NOTES for Oba 1:1-21
The book of the prophet Obadiah belongs to the same stream of prophecies about God's judgment on all nations that we have been reading lately. The brief vision given to him by God shows that among the peoples condemned by God for their hostility toward Israel are the Edomites, descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob-Israel. Their guilt lies neither in paganism nor in breaking the commandments. God holds just one thing against them: they rejected brotherly love. Even by the standards of those times, the Edomites were a people related to Israel; they should not have entered into alliances with other nations against Israel, rejoiced at their brothers' defeats or profited from those defeats.
The events of history become, or at least can become, lessons for later generations, not only for nations but also for individuals. A Christian cannot rejoice in the misfortunes and troubles of his brothers, or, more broadly, of his neighbors, who include everyone he meets along the way; otherwise, the fate of Edom may befall him too.