Obadiah 1:10-14 - Homiletics

A neighbour's cruelty.

The prophet deeply feels the injury which Esau has inflicted upon Israel, and the language of this passage gives evidence of a heart deeply aggrieved and wronged and distressed. We have, indeed, in these verses an example of the length to which the cruelty of man can go.

I. THE DETAILS OF THIS CRUELTY .

1 . Edom is charged with siding with foreigners against Jerusalem in the day when the city was assaulted and taken.

2 . And with rejoicing over Judah's misfortunes, and mocking at her calamities.

3 . And with sharing in the spoils of the city when the capture took place.

4 . And even with cutting off the retreat of the wretched fugitives.

II. THE AGGRAVATION OF THIS CRUELTY . If a stranger, a "natural enemy" (as men say), had done this, it would have been bad enough. But the Edomites were of the same descent with the Jews; these being sons of Jacob, those of Esau. The point is given to the sting by this fact. It is with "violence against thy brother Jacob" that Edom is charged. "Man's inhumanity to man" is the most sad and depressing spectacle that earth affords. When natural kindred and affinity bind men together, those who snap those ties and assail their brethren are monsters of iniquity.

III. THE PENALTY OF THIS CRUELTY . This was plainly published by Obadiah. "Thou," said he to Edom—"thou shalt be cut off forever." The laws of God cannot be violated with impunity. The relations which God has fashioned cannot be outraged without involving the guilty in the awful consequences of their sin. "The way of transgressors is hard."