Morning Light – August 29th, 2017 – Ezekiel 35: The Fruits of Perpetual Hatred

Morning Light – Ezekiel 35
Today: [Ezekiel 35] The Fruits of Perpetual Hatred: Have you ever hated anyone? Have you ever found yourself, honestly indifferent to people in certain situations? It can be the same thing. In this chapter, the descendants of Esau are chastised by Ezekiel through the word of the Lord because they hated Israel with a perpetual hatred. Christians can be hateful. It is one of the most shameful aspects of Christian character, and unfortunately is not without consequences.
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[Eze 35:1-15 KJV] 1 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it, 3 And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount Seir, I [am] against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate. 4 I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I [am] the LORD. 5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed [the blood of] the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time [that their] iniquity [had] an end: 6 Therefore, [as] I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee. 7 Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him that passeth out and him that returneth. 8 And I will fill his mountains with his slain [men]: in thy hills, and in thy valleys, and in all thy rivers, shall they fall that are slain with the sword. 9 I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return: and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD. 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: 11 Therefore, [as] I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee. 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, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume. 13 Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard [them]. 14 Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate. 15 As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, [even] all of it: and they shall know that I [am] the LORD.
In this chapter Ezekiel conveys the word of the Lord against mount Seir. The word Seir was used to describe the character of the people who originally lived there before the descendants of Esau. Seir means “rough people” which derives from a word describing a mythical half goat half human creature that mythical ideas about what the devil looked like arose from. After the Horites diminished from the land, Esau’s tribe occupied it. This is interesting because Esau, as the Horites and mount Seir was described as a hairy, rough man. In occupying Seir, this tribe was a fierce enemy of God’s people because of the ancient between their patriarch Esau and Jacob.
In verse 2 Ezekiel prophesying from the north in Chebar is instructed to set his face against Seir and prophesy against it. The face in the bible is representative of the spirit, whether the spirit of God or the spirit of man, but seldom used in reference to a demon or angel. The instruction is given as a military term, as an army sets itself against a city so Ezekiel is to set his face against Seir and prophesy against it. The word of the Lord as Hebrews 4:12 tells becomes the sword drawn out against Seir with Ezekiel’s spoken words, originating in God’s heart, delivered through the voice of the prophet.
In verse 3 the Lord declares that He is against Seir and will stretch out His hand against it. What is God against Seir? Because they are a contentious people. James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5 tell us that God resists the proud. The word resist in those verses means that God sets Himself against the proud. The contentiousness of these people exposes the fact that they are bound by pride and driven by pride. Proverbs 13:10 tells us:
[Pro 13:10 KJV] 10 Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised [is] wisdom.
If you are in contention with someone you should consider the example of the people of Seir and the declaration of Pro. 13:10. Notice it says contention ONLY comes by pride. We tend to read this as “contention comes by pride…unless we are in the right and the other person is wrong…” That isn’t how the verse reads. Contention ONLY comes by pride and it doesn’t matter whose side you are on or if you think you are right. As the saying goes – it takes two to tangle. You have to ask yourself not who is in the right but what does the contention expose in your own character. What is to be our response? Jesus said this:
[Mat 5:25 KJV] 25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
When you enter into contention – you make the other party god in your situation. In Ex. 7:1 God told Moses that He would make Moses “a god” to Pharoah. How did this happen? The only direct action we know God took against Pharaoh was to harden Pharaoh’s heart. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart against Moses and Moses’ words became as God’s against him. When you harden your heart against another person, you make them as god in your situation. They then have the power to deliver you to the judge and hold you imprisoned in torment.
Because Seir walked (v. 5) in perpetual hatred against the 12 tribes of Israel, they would be delivered up to the sword and be brought to an end. The sword is the word of God according to Hebrews 4:12. It is intended to free and to liberate us, but if we walk contrary to the word or if our hearts are obstinately harboring attitudes and a posture in enmity and opposition to His word then the word becomes a sword against us, in spite of everything God has done to bless us. Why is this so? Because for all the love with which God loves us, and will do anything for us, the one thing God cannot and will not do is to change His own nature. God is love, and anything contrary to love is in opposition to God and will ultimately come to failure. Love never fails. Why would we step out of love and reap the consequences thereof?
Now if we are to agree with our adversaries, does that mean we let people run over us and take unrestrained advantage of us no matter what? On the contrary, we are to love others, but on God’s terms and not theirs. People many times will cast dispersions against us because we didn’t do what they demanded. “We thought you were a Christian! How can you call yourself a Christian and not put up with my abuse!” Jesus was rejected and despised so we would have recourse before the throne when we experienced the same unjustly so. He refused to call 10,000 angels to rescue Him so we could call the angelic hosts assign to us to our rescue. As Paul appealed to Caesar when standing in Agrippa’s court even so we appeal to the throne of God and God goes to work in the situation to bring to us justice and deliverance that can never be one by attempting to wrestle against flesh and blood.
Verse 9 tells us that mount Seir’s desolations will be perpetual because (v. 5) their hatred was perpetual. We might say “well, I don’t hate anyone!” One holocaust survival state a truth when he said “the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference…” When we are indifferent toward others it is the moral equivalent of hatred exposing us to the sword of God’s word set against all who allow such things to be harbored in their heart. In the life of Christ there was witnessed in His earth walk anything but indifference. God has called us to walk in love. That doesn’t mean we allow others to control us or push us around. Love is not lordship. We submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and love others, enduring with grace the dispersions and persecutions of those we choose to love because at the same time we will not let them control us or set the agenda for our lives. Love is not being a door mat. Love is not putting up with abuse without recourse.
Verse 15 tells us that because Esau’s descendants, the “rough people” rejoiced at the calamity of God’s people, they will be made desolate. There is a segment of society who rejoice in how rude, and crude they are in life and rejoice and mock in laughter at the suffering of anyone who doesn’t think like they do, particularly Christians. The world will mourn over those who live in debauchery and sin, but look on with thinly veiled approval when Christians fall, falter or are destroyed. Be careful not to adopt these attitudes. Christians can demonstrate greater bitterness and hatred against each other than any other people group. It has been said that Christians kill their wounded and eat their young and unfortunately that sentiment is not without justification at times. Purpose to walk in love. Live out your lives and difficult relationships from an ascended perspective, obeying God, and loving people.