The prophet Obadiah wrote a prophecy from God regarding the nation of Edom, Esau's descendants. It's not a pleasant prophecy. In the message from God, is an indictment against Edom. "Judgment is coming on you and here's why ..." The list of charges begin in verse 10.
10 "Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. 11 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. 12 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. 13 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. 14 Do not stand at the crossroads to cut off his fugitives; do not hand over his survivors in the day of distress. 15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head" (Obadiah 1:10-15).Here's the deal. As Habbakuk has already informed us, judgment was coming on Judah, Edom's northern neighbors. And as Psalm 137 tells us, when it did, Edom laughed. No, they cheered. "Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, 'Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!'" (Psa 137:7).
In the list of charges here, God lays this out. They were charged with multiple crimes. There was violence done to Israel. There was standing aloof when judgment came. There was gloating over Jacob's misfortune. There was the entering of the ravaged lands and taking spoils for themselves. There was looting. They even blocked the escape routes of survivors and turned them over to Babylon. For all of this God says, "As you have done, it shall be done to you."
So what were they supposed to do? Obviously they should not have carried out violence against their brothers. Okay. We get that. They should not have stood aloof. Instead, when Judah was being attacked by Babylon, Edom should have stood with Judah. They should not have gloated. They should not have looted. They should not have blocked escapees. And all of this seems fairly clear and understandable. I mean, we're human, right? If you're doing the speed limit and a mad driver blows by at twice your speed, you're delighted to see him a little way down the road getting his comeuppance from a policeman with a ticket. We do that. If you live in one of the neighborhoods around my part of the world, you just might see a raid on a drop house. And if you see one of the illegal aliens jump out of the back window and head across your yard to escape, are you going to stop them and turn them over to the police or let them go? Well, if you're a law-abiding citizen, you're likely to stop them. You see, it's all pretty straightforward.
So what's my confusion? First, it would appear that God disagrees. Edom gloated over Judah's judgment, and Edom was wrong. They blocked escapees, and they were wrong. "But ... but ..." And my confusion only gets worse. Edom was supposed to side with Judah and help them escape. Side with Judah when what happened? When God sent judgment on Judah! Now, wait! If God is just and right and you want to side with God, wouldn't you be siding against God by siding with Judah and helping them escape? Wait ... wait.
It's all very confusing. Maybe there's an answer found in the fact that, while God sent the judgment, it was the evil Babylonians that were the apparent judgment, so opposing the evil Babylonians was the right thing to do (as opposed to opposing God's judgment). I don't know. There appears to be a dichotomy here. Surely you want to be on God's side, but God appears to desire both the judgment of Judah and for Edom to side with the judged. Maybe it's that Edom wouldn't have known that it was God's judgment and, as such, they should have provided aid and comfort to their northern neighbors. Or maybe there are some fine distinctions, some language problems I'm missing. I don't know for sure. I only know that Obadiah wasn't wrong. Edom is gone ... completely. There is not one known Edomite today. No modern person traces their heritage to that group of people. There are those who trace back to Ishmael and those who trace back to Isaac. There are remnants of the Persians and even the Babylonians. But God promised "There shall be no survivor for the house of Esau" (Obadiah 1:18), and that is the case. Since God seems to think this is serious and since I want to understand, maybe some of you can help me figure this out. How much are we supposed to side with those under God's judgment and discipline, and how much are we supposed to stay out of the way on the position of "siding with God"? Or how much am I just confused and missing the point? Any help?
5 comments:
You're just confused, Stan :)
I don't see the cases at all similar... the fugitive case you list and this judgement. To my mind it is more similar to me helping people after a drunk driving accident. Even tho the accident was his own fault, and could well be considered a judgement on him, I still render medical aid to the drunk driver.
Yes, indeed. I don't think I deny that I'm confused. :)
Another commenter on a recent post asked me what I thought we should do if scientists discovered an asteroid was going to hit the Earth. "If it's God's will, should we try to stop it?" I see this as the same thing. We operate from a human perspective. We, for instance, are called to "work out your salvation" even though "it is God who is at work in you." So saving someone from "possible judgment", stopping this hypothetical asteroid, or aiding those who may be in rebuke from God are things that we would do, leaving the outcome to God. In fact, it calls to mind a particular story where this guy got robbed and beaten and a Samaritan came and helped him out ...
I don't see this as dissecting the actual acts of what they did, but rather the heart condition that caused the actions. God always searches far beyond what we do. He searches the motive or intent of the heart for why we did it. I believe God's message was more so, let not your hearts be found in this condition...
This is the same reason why Cain & Abel remains such a mystery to some, because the entire event is based on something not spoken...the heart. If we only attempt to fix our actions, the root of the problem still exists. It is not until we approach God with our hearts wide open/exposed can we obey the laws of God. Their actions were simply the symptom of a clear indication of the condition of the hearts.
I know this was some time ago and you probably have moved on from this but I think it would be a good exercise for me to try to answer this dilemma.
I see it like this, WE ARE ALL under the judgment of God, our time WILL come when our actions will merit judgment. When you rejoice to see the speeding man getting his ticket do you not remember the time when you were speeding but did not get caught? When you saw the man escape the drop house and you wanted to turn him over to the police for punishment, do you not remember the time when you did something wrong in the eyes of God and He did not punish you for it but by grace forgave you.
As Christians we can sometimes get arrogant about our status with God, we have been saved by grace not by works, not because we deserved it or earned it or because we are any more righteous than others.
When God judges others and they are suffering for it, we should remember our own fallen nature and how we also deserve the same but have gotten off free, this alone should give us cause for compassion and not rejoice at the suffering of others.
Sounds a lot like what I wrote just the other day.
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