The direct reference is to what God has done to Edom. The Edomites have been dispossessed of their homeland, and have been forced to seek refuge in the borders of Israel. A less direct reference would be to what God had been doing among other nations in recent history, causing kingdoms to rise and fall. Other nations are like annual flowers, which bloom once and then wither, never to bloom again. Assyria, Babylon, and Edom are examples of kingdoms that rise and fall, never to rise again. But Israel is like perennial flowers that bloom in their seasons, and then bloom again and again, year after year. The return of the Israelites from exile to their own homeland is evidence of God’s everlasting love and faithfulness to Israel. The Israelites ought to see their own condition in the light of other nations. Doing so will cause them to praise God, rather than harbour disappointment and disillusionment with God because of their own state of affairs.
5 Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the LORD beyond the border of Israel!”