The Judgment on Edom, Who Hated His Brother

Edom was set among rugged mountains, a stronghold from which it could drive back even the mightiest enemy. Yet on the day Babylon invaded the southern kingdom of Judah, Edom did nothing to help its brother nation. Instead, it joined in the plunder and handed over those who tried to escape.

Edom was judged not for any lack of strength, but because it did not love its brother. Ever since the Exodus, God had called Edom a brother and kept them under his protection. Once they prospered, however, they grew proud, sided with whoever held power and abandoned their brother. In the end they suffered exactly what they had done to Judah, betrayed by their allies and by Babylon alike.

Edom vanished without a trace, but God’s covenant with the descendants of Jacob remained unbroken even after hundreds of years. Standing by while a brother suffers is also sin. God repays each person according to what they have done, and that judgment leads on to the judgment that will one day come upon the whole world.