The Lodestar

On the evening of July 21, 1969, I ran to greet my father returning from work to break the news that two human beings had landed on the moon that morning. My father was emotionless; he had heard this over the radio that morning, and I could not surprise him. Being a self-styled expert in Biblical prophecies, quoting Obadiah 1:4, he retorted that they would not be able to stay there forever and would soon come down to earth. I spent the rest of that evening as my eleven-year-old fingers flipped through the Bible to find this verse.

My father believed in the literal fulfilment of Biblical prophecies, but 55 years after that event, human beings still need to make the moon their home. I grew up studying biblical prophecies against their historical and theological background.

Obadiah might have penned his little prophetic treatise of twenty-one verses shortly after the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 586 B.C. It is a prophecy against the country of Edom, which colluded with the Babylonian army to sack the capital of Judah. The anger against Edom’s betrayal of Judah resonates in other passages, especially in the Psalms. “O LORD, remember what the Edomites did on the day the armies of Babylon captured Jerusalem. ‘Destroy it!’ they yelled. ‘Level it to the ground!’” (Psa 137:7).

The Edomites believed they were invincible since they lived on hilly terrain in fortified cities, some carved into rock faces. Petra, the red city, now part of Jordan, was an Edomite city. However, Obadiah reminds them that the apparent security that they revel in is vain; the Lord will bring them down, not from the moon, but from their false sense of security.

Obadiah reminds Edom that they should not be proud of their cruel victories. The Lord will never applaud the one who crushes the heads of the weak and underprivileged. He vindicates the weak and the defeated. Obadiah’s words lifted the hearts of the people of Judah, who were defeated and cruelly treated by their enemies. Thus, they carry an eternal relevance for the people exploited by the powerful oppressors—no victory against God’s people would last.

Take courage today, especially if feeling oppressed or defeated, knowing that God sees every injustice and will bring down every false security built on cruelty or betrayal. Trust that his favour endures for the faithful and that He vindicates the weak and oppressed.

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