Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, "Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to the foundations!" O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock! (Verses 7-9) italics, mine
All right, all right. I know what you're thinking because that's what I thought at first when I read the last verse of this psalm. Who prays to have someone's kid dashed against a rock? There is a backstory here that is brutal, though.
Edomites. The descendants of Esau, Jacob's twin brother. The Kings Highway ran through their land and they had denied the refugees of Jacob's line passage through Edom as they escaped Egypt. Years later, when Ahaz was king of Judah, Edomites utterly destroyed Jerusalem in a violent takeover. As the kin of Jacob, with the blood of Abraham in their veins, they should have protected Israel, not cast lots for "who got what loot" as the holy city was being crushed. Obadiah tells it this way: On that day you stood aloof, on that day strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them. They were acting just like the enemy! Obadiah was prophesying in the moment. When the Edomites still had time to repent. The prophet warned them not to gloat, not to loot, not to stand at the crossroads and cut off the fugitives, turning them, for ransom, over to the enemy; don't rejoice over your brother's misfortune or enter the city for treacherous purposes. All of which they were in the process of doing when Obadiah warned them. It did no good. Ravaged by their own family, Israel lay in ruins. The final warning to the line of Esau was this: For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head. But the punishment wasn't as swift as the nation of Israel wanted. They waited upon a patient God who gave the Edomites another chance.
Babylon. They had carried out excessive violence against the helpless in Jerusalem. There are epic stories of beheadings and mass murders, of grabbing children and dashing them against the desert rocks, raping women, and ripping open the bodies of pregnant women to take the child and kill the mother.
So, would we have our God stand by? Would that be just? I think about the beheadings of the two journalists gone viral on YouTube recently. Using a small knife, not the quick blade of a shiny, honed sword. No. The deaths were especially brutal. What would we do with those men? The haters who would kill innocent reporters for no reason except renown? It sickens our God even more than it sickens us. Any injustice against His Beloved is an injustice against Him. He takes it personally. Not just wars and things. Your personal life as a child of God is His to protect, defend and avenge. I believe in our struggles against those who try to break us, kill us, there is a time when God stands up, heart pounding and fists pumping, and says, "Enough!" Be assured, He's given your opponent plenty of opportunity to repent. But God won't let evil win against us forever. As you have done to a child of God in unrepentant gloating, that will be done to you. My Father has a big heart, a just mind and an unrelenting desire to protect those who belong to Him.
Feel better now?
All right, all right. I know what you're thinking because that's what I thought at first when I read the last verse of this psalm. Who prays to have someone's kid dashed against a rock? There is a backstory here that is brutal, though.
Edomites. The descendants of Esau, Jacob's twin brother. The Kings Highway ran through their land and they had denied the refugees of Jacob's line passage through Edom as they escaped Egypt. Years later, when Ahaz was king of Judah, Edomites utterly destroyed Jerusalem in a violent takeover. As the kin of Jacob, with the blood of Abraham in their veins, they should have protected Israel, not cast lots for "who got what loot" as the holy city was being crushed. Obadiah tells it this way: On that day you stood aloof, on that day strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them. They were acting just like the enemy! Obadiah was prophesying in the moment. When the Edomites still had time to repent. The prophet warned them not to gloat, not to loot, not to stand at the crossroads and cut off the fugitives, turning them, for ransom, over to the enemy; don't rejoice over your brother's misfortune or enter the city for treacherous purposes. All of which they were in the process of doing when Obadiah warned them. It did no good. Ravaged by their own family, Israel lay in ruins. The final warning to the line of Esau was this: For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head. But the punishment wasn't as swift as the nation of Israel wanted. They waited upon a patient God who gave the Edomites another chance.
Babylon. They had carried out excessive violence against the helpless in Jerusalem. There are epic stories of beheadings and mass murders, of grabbing children and dashing them against the desert rocks, raping women, and ripping open the bodies of pregnant women to take the child and kill the mother.
So, would we have our God stand by? Would that be just? I think about the beheadings of the two journalists gone viral on YouTube recently. Using a small knife, not the quick blade of a shiny, honed sword. No. The deaths were especially brutal. What would we do with those men? The haters who would kill innocent reporters for no reason except renown? It sickens our God even more than it sickens us. Any injustice against His Beloved is an injustice against Him. He takes it personally. Not just wars and things. Your personal life as a child of God is His to protect, defend and avenge. I believe in our struggles against those who try to break us, kill us, there is a time when God stands up, heart pounding and fists pumping, and says, "Enough!" Be assured, He's given your opponent plenty of opportunity to repent. But God won't let evil win against us forever. As you have done to a child of God in unrepentant gloating, that will be done to you. My Father has a big heart, a just mind and an unrelenting desire to protect those who belong to Him.
Feel better now?
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