“Serves Him Right!” Will Serve You Terribly

Obadiah 1:12
You should not gloat over your brother
in the day of his misfortune,
nor rejoice over the people of Judah
in the day of their destruction,
nor boast so much
in the day of their trouble.

“Serves him right!” is an exclamation we make when we are celebrating the suffering of another person. When someone we dislike, hate, or envy goes through a terrible time and we are happy that circumstances have brought him or her down, we exclaim that it serves him/her right! We say so as we enjoy their suffering. We say so to suggest that their suffering is justice done and we are happy about it. When someone who hurt us and we couldn’t revenge goes through a tough time in their life, we get excited and we exclaim that it serves him/her right. “Serves him right!” Will serve you terribly.

Jacob and Esau were twin brothers, children of Isaac and Rebecca. Isaac was the promised son of father Abraham, a child of their old age. When Jacob and Esau were born, God told the parents that the older Esau will serve the younger Jacob. God told them that Jacob and Esau will be great nations. As Isaac grew old and about to die, Jacob tricked him and took the blessings that were destined for Esau. This triggered a hatred between Esau and Jacob. The descendants of Esau are Edomites. The descendants of Jacob are Israelites. The majority of Bible messages and stories seem to focus on Israelites and very little on Edomites. The book of Obadiah that we are considering today is focused on Edomites.

God through Obadiah is telling Edomites that He will totally destroy them. Why would God totally destroy a whole nation? What did they do? God accuses Edomites of many things that we have discussed in our past articles on reikesis.com. In our text today, God accuses Edomites of celebrating the suffering of Israelites. As God punished Israelites for their sins, Edomites got excited as they saw Israelites suffering. God tells Edomites that you should not have celebrated the suffering of Israelites. It is in a bad taste to celebrate the suffering of anyone even if they deserve it. “Serves him right!” Will serve you terribly.

There was a grudge between Edomites and Israelites, but God forbid anyone from celebrating the suffering of another person. Israelites were being punished by God for their evil ways, but God forbid anyone from celebrating the suffering of another person. Israelites deserved the suffering they were going through, but God forbid anyone from celebrating their suffering. When Edomites exclaimed that it serves them right, God got offended and in anger promised to wipe out the entire tribe of Edomites. “Serves him right!” Will serve you terribly.

Today as we write, Edomites do not exist on earth. The absence of Edomites should be a warning to all of us for we have the same tendencies. We celebrate the suffering of people we do not like. We get excited when people we secretly thought are our competitors are brought down. We celebrate when people suffer as we suffered since it makes us feel good. We celebrate when people who betray us fail. We celebrate when those who rejected us are rejected. We celebrate when tables turn and those who were top come to the bottom and those who were bottom go to the top. We celebrate when people we warned and advised fail for not heeding our words. We celebrate when people who rise fast fall down and we tell others that we knew it. We celebrate when those who left us end up in situations worse than if they had stayed with us. We celebrate when a proud person has to chew a humble pie. As we celebrate we exclaim that it serves them right. “Serves him right!” Will serve you terribly.

For celebrating the suffering of others, God will punish you much worse than those you celebrated. God punished Israel but they still exist on earth. God wiped out the celebrating Edomites from the face of the earth. You who celebrate will have a worse punishment than those you are laughing at. “Serves him right!” Will serve you terribly.

Don’t we get offended every day? We get offended at work. We get offended at school. We get offended in business. We get offended in relationships. We get offended in marriage. We get offended in the family. We get offended by parents, children, and siblings. We get offended by colleagues. We get offended by neighbors. We get offended directly. We get offended because we are jealous. We get offended because we are in an undeclared competition. We get offended because of our pride. After getting offended, those who offend us get some misfortune and they suffer. Do not celebrate their suffering. God is watching. If you say it serves them right, God will serve you in terrible revenge. “Serves him right!” Will serve you terribly.

Dear God, am trembling at this word. How common it is for me to celebrate the suffering of people I don’t like or people who offended me. Now I realise my terrible mistake. I am glad you are forgiving, merciful and gracious. Forgive me dear God. Help me to mature and not celebrate the suffering of anyone even those who have done me harm, in Jesus’ name, Amen!