A Different Path for Brothers

Scripture:
Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Edom,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because he pursued his brother with the sword
and cast off all pity;
he maintained his anger perpetually
and kept his wrath forever.
So I will send a fire on Teman,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Bozrah.
Amos 1:11-12

Observation: Amos pronounces God's future judgement on Israel, Judah, and its surrounding nations. This is his pronouncement of Edom, who are the descendants of Esau.

Edom is unique when it comes to the neighboring nations of Israel. They were supposed to be kindred people to Israel, as their origins come from twin brothers. The Lord made them a nation, too, and they occupied the land that Esau went to when he and Jacob departed one another. However, Edom always treated Israel with contempt. They refused to allow Israel to cross their land during their wandering years, over the years they acted as any other neighbor with border disputes and refused alliances, and in the end they were jealous of the land of Judah and celebrated Israel's downfall.

Yes, when the Lord blessed the patriarchs and selected to have that blessing pass through Jacob, it created a different path for Israel and Edom ... a different type of national identity and mission. Yet Esau's descendants were not excluded from a type of blessing, and themselves became a nation with an identity and land. However, through their attitude toward the chosen people of God, they would be ultimately cursed, and by the end of the era their nationality would be wiped from the face of the earth, while the Jews survive thousands of years later.

Application: By faith in the Messiah, Christians are now the chosen people and non-believers are a kindred people we live near. These kindred do in fact appear to have blessings ... they have wealth, power, comfort, and daily happiness, living a nice lands with national borders protected by their own power. We are all related people with a common history and (generally speaking) shared bloodlines.

And these people ... pursue believers with the sword of offensive behaviors. They are perpetually angry at what they perceive as undue righteousness, interpreting an effort to obey God's laws as arrogance, judgement, and often just wrong-headed. In some places, the persecute and kill believers, and in others they marginalize and repress and deride the intelligence and integrity of believers.

The Lord has blessed non-believers, and for this they reject both the Lord and those whom are obedient to the Lord. There will come a time when their strongholds are devoured.

Prayer: Lord, I know I am not above judgement, and even in my faith I deserve your anger just as Israel and Judah did. Thank you for the forgiveness found in Jesus, without which I would have no hope and no future. Your judgement comes in your own timing and in your own way, and while it will come upon your faithful in the way Jesus tells us, it will also come upon today's Edomites in a type of manner Amos tells us. If that is to be soon, then come, Lord Jesus. Amen.