Hebrews 10:30-39: Trials Well Borne
Friday, March 28, 2025
This reflection continues thoughts posed in the Revenge and Forgiveness posts on this blog.
Obadiah, one of the Minor Prophets, offers us ideas we will want to examine further.
From the ARCHEOLOGICAL STUDY BIBLE we discover themes. We learn that Obadiah’s name means “servant of Yahweh,” and many scholars believe that his brief prophecy was written between 586 and 553 B.C.E. We know that Obadiah does not specify that his prophecy is meant for any particular king or event; yet he indicates that a major calamity has occurred in Judah and that the Edomites have capitalized on this event. In general, scholars believe that there was a post-exilic setback for the Israelites, and most believe it to be the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E. They also remind us that Edom itself fell to this same empire in 553 B.C.E. All of this sets up a story of intense tribalism, payback, and retaliation. We look a little further.
Who are the Edomites and where is their land? These people descended from Esau, the son of Issac, who was cheated of his heritage by his brother Jacob and his mother. Obadiah writes to the people of Judah (the descendants of Jacob) condemning the Edomites for their treachery and violence toward the people of Judah. He also rails against the people for their sins of arrogance and indifference toward God. So this prophecy harkens back to the conflict between these two brothers. Judah feels that the hostility shown to them when they are at a low point by the people of Edom is cruel and unjustified. Edom’s arrogance was founded in its nearly impregnable mountain strongholds where the Edomites safeguarded their wealth (gained from trade) in rock vaults. Obadiah teaches that God is sovereign over all nations. (Zondervan 1464-1465)
So much of what we read here reminds us of the story we live each day; our modern world is occupied with ancient themes: indifference to a higher authority, arrogance of the ego, injustice of systems and structures, and the use of cruelty as a fair means to any end. The rivalries in this prophecy echo the petty rivalries we set up early in life and, as we grow older, carefully nurture.
Turning to today’s reading, we see these familiar words in verse 18: “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” Yet, despite our recognition of the truth these words bring to us, we need more urging. The prophet, knows that despite enlightenment we will have setbacks, and so he lays them out for us to examine in ourselves: the malignant hope for revenge, the overpowering force of hubris, the willingness to use any means to achieve our ends, the animal-instinctive fear of others. Obadiah asks us examine the suffering of our daily experience as we reflect on his prophecy.
As New Testament believers, we want to be poised for Jesus’ coming into our lives and receptive to the Spirit that lives among us. Feeling Christ’s call to our highest goodness, we might look at Hebrews 11 and determine to follow the example of the faithful lived by the Patriarchs: Adam, Enoch, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, and the Judges . . . “all these . . . approved by the testimony of faith”. We might look to these people as models of how and what we are to do, how and why we are to overcome our lust for revenge, how and why we are to practice love. When we study their individual stories, we see that these ancestors do not lead perfect lives; but they strive for that perfection in their loyalty to Yahweh. They listen, they obey, and they bear their trials well.
In the name of Jesus, let us call out our best selves to serve God, to fulfill his hope in us. Let us be good and loyal servants who want nothing more than to discern our mission and to complete it well. We ask this in the name of Jesus, the one who dwells among us to lead us, to heal us, to restore us, to be one with us.
Amen.
Adapted from a Favorite written on October 27, 2007.
Read the brief prophecy of Obadiah and compare varying translations to better understand our tendency to seek revenge . . . and our need to rely on God’s wisdom rather than our own.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY BIBLE (NIV). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2005. 1464-1465. Print.
Visit the Obadiah – Outrageous Hope page on this blog at: https://thenoontimes.com/the-book-of-our-life/the-old-testament/the-prophets/obadiah-outrageous-hope/ or the Revenge and Forgiveness page at: https://thenoontimes.com/2012/09/09/revenge-and-forgiveness/
Images from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tissot_The_Mess_of_Pottage.jpg and https://thenoontimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/tissot_the_meeting_of_esau_and_jacob.jpg
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