14/05/2011 - A people nobody has heard about again

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“The vision of Obadiah – Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom: We have heard a report from the LORD, and a messenger has been sent among the nations, saying, „Arise, and let us rise up against her for battle‟” (Obadiah 1:1)
Along twenty-one chapters, Obadiah recorded the revelation he was given by God regarding Edom, a nation made up of by Esau‟s descendents. Jacob and Esau, Isaac‟s children, never got along well with each other; they began struggling in their mother‟s womb. Esau‟s heart was full of mortal hatred because Jacob had bought his birthright. So, Jacob had to flee to save his own life. In his turn, Esau proved to be disqualified to inherit Abraham‟s blessing because his character wasn‟t good enough for an ancestor of Jesus‟: Esau married two foreign women against his parents‟ will.
Because the children of Israel were Abraham‟s descendants, the Lord didn‟t allow Israel to harass their Edomite brothers, also called Idumaean (King Herode was Idumaean – the one who ordered all baby boys in Bethlehem to be slaughtered because he thought that by doing so the true King would be killed in His early days). However, when Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem the Idumaeans were ruthless to the Israelites. They went up against them eagerly for their spoil and took part in that massacre with all cruelty. It made the Lord‟s wrath cup overflow against that people.
According to Obadiah, they would be effaced from the Earth. In fact, Cyrus, the Persian Emperor, was relentless against them who were also slaughtered by the Maccabaeus. The Idumaeans vanished from the face of the Earth after Jerusalem was devastated by General Titus in 70 AD. A legitimate prophecy will always be fulfilled to the fullest.
Esau‟s children boasted about the protection they thought to be strong: the apparent protection provided by the breaches in the rocks of their mountains. The pride in their hearts caused them to consider themselves untouchable. Yet, the Lord told them that though they had built up their nest amid the stars they‟d surely be
put down from there. The tie between the Edomites and the foreigners who destroyed Jerusalem and the people of God made that prophet foretell their extermination. That was their biggest mistake; they always let themselves be carried away by the enemy. The Edomites were cruel to the Israelites, but none of their descendents can be found today. That shows that only those who do God‟s will stand forever.
All those who have been used by the devil to persecute the people of the Lord or to cause any harm to the children of the living God throughout the ages will certainly get their reward for their error. Those who can‟t be of any assistance to the servants of the Most High are absolutely forbidden to get in their way.
My brethren, we were summoned for a greater war; a war fought in the spiritual world with reverberations in the material one. Those who are carried away by the devil – the loser – are signing their own death sentence because by doing so they‟re harming and hampering those who are doing the will of God. Now all servants of God will undoubtedly be rewarded!
In Christ, with love,
R. R. Soares