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God and the Nations

Obadiah

Proverbs 18:24 says there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother, and that was certainly true for the brothers, Jacob and Esau. After Jacob tricked Esau out of his birthright blessing (Genesis 27), Esau moved his flocks to a region south of the Dead Sea and established what became the nation of Edom. And Edom was a thorn in the side of the descendants of Jacob. The final straw was when Edom, instead of coming to the defense of Israel against her enemies, rejoiced when Jerusalem was overrun by Babylon (Obadiah 12). God called the prophet Obadiah to pronounce judgment upon this haughty nation (Obadiah 8), a judgment that has stood the test of time as Edom has vanished from the stage of history.

The Edomites refused to allow the second generation of Israelites to pass through their land (Numbers 20:14-21). Saul fought against them but it was David who conquered them and established outposts in their land (2 Samuel 8:14). Solomon used Edom's port cities as points of departure for his trading ships (2 Chronicles 8:17-18). But during the reign of Judah's king Jehoram, Edom regained control of her sovereignty (2 Kings 8:20, 22). When Judah was conquered by Babylon, the Edomites even moved in across Israel's southern borders (Obadiah 13). Obadiah declared that God's people would rule again from Mount Zion and that Esau's land would be taken over by others.

The entire prophecy of Obadiah is focused on God's judgment against one nation. But it stands as a warning to all nations, spoken to Jacob's and Esau's grandfather, Abraham: "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you" (Genesis 12:3a). The fate of any nation on earth stands or falls on how it treats the descendants of Abraham—the apple of God's eye (Zechariah 2:8).

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