THE Holy Spirit now turns to the children of Ammon, and the judgment of God upon them which was executed by Nebuchadnezzar not long after the first Gentile empire began. Verse 1 inquires, in substance, Why are the Ammonites in possession of that part of Israel’s land which was the home of the tribe of Gad? Now it was because of idolatry and related evils that the Reubenites, Gadites, and that part of Manasseh who shared with Reuben and Gad so much of the land of Israel as lay east of the Jordan, were carried away to captivity by the Assyrians; but the passage before us is not occupied with Israel’s sins, but with the Ammonites’ seizure of the territory of Gad, Israel’s land.
As with Egypt, the Philistines and Moab„ other Scriptures may be referred to for further light as to the occasion for the judgments pronounced. Jeremiah 27: 1-11, Ezekiel 25:1-71The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, 2Son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them; 3And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord God; Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity; 4Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk. 5And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couchingplace for flocks: and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 6For thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel; 7Behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee off from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. (Ezekiel 25:1‑7), Amos 1:13-1513Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border: 14But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind: 15And their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together, saith the Lord. (Amos 1:13‑15), Jeremiah 9:2626Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart. (Jeremiah 9:26), Ezekiel 21:18-3218The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, 19Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city. 20Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced. 21For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver. 22At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort. 23And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken. 24Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand. 25And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, 26Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. 27I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him. 28And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering: 29Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end. 30Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity. 31And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy. 32Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the Lord have spoken it. (Ezekiel 21:18‑32), and Zephaniah 2:8, 98I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border. 9Therefore as I live, saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them. (Zephaniah 2:8‑9) are principally concerned with the visitation of God through Nebuchadnezzar; Ammon is to be restored for the final scenes of judgment when the Lord comes to set up His kingdom on earth.
The land of the children of Ammon was north and east of the land of Moab, and separated from the Jordan valley by the possessions of the tribe of Gad. Rabbah was almost their only town, the Ammonites being of a roving disposition as are the Bedouins of the present day. Their country, like that of the Moabites, is a desolation according to Zephaniah 2:99Therefore as I live, saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them. (Zephaniah 2:9); Rabbah’s site is occupied by a few Arabs, being the capital of Transjordania with the present name of Amman.
Verses 7 to 22 are concerned with Edom, the people of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother, whose land was south and southeast of Canaan. Severe as was the treatment promised to Moab and Ammon, the portion allotted to Edom exceeds in severity, though here, as with the others, we have the chastisement inflicted by Nebuchadnezzar, with little reference to the time yet to be.
Teman (verses? and 20) and Dedan (verse 8) seem to have been districts, rather than towns, in Edom. Bozrah (verses 13 and 22) was the royal city of the country. True wisdom (verse 7) is to give heed to the Word of God, and in that day to His warning that they must submit to Nebuchadnezzar. See Jeremiah 27:1-111In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2Thus saith the Lord to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck, 3And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah; 4And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters; 5I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. 6And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. 7And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him. 8And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the Lord, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. 9Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: 10For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish. 11But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the Lord; and they shall till it, and dwell therein. (Jeremiah 27:1‑11) and chapter 25:15-38, which promised the judgments of which the present chapters give assurance. There was, however, complete disregard of God’s Word, and in due time the day of recompense dawned.
How like our own times was this rejection of God speaking in mercy to His creature, man! For many centuries the gospel has been proclaimed to sinners far and near, but men and women treat it with contempt. Eternal judgment, however draws near.
Edom’s desolation was to be complete, not like grape gatherers who leave a gleaning, or thieves who destroy only till they have enough; Edom would be reduced to orphans and widows (verses 8-11). Verse 12 seems to refer to chapter 25:15, 27, 28, 29; the Edomites decided that they would not drink of that cup, but what God has determined, the proud will of man cannot avert (verse 13).
Verses 14, 15: The judgment executed by the king of Babylon on Edom was concurred in, and apparently joined in, by other nations, for God had ordered that the aggressive Edomite kingdom should be despised among men. In this we may see a foreshadowing of the last days, when Edom will be destroyed forever.
Verse 16 mentioned the rock-dwellings of the land of Esau; they were quite secure against men, but would not be against the power of God which was behind Nebuchadnezzar’s army. Verse 19 is better understood if make him run away from her” is read as “make them (the Edomites) run away from it” (their strong habitation). This is the true reading. Edom occupies a prominent place in the prophetic Scriptures, but principally in connection with future judgments. Amos 1:1111Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever: (Amos 1:11) and the short, prophecy of Obadiah refer to what is now past, but also look on to the future day.
Next in the series of judgments are the cities of the north: Damascus, beyond the northern limit of Dan, and Hamath and Arpad far northward. Nebuchadnezzar’s forces would strike them before entering the land of Israel. Ben-Hadad (verse 27) was a title of the kings of Syria. Kedar was northern Arabia, and Razor, whose location has not been fixed, was apparently also to the north and east of Palestine.
Elam (verses 85-39) was an ancient monarchy bordering Persia on the west and Babylonia (Chaldea) on the north; it became part of the Babylonian empire; in later times it was identified with Persia.
With the exception of Babylon, which occupies the next two chapters, we have seen the testimony of the Holy Spirit touching the state of the world of that day in relation to His people Israel, and as to that people also. Judah and Israel had fallen under the judgment of God; the others would not escape.
There is a parallel in our day, and what is soon to be: the Church of God has darted from the Word of God, and Christendom will be judged; but when that day comes, the whole world will meet the unsparing dealing of God. The Word of God shows the prospect, provides the way of escape, but the world, as such, will have none of it; it remains for those whose consciences are awakened, to believe God and own Christ, as their personal Saviour and Lord.
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