No Outs—Not Even a Little One
Reading: Obadiah He blamed his brother for his own poor choices and they rarely spoke again. He refused to help his brother in a time of need. He stood by, not lifting a hand to rescue a brother from the neighbourhood bullies. Now it was his turn. It only takes 21 verses for Obadiah to describe what God is about to do to Edom for her attitudes and actions against Israel. The history goes back a long way—all the way to Esau and Jacob , for it was from these brothers that the nations of Edom and Israel were formed. Edom now stands condemned. The classic words of these verses are these: “ As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head ” (Obadiah 15, NIV). This is the judgment. A similar statement in the New Testament is delivered as a command: “ So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets ” (Matthew 7:12, NIV). If we put the two together the truth is pretty obvious: Do for others...