The Reason For The Invasion From YHWH's Viewpoint, Because Of Edom's Perfidy Towards Judah (Obadiah 1:10-14).
And the reason why Edom would be treated in this way was because of its behaviour towards ‘your brother Jacob'. When they saw Judah under invasion and Jerusalem captured they had stood on one side and done nothing, not even offering succour to those who sought refuge. Indeed they had taken the opportunity to make slaves of them. Furthermore they had celebrated the destruction of Jerusalem and had got great joy out of it, giving encouragement to the invaders in their hearts., and had even taken advantage of the situation to seize some of Judah's southernmost lands. That was why their own treachery had rebounded on them (Obadiah 1:7).
“Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,
Shame will cover you, and you will be cut off for ever.”
“In the day that you stood on the other side,
In the day that strangers carried away his substance,
And foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots on Jerusalem,
Even you were as one of them.”
The charge is not that they were one of the main invading forces, but that their hearts were with the enemy and rejoiced over Jerusalem's downfall, while they themselves refused assistance of any kind. They had been heartless. Thus while they were not directly involved it was as though they were one of them. And because of this they too would suffer shame. It is a reminder to us that ‘not to get involved' by refusing to give whatever help we can, can be as blameworthy as direct action.
Thus Edom would bear the shame of the violence done to ‘their brother Jacob'. Note the deliberate emphasis throughout on ‘Esau' and ‘Jacob' bringing out the relationship. Thus the relationship going back to their forefathers is stressed here for the first time. They were brother tribes. The description of the rape of Jerusalem is telling. The invaders entered its gates and gambled over its contents, carrying away its substance. And Edom had been with the enemy in spirit, gloating over the sufferings of their ‘brother'.
“But do not look on the day of your brother,
In the day of his disaster,
And do not rejoice over the children of Judah,
In the day of their destruction,
Nor speak proudly in the day of distress.”
“Do not enter into the gate of my people,
In the day of their calamity.
Yes, do not look on their affliction,
In the day of their calamity,
Nor lay you hands on their substance,
In the day of their calamity.”
“And do not stand in the place of the road crossing,
To cut off those of his who escape,
And do not deliver up those of his who remain,
In the day of distress.”
In a series of commands Edom are reminded of what they should not have done in ‘the day of your brother'. Jerusalem had had its ‘day of disaster', its ‘day of destruction', its ‘day of distress' (twice), its ‘day of calamity' (twice). Note the sevenfold description indicating the divine completeness of what had happened. But the point is that Edom should not have watched with glee, they should not have rejoiced, they should not have been arrogant, they should not have looked on complacently, while it was all happening.
But worst of all was that they had made the most of the situation for themselves by taking advantage of the confusion caused by the invasion in order to despoil Judean towns in the south (entering into their gates), to seize fleeing refugees and sell them into slavery, and to prevent the escape of others, thus delivering them into the hands of their enemies. They had watched Judah dying and had had no compassion.
The word used for ‘road crossing' means the place of dividing. Some have seen it as indicating the place where captured slaves from Judah (compare Amos 1:6; Amos 1:9-11) were divided up to be carried off to the different slave markets.