Do not become Edom: Why Christians must not turn against Israel in the hour of Jacob’s wound
by Emir Phillips
A Summary Review by F. Scott Nickerson
“There are moments when the Church reveals not only what it believes, but what kind of heart it has become. This is one of those moments.”
This recent article and statement by Emir Phillips appeared at All Israel News at a very timely moment in the current events surrounding Israel and our changing attitudes toward Israel across North America. I will try to summarize Emir’s thoughts and statements in this article and give you a lot of it in the hope that you can use some of these meaningful perspectives in your own understanding and to share with others who may be wondering about our support for Israel.
Since October 7, many Christians have found themselves disoriented. They see images of war. They hear accusations against Israel. They grieve civilian suffering. They recoil from political slogans. They feel the moral exhaustion of a conflict too old for easy answers and too bloody for cheap ones.
But beneath the arguments about Gaza, Hamas, hostages, Iran, ceasefires, settlements, civilian casualties, international law, and Israeli politics, a deeper biblical question presses on the Church:
When Israel is wounded, what kind of brother do we become?
Emir digs into how Edom responded to the attacks on brother Judah during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple around 586 BCE.
The prophet Obadiah deals with this subject.
Obadiah is only twenty-one verses long, but its message is like a sharp knife. Its target is Edom, the people descended from Esau, brother of Jacob. That detail matters. Edom is not condemned merely as a foreign enemy. Edom is condemned as a brother who watched Jerusalem fall and found satisfaction in the sight.
What Emir deals with is what Edom did to Judah, who really was under judgment. Jerusalem had sinned. The prophets had warned of idolatry, violence, injustice, covenant-breaking, and spiritual adultery. Babylon did not catch God by surprise. But God’s judgment on Judah did not authorize Edom’s cruelty.
So what did Edom do to Judah?
Edom stood aloof. Edom gloated. Edom entered the gate. Edom looted. Edom cut off fugitives. Edom handed over survivors. Edom saw a brother wounded under God’s rod and decided to become the rod’s assistant. That is why Obadiah matters now.
Emir says, Christians do not have to defend every action of every Israeli government but there is a difference between criticizing policy and training one’s heart to despise a people.
Emir says,
“Many Christians will not betray Israel with swords. They will do it with tone. They will do it with posture. They will do it by becoming fluent in every accusation against Israel and strangely uncurious about every murderous terror action against the Jews. They will do it by treating Jewish fear as manipulation, Jewish grief as propaganda, Jewish sovereignty as a scandal, and Jewish survival as a negotiable inconvenience.”
Obadiah has a word for that, it is called betrayal.
Continue this article HERE
