#50 On the Nature of God: Learning from the prophets: OBADIAH

Do you know of anyone who still keeps a grudge as an adult many years after a childhood offense? Some people never forget and years later try to avenge misdeeds against themselves. Sometimes the person who committed the offense has some difficulty even remembering the offense. Often the offender has forgotten the incident and is surprised that it is still a problem.

The book of Obadiah prophesies about just such a problem. The people of Edom would be punished because they were unkind to their relatives, the Israelites.

Over five hundred years earlier, Jacob had lied and tricked Esau out of the family blessing, Genesis 27:15-18:

“Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau… and put them on Jacob her younger son. And the skins of the young goats she put on his hands…And she put the delicious food which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. So he went in to his father and said “I am Esau your firstborn.”

With this lie and trickery Jacob obtained the family blessing that should have gone to Esau, the first born.

Esau was extremely unhappy. He apparently passed this unhappiness on to his descendants because when Moses led the Children of Israel—Jacob’s descendents—toward Canaan, he asked the country of Edom—Esau’s descendents—for permission to cross their land. Probably, the Edomites remembered what Jacob had done to Esau because they denied the request, Numbers 20:18-20:

“But Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through, lest I come out with the sword against you.” And the people of Israel said… “We will go up by the highway, and if we drink of your water… then I will pay for it. Let me only pass through on foot, nothing more.” But he said, “You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against them with a large army…”

That answer caused Israel to have to skirt around Edom and may have cemented a bitter memory about the rejection of Israel by Edom. Later, during King David’s conquest of the people on the edges of his kingdom, the Edomites were made into servants, 1 Samuel 8:13-14:

“And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. Then he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became David’s servants.”

During the years of Jehoram, king of Judah, Edom broke away, 2 Chronicles 21:22:

“So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day…”

In Obadiah, verses 10-14, further wicked violence by Edom is condemned:

“Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them. But do not gloat over the day of your brother in the day of his misfortune; do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their ruin; do not boast in the day of distress. Do not enter the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; do not gloat over his disaster in the day of his calamity; do not loot his wealth in the day of his calamity. Do not stand at the crossroads to cut off his fugitives; do not hand over his survivors in the day of distress.”

This prophecy about Edom cites ugliness to ‘your brother Jacob.” Apparently, the Edomites had never forgotten the ill treatment of Jacob to Esau and aided an enemy of Judah in a hateful way.

The lesson to us is straightforward: Don’t keep offenses in memory and later try to avenge them. Let God do the avenging, Romans 12:19:

“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is  written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

A second lesson to learn from the experiences of Edom is that you reap what you sow as taught in Galatians 6, verses 6-7:

“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”

The nature of God is to take care of vengeance, as in the case of both Israel and Edom.

#revenge #rememberedOffenses #grudgeKeepers #Edom #EsauJacobInheritance #Jacob’sLies #reapSow #GodWillAvenge #wickedEdom #IsraelCan’tPass #Romans12:19 #Galatians6:6-7