“The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?” (Obadiah 3).

The little Book of Obadiah is entirely devoted to a prophecy against the strong nation of the Edomites, descended from Jacob’s carnal and careless brother, Esau. At the time he wrote, Edom’s capital was in what seemed to be the impregnable rock fortress of Petra, and the Edomites had been a great people in the Bible lands for many centuries.

But God had pronounced their doom, through Obadiah and other prophets, because of their inordinate pride and their rebellion against the word of God, following their father, Esau. No one today seems to know exactly how it all came about, but today Petra and the land of the Edomites are a barren wilderness—a marvel to tourists, but nothing more.

Edom’s gradual decline and eventual abandonment constitute one of many fulfilled Bible prophecies dealing with ancient nations and cities. Many other great nations of the past—Assyria, Babylonia, Philistia, Moab, and the Hittite empire, to mention just a few—all rebelled against their Creator, and all—like Edom—have finally vanished, just as the prophets had warned. “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Psalm 9:17).

Though the Edomites have vanished as a distinct people, their spiritual and intellectual heirs are legion. Like Esau, their father, and like King Herod, their best-known descendant, these modern spiritual heirs of the Edomites have had abundant opportunity to know and serve the true God, but they have deceived themselves through pride of heart—a pride that can manifest itself in various ways—pride of wealth, pride of intellect, or appearance, or strength, or position. May God deliver us from the Satanic sin of pride! HMM