Bitter Bite

1 Kings 11:26

“Then the LORD raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom.”

With the exclusion of coffee, chocolates and CD cars, there’s nothing cool about being bitter. One site describes it as a frozen form of latent anger and resentment. It remembers details, refuses to let go, and often reacts violently. Reading Hitler’s childhood in Wikipedia today surprised me, for there I found this was exactly the root of all his hate. It was said that he was once confident, outgoing and excellent ‘til his younger brother died of measles. Then his father failed in his farming efforts and frequently beats him up and ignored his wishes to pursue his dreams of attending an art school. His German nationalism birthed in defiance of the Austrian monarchy, whom his father expressed proud loyalty. Bitterness not only consumed him, worse, it contributed to the destruction of significantly a lot others.

Edomites were descendants of Esau, Jacob’s older brother whom he twice deceived: first by taking his birthright, then by intercepting Isaac’s blessings. What was left for Esau were these words: ‘you dwelling will be away from richness, you will live by the sword, and you will serve your brother’. No wonder he was determined to kill his brother. A grudge his people kept for all time. One major event was when they did not permit Israel to pass their country during Exodus time. It was heartless inconsideration. Probably one reason why God ordered them blotted out during Saul and David’s time. And because they failed, Solomon now has Hadad as an adversary - - allowed by God Himself as consequence for his disobedience. He was never a threat until Solomon’s folly. To fully understand the weight of this punishment, that is, being up against bitter people, let me site three more info under the category Edomite: first, Doeg, the one who killed all the priests of Nob; second, King Herod, the one who ordered the murder of all the boys in Bethlehem; and third, they helped plunder and slaughtered the Jews when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC. Bitter and barbaric. Sounds like Nazis huh? 

What is worse than being bitter is being an enemy of one. They will surely not stop ‘til their hearts’ content. The biblical Greek words meant sharp or pointed. Guess we have to think twice before disobeying. These people may not have the perspective of God’s purposes for their pains, neither fear of God at least, and yet they’re serving His sovereignty and justice. I pray we’d be wise enough not to be deceived by the luster of the forbidden fruit. The bitter aftertaste is sure not worth it.