A neighbour's cruelty.
The prophet deeply feels the injury which Esau has inflicted upon Israel, and the language of this passage gives evidence of a heart deeply aggrieved and wronged and distressed. We have, indeed, in these verses an example of the length to which the cruelty of man can go.
I. THE DETAILS OF THIS CRUELTY.
1. Edom is charged with siding with foreigners against Jerusalem in the day when the city was assaulted and taken.
2. And with rejoicing over Judah's misfortunes, and mocking at her calamities.
3. And with sharing in the spoils of the city when the capture took place.
4. And even with cutting off the retreat of the wretched fugitives.
II. THE AGGRAVATION OF THIS CRUELTY. If a stranger, a "natural enemy" (as men say), had done this, it would have been bad enough. But the Edomites were of the same descent with the Jews; these being sons of Jacob, those of Esau. The point is given to the sting by this fact. It is with "violence against thy brother Jacob" that Edom is charged. "Man's inhumanity to man" is the most sad and depressing spectacle that earth affords. When natural kindred and affinity bind men together, those who snap those ties and assail their brethren are monsters of iniquity.
III. THE PENALTY OF THIS CRUELTY. This was plainly published by Obadiah. "Thou," said he to Edom—"thou shalt be cut off forever." The laws of God cannot be violated with impunity. The relations which God has fashioned cannot be outraged without involving the guilty in the awful consequences of their sin. "The way of transgressors is hard."
The lex talionis.
The principle of government or of retribution known as the lex talionis was known to the Hebrews as well as to other nations. "It was said by them of old time, An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." Passages in Ezekiel contain threatenings of a retribution similar to that which in this passage is denounced upon Edom.
I. THE AUTHOR AND THE OCCASION OF THIS RETRIBUTION. "The day of the Lord" is an expression frequently occurring in the prophetic writings, and always denoting a season of retribution appointed by a righteous God. The day when iniquity is rampant, when injustice is perpetrated and is apparently unnoticed, is the day of man. But as surely as the universe is governed by a Being of rectitude, so surely shall the cause of equity and truth be vindicated; and the time of such vindication, come when it may, is the day of the Lord.
II. THE METHOD AND MEASURE OF RETRIBUTION. "As thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee." Edom had deserted her friends; she should be deserted. Edom had spoiled her neighbours; she should be spoiled. And this doom was threatened, not upon Edom only, but upon "all the heathen," i.e. upon all who shared Edom's guilt. Whether this was to happen by the working out of what we call a natural law, or by a special interposition of Providence, we are not told, and this is immaterial. History records very many instances in which this principle has operated, in which this doom has been inflicted.
III. THE HIGHER DIVINE PRINCIPLE WHICH TEMPERS THIS OF RETRIBUTION. Our Lord Jesus has taught us that the lex talionis is not an adequate principle of human conduct. Much less can it be deemed the perfect and final law of the Divine government. Mercy triumphs over wrath. Where there is true repentance on man's part, there is ready forgiveness on God's part. If this were not so, the human race would long ago have perished; if this were not so, we should not now be rejoicing in the Saviour of our souls, the Saviour of mankind.