Ezekiel 25:15-17
The Lord judges not only violent actions but the old hatreds that feed them; when a nation seeks destruction through malicious revenge, God answers with righteous judgment and makes Himself known.
15 “ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Because the Philistines have taken revenge, and have taken vengeance with contempt of soul to destroy with perpetual hostility;”
16 therefore the Lord Yahweh says, “Behold, I will stretch out my hand on the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast.
17 I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes. Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I lay my vengeance on them.” ’ ”
The LORD judges not only violent actions but the old hatreds that feed them; when a nation seeks destruction through malicious revenge, God answers with righteous judgment and makes Himself known.
To announce the LORD's judgment against Philistia because the Philistines acted in vengeance, pursued revenge with malice in the heart, and sought destruction from ancient hostility. The oracle exposes Philistia's long-nursed enmity as morally accountable before the LORD and declares that divine vengeance will reveal His rule over the nations.
Philistia was a long-standing neighbor and enemy in Israel's history, associated with the coastal region west of Judah. In Ezekiel's exilic setting, Judah's collapse could be misread by surrounding peoples as an opportunity for revenge or destruction. The oracle insists that the LORD's judgment of Jerusalem does not place Philistia outside His moral governance.