Text: Amos 1: 11
Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:
Our Text is imploring us to recognize the importance of brotherhood. The violation of brotherhood was Edom's sin. God condemned the Edomites not just because they had mistreated other people, but because they mistreated their brothers. People should treat their brothers well and thus fulfill the laws of God. We ought to make sure in every relationship that we do not violate the bonds of brotherhood. We especially must not violate the bonds of brotherhood in the Church. As Christians, we are brothers and sisters; the family of God. We ought to love one another as brothers and sisters and not grudgingly. One indication of our love for God is our love toward our brethren. The apostle John wrote, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God (1 John 4:78). We cannot love God if we hate our brothers.
Obadiah 1: 8-11
Shall I not in that day, saith the Lord, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau? And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter. For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.
Only children of God can love each other as they should. We must make sure that we are in God's family. One can become part of that family by being born again through obedience to the Word of God believing in Jesus, repentance of sins, confessing faith in Christ, and then being baptized by immersion in water for the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. One who obeys these commands will have his sins forgiven, will be added to the Church, and will be born again into the family of God. The delightful unity described between "brethren" emphasized family kinship that goes far beyond immediate family ties. It is a sense of brotherhood that transcends national or ethnic barriers. We all must show commitment to the unity of the Church and love among brethren.