Edom’s Fourth Sin

The fourth sin concerns a subject none of us spend much time talking about. That is The Judgment, yes, the judgement. Who wants to be judged, yet we do it and are subject to it every day. We are judged by the way we act, dress and perform the task set before us. We in turn judge others in the same manner, yet none of us really want to talk about the judgment.

But Obadiah verses 15 and 16 are concerned with the coming judgment and the Edomites lack of concern for the coming judgment.   “For the day of the LORD upon all the nations is near; As you have done, it shall be done to you; Your reprisal (or reward) shall return upon your own head. For as you drank on My holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink continually; Yes, they shall drink, and swallow, And they shall be as though they had never been.”

Judgment draws near upon all nations and people and at the time Israel was a nation on earth it included the Edomites. The term “The Day of the LORD” is a phrase that describes the time when God will judge all people, both wicked and righteous, when the wheat and tears will be judged, both to their just reward.

The reality is we have been conditioned that we are saved by grace and that our words, actions, and condition of our hearts is of no real concern to God, for he is looking for those that have accepted Him and his saving sacrifice by faith. It is upon these that God’s grace is imparted to each of his faithful followers. Yet the Bible is full of passages that say, you are judged by your works. Saved by grace through faith, but your works, the way you speak, act and treat others is what you are judged on. By our works we prove we have accepted the grace given freely to us, and that we accept by faith. John 14;15 makes this point clear when it says, “If you love Me, Keep My commandment.”

Obadiah 15 gives us the negative side “As you have done, it will be done to you.” Your dealing with others will return on your own head or as Paul expressed it, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7). Edom had drunk in joyful celebration at the fall of Jerusalem and how often do we rejoice when others suffer.

In Exodus chapter 1 Pharaoh ordered all the Jewish boy babies drowned. What you sow, that you will also reap for in Exodus 14:26-31 the Egyptian army along with Pharaoh drowned in the Red Sea. The men who lied about Daniel to have Daniel thrown to the lions were themselves thrown to the lions (Daniel chapter 6). The unbelievers on earth who shed the blood of God’s servants will one day suffer the same fate as the Egyptians when the water of the River Nile was turned red like blood.

Each to their just reward. But before we look at their just reward, we will in our next post look at how all this happened to the Edomites.