Esau and Jacob

Obadiah

Obadiah was called to be a prophet, but not to the Jews. When God placed his words in Obadiah's mouth, his intended audience was the Edomite descendants of Esau. Even though Esau welcomed Jacob back into the old country, his descendants looked with delight on Jacob's descendants' failure. When God brought his corrective punishment on Israel, he did not invite the neighboring countries to pile on... and he was angry with  Edom for doing just that. How angry? A "you will be filled with shame and destroyed forever" kind of angry. Even Paul later remarked how God loved Jacob but rejected Esau. Like their ancestor before them, the Edomites traded a lasting inheritance for a temporary pleasure (gloating over the Israelites troubles). May we never do the same.