitants of Edom knew that Canaan was given for a possession to the children of Israel, whereas the Lord was there, Jehovah was the real Owner of the Land of Promise and held it in trust for His own children,
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v. 11. therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will even do according to thine anger, rewarding it with the injury which it deserved, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them, for anger and envy grow out of hatred and show themselves in word and deed; and I will make myself known among them when I have judged thee, that is, by punishing Edom for his pride and the crimes of his hatred, the Lord would bear witness of Himself that he would not permit His people and their land to be attacked and devastated without taking revenge upon the enemies.
v. 12. And thou shalt know that I am the Lord, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, for a mockery of the Lord’s people amounted to blasphemy of the name of the Lord Himself, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume. The fact that the Lord chose to punish his people did not give the enemies the right to take advantage of Judah’s plight and to put themselves in possession of their land.
v. 13. Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against Me, magnifying themselves to the detriment of the Lord, and have multiplied your words against Me, in an excess of blasphemous exultation; I have heard them.
v. 14. Thus saith the Lord God, When the whole earth rejoiceth, when all those who hear and heed the gracious call of Jehovah, men from the great majority of nations acknowledging him as the one true God, I will make thee desolate, as the one exception in the midst of general rejoicing.
v. 15. As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, in vindictive meanness over its downfall, so will I do unto thee, in executing the punishment of his vengeance upon them; thou shalt be desolate, O Mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it; and they shall know that I am the Lord. All those who are guilty of blasphemous mockery against the Lord may expect to share the fate of Edom, as it was here prophesied and as it later came to pass.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
This continues the message that Ezekiel is to speak to Mount Seir. The message is for all the people of Edom.
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You have said
The word "You" refers to the mountain of Seir. Ezekiel is to speak to the mountain as if it can hear him. The message is for the people of Edom. AT: "Your people said" (See: Personification)
these two lands
"the lands of Israel and Judah"
will become mine
The word "mine" can be stated in plural form. AT: "will become ours"
we
The word "we" refers to the people of Edom.
even when Yahweh was present with them
It is implied that Yahweh was protecting Israel and Judah. AT: "but Yahweh was there protecting Israel and Judah" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
I will do according to your anger and according to your jealousy
Possible meanings are 1) "I will punish you because of your anger and jealousy" or 2) "just as you acted against the people of Israel with anger and jealousy, I will act against you with anger and jealousy."
translationWords
nation
possess
Lord Yahweh
declare
anger
Israel
judge
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.