A Night With Frogs/Armageddon & The Millennium Theory/They Crucified Him/The Silent Majority
Twenty Four Hour Days/Will God Hear The Sinners' Prayer
A Tale Of Twins
Subject
Text: Gen. 25:19-26 / Rom. 9:6-13
The
book of Obadiah serves as the catalyst for our discussion at this time, it is
the shortest book in the Old Testament but it tells a big story that spans the Bible
from the time of the patriarchs to the last days of the Old Testament, which
actually spills over into the early days of the New Testament. What begins in
the womb as a rivalry between twins matures into a long-standing feud between
two nations - - Israel and Edom. This feud is continuing to play itself out
even as we speak in the East Bank. With suicide bombers and cowardly
assassinations, coupled with other acts of terrorist activity one wonders where
and how did this animosity begin? If we were to take an investigatory
examination of the book of Obadiah we could acquire a better vantage point of
understanding. One way to understand the book is to see it in terms of a
five-act historical drama.
Act
I: The Birth Of Two Nations
In
many ways, Obadiah actually begins in Genesis with the account of Jacob
grabbing the heel of his brother Esau as they emerge from their mother’s womb,
Gen. 25:19. Jacob continues his grasping, scheming ways by obtaining the
family’s birthright and the father’s blessing, which was Esau’s 25:27-34;
27:1-40.
For
several years Jacob takes refuge from his vengeful brother, but eventually they
are reconciled. In Gen. 36:1;6-8 we are informed that Esau settles in Edom and
gives rise to the Edomites Gen. 36:1-43. Jacob remains in Canaan and gives rise
to the nation of Israel. Thus the stage is set for the fulfillment of the
Lord’s word to Rebekah that “the older shall serve the younger.” Gen. 25:23.
Act II: Edom Blocks The Road
As
Israel is emancipated from Egyptian bondage and are traveling along the King’s
highway bound for Moab and Canaan, they arrive at the portion of the road
controlled by Edom. In Num. 20:14-21 Moses petitions for a right of safe
passage, but he and his people are turned away. The Israelites are forced to
take a longer, southern route, resulting in many more hardships and setbacks.
Act III: Payback
The
Israelites take control of Canaan and eventually establish a kingdom. According
to I Sam. 14:47 their very first king, Saul, harassed the Edomites in that
whithersoever he turned himself, he vexed them. When David ascended to the
throne of Israel, this sweet singer, this man after God’s own heart tried to
eradicate and exterminate them. First he slew all the males and then he reduced
those that were left to be his servants I Kn. 11:15,16; 2 Sam. 8:13,14. This
all stemmed from what we read in I Sam. 21 and 22 when David was fleeing from
the wrath of Saul he took refuge in the hallowed home of the priest Ahimelech.
And telling the priest that he was on urgent business for the King he received
food and shelter and the sword of Goliath. But there was a man there also who
overheard all these things and his name was Doeg, Doeg the Edomite. Doeg went
back and told Saul all that had transpired and Saul went to the home of the priest
Ahimelech and accused him of treason and compelled his soldiers to slay him and
his entire household, when they were afraid to rise up against the Lord’s
priests Doeg the Edomite took his sword and killed 85 priests I Sam. 22:18.
David never forgot this atrocity.
When
Solomon, the son of David became the king of Israel one of the first things
that he did was to plunder the land of Edom. He sent in his navy and took
nearly all the gold from the land of Edom, I Kn. 9:26-29. Keep in mind all of
this oppression was occurring despite a prohibition in the Law; God had already
decreed in Deut. 23:7-8 “Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother
. . .” The Lord knew that Israel might be inclined to carry animosity in their
heart concerning Edom and the fact that they refused them passage along the
king’s highway. And whereas he instructed them to take vengeance on the
Amalekites for their ruthless attack upon Israel while they were escaping from
Egypt, I Sam. 15: 2,3 He told them to erase from their heart their anger
against Edom. But the feud continued; it continued into the time of the divided
kingdom. During the reign in Judah of Jehoshaphat, the armed forces of Edom,
Moab and Ammon form an alliance and ford the shallows of the Dead Sea to stage
a sneak attack on Judah, II Chron. 20:22,23. Later Edom rebels against King
Jehoram II Kn. 8:20-22. Later still, King Amaziah of Judah slaughters 10,000
Edomites, as if in remembrance of David, II Kn. 14:7; II Chron. 25:11-25.
Act IV: The Edomites Gloat
With
the passage of time, the Lord begins to punish His people for their persistent
rebellion against His Law, and especially for their idolatries. The Assyrian
Empire rises and eventually overruns Israel. Then the Babylonians take control
and gradually take Judah into captivity. Finally Jerusalem is viciously
destroyed following a long horrendous siege. The Edomites react to Judah’s
downfall with great celebration, Psa. 137:7. They gloat over Jerusalem’s
destruction and deride the survivors. Having taken the opportunity to nibble
away at Judah’s territory during the years of Babylonian domination, they
gladly occupy more of its land by permission of Nebuchadnezzar. It may well be
this attitude of gloating that occasions Obadiah to condemn them in his prophecy.
Certainly Jeremiah alludes to this period when he predicts that soon it will be
Edom’s turn for judgment, Jer. 49:17,18; Lam. 4:21.
Act V: An Edomite Rules Israel
In
an ironic postscript to the Old Testament record, the Edomites are eventually
driven out of Edom by the Nabateans, a tribe from northern Arabia. The refugees
settle in Negev, south of Judah, where they come to be called Idumaeans. In the
second century B.C. they are subdued by a Maccabean Jew named John Hyrcanus,
who compels them to be circumcised. One of the descendents of the Idumaeans
proselytes is Herod, a politically astute leader whom the Romans install as
“king” of Judea, (37 – 4 B.C.) His family runs Jewish Palestine for the Romans
until the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
What
lessons can we extract from this history and the book of Obadiah?
First
and foremost: nations are ultimately brothers and sisters, and conflicts between
nations are ultimately deep rooted conflicts between family. Obadiah condemns
Edom for betraying a family member, Obad. 10. What begins as a rivalry between
two brothers ends as a perpetual feud between two nations. This is the case
in history and in the present world today. Interpersonal conflicts can easily
escalate into policies and systems that destroy relations between nations
and ethnic groups.
It
needs to be well understood that neutrality is not an option in the face of
injustice and oppression. Edom ignored Judah’s cries for help. Indeed, they
celebrated when the Babylonians decimated their enemy’s land. The Lord rebuked
the Edomites for aiding and abetting those who were plundering His people,
Obad. 11-14.
Our
security must not be rooted in rock-like defenses, but rather in God. The
Edomites were seemingly secure in the stony clefts of Petra, Obad. 3, but
eventually the Lord allowed them to be driven out and absorbed by other ethnic
groups. By contrast, the Jews were apparently at the end of their time as a
nation, but the Lord brought a remnant back to the land. You see, He had to
fulfill His promises, in spite of all the hatred and anger, the death and
destruction - - despite Herod the Edomite’s attempt to thwart His plan and slay
the new-born King of kings. The Lord God Almighty demonstrated and proved
Himself to be the author of justice and mercy, and the Lord of history.