Genesis 36 and I'll only be reading the first 8 verses of Genesis and then I'm going to have you turn to the book of Obadiah. Obadiah on this black pew Bible that I have that's on page 772. It may not be your most frequently read book of the Old Testament, but it is there and inspired for us. Let me just give you a bit of a warning, I guess. You may be thinking, wow, this is kind of strange. He's into these genealogies, and it's not even the genealogies of the covenant people, and there's a few different genealogies. What is going on? Well I think when we look at this you're going to find it very useful and what you're going to hear repeated in Genesis 36 and the book of Obadiah and I'm saying it now so your ears will be picking up on it as you're reading and you can start making some connections and we'll make further connections in the preaching of the word is one word, Edom. In fact the sermon title the proper sermon title this morning is You Are Not Edom. So let's think about this. Maybe you know a little bit about Edom. Maybe you're not as well versed but we'll find out more about Edom today. I'll be reading verses 1-8 of Genesis 36 and then I'm going to read through the book of Obadiah. It's just 21 verses. Genesis 36, these are the generations of Esau, that is, Edom. Esau took his wives from the Canaanites, Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite. Ahol-e-Abama, the daughter of Ana, the daughter of Zibion the Hivite. Basmath, Ishmael's daughter, the sister of Nabaioth. And Adah bore to Esau Eliphaz. Basemath bore Raul. And Ahol-e-Abama bore Jeush, Jalem, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan. Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his livestock, all his beasts and all his property that he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and he went into a land away from his brother Jacob. For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together. The land of their sojournings could not support them because of their livestock. So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir Esau is Edom. And now turn to the book of Obadiah. Again, page 772 of the Black Pew Bible, if that's helpful. I'll just be reading through this. It's not a very long book, but again Pay attention to the references to Edom in here and maybe you can try and figure out even what's being mentioned and why the prophet is bringing this up. The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom. We have heard a report from the Lord and a messenger has been sent among the nations. Rise up. Let us rise against her for battle. Behold, I will make you small among the nations. You shall be utterly despised. The pride of your heart has deceived you. You who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, who will bring me down to the ground? Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the Lord. If thieves came to you, if plunderers came by night, how you have been destroyed. Would they not steal only enough for themselves? If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? How Esau has been pillaged, his treasures sought out. Your allies have driven you to your border. Those at peace with you have deceived you. They have prevailed against you. Those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you. You have no understanding. Will I not on that day, declares the Lord, destroy the wise men out of Edom? And the understanding of Mount Esau, and your mighty men shall be dismayed, O teman, so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter because of violence done to your brother Jacob. Shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them. Do not gloat over the day of your brother in the day of his misfortune. Do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their ruin. Do not boast in the day of distress. Do not enter the gate of my people in the day of their calamity. Do not gloat over his disaster in the day of his calamity. Do not loot his wealth in the day of his calamity. Do not stand at the crossroads to cut off his fugitives. Do not hand over his survivors in the day of distress. For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations." As you have done, it shall be done to you. Your deed shall return on your own head. For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so all the nations shall drink continually. They shall drink and swallow. They shall be as though they had never been. But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape, and it shall be holy. And the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions. The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau stubble. They shall burn them and consume them. There shall be no survivor for the house of Esau, for the Lord has spoken. Those of the Negev shall possess Mount Esau, and those of Shepla shall possess the land of the Philistines. They shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria. and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. The exiles of this host of the people of Israel shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath. And the exiles of Jerusalem, who are in Shephard, shall possess the cities of the Negev. Saviour shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord's." Well, may God bless not only the reading of His perfect Word, but its preaching as well. If an ancient Hebrew writer like Moses, and we did begin with the reading of Moses, wanted to get your attention, how would he do that? He wasn't sent out on podcasts those days, so he couldn't raise his voice to emphasize something. He couldn't shout at the point that he wanted to call attention to something. He didn't have word processors available to him. He couldn't bold or italicize or underline things. Most likely, he wouldn't have indented it as he wrote it, because even the Hebrew texts, the earliest texts of both Greek and Hebrew, not only do they have no line divisions, there are not even any spaces between the words, which you may find hard or strange to believe, but they really economized the media that they wrote on back then. It wasn't as plentily available. How then did a writer like Moses, any biblical writer, but we're thinking of Moses today, emphasize things that he