NOTES for Eze 35:1-15
Today the prophet denounces Edom (where Mount Seir is located) for the gloating of its inhabitants. Ever since David's time the Edomites had been at odds with Israel, so they welcomed the fall of the kingdom of Israel with joy. In the context of Old Testament morality, "love your neighbor and hate your enemy," Edom appears to be right in rejoicing over the fall of its enemy. Yet according to the prophet, here Edom is opposing God Himself, who dwells among His people.
The New Testament awareness that every person, bearing the image of God, is worthy of God's love makes gloating a fundamental sin against God. Every hatred and aggression toward a human being becomes rejection of the One in whose likeness that person was created. If we understand that all the people around us carry this seed of divine life within them, then the commandment to love our enemies will turn from a mad paradox into natural worship of God's presence in His greatest creation, the human person.