The Humbling Of A Wicked Nation—6

     Thus far in our examination of the nation of Edom we have seen nothing to commend him. His arrogance, pride, contempt, and hatred are forever exhibited by God as what a people should not be. We have seen that everything he prided himself in would fail when God chose to contend against him. God inspires the prophet Obadiah to let Edom know that the time of his reckoning was terrifyingly near. All of his opportunities to repent and change his ways had been squandered. At last it was time for him to reap what he had sown.

“For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; and your deeds shall return upon your own head. For as you have drunk on my hold mountain, so all the nations shall drink continually; they shall drink and swallow, and shall be as though they had never been” (Obadiah 15-16).

     The “day of the Lord” is often mentioned in the Old Testament Scriptures. It described a day(s) in which Jehovah manifests Himself mightily in the defeat of those who oppose Him. It is a day of terror to His enemies but deliverance to the righteous. However, even those who were once righteous but had decided to turn away from the Lord could find themselves on the wrong end of the day of the Lord (Amos 5:18-20). Through long practice and a set mind Edom had established himself as a nation characterized by continuous evil. In essence his “fullness of time” had come and it was his turn to face a “day of the Lord.”

     The immediate context continues cataloguing Edom’s crimes against his brother nation during their time of turmoil. Edom had treated Jacob horribly and God says that he had drunk on the Lord’s holy mountain. Whether Edom had literally desecrated God’s holy mountain through some drunken celebration gloating over his brother’s humiliation, or whether this is a figurative idea expressing his violent treatment of Jacob throughout the entire ordeal, the point remains the same—it was time for Edom to taste his own medicine.

     Multiple nations would take part in the destruction of Edom. Multiple nations would help themselves to all those sources of pride Edom boasted in. While Edom had drunk on the Lord’s holy mountain, the nations would come and partake of Edom. Edom would not only be drunk by the nations, he would be swallowed and consumed by them. By the time of Jesus Christ Edom had entirely lost his identity and had been absorbed by the nations. God’s judgments are certain.

     There have been so many “days of the Lord” throughout the history of man. There is still one to come in the future that will end them all. The consistent teaching of Scripture is that a great and terrible Day is coming in which all people of all nations of all times will stand before God to give an accounting of the things that they have done in their lives (Romans 14:10-12). The faithful Christian, the backslider, the scoffer, and the unbeliever will all be there on that Day. Denying it is pointless. Edom could not conceive a “day of the Lord” coming upon him, and yet it did. Before all is said and done every man and woman who has ever existed will experience the Day of the Lord.

     Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” We can point to the atheist and the skeptic and easily see how they attempt to mock God. However, let us not imagine that Christians cannot seek to do the same. Does not a Christian seek to outwit God in some way when he lives a life of sin and expects to die the death of the righteous? Is God deceived by mere words? If I spend my days awash in immorality and yet declare my faith in the Lord with a hearty ‘”praise God” on Sunday and Wednesday, have my words somehow screened God from seeing what I do the remainder of the week? Does it cause Him to ignore my behavior? Consider:

     “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.”        (Proverbs 15:3)

     “Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?” (Proverbs 20:6)

        “I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.” (Isaiah 1:13a)

     Passages like these could be easily multiplied. Edom sought to mock God through idolatry, pride, and hatred of his brother nation. We can seek to mock God through our behavior by claiming to be one thing and yet proving ourselves something else through our actions. The problem is that God is simply not mocked. Let’s not try!