What God says is sure

“Concerning Edom: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed? Turn and flee, hide in deep caves, you who live in Dedan, for I will bring disaster on Esau at the time when I punish him.” (Jeremiah 49:7-8 NIV)

Not only were God’s prophets sent with messages to God’s people, they were also given declarations to give to the surrounding nations. These nations did not follow God and were responsible for leading Israel and Judah into idolatry. God’s people were being punished by being taken into captivity but the surrounding nations did not get away with what they were doing either. God warned Edom through Jeremiah that he was going to bring disaster on them – they could flee and hide in deep caves (as if they could hide from God) but he would uncover their hiding places (Jeremiah 49:10). There was no escaping God’s punishment!

“‘Now I will make you small among the nations, despised by mankind. The terror you inspire and the pride of your heart have deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks, who occupy the heights of the hill. Though you build your nest as high as the eagle’s, from there I will bring you down,’ declares the Lord. ‘Edom will become an object of horror; all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff because of all its wounds. As Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown, along with their neighbouring towns,’ says the Lord , ‘so no-one will live there; no people will dwell in it.’” (Jeremiah 49:15-18)

What God said would happen did happen. Edom, an influential nation at times throughout history, was made small until they ceased to exist. They lived in the cliffs in buildings carved into the face of the rocks – yet today no one lives there. It is now a tourist attraction in Jordan called Petra.

What we see today in Petra was carved by the Nabateans, a nomadic Arab people. They settled here in the 4^th century BC, two centuries after Edom was conquered by Babylon and went out of existence. Like the Edomites before them, the Nabateans used the sandstone cliffs to carve out and make into their homes, tombs and civic buildings.

When I visited this area I was struck by two things. First, the entrance to Petra was through a very narrow canyon (remember Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which was filmed here). This area should have been easily defensible: a few men could have held off an entire army. Yet God decreed that Edom would fall and it did.

The second was that they had built into the cliffs, some quite high up. Surely they would have had protection there. Again, God had said they would fall and they did. He even specifically said that if they hid deep in these caves they would still be found.

What can we learn from all of this? We can trust that God will do what he says. When he said a nation would fall, it fell. When he said Jesus will come again we can be certain that he will. When he said there will be a day of judgement, again we can be confident that it will happen. Unlike Edom and other nations, we need to be ready when Jesus comes by obeying him now and living our lives following him.

Petra, Jordan, photo by Jon Galloway

Readings for next week: Jeremiah 48-52