Rivals. It’s football season and that means for many, team colors are worn, people gather to cheer on their team from either their home, the stands, or a gathering place, and (if you’re like some in my family) trash talking begins regarding the opposing team or even their rival team for whomever they may be playing against. Our immediate family has about all the Florida teams covered; UF, UCF, USF, and FSU…oh, and one of the siblings attended FGCU and said “we are still undefeated”…they don’t have a football team.
Rivalry can be healthy or unhealthy. It can motivate one to improve themselves and challenge them to strive for excellence, or this type of competition can be detrimental to one’s psyche. Unhealthy rivalry can cause resentment, envy, and hostility.
When reading the book of Obadiah, the rivalry between blood brothers took on a whole new level of family feud.
This itty-bitty book could easily lead you down a rabbit hole. You can read this one-chapter book in a few minutes, or you can do as I did and spend hours researching the rich history and the “where is it now?”.
Obadiah teaches us about:
- apathetic vs empathetic
- How evil will be punished
- Don’t mess with God and His people
- Phrases such as: “Get off your high horse”, “Don’t be so full of yourself”, “you’re going down” (verses 3-4) were initially used by God, not your parents, grandparents, or sayings you’ve heard in movies.
Historically:
- Jacob and Esau. Two brothers. They’ve been fighting one another since they were in the womb.
- The two “countrymen”, Israelites and Edomites, are descendants from Jacob and Esau.
- God promised Abram that He will “bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt.” (Genesis 12:3) His promise was kept.
What happened:
- Edom did not stand up for their blood relatives, the Israelites. They took advantage of Israel while they were suffering, instead of taking care of them.
- Edom gloated and rejoiced in the Jews misfortune, spoke arrogantly of the Jews, plundered and seized wealth, tried killing the escapees, etc.
- The Edomites were proud, violent, and apathetic to the destruction of Israel.
- God pronounced a harsh judgement on the Edomites. His promise stayed true and they ended up vanishing and were ran out of their city.
- Even though the Israelites were going through suffering, God promised them that there will be restoration. There’s hope when you are found in Christ.
Later & Now:
- Much of the population from modern day Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, northeastern Syria, and Palestine are descendants from Esau. Israelites are descendants from Jacob. We see evidence of this rivalry still taking place today.
- After the Edomites were driven from their land by the Nabateans, they migrated to the southern part of Israel and became known as Idumeans. Much later in biblical history, Herod the Great, an Idumean, appears on the scene. It was Herod who tried to kill the infant Jesus in Bethlehem—through Herod, the rebellion of Edom continued. (gotquestions.org)
- The land, Petra, belonged to the Edomites. You can see the astonishing rock, “rock fortress, nest among the stars”, today as a tourist attraction.
- One of the Indiana Jones movies was filmed in this once rock fortress.
I pray that you will keep a healthy competitiveness attitude in life. Don’t allow this quality to become one of anger, revenge, boastfulness, or violence. Yet, use it to challenge you to greatness, and bring glory to God through it all.
Now, I want to encourage you to go read Obadiah, go dig deep into God’s word, and love the rich and true history that the bible offers.
OH…and Go Gators or Knights or Bulls or Seminoles or _______. What college team do you cheer for during this season?
Blessings to you and yours,
Stephanie
Featured photo was borrowed from the online source from National Geographic.