EDOM’S END

Time with Jesus - Thursday, 06 September 2012

Hi all,

Edom and Esau go together. Esau is usually regarded as the father of Edom. The book of the prophet Obadiah spells out God’s judgement on Edom. Today’s meditation traces some of the Edom/Israel conflict and highlights one of the reasons why Edom was subsequently destroyed. It’s a sad portion of history with its roots in the Esau/Jacob and Isaac/Rebecca saga.

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Thursday, 06 September 2012			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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	INTRODUCTION		DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	EDOM’S END
Schooldays. They are now distant memories. One thing that’s worth mentioning this morning is Brother Florian. He was our skinny science teacher whom we called “Bones” because, as I’ve heard said, “there’s more fat on a greasy chip”. One of the science instruments he used was a finely balanced scale to “weigh” small things. It was kept in a small glass covered box to exclude drafts. Things would be placed in the one pan and a variety of precise weights were placed in the other to establish the exact “weight” of the object. This “balance scale” reminds me that God is the only One who has the right to put our lives in the balance and establish our “value”. A similar exercise is referred to by Henry W Longfellow in a short couple of lines, the first of which I’ve included in today’s meditation. THOUGH the mills of God grind slowly, Yet they grind exceeding small / Though with patience he stands waiting, With exactness grinds he all. I’ve been told that it was originally a Chinese proverb but can’t confirm this. The Scripture we focus on this morning is the one from Isaiah 21. This prophetic word refers to the judgement God would bring on Edom in the Mt Seir region. Edom consisted primarily of Esau’s descendants. The descendants of Israel (Jacob) were their distantly related twin brothers, Esau and Jacob. These two were not really on good terms. Esau had given Jacob his birth-right; that of the first born son. Jacob had tricked Isaac into giving him the blessing of the first born son. This difficult relationship had developed over some 1000 years into outright antagonism. Edom “automatically” sided with Israel’s enemies. So when the Babylonians invaded Judah and destroyed Jerusalem, Edom was there to celebrate. The atrocities committed by the Babylonians and probably also by the Edomites on Judah and Jerusalem is recorded for us in the Psalms in vivid detail. 7 O LORD, remember what the Edomites did on the day the armies of Babylon captured Jerusalem. "Destroy it!" they yelled. "Level it to the ground!" 8 O Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy is the one who pays you back for what you have done to us. 9 Happy is the one who takes your babies and smashes them against the rocks! Psalm 137:7-9 NLT The context of this lament took place in Babylon and is expressed in the first verse of the Psalm. 1 Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem. Psalm 137:1 NLT (Remember Bony M’s song?) God was fully aware of what had happened. Furthermore He knew all about the Esau/Jacob squabble. It was right that Jacob’s descendants be brought to book for what had happened all those years ago. But laughing and rejoicing as the Babylonians took them captive and led them away was further than God intended. As for the slaughter of the innocent babies. This was taking the old Esau/Jacob dispute to extreme lengths; further than should have gone. The prophet Isaiah foresaw God’s judgement on Edom years before it would actually happen. His words are to some extent a lament, asking Him when His judgement would fall on Edom. Today, the Edomites are dead and gone. All that’s left is the “town” of Petra, a favourite visiting place for tourists in Jordan. Some think Herod the Great descended from the Edomites. Perhaps this is why he hated Jesus? Jim & Phyllida Strickland			11 A Message concerning Edom: A voice calls to me from the Seir mountains in Edom, "Night watchman! How long till daybreak? How long will this night last?" Isaiah 21:11 MSG 11 You know the times in which we are living. It's time for you to wake up. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first became believers. 12 The night is almost over, and the day is near. So we should get rid of the things that belong to the dark and take up the weapons that belong to the light. Romans 13:11-12 GW 32 "Learn a lesson from the fig tree. As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all those things happening, you know that the end is near. It is right at the door. 34 What I'm about to tell you is true. The people living at that time will certainly not pass away until all those things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away. But my words will never pass away. Matthew 24:32-35 NIrV 5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6 my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. Psalms 130:5-6 ESV 20 He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon!" Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! Revelation 22:20 NLT 13 "So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of My return. Matthew 25:13 NLT	Isaac and Rebecca had two sons who were twins. They were in a conflict; in which nobody “wins”! The elder brother Esau was whom Isaac preferred. Jacob was a schemer. Today we’d say, “a nerd”. The blessing and the birth-right, to Esau should have gone. By scheming and deception, Jacob was the one, Who got his father’s blessing. Then Jacob ran away, To be with uncle Laban, whom he worked for without pay! First he married Leah, then took Rachel as a wife. This is where the problems began for him in life. Twelve sons and a daughter, by wives and concubines. Twelve sons who became the tribes of Israel’s blood lines. Finally the time had come to go back home again. But what about the brother? He’d caused him so much pain. How would he receive him? It had him worried sick. He thought that in his homeland, his brother then would pick, A fight that would destroy him and all his family. And squash him like a little bug that has no right to be. But Esau wasn’t interested. He was a wealthy man. And in the end decided that he would make a plan. This ended at Mount Seir; Edom was the name, By which all his descendants acquired there ugly fame. Israel and Edom were not the best of friends. The Esau / Jacob quarrel did never really end. Every opportunity the Edomites could find, Were used to stir up trouble and be terribly unkind. For something like a thousand years this trouble came and went. They sided with their enemy and lots of time was spent, Trying to get even for what happened long ago. When Nebuchadnezzar came, they sided with the foe. They laughed and sneered at Israel ; they grabbed the babies feet, And smashed their heads against the rocks. Revenge for them was sweet. But God was an observer of what had taken place. And said He would wipe Edom, completely off the face Of earth. They would be massacred and vanish like a mist! And that is just what happened. They no longer exist. The mills of God grind slowly but they grind very fine. And Edom had offended the One Who is Divine. It’s not a happy story. In fact it makes me weep. Leave all vengeance to the Lord. His judgements are so deep. And He will bring in righteousness. Don’t think it is delayed. The day in history will come when all the debts are paid! Jim Strickland – Written 6th September 2012