Albert Barnes Commentary Ezekiel 25:1-7

"And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face toward the children of Ammon, and prophesy against them: and say unto the children of Ammon, Hear the word of the Lord Jehovah: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was made desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity: therefore, behold, I will deliver thee to the children of the east for a possession, and they shall set their encampments in thee, and make their dwellings in thee; they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk. And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the children of Ammon a couching-place for flocks: and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast clapped thy hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced with all the despite of thy soul against the land of Israel; therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the nations; and I will cut thee off from the peoples, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah." — Ezekiel 25:1-7 (ASV)

It was a distinct part of scriptural prophecy to address pagan nations. In Isaiah 13–19, Jeremiah 46–51, and here in Ezekiel 25–32, one section is specially devoted to a collection of such prophecies. Every such prediction had the general purpose of exhibiting the conflict continually waging between the servants of God and the powers of the world, the struggle in which the Church of Christ still has to wrestle against her foes (Ephesians 6:12), but in which she will surely prevail.

This series of prophecies, with one exception, was delivered at the time of the fall of Jerusalem; some shortly before, and some shortly after, the capture of the city. They were collected together to illustrate their original purpose of warning the nations not to exult in their neighbor’s fall.

Seven nations are addressed, which had most contact with the children of Israel: on their eastern borders, Moab and Ammon; to the south, Edom; on the southwest, Philistia; northward, Tyre (the merchant city) and the more ancient Sidon; and lastly, Egypt, alternately the scourge and the false support of the chosen people.

The number seven is symbolic of completeness. Seven prophecies against Egypt, the chief of seven nations, denote the completeness of the overthrow of the pagan power, the antagonist of the kingdom of God.

While other prophets hold out to these pagan nations some prospect of future mercy (for example, Isaiah 16:14; Jeremiah 49:6, Jeremiah 49:11), Ezekiel speaks of their complete ruin.

He was contemplating national ruin. In the case of Jerusalem, there would be national restoration, but in the case of the pagan nations, no such recovery.

This national ruin was irretrievable; the remnant to whom the other prophets hold out hopes of mercy were to find it as individuals gathered into God’s Church, not as nations to be restored.

Ezekiel does not, like other prophets, prophesy against Babylon. It was his mission to show that, for the moment, Babylon was the righteous instrument of divine wrath, doing God’s work in punishing His foes.

In prophesying against foreign nations, Ezekiel often adopts the language of those who preceded him.

In Ezekiel 25, the four nations most closely connected with one another by geographical position and by contact are addressed in a few brief sentences concluding with the same refrain: "You shall know that I am the Lord" (for example, Ezekiel 25:5). This prophecy was delivered immediately after the capture of the city by Nebuchadnezzar, and so is later, in point of time, than some of the prophecies that follow it.

The Ammonites were inveterate foes of the descendants of Abraham.

Men of the east (Ezekiel 25:4) – These are the wild, wandering Arabs who would later come into the ruined land. The name was a common term for the nomadic tribes of the desert .

Palaces – These are encampments; the tents and enclosures of nomadic tribes. After subjugation by Nebuchadnezzar (Ezekiel 21:28), the land was subjected to various masters. The Graeco-Egyptian kings founded a city on the site of Rabbah (Ezekiel 25:5), called Philadelphia, from Ptolemy Philadelphus. In later times, Arabs from the east have completed the doom pronounced against Rabbah.

For a spoil (Ezekiel 25:7) – Or, for a portion.