Edom for Top di Rocks

High for top one cliff of red rock, one watchman dey look di road wey dey down. Refugees dey stagger pass, dem dey run from one city wey dey burn. E fit help dem. Instead, e dey laugh. And e block di road.

For south and east of di Dead Sea, one land dey wey get rough mountains and red sandstone cliffs. For Bible time, na Edom be dis. Im people come from Esau, di twin brother of Jacob. Jacob pikin dem na Israel. So Israel and Edom na family, brother nations. But like Jacob and Esau, dem no dey always agree. Edom towns dey sit for high, rocky ground wey hard well well to attack, and im people feel say dem dey safe for up there. Then, when Babylon destroy Jerusalem, Edom no help im brother. And one prophet wey im name na Obadiah see vision about am. Im book na di shortest for di Old Testament: just one chapter, twenty-one verses.

Obadiah start with God message straight to di proud heart of Edom. Di pride of your heart don deceive you, you wey dey live inside di cracks of di rock, wey your house dey high; wey dey talk for your heart say, Who go fit bring me down reach ground? You think say nobody fit touch you for up there, God talk. Even if you raise yourself high like eagle, even if you build your nest among di stars, I go bring you down from there, na so Di Lord talk. Edom don trust im cliffs, im wise men, im allies. But Obadiah talk say even im friends go turn against am, and im wisdom wey everybody know go fail.

Then God talk why. Because of di violence wey you do your brother Jacob, shame go cover you. For di day wey strangers carry Jerusalem wealth go, and foreigners enter through im gates, even you be like one of dem. And then one list of tins wey Edom no suppose ever do, like parent wey dey show pikin exactly where e miss road. You no suppose look down on your brother for di day of im disaster. You no suppose rejoice over di people of Judah for di day wey dem destroy dem. You no suppose boast for di day of dem trouble. You no suppose march enter di gate of my people and grab dem property. And you no suppose stand for di junction to catch di people wey dey escape, and hand dem over to di enemy.

Then Obadiah warn about one principle wey all of us know for our bones. As you don do, na so dem go do you. Wetin you do to other people go come back on top your own head. Di day of Di Lord don near for all di nations, no be only Edom. But di book no end with Edom fall. E end with hope for God people. For Mount Zion, people go dey wey escape, and e go dey holy. God people wey don scatter go come back house and possess dem land again. And di very last words of di book look pass all di nations and dem quarrel: And di kingdom go be Di Lord own. No be Edom own. No be Babylon own. No be even Israel own. God own.

Wetin happen to Edom? For di centuries after di exile, di kingdom of Edom disappear, and Arab people wey dem dey call di Nabataeans take over im mountain land. Plenty Edomites move go west, enter di south of Judah, one area wey later dem dey call Idumea. Di Jewish historian Josephus write say di family of King Herod di Great come from Idumea. So for Jesus time, one person wey come from Esau land sit down for di throne for Jerusalem.

You go find dis vision for di book of Obadiah, all twenty-one verses. One proud nation for top di cliffs wey rejoice when im brother fall, and one God wey im kingdom go last pass all of dem. So see one question wey you go carry dey go. When somebody wey you know dey pass through hard time, even somebody wey you no too get along with, how you fit help am instead to just stand dey look?