Edom

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 8
 
As to Edom, there are several points distinctly stated, and, after being made very small, the great judgment falls on the heathen there, and the existence and remembrance of Edom is utterly extinguished. It is stamped with the character of Gentile apostasy, as opposed to Israel, and relentless. It would seem rather that the destruction of Damascus preceded this, and thus the nations, in part at least, found themselves there gathered for destruction.
Third. When the warnings are given of coming judgments (in Jerusalem) Edom treats it with scorn, i.e., when in the midst of sorrow in Jerusalem. The Spirit of God's own testimony is there for the Remnant—the pride of Edom scorns it (Isaiah 21) and is treated with holy judgment and rebuke, yet in mercy. "Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?" says Edom. "The morning cometh" for the faithful, says the answer of faith, "and also the night" for the scorners. "If ye will inquire, inquire ye." The answer of God is here, "Return, come." The answer is magnificent.
Fourth. Edom escapes out of the hand of Antichrist; Dan. 11.
Sixth. She is found in the confederacy against the Lord's "hidden ones," and thus is ripe for destruction; Psa. 83.
Seventh. She is filled with relentless hatred against the Jews, showing thus her iniquity; Ezek. 35:5, 11, 125Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end: (Ezekiel 35:5)
11Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee. 12And thou shalt know that I am the Lord, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume. (Ezekiel 35:11‑12); Obadiah 10-1410For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. 11In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. 12But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. 13Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity; 14Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress. (Obadiah 10‑14); Amos 1:1111Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever: (Amos 1:11), and Ezek. 25:1212Thus saith the Lord God; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them; (Ezekiel 25:12).
Ninth. The destruction of Edom is total, final, and irretrievable; Ezek. 25:12, 1312Thus saith the Lord God; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them; 13Therefore thus saith the Lord God; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword. (Ezekiel 25:12‑13); chapter 35, all of it, especially verses 9, 14. Obad. 1:5, 185If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes? (Obadiah 5)
18And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it. (Obadiah 18), Jer. 49:13-1813For I have sworn by myself, saith the Lord, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes. 14I have heard a rumor from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather ye together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle. 15For, lo, I will make thee small among the heathen, and despised among men. 16Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord. 17Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof. 18As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, saith the Lord, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it. (Jeremiah 49:13‑18), etc., Isa. 34:99And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. (Isaiah 34:9), a seq., also the absence of passages in Jer. 49, like chapter 48:47; chapter 49:39, etc. Obad. 1:2121And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord's. (Obadiah 21); Ezek. 35; Isa. 63 and 34, and other passages, show these things result at the end, and at the Lord's coming.