“On the day that you stood aloof, On the day that strangers carried off his wealth, And foreigners entered his gate And cast lots for Jerusalem— You too were as one of them.  

“Do not gloat over your brother’s day, The day of his misfortune. And do not rejoice over the sons of Judah In the day of their destruction; Yes, do not boast In the day of their distress.  Do not enter the gate of My people In the day of their disaster. Yes, you, do not gloat over their calamity In the day of their disaster. And do not loot their wealth In the day of their disaster. Do not stand at the fork of the road To cut down their fugitives; And do not imprison their survivors In the day of their distress.  

“For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head.  Because just as you drank on My holy mountain, All the nations will drink continually. They will drink and swallow And become as if they had never existed.  

But on Mount Zion there will be those who escape, And it will be holy. And the house of Jacob will possess their possessions.  Then the house of Jacob will be a fire And the house of Joseph a flame; But the house of Esau will be as stubble. And they will set them on fire and consume them, So that there will be no survivor of the house of Esau,” For the Lord has spoken. 

: Obadiah 11–18

Obadiah
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A tiny book, with a clear message, summarized in our text today —- spoken against the children of Esau, the people of Edom ( picture posted in the comments below of the region, today, split between Israel, and Jordan )

It is particularly poignant when you know that it was spoken after the pillage of Jerusalem, and the destruction of the first temple by Nebuchadnezzar, of which event we have four witnesses in the prophets. Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel and Obadiah saw it, spoke and lived through that period, and survived.

There is a vicious jealousy and hatred spoken of here, of a people rejoicing in the misfortunes of the children of Jacob, and not just rejoicing… active harm …. Looting, cutting down fugitives, and imprisoning survivors!

Yes, the children had severely sinned and needed to be judged… and it was a terrible punishment to be sure, but ONE DAY , ( and we have been looking at that day ) this nation will be judged for their actions also!

God is ever faithful to the covenants He has sworn, even though his chastening may seem grievous, it is always temporary. And what He has said, He will perform! That is the bedrock on which our faith should stand, His Word, in spoken and incarnate form.

The destruction will be repeated one last time, but that will be the end!

Hallelujah!