The Party is Over
Edom lay south-east of Judah across the Dead Sea. Tension, if not enmity, between Edom and Israel was legendary, traced back to the fact that they were descendants of two quarrelsome brothers, Jacob and Esau (Gen 25: 19-24; 27: 1-4; Obadiah, 10, 12).
For Obadiah, Edom’s crowning offence was that when Babylon sacked Jerusalem in 586 BCE Edom sided with Babylon and then compounded her felony by seizing the opportunity to loot Judah (vv 10-11). But Israel could never forget that Edom refused to let Moses pass through their land (Num 20: 14-21) nor the frequent wars and skirmishes between Edom and the Israelite kings (2 Sam 8: 13-14); 1 Kings 11: 14-22; 2 Kings 14: 7; 16: 6; 2 Chron 20; 21: 8-10).
Edom, however, always seemed to have the knack of avoiding conquest. Living on rocky terrain, and on a hill (v 3), she maintained her boundaries and survived the invasions and onslaughts that had destroyed others. Unfortunately, it had gone to her head and got into the hair of Israel and Judah. Edom was too big for her boots. She thought she was indestructible. Others always knew it couldn’t go on for ever, and at last it looked as if she would get her come-uppance (v 4).
Inevitably there was a touch of quiet satisfaction as observers saw what was happening. After all they had suffered at the hand of Edom they wanted to see her plundered, deserted by her allies and her armies shattered (vv 5-9). Only then would she realise that this was the judgement of God for her misdeeds against him and his people (v 8). She is getting her deserts.
Anyone who has suffered at the hands of another will know the feeling. Warring ideologies and political parties. Competing presidents, moderators and chairpersons. Big, old-established churches and struggling new ones. The family ‘top dog’ and the family ‘poodle’. But is the satisfaction not another form of pride and can we honestly claim divine sanction for either?