The Bridge at Mostar

In November 1993, Croatian forces deliberately shelled the Stari Most, the ancient stone bridge in Mostar, Bosnia. Built in 1566 by Ottoman architect Mimar Hayruddin, the bridge had connected two communities across the Neretva River for over four centuries. When it finally collapsed into the turquoise water below, soldiers on the hillside cheered. They had destroyed what they considered a symbol of their enemy's heritage.

What they did not foresee was the verdict of history. The International Criminal Tribunal at The Hague later classified the bridge's destruction as a war crime. The very commanders who ordered the shelling found themselves standing in courtrooms, judged by the same international order they had tried to reshape through violence. The bridge was painstakingly rebuilt and rededicated in 2004. Their names are remembered only in connection with its destruction.

Obadiah warned Edom of this same divine arithmetic. Edom had stood on the hillside while Jerusalem burned, gloating over a brother's catastrophe, even looting the ruins. But the prophet declared the Lord's unblinking principle: "As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head."

The Almighty does not operate on our timeline, but His justice is not abstract. It is specific, proportional, and inescapable. Every act of cruelty toward a vulnerable neighbor enters a ledger that the Most High will balance — not with vengeance, but with perfect and terrible equity.