This chapter deals with Esau and his descendants. Let me remind you that he took wives of the Canaanites and also a daughter of Ishmael. His descendants were Edomites as his name became Edom. Abraham was determined that Isaac would not marry a Canaanite, but Esau did, and he took all his possessions and dwelt in Mount Seir (Edom) to the south-east of the Dead Sea.
When the Israelites left the slavery of Egypt where they had been as a result of Jacob’s sons selling Joseph to the Ishmaelite (Midianite) traders later in this book and had been there for 400 years and were travelling back to the Promised Land of Canaan they were refused passage through Edom (Numbers 20:21) and had to detour around it. The King of Edom threatened war if they passed through, even on the King’s Highway which was a trade route connecting Egypt to Syria, the main route from south to north. Moses even said they would pay for any food or water which they took, but they were still refused passage, and so they had to make a detour.
Moses had been told by God not to make war with Edom. In Deuteronomy 23:7 we read “Do not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother.”
The Edomites were proud, arrogant people. Most of all they looked down on and hated the people of Israel, the chosen people of God. They were one of Israel’s fiercest enemies. They took great delight in the downfall of Judah and were self-sufficient and felt secure in their own strongholds. They dwelt in Mount Seir, a mountainous region reaching from south of the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Akabah – the territory we now call the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in southern Jordan.
They thought their city was impregnable. Their capital was Sela – the rock city (near the city of Petra, 1000 feet above Petra). It was virtually inaccessible, the mountains surrounded it like a fortress, and this also gave them a false sense of security and pride and a sense of self-sufficiency. But they failed to reckon on God. “Though you ascend as high as the eagle, And though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” says the LORD.” (Obadiah v4) They prided themselves in what they thought was an invincible mountain fortress of Petra (v3), but Obadiah’s words were to come true; they were to become a nation reduced to nothing.
Obadiah makes it clear that the idea of a nation being unconquerable is an illusion! Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
Edom felt so secure that they believed no one could destroy them. Their security, however, was misplaced. God said He would destroy them, and history demonstrates how this occurred, and we shall mention later.
Their actions were not overlooked by Judah, but most of all, they were not overlooked by God Himself for there are more condemnations in Scripture against Edom than any other nation. Their sin was pride and arrogance, and they hated their brothers the descendants of Jacob. God said that because of this “Shame shall cover you and you will be cut off forever.” (Obadiah v10). There is no one left today identified as an Edomite. There are no survivors. Edom is also called ldumea (Greek). The country was approx. 100 miles long and 40 miles wide.
Many years later, during the trial of Jesus, we see the final confrontation — Jesus (a descendant of Jacob) stood before King Herod (a descendant of Esau, an Idumean). Herod is thought to be the last of the ldumeans (Edomites). The last Edomites were the Herods in the time of Christ; they maintained their cruel treatment of the Jews to the end. When He was taunted by King Herod, Christ had nothing to say to him (Luke 23:8-9). Today the nation does not exist.
“By 100 AD the people of Edom had become lost to history” (Homer Hailey).
“If you travel today in the region of Edom, you will find nothing but the starkest wilderness and the most isolated emptiness …. it is one of the most formidable, forsaken spots on earth” (Stuart Briscoe).
They will “become as if they never existed” (Obadiah v16)
The Edomites had become wise in their own eyes. They were noted for it. Obadiah refers to it in v8 “The wise men of Edom”. They had all the answers; had thought they had need of nothing; God had been left out of the picture. In the Old Testament, there is no mention of any Edomite religion or any Edomite gods. The Edomites had no allegiance to a god. This has led many scholars to believe that this unusual people were so self-sufficient, arrogant, and self-satisfied that they wouldn’t even call upon the name of any kind of god. They believed they had all the answers themselves!
Obadiah’s message to Edom was to confront their sin of pride. We clearly see Edom’s pride and consequent humiliation.
Esau was a blessed man, but he left God out of his plans and life.
We leave God out at our peril.
