Calamity Comment
I happened to be reading the book of Obadiah around the time a major calamity hit one of the prominent leaders in my city. He and his family went through the tragic loss of a beloved child in an unexpectedly horrific accident that shook them all. It was a day of extreme distress and trouble for this family that hurt them deeply. I was privy to the details of the case since my father was the local investigating officer. His dignified and compassionate handling of the case earned him the grateful respect of the leader and his family.
As I followed the nuances of the case and pondered on it, I noticed the reaction of various people to the incident. Some were openly sympathetic and empathetic, others were noncommittal though they felt sorry for his loss. Yet others were hostile and took the opportunity to voice out negative comments and analyses of the distressing disaster.
As I pondered on these, the Lord enlightened me and gave me very fresh understanding of what the book of Obadiah is all about. The Holy Spirit taught me what should be my attitude and is the right thing to do when such situations happen around us.
The book of Obadiah in the Old Testament and the epistle to Philemon are the two smallest books in the Bible. While the letter penned by the Apostle Paul to Philemon is a mercy plea on behalf of the runaway slave Onesimus, the book of Obadiah proclaims God’s judgement on the nation of Edom due to its wrong attitude towards its brother!
God and Calamity
The nation of Edom was the generations of Esau, the brother of Jacob. Jacob is the father of Israel, and therefore of the seed of Isaac and Abraham. God points out through the prophet Obadiah two reasons for judging Edom.
Number one was Edom’s pride in the secure life and living it had on Mount Seir. It was safe from invasion, unlike Israel which faced different many battles and foreign rule. These were the judgements of God on the nation of Israel due to their unfaithfulness to Him, and their disobedience to His commandments.
The second reason for God to make Edom a despicable thing among its neighbours was its attitude towards and action against the nation of Israel, the generation of its brother Jacob, in the day of their trouble.
God accuses Edom of standing aloof while strangers carried off his brother’s wealth; of being just a spectator when its brother nation was being pillaged and ravaged; of gloating over as well as making fun of his brother’s misfortune when he was down; of commenting arrogantly when everything was going bad for his brother; taking advantage of his brother when his life was falling apart; making merry about his brother’s troubles and wrecked condition; of robbing him of what little he had; of cutting off his escape routes and strategies; and finally, dealing treacherously with him by betraying the helpless survivors.
Community Concern
Most of us, consciously or unconsciously, react and act in the same way to things that happen to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
When calamity or misfortune strikes those around us, how quick we are to point our fingers. We say ‘they must have done something wrong and that’s why God is punishing them!’ When someone is going through certain issues or problems in life, we are like Job’s friends. We voice our own opinion and our take about the reason behind the season! This is especially true when someone has hurt us or been hurtful to us. If something untoward happens to them, we feel glad, and often gloat over their misfortune, and or we feel vindicated!
If a contemporary surges forward in every way and we are not making the same headway, even though we are equally talented, we feel satisfied when they fall into tough times or hit a rough patch! Some of us may even use the situation to forward our own agenda, making use of their bad luck (!) to further our own interests! Others may even take the opportunity to get back at them and thus shut even a possible escape route.
Instead of standing by our brothers and sisters in Christ, we take sides with their enemies and add fuel to the fire by airing our own opinions of their situation! Even if we have cause to take umbrage, let us at least refrain from gossip and be constrained to pray for them!
Calamity Attitude
God honours and upholds relationships, especially familial ones, in a very special way and never condones negative actions or reactions that would compound the troubles of those whom we call Bro or Sis. He will not tolerate us taking the occasion to dig a hole for them to fall or harm them when they are vulnerable.
IIt doesn’t matter for what reason God is chastising or pruning or even punishing our fellow believers in the Body of Christ or whether they are being put on the spot by their own wrongdoing. It does matter how we react and act when we see our family go through difficulties or when calamity strikes them!
God does not give us the right to pass judgement about why something happened to someone, but pays attention to the intentions, thoughts and the state of our hearts. Even if we have ground for grievance, we cannot take revenge or stand in the way to throw stones at them as Shimei did when David was fleeing from his son Absalom.
We are called to love our fellow believers and to reflect His nature as well as walking worthy of Him, as the children of our Father in heaven Who causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
My Learning from Obadiah
From the book of Obadiah, I noted that God judged and punished Edom for its pride in having a secure life and being free from invasion or chastisement of any kind and for its treatment of its brother nation of Israel during the latter’s down time.
I learnt that I needed to be careful not to imitate Edom when someone in the Body of Christ goes through life’s tough situations.
I saw that God would deal severely with me if I dealt severely with my brother or sister. Even if I did had just cause to do so, I must withhold my hand and mouth from evil and not indulge in speaking negatively against or acting treacherously towards our brothers and sisters in Christ.
God could and would turn the tables on me, for He wants us to uphold the brotherhood!
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