I rode a horse into Edom back in 2000. True story. On our Israel trip we went over into Jordan to tour Petra. Wearing my Indiana Jones hat and jacket, with a hundred of my best friends, I rode a horse led by a Bedouin down into the cliffs of Petra. There we saw beautiful buildings and amphitheaters carved out of the reddish-brown sandstone cliffs. In fact, if you saw the third Indiana Jones movie about his quest for the Holy Grail, you have seen Edom.
The prophet Obadiah whose name like Obed in the Ruth story means worshipper of the Lord, decried the sins of the Edomites when God’s people were taken into captivity. The people of Edom descended from Jacob’s red-headed brother Esau. When the people of Judah were taken into captivity, Edom did not come to their aid. Instead, they joined the Babylonians, mocked the Israelites, and perhaps breathed a sigh of relief. Their sin was Schadenfreude – rejoicing in the misfortune of others.
The Edomites may have prided themselves in their impregnable geography. True, it was difficult to grow food out of sandstone, but the tall cliffs provided protection and a good vantage point to fight the enemy. Obadiah told them that pride goes before a fall. How should we respond when we see others suffer? We, too, are tempted to say, “Whew. Glad that was not I.” Humility is our way forward. Or as my mom used to say, “There but for the grace of God, go I.”
Obadiah’s call for repentance points the way to revival in a nation. It is not too late for us to humble ourselves and cry out to God to change our hearts. It is not too late for revival. But the clock is ticking.
