Thursday, July 12

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Thursday

“The Fall of Edom”

So far in this week’s posts we’ve seen the pride of Edom displayed. We’ve seen that she’s condemned by YHWH because of her pride and her culpability in the Babylonian exile. Now we’ll see her judgment, we’ll see YHWH’s reaction to her pride and sin. Pick up with me as we read verses 10-12 and 15-16. 

Because of the violence against your brother Jacob,
    you will be covered with shame;
    you will be destroyed forever.
¹¹ On 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.
¹² You should not look down on 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…

“The day of the Lord is near
    for all nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you;
    your deeds will return upon your own head.
¹⁶ Just as you drank on my holy hill,
    so all the nations will drink continually;
they will drink and drink
    and be as if they had never been. 

What I want to spend a little bit of time on today is examining the last verse in this section of Obadiah’s prophecy concerning Edom’s fall. Verse 16 uses some really interesting language that I want us to dive into a bit. In Verse 16 YHWH declares, “Just as you drank on my holy hill, so all the nations will drink continually; they will drink and drink and be as if they had never been.” 

I’m assuming that that verse doesn’t make much sense to you right now, that’s o.k. There are actually a few different schools of thought about this verse and a ton of different translations of the last line which is here translated “they will drink and drink…” We need to spend some time understanding this verse though, not just because it’s a little complicated, but because it introduces an incredibly important theme found throughout the Old and New Testaments. That theme is the cup of wrath. The “drink” that YHWH is referring to here is the drinking of His wrath, common imagery throughout Scripture. What God’s saying here is this. “Edom, just as you’ve seen Israel drink the cup of my wrath, so will you drink it. You’ll drink it even more than Israel did though. Indeed, you’ll be unable to stop drinking it. You’ll drink and drink and drink and when it’s all over you’ll be no more.” 

Perhaps you’re wondering why YHWH would choose to use the imagery of drinking, even drunkenness to describe His wrath. Scholar Paul Raabe has some really helpful insight here. He talks about the language of the cup of wrath being utilized because, “…the wrath of YHWH is a rather intangible concept…Therefore the symbol of becoming drunk from wine offers the reader or hearer a tangible and concrete reality that can be seen, felt, and tasted.” 

Before we leave this imagery of the cup of wrath alone I want to jump to the New Testament for a few moments. Perhaps as we’ve been talking through this imagery you’ve already jumped there and know where I’m going. In the New Testament we’re presented with a profound and intimate scene where the night before His coming death Jesus is praying to God His Father in the garden of Gethsemane. In Matthew 26 we’re told that Jesus retreated deep into the garden of Gethsemane and prayed this prayer three times. He prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”  

What was going on in that garden? What is it that has Jesus so terrified that He’s weeping blood and crying out to God for it to be taken away? It’s the cup of God’s wrath that He knows He will drink down the next day on the cross. You know I never understood this growing up. I always thought that what Jesus was scared of in the Garden was the physical pain that He knew His crucifixion would bring. As I grew more familiar with the narrative of Scripture though I realized that Jesus was scared of something in the garden that’s much more terrifying than physical pain. Jesus cries out to God His Father in the Garden because He cannot bear to think about being separated from Him and punished by Him. Though it troubles Him, He still does it. 

Prideful Edom deserved to drink from the cup of God’s wrath, rebellious Israel deserved to drink from the cup of God’s wrath, but perfect and sinless Jesus of Nazareth? He was the one person in all of human history who didn’t deserve that fate. Still, He drank. He drank it to the dregs. He drank, and just like we mock drunkards who stumble in the street we mocked Him as He hung on the cross. Just as the drunkard staggers as He drinks so Jesus staggered in the Garden just thinking of the coming drink. Jesus drank the cup of His Father’s wrath so that those who will surrender their lives to Him will never have to. He drank the cup of wrath so that you will never have to. 


Grant Diamond