3. (10-14) Why judgment is coming against Edom.
“For violence against your brother Jacob,
Shame shall cover you,
And you shall be cut off forever.
In the day that you stood on the other side;
In the day that strangers carried captive his forces,
When foreigners entered his gates
And cast lots for Jerusalem;
Even you were as one of them.
But you should not have gazed on the day of your brother
In the day of his captivity;
Nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah
In the day of their destruction;
Nor should you have spoken proudly
In the day of distress.
You should not have entered the gate of My people
In the day of their calamity.
Indeed, you should not have gazed on their affliction
In the day of their calamity,
Nor laid hands on their substance
In the day of their calamity.
You should not have stood at the crossroads
To cut off those among them who escaped;
Nor should you have delivered up those among them who remained
In the day of distress.”
a. For violence against your brother Jacob: The family lines of both Israel and Edom go back to a common ancestor – Isaac. Esau (Edom) was the brother of Jacob (Israel). This made Edom’s sin against Israel all the worse.
i. Some sins become worse depending on whom we sin against. It is sin to treat someone else badly; it is worse to treat a brother or sister in Jesus badly. It is sin to speak harshly to anyone; it is worse to speak harshly to your husband or wife.
b. In the day you stood on the other side: What did Edom do when strangers attacked Judah and foreigners entered his gates? Nothing. They stood by and cheered for Judah’s misery (nor should you have rejoiced).
i. Sometimes doing nothing is a great sin. Numbers 32:23 speaks of the sin that will find you out, and the sin it speaks of is the sin of doing nothing.
ii. Edom actually did worse than nothing; they rejoiced over another’s misfortune and suffering and used it as an occasion to exalt themselves (nor should you have spoken proudly in the day of distress).
c. Nor laid hands on their substance: Edom’s sin started with doing nothing. Then progressed to pride over Judah’s distress. Finally, they took advantage of their brother Judah’s misfortune and laid hands on their substance.
d. You should not have stood at the crossroads to cut off those among them who escaped: The final progression of Edom’s sin was worst of all – they joined in the attack against vulnerable Judah. When they encountered people from Judah fleeing southward from the attacking army, they killed them (cut off) or gave them over to the enemy as prisoners (delivered up those among them who remained).
i. “Sin proceeds by degrees; neither is any man at his worst at first.” (Trapp)
e. In the day of his captivity…in the day of distress…. In the day of their calamity: All in all, Edom treated God’s people terribly when distress and calamity came upon them. For all this, God’s judgment was coming upon them.
· First, they did nothing.
· Then they rejoiced in their distress and calamity.
· Then they took advantage of their vulnerable state.
· Then they joined in the violence against God’s people.
i. Are we guilty of the same – or worse – when we see others in distress or calamity? If so, God sees it as sin, and He must deal with it in our lives.
B. Deliverance on Mount Zion.
1. (15-16) A promise of judgment against Edom.
“For the day of the LORD upon all the nations is near;
As you have done, it shall be done to you;
Your reprisal shall return upon your own head.
For as you drank on My holy mountain,
So shall all the nations drink continually;
Yes, they shall drink, and swallow,
And they shall be as though they had never been.”
a. The day of the LORD upon all the nations is near: God wants Edom to know that though distress and calamity came upon Judah, it can and will come upon Edom also. That day is near.
b. As you have done, it shall be done to you: God will give simple justice to the Edomites, no more and no less. What they did to the people of Judah will also be done to them. The same principle is true for us, so if we want mercy from God, we do well to give mercy to others.
i. There is a sense in which God’s judgment against Edom was just the fulfillment of His promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3: I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. The Edomites cursed Israel, so they were cursed. If we want to be blessed, we should bless the Jewish people.
2. (17-20) God will use Israel to bring judgment against Edom.
“But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance,
And there shall be holiness;
The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
The house of Jacob shall be a fire,
And the house of Joseph a flame;
But the house of Esau shall be stubble;
They shall kindle them and devour them,
And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau,”
For the LORD has spoken.
The South shall possess the mountains of Esau,
And the Lowland shall possess Philistia.
They shall possess the fields of Ephraim
And the fields of Samaria.
Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
And the captives of this host of the children of Israel
Shall possess the land of the Canaanites
As far as Zarephath.
The captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
Shall possess the cities of the South.
a. On Mount Zion there shall be deliverance: The trials and burdens among God’s people are only temporary because among them there shall be deliverance. However, the attack coming against Edom will be different – Israel will be the fire and they will be the stubble, and Edom will be completely devoured.
i. The word of the Lord through Obadiah proved true. The Edomites fought side by side with the Jews in the rebellion against Rome in A.D. 66-70 and were crushed by Rome, never to be heard of as a people again. The predictions of Obadiah 1:10 and 1:18 were precisely fulfilled. You just won’t meet an Edomite today.
b. The South shall possess the mountains of Esau: Obadiah looks forward to a coming day when Israel will occupy and possess the land that once belonged to Esau. Though the modern borders of Israel do not encompass the ancient lands of Edom, we can trust that they one day will, either in this age or in the age to come.
i. The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions: Possessing these other lands can only happen when we first possess what is ours. God has given us a rich heritage of every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3), but how much do we actually possess? God wants His people to possess their possessions.
3. (21) Saviors come to Mount Zion.
Then saviors shall come to Mount Zion
To judge the mountains of Esau,
And the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.
a. Saviors shall come to Mount Zion: The idea isn’t that there are many saviors in an ultimate sense. Here, the word “saviors” has the sense of “deliverers.” The contrast is plain; Edom will be completely destroyed, and no saviors shall help her, but saviors shall come to Mount Zion.
b. To judge the mountains of Esau: They will judge the mountains of Esau in at least three ways:
· The presence of deliverers is a judgment against Edom because Edom will have no deliverers.
· The judges will rule over the territory of Edom.
· The judges will actually sit in judgment over Edom and their sins.
c. And the kingdom shall be the LORD’s: The brief prophecy of Obadiah ends on this high note. The Edomites seemed to have their day against God’s people but at the end of it all, the kingdom shall be the LORD’s. He knows how to take care of God’s people and to advance His kingdom in a glorious way.
i. This note of encouragement may be the central purpose for this prophecy of Obadiah. We wonder if it ever had much of a reading in the streets or palaces of Edom; it certainly was received as welcome encouragement among the suffering people of God. Obadiah tells all God’s people: “Don’t worry about those who ignore your need, those who rejoice at your problems, those who take advantage of your crises, those who join their hands with others in attacking you. I will take care of them.”