In a world of sore winners and sore losers, God gets the last word. We see this in Obadiah, as he condemns the Edomites for their gloating over the fall of Jerusalem. Although it was the Babylonians who conquered Judah and brought Jerusalem to ruin, the Edomites were there. Psalm 137:7 cries out, “Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. “Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations!” The Edomites were sore winners, and the sting of their words cut deep and would be long remembered. But who are the Edomites, exactly? They are none other than the descendants of Esau, whereas Jacob’s descendants became the nation of Israel. Two brothers with a strained relationship became two nations that unsurprisingly could not coexist peacefully. Despite the forgiveness of Esau towards Jacob recorded in Genesis 33, they never continue on together. In Numbers 20 we have an earlier episode of the Edomites in a position of power over Israel, and sore winners and sore losers emerge. As sore losers at the hands of Jacob’s trickery, the descendents of Esau would feel pretty self-righteous at dealing with their ancestral brothers this way. After all, sore losers say “I deserve this, they deserve that.” Our human nature relishes the opportunity to see our adversaries fail, or to see them at our mercy. Sore winners and sore losers create one another in a vicious cycle…but God gets the last word! Beware, for addictions and unhealthy habits take root in our moments of being a sore loser, our times of pity. When life seems cruel and unfair, when things aren’t going our way, when everything seems to work against us, we might say to ourselves, “I deserve this,” as we partake in sinful habits or take something healthy to unhealthy levels. And when our own personal Edomites–the ones who we think look down on us, who seem to have everything going for them–oh, how we cherish and celebrate when they fall, often with the same sinful habits that we comfort ourselves with in defeat. Obadiah probably savored the words, “As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head.” (v. 15) Yet we as the followers of Jesus ought to recognize that Jesus used some of the same words but made a very different message: “Do to others what you would have them do to you.” (Matthew 7:12) Jesus seeks to rescue us from the cycle of sore winners and sore losers and calls us higher, for in this world God gets the last word! But is it enough for you? When you’ve been treated poorly or unfairly (and others seem to have fared quite well) to trust in the day of the Lord? After all, we can treat others well but there’s no guarantee that they will reciprocate. Wouldn’t we rather savor the words of Obadiah than live into the call of Jesus? Our human nature says, “Yes!” Yet we follow Jesus, the Word made flesh, the Alpha and Omega who gets the last word. There is little short-term satisfaction in loving our sore-winner enemies, but there is eternal satisfaction in abiding with Jesus, the last Word.