wanted to call attention to? Well, the way that he did it, and almost every other biblical writer, is they repeated things. They repeated things again and again and again and again, and that's the case in Genesis chapter 36. Though we did not read all of it, if we had, you would have seen that no less than 10 times The word Edom is repeated more than that, no less than four times. The passage makes these very interesting explanatory comments. The Bible rarely stops to explain things, but it does it four times. To drive home a point, let me show you this. In verse 1, Moses says, these are the generations of Esau, that is Edom. Genesis 36 verse 8, Esau is Edom. Verse 19 of chapter 36, Esau, that is Edom, And again, in verse 43 of chapter 36, Magdiel and Eram, these are the chiefs of Edom. That is Esau, the father of Edom. Do you think he's interested in telling us that Esau is Edom? And Edom is quite important for this text. I believe he is veritably shouting that to us from Genesis 36. But the million dollar question is, why? Why is this significant? Why is Edom something most of us have given relatively little thought to? Why is that so important to Moses? Well the reason Moses is just about shouting that to you and me today, people of God, is to remind the people of God You are not Edom. You are not Edom. And he's going to spell out what that means in the text today. And so again, the title of today's sermon, though not printed that way in the bulletin, is You Are Not Edom. In the rest of the Old Testament you see Edom is going to appear time and time again as that people which stands against the people of God, which oppresses them. And so the reader who cares to learn is at this point being introduced to a significant character in the narrative of scripture. This would have been very significant for Israel. And as we think about the Edom today and how we are not that, I want to make three points. The first two are found in Genesis 36. The third, only as we broaden our horizon to the book of Obadiah. So it has a big redemptive historical point to it. And the three points are this. Edom's past is not your past. Edom's present is not your present. And I bet you can guess what the third point is. Edom's future is not your future, people of God. So those three points, as you yourselves are reminded, you are not Edom. Edom's past is not your past. Edom's present is not your present. And Edom's future is not your future. well first of all Edom's past is not your past and even by mentioning the name Edom we are immediately directed to the past at least in the book of Genesis. The word Edom simply means red and Esau who is associated with redness throughout his life he comes out you know this red hairy one does not first receive that name at his birth but later in chapter 25. Remember when he comes in all exhausted from his hunting to find his tricky brother, Jacob, and he says, and looks at the stew that he's fixing, which is red stew, and he says, red, give me some of that red, give me that red stuff. And what that helps us see is that Edom is quintessentially a man, Esau, who is called Edom, is quintessentially a man with his mind set on the things of earth. Here is one who would trade the covenant blessing of God, a blessing always anchored in the world to come with the blessings of red stew. Stew blessings he trades for the blessings of God's covenant presence. and the world to come. His worldliness is also seen in how Moses reminds us, even in the first three verses of Genesis 36, how Esau, or Edom, chose not just one wife, but two wives from among the Canaanites. So he is earth-centered so much that he is seeking to build his harem for his own power and pleasure. Moreover, the text tells us he took a third not from among the Canaanites, but from the ungodly line of Ishmael. He delights, you see, in marrying not just as many wives as he can, but those who are outside of the covenant line. People of God, you are not Edom. Children, your covenant God from the early age, children, you should know He wants to give Himself to you in marriage. Covenant is a marital idea. He is the principal blessing that you come to possess in covenant with Him. That you should possess Him now by faith and fully possess Him in the world to come. And so children, consequently, if you marry, your marriage is to be a replica of the relationship that you have with the Lord. And so, of course, you only marry in the Lord, number one, right? And then your marriage itself is to be a replica of that self-sacrificial relationship of the Lord of the Covenant for His bride. And if one thing is clear, reading through the book of Genesis, it's the dangers of affections and marriages that happen outside of God's Covenant. And so don't marry or even get romantically involved with someone who is not strong in the Lord. In fact, just as a matter of practical advice, I often encourage my daughter, you know, as you look for someone later who will be a suitable partner for you, they need to love the Lord more than they love you. That would be a very useful thing to think about in those situations because if they don't, of course, you know, they'll always try to find their pleasure and their satisfaction in life from you and you can't give them that. People of God, you are not Edom. We have seen the past of Edom, the background in Genesis chapter 25. Moreover, the details of this passage take us even further back to a past extending all the way right back to the beginning of the creation of the world. We see that not just in the number of wives, but in their names. Now this may not have been immediately evident to you, and if it was, you are very perceptive. But Esau, it's striking that the name of Esau's first wife is called Ada, the daughter of Elon the Hittite. It's striking, first of all, because that's not the name given to the daughter of Eli, of Beri the Hittite, back in chapter 36, who we would assume is the same daughter. There she's called Judith. And so, of course, some who read the Bible, they think, wow, a contradiction, wonderful, we found how the Bible contradicts itself. No, of course, in those days, as is common today, we use different names in different circumstances. Why my Moses have