©Kris Gerbrandt
Chapter 49:7-22 (ESV) - Concerning Edom.
Thus says the LORD of hosts:
“Is wisdom no more in Teman?
Has counsel perished from the prudent?
Has their wisdom vanished?
Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths,
O inhabitants of Dedan!
For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,
the time when I punish him.
If grape gatherers came to you,
would they not leave gleanings?
If thieves came by night,
would they not destroy only enough for themselves?
But I have stripped Esau bare;
I have uncovered his hiding places,
and he is not able to conceal himself.
His children are destroyed, and his brothers,
and his neighbors; and he is no more.
Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive;
and let your widows trust in me.”
For thus says the LORD: “If those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, will you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you must drink. For I have sworn by myself, declares the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a horror, a taunt, a waste, and a curse, and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes.”
I have heard a message from the LORD,
and an envoy has been sent among the nations:
“Gather yourselves together and come against her,
and rise up for battle!
For behold, I will make you small among the nations,
despised among mankind.
The horror you inspire has deceived you,
and the pride of your heart,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,
who hold the height of the hill.
Though you make your nest as high as the eagle's,
I will bring you down from there,
declares the LORD.
“Edom shall become a horror. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its disasters. As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities were overthrown, says the LORD, no man shall dwell there, no man shall sojourn in her. Behold, like a lion coming up from the jungle of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make him run away from her. And I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd can stand before me? Therefore hear the plan that the LORD has made against Edom and the purposes that he has formed against the inhabitants of Teman: Even the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away. Surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. At the sound of their fall the earth shall tremble; the sound of their cry shall be heard at the Red Sea. Behold, one shall mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against Bozrah, and the heart of the warriors of Edom shall be in that day like the heart of a woman in her birth pains.”
Question to consider: Edom means “red”. Who is this associated with in scripture?
The minor prophet, Obadiah also spoke of the wise men of Edom, “Will I not on that day, declares the LORD, destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of Mount Esau?” (Obadiah 1:8) Teman was one of the chiefs of Edom, son of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau.
Edom means “Red” in Hebrew and was the nickname of Jacob’s brother, Esau. The LORD prospered Esau even though Jacob received the blessing and firstborn inheritance after Jacob disguised himself as Esau and tricked his father, Isaac, who had gone blind.
Unfortunately, even though Jacob and Esau eventually made amends, this judgment came because his descendants believed they were the rightful inheritors of the land, and so they sat back and allowed Nebuchadnezzar to destroy Israel so that they could inhabit the land.
The only mercy offered by the LORD was that the widows and orphans would survive the judgment, and the LORD would care for them. Edom existed to the south of Judah, but the land is part of modern-day Jordan, and Edom has not existed since the time of the Romans. Edom went the way of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is no wonder that the LORD declared through Malachi, “‘Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.’ If Edom says, ‘We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,’ the LORD of hosts says, ‘They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called “the wicked country,” and “the people with whom the LORD is angry forever.” Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, ‘Great is the LORD beyond the border of Israel!’” (Malachi 1:2-5)
Father of the fatherless and protector of widows, You are God in Your holy habitation. You settle the solitary in a home; You lead out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land. May we seek You while You may be found and look to You for our salvation. Amen.