Who is Second?
Jesus declared that, after our devotion to God, as involved in the first and great commandment, that there is a second that is “like to it.” So, there’s a second commandment that is, also, of incredible importance and position in God’s scheme of things. We call it the second great commandment, but Jesus declared that it has many of the same positional qualities as the first.
Remember what first and great mean: It is the earliest in time or order, before anything else, the beginning, foremost in position, rank, or importance, sufficient by itself, unsupported by others, basic or self-evident. This is what ‘first’ means. And it is the biggest, most admirable, preceding others, distinctive, beyond the ordinary, important, elevated, distinguished, farther removed upwards, chief. This is what ‘great’ means. The second is like this- so it’s a bit lower, perhaps, but still in the same order of things. It’s very powerful and important.
Please turn to Matthew 22. 39- and let us read this: “And the second is like to it, You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” This is in the same breath as love toward God, and is in the same realm of activity. Jesus tied the two together, which tells us that we cannot have one without the other. We’re not meant to just go off and love God, to the exclusion of people; neither are we to love people to the exclusion of God- and both extremes are possible.
There is much to be learned about loving others- much that has been said, much that has been heard, and much that each of us has sought to do. Today, we will focus on one short OT book, and see what it has to teach us about this matter of love toward our neighbour.
Please turn to the small book of Obadiah the prophet- the minor prophet, not because of lack of importance, but because of lack of size of the book, only. What this short book teaches about loving neighbours is incredible.
In the first few verses, the message is set up for us. We need to understand this in order to understand the message to us, for today.
v. 1, 2- describes some terrible disaster about to overtake Edom, which Obadiah has heard about from before- maybe from Jeremiah- and, now, believes is near fulfillment. The precipitating event seems to be that Edom’s own neighbours and allies were turning against her (v. 7). Those that were ‘the men of your covenant’ and ‘the men of your peace’, were either treacherously hostile or were yielding none of their expected assistance.
v. 3, 4- historically, the main reason for Edom’s proud confidence was her almost impregnable position. Edom was the area directly south of the Dead Sea, the area of Seir and Teman, and was mountainous. Its two principle cities were Bozra and Sela, meaning ‘crag’ or ‘rock’ and has been identified with the rocky face dominating the enclosed valley in which the famous city of Petra was built by the Nabateans in the 4th century BC. The Edomites were not the first or the last to put their trust in a rocky fortress city. But neither their strong position nor their wit, because Edom was renowned for her wisdom in ancient times, too, could deliver them now. No matter how high Edom should go, to where the eagles go, or among the stars, yet God would bring her down to the ground.
v. 5- here is a picture of the completeness of Edom’s coming destruction. In a normal case of an ordinary raid by a band of robbers, there would have been plenty left to salvage. Thieves, normally, only take so much because of limited time and resources, as harvesters gather for themselves and leave gleanings. But Edom, by contrast, is ‘cleaned right out’, leading to Obadiah’s exclamation.
v. 6ff- another picture of the completeness of Edom’s destruction is in the exposure of all the treasures contained in her strongholds. Everything is being sought and laid open and bare. So, her ‘hidden treasures’ will be sought out, her wise men destroyed (v.8), and her mighty men dismayed (v.9).
Why such brutal treatment of this nation? From this, we can learn much about our treatment of people who are our neighbours. We don’t even need to ask, “Who is my neighbour?” We know that whoever we are in contact with is our neighbour, if only for a short time. We will not split hairs on this question.
v. 10- here’s why such was to come to Edom. Because of her violence to Jacob. This term is used, rather than Israel or Judah, in order to recall the relationship between the nations. In Deut. 23.7, the claims of kinship are pushed on Israel; but Edom had shown no reciprocal sense of brotherly relationship. There was an age-long antagonism dating back to the time in the wilderness when Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border- Nu. 20.20f- but, as v. 11 shows, it reached a head in the sack of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in 587 BC. Edom participated on this occasion, and this is long and bitterly remembered by the Jews. When they were in exile by the river of Babylon, they declared: “Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how theyk said, ‘Rase it, rase it! Down to its foundations!’” (Ps. 137.7).
v. 11- looks back to the destruction of Jerusalem, when Edom has stood aloof instead of coming to his brother’s assistance. (Remember that these were brothers- Israel came from Jacob and Edom from Esau, twin brother of Jacob, born from Isaac and Rebekah). The idea of ‘aloof’ is, as translated in the KJV ‘on the other side’, and brings to mind the image of the priest and Levite in Lk. 10.31f. This is not the way that we are to be. Let that be enough said.
v. 12-14- contains a number of reproofs, which describe the actual part taken by the Edomites in the sack of Jerusalem.
First, they gloated without pity over the fall of Jerusalem (v.12). Then they entered the gate of the city and joined in the looting (v.13). Finally they took up positions where theyk prevented fugitive Jews from escaping and even roudned up any they could find who weren’t caught (v.14).
How do we respond to our neighbours when they have their days of trouble? Do we gloat over their troubles? Sometimes we do, don’t we. We feel that they’re getting what they deserved. Sometimes we see someone do something and then get caught and we feel good, and we have to fight all gloating. I think about the accident we witnessed last May when we began our trip to celebrate Lynn’s parents’ 50th anniversary- we could have gloated- the drivers ‘got what they deserved’, but that wasn’t our attitude, nor should it have been. However, it’s often that children and youth will gloat, and adults sometimes don’t ‘grow up’. The teens who end up pregnant- we’re not to gloat about. The druggies who end up dying- we’re not to gloat. Sometimes we can be like Edom- let’s not be.
