YOU'RE NEXT!

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom, you who live in the land of Uz. But to you also the cup will be passed; you will be drunk and stripped naked. Your punishment will end, Daughter Zion; He will not prolong your exile. But He will punish your sin, Daughter Edom, and expose your wickedness.

Lamentations 4:21-22

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As Lamentations 4 closes, an ominous message is sent to one of the Israelites’ chief rivals and enemies.

What was the message?

Simply, it was “You’re next!”

Look at these two final verses here:

Rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom, you who live in the land of Uz. But to you also the cup will be passed; you will be drunk and stripped naked. Your punishment will end, Daughter Zion; He will not prolong your exile. But He will punish your sin, Daughter Edom, and expose your wickedness. Lamentations 4:21-22

Before we get into this passage too far, we need to revisit some history, going back to the two sons of Isaac: Jacob and Esau.

You remember them, right?

There was a hint of future rivalry right from the very moment these two sons emerged from Rebekah’s womb. You’ll recall that Esau came first but Jacob was right behind him, a grasp on his brother’s heel (Genesis 25:24-26). Scriptures tell us that when the first baby came out red, it was the color that brought the name Esau. Hold that thought for a few moments because it’s going to come back into the picture.

One more thing before we move forward. The following message came to Rebekah from the Lord before her two sons were born, a message that would lay out was would take place in the future:

The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”  Genesis 25:23

These words of the Lord are often forgotten as the story of Jacob and Esau moves forward but once one sees the end results of it all, the perfect vision and knowledge of the Lord comes shining through.

Now, most people are aware with the particulars of this story. Jacob, with the help of his mother Rebekah, trick a blinded Isaac into blessing the younger son with his birthright and with that, Jacob would go on to bear the twelve sons who would lead the twelve tribes of Israel. Esau on the other hand was denied what was rightfully his and relegated to leave the presence of his family and strike out on his own. He would end up being the father of his own nation, settling in the hill country of Seir, and that nation was not called Esau but rather another name, a Hebrew baby name that meant “red”.

That name was Edom.

Thus, Israel and Edom became the two nations that the Lord was speaking about that would come from Rebekah’s womb and as you could expect, the relationship between these two nations was as contentious as the one between the two brothers after the deceit had occurred. Here are documented conflicts within the Bible:

Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying:

“This is what your brother Israel says: You know about all the hardships that have come on us. Our ancestors went down into Egypt, and we lived there many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our ancestors, but when we cried out to the Lord, He heard our cry and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt.”

“Now we are here at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. Please let us pass through your country. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the King’s Highway and not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.”

But Edom answered:

“You may not pass through here; if you try, we will march out and attack you with the sword.”

The Israelites replied:

“We will go along the main road, and if we or our livestock drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We only want to pass through on foot—nothing else.”

Again they answered:

“You may not pass through.”

Then Edom came out against them with a large and powerful army. Since Edom refused to let them go through their territory, Israel turned away from them. Numbers 20:14-21

After Saul had assumed rule over Israel, he fought against their enemies on every side: Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them. 1 Samuel 14:47

And David became famous after he returned from striking down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He put garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went. 2 Samuel 8:13-14

 Earlier when David was fighting with Edom, Joab the commander of the army, who had gone up to bury the dead, had struck down all the men in Edom. Joab and all the Israelites stayed there for six months, until they had destroyed all the men in Edom. 1 Kings 11:15-16

In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king. So Jehoram went to Zair with all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night; his army, however, fled back home. To this day Edom has been in rebellion against Judah. 2 Kings 8:20-22a

Now, with this as a backdrop, look again at the words of the Israelites.

Rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom, you who live in the land of Uz. But to you also the cup will be passed; you will be drunk and stripped naked. Your punishment will end, Daughter Zion; He will not prolong your exile. But He will punish your sin, Daughter Edom, and expose your wickedness.

When the Israelites were attacked by the Babylonians, the Edomites did not come to their aid. Rather, they joined with the Babylonians to attack Judah and participated in their downfall, an act that the Israelites obviously did not forget in captivity.

For as we see, the people of God called for the cup of judgment to be passed onto their long term adversaries. The Israelites’ punishment was soon to come to an end but Edom’s consequences would be just beginning and as we will see through the rest of our Old Testament journey, a point will come where Edom will be eradicated forever, all because of their sin and wickedness.

So all this begs a final question:

Who’s next?

In other words, which nation will be the next nation to be judged by God for their sin and wickedness?

In my opinion, the majority of nations are not even considering this question as they feel they are gods unto themselves, powerful and almighty in the world. But they adopt this attitude with a blind eye to history because every major empire in the world that has risen has then fallen before the God who seems to always have to remind the world that He is in charge, that He is control, that He is the Master of all, and that He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
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