DECEMBER 17, 2024

 “A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.” 

― Elbert Hubbard

OBADIAH

10Because of the violence against your brother Jacob,

you will be covered with shame;

you will be destroyed forever.

11On the day you stood aloof

while strangers carried off his wealth

and foreigners entered his gates

and cast lots for Jerusalem,

you were like one of them.

12You should not gloat over your brother

in the day of his misfortune,

nor rejoice over the people of Judah

in the day of their destruction,

nor boast so much

in the day of their trouble.

REVELATION 8

3Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 5Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

JOURNAL 

When I read Obadiah, I keep coming back to the question of where the brotherly love went. I had never really paid attention to what became of Esau and his descendants. Edom wasn’t some weak, forgotten people. They were an established kingdom in the mountains of Mount Seir. Yet instead of reconciliation, there was constant hostility. They never lived at peace with Israel. Time and again, they sided with Israel’s enemies and even joined in the attacks. One of the most striking examples is Herod the Great, an Edomite, ruling over the very people he despised.

In my mind, Edom becomes that smug brother who is always looking for a way to trip the other one up. The one who quietly celebrates every failure and does a little happy dance when misfortune hits. And what stands out is this tension. God is clearly angry with Israel for their rebellion, but in the end Israel is restored. Edom, on the other hand, is completely wiped out.

That contrast has been sitting with me. The reality is that we are all God’s children. We are not called to sit in judgment or to take pleasure in someone else’s downfall. When we do that, we step outside of love. And acting without love is not neutral, it is evil. I’m realizing more and more that if something is truly of God, love has to be at the center of it. Love has to temper everything. When love is missing, God is not in it.

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres

1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-7