used the name Ada here in chapter 36? Does that name Adah ring any bells for you? Well if you're a serious student of Genesis it will. And you have to go all the way back to Genesis chapter 4. That was the name of the wife of the first builder of the city of man, Lamech. He takes a wife by the name of Adah. And you see the so-called contradiction that people are ready to seize upon here is actually teaching us something important. It's teaching us that Edom is simply part of a civilization that has been building since the fall. Edom is just one other manifestation of the city of man which stands opposed at every point to the city of God. In fact, you know, Lamech was not only a major leader of that city of man, he is also, like Edom, the first person, well he is the first person to be called out as a polygamist, one who has many wives. And so again we see the connection here with Edom. What Moses is telling us is that Edom here is simply a continuation of that city of man which the covenant people of God are not a part of. People of God, you are not Edom. Edom is not your past. By God's grace, your past has been rewritten, hasn't it? You were once part of the doomed city of man. You were given a new past, a new history, a past built upon the promise of God to bring forth a seed who would crush the head of the serpent and build an eternal city for his people. Christian, your past is built on the past faith of your father Abraham. A past faith which looked forward to the future, to a city with true foundations, whose builder is God. A better city, a better country, a faith which looked to a heavenly one, and which does not originate below, but which comes down from above. People of God, you must put on this identity. You must put on this mind, this mind which Paul tells you in Philippians 2 is yours in Christ Jesus. that your home, your city is the Jerusalem above. Galatians chapter 4 verse 26. Therefore as you make your walk, your pilgrimage through the city of man, in one sense we can say we are dwelling in Edom. We're not part of her. We as the Church of God must come out of her. We must be constantly marked by antithesis, not by being conformed to the world, but by being transformed by the renewal of our mind. And so you must constantly be asking yourself and reminding yourself, I do not belong to this place. I do not belong to this time. My life is found in the one who has not entered into Edom, but has already entered into the eternal city above, Zion. Therefore, you, Christian, must remind yourself that you must be walking according to the values of that city. Of course, that's one reason I think, and I hate to say this, but I think it's becoming truer all the time. We as the Reformed Church can't any longer, at least, be wearing the moniker evangelical, because I think, by and large, that that moniker has lost its antithesis, and in many ways, I fear, seeks to be more part of the world in various ways. Of course, that's not always true, That's a problem with a very large tent word like that. We're a reformed church. We're part of the OPC. We shouldn't be afraid of having an antithesis to our lives and to our worship. People of God, Genesis 36 is about Edom. I've said it before, I'll say it again. You are not Edom. Your past is not Edom's past, but also now we must see that your present is not the present of Edom, and that present is seen in some striking ways in this passage. The past of Edom is very worldly, but so is the present life pictured in Genesis chapter 36, and we see this in two ways. First of all, what is shown to us at the end of verse six and the beginning of verse seven He, Esau, went into a land away from his brother Jacob, for their possessions were too great for them to dwell together. Now that picture of Esau's present, pictured in those verses, going away from his brother, that actually reminds us of the sins of the past. Again, I've been preaching through Genesis, so I'm thinking a lot about earlier parts of the book. Does that language remind you of anything? Let me read it to you once again. He, Esau, went into a land away from his brother Jacob, for their possessions were too great for them to dwell together." Does that sound familiar in Genesis? Listen to this from Genesis 13, verse 6, describing Abram and Lot. The land could not support both of them dwelling together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. And you will remember back in chapter 13, Lot moves away. At that time, the visible church on earth was established with the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Lot moves away from the visible church. Esau does the same. Esau, the son of the covenant, he was in God's covenant, deliberately moves away from the visible church. His movement to Seir is just like Lot's movement to Sodom. And notice what else marks Edom's present in this passage. Well, before I go on to that, let me just meditate on that point for just a moment. If you move away from the visible church, disaster is sure to follow. Immerse yourself in the visible church, in the means of grace. But there is another way in which Edom's present is not our present and Edom's present is a very worldly one. It's hard to miss because it's a composite picture that emerges out of Genesis chapter 36. Notice, first of all, in verses 1 through 14, Edom is spoken of as a family. A fairly well-to-do family, but a family. And then in verses 15 and following, suddenly it's being marked by clans and chiefs. You see what is happening? Moses chronicles how Edom is already developing from a family into a large group led by various chiefs. This city of man, Edom, is growing stronger. Already 14 chiefs of 14 clans are brought into view while the 12 tribes of Israel are not even started. That's not all. Notice what's highlighted in verses 31 and following. They move from a bunch of diverse clans to being those who have kings, uniting them together and ruling over them. They're way past, they're way along before Israel is even off the ground, before Israel even gets a king. What's this supposed to teach you? It teaches you yet again, people of God, you're not Edom. Your might and your strength is not found by amassing worldly power and strength by force. You and