"Brother's Misfortune"
[Obadiah 10-14]
March 11, 2007 Second Reformed Church
When Saddam Hussein was hanged a few months ago, what was your response? Were you glad he was out of power? Were you glad he couldn't hurt anyone anymore? Did you get giddy to know that someone had videotaped the hanging and that it had been posted on the internet? Did you go on the internet and burn a copy of the video of Saddam Hussein being hanged so you could watch it over and over again? Do you wish you could have?
What do you think of President Bush? How has he done as our President in your opinion? If you think he hasn’t done well, do you hope that he is prosecuted in some fashion? Do you laugh at him and ridicule him when you disagree with him? I was talking with one woman who said she prays that he will "burn in hell," do you agree?
Jacob and Esau were twin brothers of Isaac; Esau was the older son, so he held the birthright and was due the blessing upon his father's death. But Jacob tricked Esau out of both his birthright and his blessing. So Jacob became Israel, the children of the Promise, and Esau became the Edomites, a neighboring nation who was cut off from God's blessing to Abraham.
Generation after generation, the Edomites burned with anger and jealousy against Israel for the deception that occurred between their fathers. And when the Babylonians came to attack Israel, the Edomites turned their back on Israel and helped the Babylonians in their conquest of Israel, and the Edomites rejoiced Israel, they thought, had finally gotten their just due.
And Edom, being full of pride and arrogance, declared that she was safe, because she lived in the mountains, and she had allies in the nations, and she had wealth. But God told her that Edom was going to be slaughtered.
Now, understand, God was promising them pure justice. But remember what God said later, during this captivity, "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?"(Ezekiel 18:23). How do we balance this? God is not a sadist Who longs for people to punish. No, God would rather that the sinner turn from his sin and repent. But, either way, God is glorified. God is glorified in bringing justice upon sin, and God is glorified in being merciful. But God does not sinfully, maniacally, sadistically rejoice in people suffering.
Now, remember, last week I pointed out that the translators of our text put the word "slaughter" in verse ten, where it does not belong. Verse ten should read, "For the violence done to your brother Jacob." Because she did violence again her brother nation, she -- all of her people -- would experience shame for what they had done. And rather than enjoying what God had given her -- the promises that God had fulfilled in her land -- God says again, as He did in verse nine, Edom would be cut off -- forever.
Israel and Edom were kin -- their ancestral fathers were brothers -- they should have held an allegiance to each other. Instead, she stood back, rather than fighting with Israel against the Babylonians, Edom stood back, and allowed the Babylonians free access, so they -- strangers, foreigners -- walked off with all of Israel's wealth; they entered the holy city of Jerusalem and they gambled for her.
And on that day, on the day of her brother's misfortune, Edom stood in the hills and watched and gloated. She thought this proved that she was better than Israel; she watched the violence, the theft, the profanity, and laughed, believing herself to be superior.
She rejoiced to see Jacob brought to ruin; how she had longed for the day when justice would come to the sons of Jacob!
She boasted about how safe she was, how mighty she was, how wealthy she was. She taunted Israel as she went up in flames and the survivors were led away into captivity.
And then, Edom went down into Israel, and she joined in rejoicing in the Babylonians victory. She declared her superiority to Israel to all who would listen, and then she looted the goods of her brothers from what the Babylonians had left behind.
And Edom set up guards on the roads and in the mountains, and they caught survivors and fugitives and handed them over to the Babylonians. Edom didn't want one to be lost!
It was a glorious day for Edom.
But God, speaking through the prophet Obadiah said, "You should not have gloated. You should not have rejoiced. You should not have boasted. You should not have entered Israel. You should not have gloated with the Babylonians. You should not have looted Israel. You should not have handed over the survivors and the fugitives."
Why not? Well, for one, these were her brothers. And secondly, the law of God says that we are to love our neighbor as ourself. What does that mean?
As Luke records, "And behold, a lawyer stood up to put [Jesus] to the test, saying, 'Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' He said to him, 'What is written in the Law? Have you read it?' And he answered, 'You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.' And he said to him, 'You have answered correctly, do this, and you will live.'
"But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?' Jesus replied, 'A man was going down from Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took two denarii and gave it to the innkeeper, saying, "Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back." Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?' He said, 'The one who showed him mercy.' Jesus said to him, 'You go, and do likewise'" (Luke 10:25-37).
The Samaritans were half-breeds -- they were the children of an Israelite and a foreigner. Israel had been told only to marry Israelites. So these descendants, called Samaritans for the area in which they lived, were unclean. They were not allowed in the temple, and any pure-blood Israelite who came in contact with a Samaritan would be unclean for a time and unable to enter the temple.
If the Samaritan, who was a half-breed, was a neighbor to the Israelite, how much more was Israel -- full-blooded brothers -- the neighbor of Edom?
Is it wrong to try to stop sin, to warn others against sin, even to punish sin according to our laws? No. In fact, it may be love of neighbor that causes us to do so. But if we act to show our neighbor how much better we are, if we act to make ourselves look superior, if we act out of joy of seeing others suffer, then we sin.
Was it wrong to seek Saddam Hussein's removal from power to stop his murderous rule? Was it wrong to delight is seeing Saddam suffer? Is it wrong to be critical of our politicians, even our President? Is it wrong to pray for evil to befall him?
Edom did not love her neighbor, her brother, Israel. Do we love our neighbors? Do we smile at the people who pass by the church, say "hello" to them, perhaps even invite them to worship? Or do we run to our cars and hope that they won’t say anything or come near us? Do we desire to invite the single mother of five on welfare to worship? Of would we prefer financial audits of everyone in Irvington, so we would know how to focus our "evangelism"? Do we desire the church to be full of worshipers? Or do we only desire the "right kind" of people? Do we rejoice when drug dealers are killed and politicians go to jail? Or do we mourn for them and call all of us to a higher standard?
We ought to be about the Truth, especially the Truth Truth of Jesus Christ and Salvation in Him Alone. We ought to be about loving our neighbor, doing whatever we can to make our neighbor's lives better. And we ought to show mercy, lending a hand, reaching out, not being "above others," but showing the Truth and the Mercy of Jesus Who loves us and called us to be His people.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for the example of Edom, that we could see the way we ought not be towards our neighbors, much less our brothers and sisters. We ask that you would help us to see ways in which we can love our neighbors here in Irvington. Let us be known as a people who are welcoming in the Truth and merciful in Jesus’ Name. Keep us humble before You. And give us wisdom as we serve in this church and accomplish Your purposes. For it is in Jesus' Name we pray, Amen.
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