Gloating and Rejoicing at the Misfortunes of the Enemy

Gloating and Rejoicing at the Misfortunes of the Enemy

-Lester Parkinson

Scripture Setting:" You should not have gloated when they exiled your relatives to distant lands. You should not have rejoiced when the people of Judah suffered such misfortune. You should not have spoken arrogantly in that terrible time of trouble. Obadiah 1:12

Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament. Yet hidden away in its brief record is a vital question that affects us all: how should we respond when we see an enemy experiencing misfortune?

The prophet Obadiah ministered during the period when the city of Jerusalem was under fierce attack by the marauding armies of Babylon. The neighbors of Jerusalem, the Edomites, were actually cheering on the enemies to destroy and kill God's chosen people (Psalms 137:7-9). Ironically, these hurtful jeers were spoken by blood relatives of the Jews. They were the biological descendants of Jacob, and the Edomites were direct descendants of Esau.

Obadiah condemned the Edomites for their insensitive gloating, - the, I-told-you-so attitude: " You should not have gloated when they exiled your relatives to distant lands. You should not have rejoiced when the people of Judah suffered such misfortune. You should not have spoken arrogantly in that terrible time of trouble" (Obadiah 1:12).

If someone has repeatedly been hurtful to us, it is easy to give in to vindictive pleasure when they experience misfortune. But the Scripture admonishes us, "Don't rejoice when your enemies fall; don't be happy when they stumble" (Proverbs 24:17). Instead, we are to maintain an attitude of compassion and forgiveness, and trust God to bring justice in His time. Therefore, our love for God can be measured by the love we show for our worst enemy.