Scripture Daily

Context No. 1170 of 4322 · Ezekiel

Context · Reflection

Ezekiel 25:1-7: in context

1The LORD’s word came to me, saying, 2“Son of man, set your face toward the children of Ammon, and prophesy against them. 3Tell the children of Ammon, ‘Hear the word of the Lord GOD! The Lord GOD says, “Because you said, ‘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, 4therefore, behold, I will deliver you to the children of the east for a possession. They will set their encampments in you and make their dwellings in you. They will eat your fruit and they will drink your milk. 5I will make Rabbah a stable for camels and the children of Ammon a resting place for flocks. Then you will know that I am the LORD.” 6For the Lord GOD says: “Because you have clapped your hands, stamped with the feet, and rejoiced with all the contempt of your soul against the land of Israel, 7therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand on you, and will deliver you for a plunder to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will cause you to perish out of the countries. I will destroy you. Then you will know that I am the LORD.”

God turns Ezekiel's prophecy against Ammon, Israel's neighbor. The charge is specific: because you said Aha! against my sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and against Judah when they went into captivity. Because Ammon clapped its hands, stamped its feet, and rejoiced with contempt over Israel's fall, God will hand Ammon over to be plundered and cut off, until they know that he is the LORD.

The sin Ammon is judged for is gloating. When Israel fell, when the temple was profaned and the people dragged into exile, Ammon cheered. They said Aha!, clapped their hands, stamped their feet, and rejoiced with contempt over a neighbor's catastrophe. And God takes that gloating seriously enough to judge it directly; rejoicing over another's downfall is not a harmless emotion but a sin God holds against them. There is a sober warning here, because gloating over the fall of others, an enemy, a rival, someone we resented, can feel almost righteous, as if their misfortune vindicates us. But God does not see it that way. To rejoice at another's ruin, to say Aha! over someone else's catastrophe, is to share the contemptuous spirit God condemns, and it invites the same judgment onto ourselves. Scripture repeatedly warns against it: do not rejoice when your enemy falls. The heart that gloats over another's downfall has forgotten that it stands only by mercy, and that the God who judged the one who fell is watching the one who cheers. Ammon's clap of triumph over Israel's grief became the charge against Ammon.

When someone I resent falls, do I quietly gloat and say Aha!, and would I be willing to have God judge my celebration of another's downfall the way he judged Ammon's?

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