Sometimes little things can give wings to much bigger things- and that can be true both for the negative and the positive. It may be a wonder to us to think of how two brothers could drift so far apart, but yet this is what The Lord prophesied would happen for the nations of Edom and Israel, which of course were founded by Esau and Jacob, respectively. And though Esau and Jacob (AKA Israel) eventually reconciled, their nations continued to be at odds- and a long-standing feud eventually came to a head in the shortest book of the Old Testament- the book of Obadiah. He was a prophet whom God sent to preach to the people of Edom about the evil way they had treated their brother nation of Israel. Edom was condemned to be destroyed for its haughtiness and evil treatment of Israel and ultimate rebellion against God. And God would restore Israel to its land and its things. And as He would later inspire Paul to write about, we must rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. And in everything, as much as it's possible and as much as it's up to us, we should live in peace with everyone. There is a powerful message of love for all people throughout The Bible, of course, and especially for our own brother- let's strive to live at peace with everyone and live together in love and perfect harmony (only possible through the perfection of Jesus living in us, of course)- just like the multiple colors of the fall leaves live together in peace and just like ebony and ivory live together in harmony side by side on the piano keyboard- just like the Master Tuner who plays out His perfect symphony through all His instruments as He choreographs and arranges.
"Edom's Seed and Israel's Seed"
(parody of "Ebony and Ivory" by Paul McCartney [featuring Stevie Wonder]; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 11/10/2014)
(Malachi 1:1-5, Genesis 25, Psalms 133, Psalms 137, Genesis 33, Galatians 3:28, Romans 12 [particularly verses 9-21], Obadiah [all 21 verses, but particularly 1:1-5, 1:10-14, and 1:15-21])
Edom's seed and Israel's seed
Share together a turbulent history
25 in Genesis- predicts
The Lord- old serves young!
Esau and bro
Their peoples were estranged- Seir and Zion opposed
The old feud began with Isaac's sons
Esau spurned his gift- Jacob stole it from his brother
The blessing and birthright
Then ran for his life
Eventually- Gen. 33
Bros together and forgiven- harmony!
Such a sight- Psalms 133:1
Oh, Lord- Shine on me!
[(With) Everyone- if it's up to me
(I'm) living in perfect harmony
(like) Ebony (and) Ivory, ooh]
Esau's folks
Those people had disdain for Jacob's, you know
They just stood while Bab-(mmm)-ylonians
Attacked their kin- Edom laughed- they'll get comeuppance
Edom's beat- (it's) prophesied
Obadiah 1:5
Edom thinks so pridefully
"Who can ever bring me down- or (bring) harm to me?"
Gliding high like an eagle you soar
The Lord brings down thee
None survive when house (of) Esau- he's burned
Your own returned deeds!
Everything's all rosy
Israel's returning home, you see
There will be Zion peeps
Escaping (from) burning- (and) it's holy
All hunky and dory
Written in Obadiah- read!
Elohim's Word- He keeps
Giving Israel back land and things
Edom- we learn from thee
Commiserate with those who weep
Romans 12:16 read
Living in Christ in harmony
...................................................
Good song about a little-discussed book!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kevin. Obadiah has long been a favorite of mine precisely for that reason. :-) And there is an important message there (as all of the books of The Bible convey, of course) that ties in with other things in Scripture as well. I also thought some of the points were pretty timely now with things going on in the world- so I hope this little parody song might help point people to the true perfect harmony that only comes through Christ.
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