O beautiful Jerusalem, your punishment will end; you will soon return from exile.
But Edom, your punishment is just beginning; soon your many sins will be exposed. Lamentations 4:22 NLT
We have been thinking about lessons from Lamentations, most recently with the fact that there will come a day when his outraged justice will be satisfied. The first part of the verse above conveys that truth.
But notice the second part of the verse. I have said repeatedly here and elsewhere, “Judgment is not God’s intended last word.” That is profoundly true, but judgment may be his last word. That depends on us, and our response to him and his refining fire. The point is that while Yahweh’s outraged justice can be satisfied, that satisfaction is not universal. If we reject his love, and continue to make our desires the center of our existence, then we will be left to ourselves in lonely isolation, and howling emptiness, for all eternity. That is the significance of Edom in the Old Testament. They become the implacable enemies of Israel, and so become the symbol of the world that is hostile to God and his plan for delivering the human race. (See Isaiah 34; Ezekiel 25:12-14; 35; Obadiah.)
Edom’s hostility is first seen in Numbers 20:14-21 when the Edomites attempted to destroy Israel and to prevent them from reaching the promised land, and it reached its climax when the Edomites helped the Babylonians to sack Jerusalem and to prevent refugees from escaping (Obadiah). In short, they were attempting to prevent the love of Yahweh from reaching the world through the people of Israel, a very dangerous choice to make, analogous to grounding the flow of an electric current.
So, yes, know that judgment can come to an end; is intended to come to an end, but that is dependent on us. Have I sincerely repented of my sins, surrendered my desires to the Lord for him to fulfill as he will; and am I joyfully cooperating with him in his desire to save the world? If so, God is more than satisfied. But if not – ?
Called To Be Transformed 