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20 June. Obadiah
One of the shortest books in the Bible, Obadiah is a prophesy of woe against Edom followed by one of the restoration of Israel. The point of the woe seems to be that Edom (the tribe of Easu, Joseph’s brother) was part of the wider Abrahamic family, and although not counted among the twelve tribes of Israel should have at least offered more than mere human rights to their brothers. But in fact they had “gloated over your brother on the day of his misfortune”, “looted his goods on the day of his calamity”, and “stood at the crossings to cut off his fugitives” (12-14). For that God would punish them severely, so that their land would forever be desolate.
The relevance of this today is surely that there is much violence in the world between rival ethnic or religious groups, but that between any combination of Christians, Jews and Muslims who share the common monotheistic faith of Abraham, or between Semites and Arabs who share a common ethnic heritage, is especially heinous. How can one group of people fail to help those in need who share their origins, or treat as enemies those who also believe in the same God of mercy? Which is why each of us needs to examine our own actions and attitudes. For the reference to “standing at the crossings to cut off fugitives” reminds us of the need for great compassion for our fellow humans, many of them sharing our faith, who are fleeing from Syria and other countries across the sea to Europe. God will judge us like the Edomites if we do not help them.