I, people of God, we need to wait upon the Lord patiently. Israel will have to wait hundreds of years enduring slavery before they'll even get close to having their king come. That's always the way it is for the people of God. We are tempted to look at the world, we are tempted to look at Edom, aren't we? And to become envious. Look at what they have. They seem to have it all. They're the church of God. Why are we having these struggles? The psalmist voices this in Psalm 73 when he says, For when I was envious of the arrogant, I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. The wicked appear to prosper. The city of man, the city of Edom in which you pilgrim appears to be growing stronger and stronger while often the church appears to be growing weaker and weaker. Do not despair people of God and don't be envious because looking back at Genesis 36 we can see that that's always been happening in history. It's always appeared that the city of man has been triumphing. It appeared that way especially where? At the cross. which was the precise place where God was about to triumph in every way. In fact, we won't be going there today, but in Chapter 37, Chapter 37 begins just the same way Chapter 36 does, with these are the generations of. That's very important in the Book of Genesis. It starts new sections. Chapter 37 is the final use of that. And chapter 37 shows us how the nation of Israel will advance only as the beloved son, Joseph, is betrayed by his brothers who desire to murder him. But his betrayal and his suffering and his imprisonment, they prove to be the very means by which God is going to save his people and to advance the kingdom the city of God. Do you see that? So that's not just me importing this message to you to not be envious and to not expect that kind of advancement of the kingdom. It's right there in Genesis 36 and 37. You are not Edom, people of God. Edom's past is not your past. Their present is not your present. Don't be marked by them. Don't be envious of them. But their future is not your future. And now again, we have to move out of this text into the book of Obadiah to see that. Obadiah remembers this struggle that Israel had with Edom. And they struggled with them so much. Later, when Israel comes out of the Exodus, when they want to go into the Promised Land, they first come to Edom. their long lost cousins and say, can we pass? And they say, no. And then the book of Obadiah points out that now Israel has just been taken into captivity by Babylon and Edom is laughing and participating and as the Babylonians are trying to round up the last exiles, they're handing them over. It appears that Edom, it appears that the city of man is triumphant still at the end of the Old Testament and yet Obadiah promises that the day of the Lord is coming and warns, "'Will I not on that day,' declares the Lord, "'destroy the wise men out of Edom?' Obadiah says, "'There shall be no survivor for the house of Esau, for the Lord has spoken.'" Moreover, the prophet says, as you have done, it shall be done to you. Your deeds shall return on your own head. The book of Obadiah ought to be read hand in hand with Genesis 36, shouldn't it? We sang earlier today, a mighty fortress is our God. Very appropriate because the book of Obadiah reminds us of what Martin Luther reminds us of from Psalm 46. Lo, his doom is sure. The doom of the city of man is certain and sure, and we need to take that into account in our service to the Lord, in our pilgrimage through this world. The New Testament clearly points out that the city of man has no future. 1 Corinthians 7.31, Paul tells the church that those who deal with the world should act as though they had no dealings with it, for the present form of this world is passing away. Do you believe that? Do you believe that the present form of this world is passing away? Do I believe that? That ought to have a profound impact on us. And that's essentially the same message of Genesis 36. Perhaps, just perhaps, the message of Genesis 36 is something simply like this. You're not Edom, people of God. Your past is no longer a past of a city rooted in cosmic rebellion against God, but it's built on the faithful word of God, that He would break that alliance between you and the devil. Your present is no longer one where you belong to the present evil age. Rather, Paul tells us that we have been delivered from the present evil age in Galatians 1.4. Your future is not one of hopelessness and eternal woe. You who look to Christ, you who are not Edom and won't have all those curses visited upon you that are in the book of Obadiah. The very last verse in the book of Obadiah speaks of you in this way. The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau and the kingdom will be the Lord's. People of God, Genesis chapter 36 is given there to show you who you are not. You are not Edom. You are Zion. And as you look to Jesus Christ in faith, you are not hopeless. live as those who have been seated with the Lord on Zion, with Christ on His throne, on the eternal city, as children who are owned body and soul by the eternal city, not the one which is presently passing away. Let's pray. Almighty God, we thank you for the clear voice of Moses and as well as of Obadiah that that city which exists in various forms, Babylon, Egypt, Edom, is a city which will come to destruction. We thank you that you have delivered us out of that bondage and death through Jesus Christ. He has plundered those who belonged to that city of death and he has brought us out by his own death and his life and his resurrection and we pray that you would now seal to us the work of Christ who is our king, who sets us apart, who calls us not to belong to the city below, but to the city that is above, to think and act and conduct our lives in practical ways which accord with the one to whom we belong and the city to whom we belong. And may the people of Christ do that in our affections and seeking in our marriages, in our involvement with the church, in our ways to think about the temporary character of this world. May you direct us according to what we have heard from the scriptures. Be with us now and seal to us now your promises found in the sacrament of the supper. Amen.