Day 247 (Ezekiel 25-27) - Year 8

The Bible Recap host Tara Lee Cobble walks through Ezekiel 25–27, a set of prophecies against the nations that celebrated or exploited Judah’s destruction. The episode is organized around a single theological claim: God is protective of His people, even when those people have betrayed Him, and He will act justly toward their enemies. The reading covers Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, and Tyre, with the bulk of the attention on Tyre and a notable interpretive puzzle the prophecy presents.

The Sin of Schadenfreude and the Pattern of Judgment

God’s case against the Ammonites is straightforward: they loved watching the temple be defiled, the land destroyed, and the people of Judah killed and exiled. Cobble calls this Schadenfreude—taking pleasure in someone else’s suffering. “They literally celebrated death and destruction,” she says. The Babylonians, who had just destroyed Jerusalem, are the instrument God will send against them. Moab’s sin is different: as distant relatives of Israel, they refused to acknowledge Israel’s unique relationship with Yahweh. Edom and Philistia acted with vengeance and cruelty toward Judah. In each case, the pattern is the same: God promises that the nations will face justice for how they treated His people.

The Tyre Problem: Prophecy That Didn’t Play Out as Written