The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.[a] 2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob 3 but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” 4 If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the Lord of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the Lord is angry forever.’” 5 Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel!” (Malachi 1:1-5 ESV)
I had never quite understood the many prophecies concerning Edom until this past week. Suddenly, while reading the prophet Obadiah, I understood. Then the LORD seemed to take me to several other Scriptures of his own will which confirmed what I had seen.
Most people seem to think it is quite unfair of God to “love” one person, Jacob, before he even comes out of the womb and yet “hate” his brother, Esau, who resides in that same womb. What had either ever done before? Why would God hate one and love the other? Because both are parables, stories in the natural which convey a spiritual meaning. Yes, these men really existed and yes one received the blessing of God and the other did not. God renamed Jacob “Israel,” which means “God rules,” who ended his life worshipping God as he leaned upon his staff. The other founded a nation which took his name, Edom, which lived in perpetual war against Israel. Today we see Esau still warring against Israel, the blood-thirsty killings of Christians by ISIS, for example, and court decision after court decision outlawing moral laws in the United States as another example.
The name Edom itself conveys much meaning. The word means “red” and in the Hebrew is written almost exactly the same as the name of the first man, Adam. Herein is the major clue to the riddle of Edom. Edom speaks of the first man, Adam, who himself refers to natural man whereas Jacob speaks of spiritual man, the man who is transformed from the natural to the spiritual by the glorification of his flesh. God “hates,” in a manner of speaking, the natural man, but he “loves” the spiritual man. Of course we know that God did not literally hate Esau, for he died for Esau, but he wants even Esau to attain to the status of a spiritual and righteous man.
16 “For God so loved the world,[i] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17)
Esau is part of this world that God died for. His desire is that natural men will become spiritual men who will be conformed to his own image. He hates the fact that men remain stubborn in their sin and rebelliousness against him. Thus he hates Esau, he hates anyone who refuses to obey him and walk in his ways. And he hates Esau’s government, Edom, which rules the world in unrighteousness. We all live under the tyranny of Edom today. But this condition is about to change according the following prophecy of Obadiah.
1 The vision of Obadiah.
Edom Will Be Humbled
Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom:
We have heard a report from the Lord,
and a messenger has been sent among the nations:
“Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”
2 Behold, I will make you small among the nations;
you shall be utterly despised.[a]
3 The pride of your heart has deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,[b]
in your lofty dwelling,
who say in your heart,
“Who will bring me down to the ground?”
4 Though you soar aloft like the eagle,
though your nest is set among the stars,
from there I will bring you down,
declares the Lord.
5 If thieves came to you,
if plunderers came by night—
how you have been destroyed!—
would they not steal only enough for themselves?
If grape gatherers came to you,
would they not leave gleanings?
6 How Esau has been pillaged,
his treasures sought out!
7 All your allies have driven you to your border;
those at peace with you have deceived you;
they have prevailed against you;
those who eat your bread[c] have set a trap beneath you—
you have[d] no understanding.
8 Will I not on that day, declares the Lord,
destroy the wise men out of Edom,
and understanding out of Mount Esau?
9 And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman,
so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter.
Edom’s Violence Against Jacob
10 Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,
shame shall cover you,
and you shall be cut off forever.
11 On the day that you stood aloof,
on the day that strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
and cast lots for Jerusalem,
you were like one of them.
12 But do not gloat over the day of your brother
in the day of his misfortune;
do not rejoice over the people of Judah
in the day of their ruin;
do not boast[e]
in the day of distress.
13 Do not enter the gate of my people
in the day of their calamity;
do not gloat over his disaster
in the day of his calamity;
do not loot his wealth
in the day of his calamity.
14 Do not stand at the crossroads
to cut off his fugitives;
do not hand over his survivors
in the day of distress.
The Day of the Lord Is Near
15 For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations.
As you have done, it shall be done to you;
your deeds shall return on your own head.
16 For as you have drunk on my holy mountain,
so all the nations shall drink continually;
they shall drink and swallow,
and shall be as though they had never been.
17 But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape,
and it shall be holy,
and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions.
18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire,
and the house of Joseph a flame,
and the house of Esau stubble;
they shall burn them and consume them,
and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau,
for the Lord has spoken.
The Kingdom of the Lord
19 Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau,
and those of the Shephelah shall possess the land of the Philistines;
they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria,
and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
20 The exiles of this host of the people of Israel
shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath,
and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
shall possess the cities of the Negeb.
21 Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion
to rule Mount Esau,
and the kingdom shall be the Lord‘s. (Obadiah ESV)
As we see in Ken Visscher’s latest prophetic word, which I posted a few days ago, the LORD is about to glorify his overcomers. These are the “saviors” which Obadiah speaks of in verse 21 above who shall go up to Mount Zion and who shall rule Mount (the government of) Esau. These saviors are also the ones who destroy Edom’s works according to the first part of this prophecy. The Day of Wrath is the day when God destroys the kingdom of man, the kingdom of Esau. The Kingdom of God is about to be revealed. Whose kingdom do you serve? Are you ready for the unveiling of the sons of God?
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