Rush City Baptist Church

Obadiah – Jacob and Esau

Sunday, April 6, 2008

INTRODUCTION: When I was a child growing up in the Dakotas we would play a game in church called “Jacob and Esau.”  Two contestants would be blindfolded and given rolled up newspapers.  Then they both got down on the floor and were told to place their free hand on the corner of a book.  The first contestant would call out, “Esau, where are you?” and his opponent would answer, “Over hear Jacob.”  Based on the sound of his voice, the first boy would try to smack his opponent with his newspaper.  Whether he connected or missed, the next boy would call out, “Jacob, where are you” and it would be his turn to try to smite his opponent.  This exchange would go back and forth until the newspapers were shredded.  If the leaders wanted to have some fun with one of the contestants, they would only blindfold one boy, and seeing where his opponent was crouching, the boy would make contact every time.

The animosity between the Edomites and the Israelites is an ancient example of family conflict.  The conflict began with a struggle between Jacob and Esau in the womb of their mother Rebekah.  We read in Genesis 25: 21-26, “Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren.  The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.  The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, ‘Why is this happening to me?’  So she went to inquire of the Lord.  The Lord said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.’  When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.  The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.  After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob.”  Years later the conflict continued with Esau’s sale of the birthright and Jacob’s deception to receive his father’s blessing.  “Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished.  He said to Jacob, ‘Quick, let me have some of that red stew!  I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.)  Jacob replied, ‘First sell me your birthright.’  ‘Look, I am about to die,’ Esau said.  ‘What good is the birthright to me?’  But Jacob said, ‘Swear to me first.’  So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.  Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew.  He ate and drank, and then got up and left.  So Esau despised his birthright” (Genesis 25:29-34). 

After Jacob’s 20-year exile, when he returned to Palestine he and Esau were reconciled, but it is clear from history that their descendants continued to feud.  “Esau took his wives and sons and daughters and all the members of his household, as well as his livestock and all his other animals and all the goods he had acquired in Canaan, and moved to a land some distance from his brother Jacob.  Their possessions were too great for them to remain together; the land where they were staying could not support them both because of their livestock.  So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the hill country of Seir” (Genesis 36:6-8).  During the exodus Edom refused Moses’ request to pass through their land.  “Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying: ‘This is what your brother Israel says: You know about all the hardships that have come upon us.  Now we are here at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory.  Please let us pass through your country.  We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well.  We will travel along the king’s highway and not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.’ But Edom answered: ‘You may not pass through here; if you try, we will march out and attack you with the sword.’  The Israelites replied: ‘We will go along the main road, and if we or our livestock drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We only want to pass through on foot—nothing else.’  Again they answered: ‘You may not pass through.’  Then Edom came out against them with a large and powerful army.  Since Edom refused to let them go through their territory, Israel turned away from them” (Numbers 20:14-21).

God told Israel not to retaliate but hostilities continued for centuries.  Saul, the first king of Israel, fought against Edom during his reign (1 Samuel 14:47).  David subjugated Edom during his reign.  “And David became famous after he returned from striking down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He put garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David” (2 Samuel 8:13-14). The Edomites unsuccessfully tried to rebel under Solomon (1 Kings 11:14-22), but were unable to achieve freedom until their revolt during the reign of Jehoram of Judah about 845 B.C. “In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king.  So Jehoram went to Zair with all his chariots.  The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night; his army, however, fled back home.  To this day Edom has been in rebellion against Judah” (2 Kings 8:20-22).  Conflicts between the two nations continued until the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. when the Edomites encouraged its downfall (Psalm 137:7).

The Vision concerning Esau (vv. 1-9).  In his vision Obadiah describes a supernatural revelation that he received from the Lord concerning the fate of the nation of Edom.  God had sent a call out to the surrounding nations to humble this proud nation.  Edom’s chief source of pride was its seeming impregnable position geographically.  Edom was Israel’s neighbor to the SE, south of Moab and the Dead Sea.  Its territory extended south to the Gulf of Aqaba.  “Edom’s natural defenses were imposing.  Its main centers of civilization were situated in a narrow ridge of mountainous land southeast of the Dead Sea. This ridge exceeded a height of 4,000 feet throughout its northern sector, and it rose in places to 5,700 feet in the south.  Its height was rendered more inaccessible by the gorges radiating from it toward the Arabah on the west and the desert eastwards.  The frontiers of this lofty plateau were formed on the west by the Arabah, to which the land dropped over 4,000 feet within the space of a few miles. The northern border was similarly defended by the deep canyon of the Wadi Zered, and to the south the precipitous walls of the Wadi Hismeh mark the abrupt descent of the tableland to the desert. In addition to these natural fortifications, Edom was strongly defended by a series of fortresses.” (EBC)

