What follows in this chapter is another oracle against a foreign nation (cf. chs. 25-32). What is it doing here? Evidently the writer included this oracle here because it promises to desolate an enemy of Israel that wanted to occupy Israel's land, which God promised to return to His people (ch. 34).
"It may appear at first as though the present prophecy belongs to the oracles against foreign nations, but it is probably here as a point of contrast to chapter 36, that is, wrath for Mount Seir contrasted with blessing for the mountains of Israel."453
But why Edom? Probably Edom was representative of all the enemies of Israel who wanted to take over her land and was selected because of her long history of land squabbles with Israel (cf. Gen. 25:22-34; 27; 36:1; Num. 20:14-21; 24:15-19; 1 Sam. 14:47; 1 Kings 11:14-22; 2 Kings 8:21; 2 Chron. 20:1-23; 28:17; Ps. 137:7; Isa. 1:11-16; Lam. 4:21-22; Dan. 11:41; Amos 2:1; Obad. 10-14; Mal. 1:2-5). Edom was the nation that had longest and most consistently resisted Israel's occupation of the Promised Land. Therefore, if God was going to give Israel her land in the future, as He promised in chapter 34, He would have to deal with Edom and all other nations that opposed Israel's possession of it. This section assures the readers, both ancient and modern, that He will deal with opponents to Israel occupying her land by prophesying the destruction of Israel's greatest antagonist viewed as a representative of all such powers (cf. Matt. 25:31-46). Edomite invasions of Israel following the Babylonian decimation of Judah also made Edom a major topic of interest.454
"Edom was the prototype of all Israel's later foes. The destruction of Edom would signal the beginning of God's judgment on the whole earth based on that nation's treatment of Israel (cf. Gen. 12:3)."455
35:1-2 The Lord directed Ezekiel to prophesy about Mount Seir (Edom, Gen. 32:3; 36:8), to "set your face against"it.456Why did God refer to Edom as "Mount Seir"when in the oracle against Edom in 25:12-14 He simply called it "Edom?"Apparently He did so to highlight the contrasts between the mountains of Edom and the mountains of Israel, which He contrasted in chapter 35 and 36:1-15 (cf. 36:1).457Two oracles against Edom in one book also double the certainty of fulfillment (cf. Gen. 41:32).
35:3-4 Yahweh announced that He was opposed to Mount Seir (cf. 36:9), would stretch out His hand in judgment against it (cf. 6:14), and would turn it into a desolate waste. He would destroy its cities (cf. 36:10), and the Edomites would learn that He is God.
35:5 He would do this because the Edomites had been enemies of the Israelites throughout their history (cf. 25:12; Gen. 12:3). Furthermore, they had not helped their brethren Israelites in the time of their calamity, the time when God was punishing Israel, but had turned them over to their enemy, the Babylonians (cf. 2 Chron. 20:10; Ps. 137:7; Lam. 4:21-22).
35:6-7 For this reason, the sovereign Lord swore, He would turn the Edomites over to others who would shed their blood. Since they had not tried to prevent bloodshed in Israel, they would experience bloodshed in Edom. "Bloodshed"(Heb. dam, lit. blood) may be a play on Edom's name (Heb. edom, from adom, "to be red").458God would make Mount Seir a desolate waste, such a desolation that few people would visit it.
35:8-9 The Edomites would fall slain in all parts of their land (cf. 6:3, 7). They would never recover from this judgment, and their cities would remain uninhabited. This was a harsher fate than even what God inflicted on Egypt (29:14) or Ammon (Jer. 49:6). Then the Edomites would know that Yahweh is the only true God.
35:10 The Lord gave three more reasons for Edom's judgment (cf. v. 5). The Edomites had wanted to take over the lands of both Israel and Judah even though they were the lands of Yahweh (cf. 36:12). Ancient Near Easterners viewed the lands of nations as the domain of the gods of those nations. To take a nation was to overcome its god. Thus in trying to take over Israel's land Edom tried to discredit Yahweh since "the Lord was there,"it was His land (cf. v. 12). This in turn involved failing to recognize Yahweh as the only true God (v. 13).
35:11-13 Therefore, the sovereign Lord swore again (cf. v. 6), He would deal with them with the same anger, envy, and hatred that they had demonstrated toward the Israelites (cf. 36:5-6). People would know that He had done this when He judged them. This would teach them that the Lord had heard the hateful words that the Edomites had spoken against "the mountains of Israel"(cf. vv. 2, 3, 7, 15; 36:1, 4, 8). By speaking against the Israelites the Edomites had spoken against Yahweh since He was their God, and the Lord had heard them (cf. 36:5; Mal. 1:1-5).
35:14-15 The Lord would cause all the earth to rejoice when He made Edom a laughingstock in the world just as it had rejoiced when Israel became desolate (cf. 36:5). Mount Seir and all of Edom would become absolutely desolate (cf. 36:10). It would not exist when the Lord restored His people to their land. Then the Edomites would learn that Yahweh is God.
"The prediction has been literally fulfilled. Edom was first subjugated by Babylon, then Medo-Persia, and then in 126 B.C. by John Hyrcanus the Hasmonean, who compelled them to become Jews. There is no trace of the Edomites now, although their desolate cities can still be identified, as predicted by Obadiah (v. 18) and Jeremiah (49:13)."459