Sometimes we can join in the looting. Sometimes someone might be being picked on and we can join in. We can add to the persecution or trouble rather than be ones bringing life. We can add what gossip we know, or believe we know, to what is happening and can make a situation so much worse, when we’re meant to bring life to such situations. Sometimes people are put down because they’re fully involved in the church and in church life, and we can, sometimes, add to that by not respecting those whose hearts are fully in the church. We can criticize what they do, maybe because we don’t prefer it, ourselves. We can put them down because they are really seeking God openly and without shame. We need to be ashamed for not appreciating that and for our heartlessness and criticism. We need to teach our children to deeply respect and admire those –young or older- who are fully involved in church life, rather than to be criticizing someone who is more involved than you might choose to be, as if you are right and they are wrong. Sometimes I hear about criticism about people who are much involved. Let’s not. Sometimes we can be like Edom- let’s not be.
Sometimes we can fail to provide the safety that someone needs. Sometimes, when people are going through a time of devastation and trouble, we can fail to provide the safe haven they need. Rather we can pretend we don’t see and can fail to inconvenience ourselves, when we’re meant to do for them what we’d hope would be done toward us in such situations. When someone goes through a marriage crisis or breakup, or a health difficulty, or some other trouble, we can be like chickens. Chickens attack and peck to death, rather than being the ones who bring them into our homes and who simply offer an ear and a cup of coffee. So often, over the years, I’ve heard the statements about what someone must have done wrong to get sick, or whatever the problem might have been. Back in 1983, I believe, I had to bury a beautiful 17-year-old girl- Carla- who died one Saturday night driving home. She wasn’t wearing her seatbelt- part of being a teen is feeling invincible. I remember the call to her home and her devastated parents in the middle of that Saturday night- 30 miles from the Saskatchewan city we lived in at the time. Too, I remember all the talk about her not wearing her seatbelt- not just in a ‘let’s learn the lesson and go on’ way, but in the ‘what’s the matter with her parents, and the like’ way. It wasn’t an easy time and many made it harder for them. That was a tough time. Sometimes we can be like Edom- let’s not be.
People are very hard on people. I’m not sure why. My theory is that people are insecure and believe in scarcity theology. Scarcity theology is the idea that there’s not enough for everybody. If you have something, then that means I can’t have that same thing, so I need to be critical and suspicious of you and try to get it from you, and you’ll do the same toward me. God only has so much love to go around and there’s only so much space to be involved in the church in, so I have to make someone else look bad so I’ll look good and have some glory. However, ours is a God of abundance and there’s more than enough to go around, so we don’t need to act like insecure and ungodly people act. We can actually expect that loving our neighbour will work good for us, even. Their being blessed in no way diminishes the potential for me to be blessed!
The rest of Obadiah speaks of the final judgment of Edom and other nations when God fully intervenes in human affairs. The ‘day of the Lord’ is one of the great themes of the OT, where its character is emphasized more than its exact time. It will be the day of just retribution on all ‘the nations that forget God’ (Ps. 9.17).
v. 15- there’s a great law contained here: ‘as you have done, it shall be done to you.’
v. 16- when Jerusalem was plundered, Edom and other nations partied. There will come a time of partying so much greater, and it won’t include these nations- it will be as though they had never been.
v. 17- there’s going to be one safe place- mount Zion. Here is where those who escape from Judah will congregate. It will be a secure place, free from defilement and assault from the unbelievers.
v. 18- is interesting in that the house of Joseph is mentioned alongside the house of Jacob. This means that there is to be a restoration of the northern kingdom of Israel as well as of the southern kingdom of Judah. Historically, it was only through a faithful remnant of this single tribe of Judah- really, through the single faithful Israelite, Jesus Christ, ‘the lion of the tribe of Judah’ (Rev. 5.5)- that God’s saving purposes were carried out. But by His death the Christ of God was to ‘gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad’ (Jn. 11.52), and in God’s purposes His chosen people ‘the Israel of God’ (Gal. 6.16) will eventually stand complete in all its tribes. It is the fully restored nation of the children of Israel which will consume as a flame the whole house of Esau/Edom- Dan. 7.22; 1 Cor. 6.2.
v. 19, 20- describes the full extent of Israel’s inheritance.
v. 21- gathers together the main ideas of the book in two declarations. First, there is the actual execution of judgment on Edom by saviours, whose headquarters are in Jerusalem. To the Jews they are deliverers or defenders; to the Edomites, they are executors of justice. Finally, the kingdom shall be the Lord’s. The people of God have always known that God is ruling as King. Always, we have waited for the full expression of this sovereign rule. But we continually rejoice in the assurance that ‘the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.’
This assurance allows us to keep the second great commandment. When we know God is fully in command, we can come down off the towers we create for ourselves, in order to protect ourselves, and we can care for our neighbours as we are meant to. We can stop being like Edom and can be like Christ to those who are our neighbours. However, where we don’t believe that God will win, in the end, and where we don’t believe that God is fully in command, we have to wrestle in order to have. Edom didn’t believe, so did what they did. We can be like Edom. Or, we can be like Jesus, and love our neighbour as ourselves. Which will it be?