Edom also prided herself in her wealth, obtained by trading, looting and mining iron and copper, (v. 6), her alliances with her neighbors (v. 7), her wisdom (v. 8), and her military strength (v. 9).  Edom’s fertile valleys had been developed through irrigation, and she had become a center in foreign trade routes.  Asking rhetorical questions, Obadiah illustrates the extent of Edom’s coming destruction.  When thieves come they take only what they want.  When the reapers gather the grapes they don’t take everything.  But in comparison, when disaster comes upon Edom it will be complete.  So, Edom first deceived itself by thinking it was impervious to military attack. Then it was deceived by one of its own allies a nation that “ate your bread will set a trap for you.”  The fulfillment of this prophecy came in the late sixth or early fifth century B.C. when Edom was conquered by the Nabatean Arabs.

The Violence of Esau (vv. 10-14).  After announcing God’s judgment on Edom, Obadiah lists the reasons for God’s condemnation.  The prophet spoke of the Edomites’ sinful attitudes and their actions against Judah.  Edom’s mistreatment of Israel was considered even more deplorable because of their relationship.  Obadiah intentionally spoke of Judah as Edom’s brother to suggest the awfulness of violence against one’s own blood relatives.  On the day of the attack against the city of JerusalemEdom remained aloof, watching the destruction. Not only did they refuse to help Israel, but their indifference was followed by gloating over the misfortune of their brother, rejoicing over Judah’s destruction, and even boasting over her trouble.  When Edom finally acted it was to enter Jerusalem’s gates, looting her wealth, filling those who tried to escape, and handing over any survivors to the attacking enemy.

Scholars are divided over the timing of this violence on the part of Edom during an invasion of Jerusalem. If the prophecy was before the exile, Obadiah could be referring to an attack against Jerusalem during the reign of Jehoram by Philistines and Arabians.  “The Lord aroused against Jehoram the hostility of the Philistines and of the Arabs who lived near the Cushites.  They attacked Judah, invaded it and carried off all the goods found in the king’s palace, together with his sons and wives.  Not a son was left to him except Ahaziah, the youngest” (2 Chronicles 21:16-17). And we know from the same passage that Edom had revolted during the reign of Jehoram and was a bitter antagonist of Judah at this time.  “In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king.  So Jehoram went there with his officers and all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night.  To this day Edom has been in rebellion against Judah” (vv. 8-10).

Scholars, who view the prophecy of Obadiah as postexilic, see this as a reference to the final invasion of Jerusalem when the city fell to the Babylonians in 586 B.C.  On that occasion the city suffered seizure of this wealth and wholesale deportation of its population.  “As the Lord had declared, Nebuchadnezzar removed all the treasures from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace, and took away all the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made for the temple of the Lord.  He carried into exile all Jerusalem: all the officers and fighting men, and all the craftsmen and artisans—a total of ten thousand.  Only the poorest people of the land were left” (2 Kings 24:13-14). Jerusalem was virtually burned to the ground, including the temple, and many of its inhabitants were massacred.  “On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, an official of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.  He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem.  Every important building he burned down.  The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem” (25:8-10). 

And during this time of Israel’s destruction Edom was standing on the sidelines cheering on the destruction of their relative.  “Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell.  ‘Tear it down,’ they cried, ‘tear it down to its foundations!’” (Psalm 137:7). “The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, set your face against MountSeir; prophesy against it and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, MountSeir, and I will stretch out my hand against you and make you a desolate waste.  I will turn your towns into ruins and you will be desolate.  Then you will know that I am the Lord.  Because you harbored an ancient hostility and delivered the Israelites over to the sword at the time of their calamity, the time their punishment reached its climax” (Ezekiel 35:1-5).

The Lord’s Visitation of Jacob and Esau (vv. 15-21).  In the closing section of his prophecy Obadiah’s attention shifts from the house of Jacob and the house of Esau to the day of the Lord.  Both nations had been ignoring God and treating him as irrelevant, which is why both of them were in the predicament that they were, Israel now, and Edom at a later date.  Obadiah first chronicles the impending doom of Edom (vv. 15-18) and then he turns his attention to the future when God will restore the nation of Israel (vv. 19-21).  The day is coming when Jerusalem will once again be holy and the nation of Israel will once again occupy their promised land. Obadiah describes some of the territories to be reclaimed by Israel.  Exiles will return and possess the land as far north as Zarephath and as far south as the Negev.

CONCLUSION: I thought of the following talking points for application.  First, it is true that Obadiah warns against the sin of pride.  “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).  Obadiah also teaches us not to gloat when God judges someone else.  But the main theology that comes from this short prophecy is that God truly is sovereign (1:1) and he will not be ignored by his creatures.  When we treat God as insignificant, we do so at our own peril.  Israel, as God’s people, ignored him and that was why they were going into captivity.  Edom, who did not know God and who felt that they don’t need God, found out God is sovereign.