Violence against Jacob

Obadiah 1: 10: For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.

God promised the land of modern Israel to Abraham and his seed long ago in Genesis 15: 18 – 21. When Abraham’s seed (the children of Israel) took possession of the Promised Land much later on, God had to gently remind their leader Joshua that not all the land of promise had been taken possession of; this is disclosed to us in Joshua 13: 1: Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.

Israel’s failure to thoroughly drive out the enemies in their land meant that those same people became a constant threat to the security of the nation; Moses warned Israel of this in Numbers 33: 55: But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. Fast-forward to the twentieth century and Israel becoming a nation-state in modern times, and we find that those ancient peoples that Israel let live long ago have been a constant threat to the nation with countless acts of violence. Fortunately for Israel, it has a highly capable army, and has been able to deal with the wars, intifadas, and acts of terrorism that have occurred since its birth. Ezekiel 37: 10 speaks of the powerful Israel Defence Force: So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. Zechariah 12: 6 – 8 adds some colour to the strength and valour of Israel’s soldiers: In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them.

One of the major threats to Israel has been that of Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist militant group that took over the Gaza Strip after defeating its rival political party, Fatah, in the 2006 elections. Hamas is a terrorist organization that has attacked Israel many times in suicide bombings, rocket attacks and other deadly acts. Israel declared war on Hamas following its surprise assault on the country’s south in October of 2023; this attack was the deadliest in Israel’s modern history.

The word “violence” in Obadiah 1: 10 is the Hebrew word “chamac,” or as it is most famously known: “Hamas!” God calls upon Israel to deal with the violence and put a stop to Hamas; this is written of in Ezekiel 45: 9: Thus saith the Lord GOD; Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice, take away your exactions from my people, saith the Lord GOD. Isaiah 60: 18 shows that Israel in the Kingdom Age will be free of Hamas, free of the violence: Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.

The inner circle of enemies that surround Israel in Psalm 83 will be defeated in the looming Arab-Israeli War. When the dust of war settles, there will be no more Hamas, nor Hezbollah, nor any other Palestinian-Arab threat remaining. As Obadiah prophesied so succinctly, “Hamas shall be cut off forever!” Israel will enjoy a brief but peaceful existence (Ezekiel 38: 11: And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,) before the mighty armies of Russia descend upon it for the Battle of Gog and Magog.