Majoring in the Minors Part 4 - Obadiah
Notes
Transcript
The Karma Principal of Time:
When a bird is alive,
it eats ants.
When a bird is dead,
the ants eat the bird.
One tree makes a million match sticks.
It only takes one match to burn down a million trees.
You may be powerful today,
but time is more powerful than you are.
Don't devalue or hurt anyone in life--
time and circumstances can change at any moment, making the master the slave.
Some might
call this karma.
Some might call it
the law of comeuppance.
Christians call it
the Golden Rule:
“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Today we talk about
consequences of
harming others.
Background of Obadiah
Background of Obadiah
Does not say
who father is
what town from.
Maybe Priestly line?
No indication of timeline
what king was ruling.
Talks about invasion
of Judah.
Edom helped enemy.
In 586 BC
Babylon Destroyed Jerusalem
Edom helped
capture fleeing Israelites
More likely
Around 845
King of Jehoram
Philistines and Arabians
2 Chronicles 21:16–17 (ESV)
And the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the anger of the Philistines and of the Arabians who are near the Ethiopians. And they came up against Judah
--
and invaded it and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king’s house, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz, his youngest son.
Previously,
Edom was vassal to Isreal.
They revolted during
this time period.
2 Kings 8:20–22 (ESV)
In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. Then Joram passed over to Zair with all his chariots and rose by night,
--
and he and his chariot commanders struck the Edomites who had surrounded him, but his army fled home. So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.
Jehoram was
worshiping idols
turned back on God.
God allowed enemies
to attack.
Who is Edom?
Who is Edom?
And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.)
Nation from Esau
History of Jacob and Esau
History of Jacob and Esau
Genesis 25:21–26 (ESV)
And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. The children struggled together within her, and she said,
--
“If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you shall be divided;
--
the one shall be stronger than the other,
the older shall serve the younger.”
When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb.
--
The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
Jacob means -
deceiver
Esau means -
hairy
Edom means -
red
Always at odds
Jacob deceives father
Esau threatens to kill
Jacob runs for life
gets married
comes back 20 years later
rich
Esau still wants to kill
God warns him
not to attack Jacob
Live in same area
not family
not friends
not allies.
Marcus and I
not close friends
but if fight happened
there for each other.
Peace of Brotherhood
Peace of Brotherhood
God had opposite view.
commanded grace
on Edom.
“You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were a sojourner in his land.
God commanded grace
on Edom because
the bloodline
even though
they were pagans.
But Edom
did not show same grace!
They destroyed them
with Babylon.
Similarly,
When coming out of Egypt
God would not allows
Isreal to go to war
against Edom,
Deuteronomy 2:4–6 (ESV)
and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you.
--
So be very careful. Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.
--
You shall purchase food from them with money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink.
God had commanded
respect and protection
of Edom.
But Edom did not have
the same respect.
Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, so Israel turned away from him.
Edom continually
repaid good with evil.
But God’s word says:
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
Eventually
God allowed Israel
to attack
and rule over
Edom
When Saul had taken the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the Ammonites, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned he routed them.
God allowed them
to rule Edom
but not take their land.
Edom had been
very bad to Israel.
Now they were
being ruled
by Israel.
A professional animal trainer, was disturbed when her own dog developed a bad habit. Every time she hung her wash out on the clothesline, the dog would yank it down. Drastic action was called for. The trainer put a white kitchen towel on the line and waited. Each time the dog pulled it off, she scolded the dog. After two weeks the towel was untouched. Then she hung out a large wash and left to do some errands. When she came home, her clean clothes were scattered all over the yard. On the line was the white kitchen towel. (Lori Andersen, in Reader’s Digest).
God is like
trainer trying to
teach people.
We usually just
follow our own
evil ways.
Attack on Jerusalem
Attack on Jerusalem
Jacob and Esau
born ~ 1836
Jerusalem attacked
845 - Philistines
(or 586 by Babylonians)
Now,
~ 1000 years later!
Lost loyalty.
Describing involvement
in destruction.
Obadiah 10–11 (ESV)
Because of the 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.
Goes into more detail
what part they played:
Obadiah 13–14 (ESV)
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.
What did they do?
as fugitives fled
cut them off
captured them
turned them over.
They threw them
under the bus.
Did not let them escape.
The Edomites
did not remember
this proverb:
Proverbs 11:27 (ESV)
Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor,
but evil comes to him who searches for it.
A pig ate his fill of acorns under an oak tree and then started to root around the tree. A crow remarked, “You should not do this. If you lay bare the roots, the tree will wither and die.” “Let it die,” said the pig. “Who cares as long as there are acorns?” (Bits and Pieces, February, 1990, p.
Edom thought they
could treat God
that way.
We people are
often short-sighted in
our actions.
We must ask,
how does this
effect
God
others
my future.
Judgment on Edom
Judgment on Edom
God originally,
protected Edom
invited them into covenant
gave them land.
protected land.
Now Edom
repaid the peace
with violence.
Rejoiced at
destruction of Jerusalem
helped kill and capture.
God protected them
they repay God’s peace
with evil.
Now God
pronounces judgment
upon them.
Obadiah 1–4 (ESV)
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.
“The pride of their heart
“deceived them.”
Because they thought
they could attack
God’s people and
have no consequence.
God is coming to destroy them:
Obadiah 15–16 (ESV)
For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds 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, and shall be as though they had never been.
What you did
is coming back to you.
What you sow
you will reap.
There is an old story about two neighbors, a baker and a farmer. The baker began to be suspicious of the farmer, wondering if he wasn't getting his money's worth when he paid for a pound of butter. He weighed the farmer's butter on several occasions, and the butter consistently weighed less than a full pound. Enraged, he had him arrested for fraud.
The judge asked the farmer at the trial, "I presume you have scales?"
"Yes, of course, Your Honor," the farmer replied.
"And I presume you use standard weights to measure your goods?” the judge asked.
“Yes, generally,” said the farmer. “But I don’t use them when serving the baker,” replied the farmer.
"Then how do you hope to weigh accurately the butter you sell to your neighbor?" the judge asked.
"That's easy," the farmer said. "When the baker began to buy butter from me, I decided to buy my bread from him. I've been using his one-pound loaves to balance my scales when I portion out his butter.
God Restores Israel
God Restores Israel
There is more
to the prophecy
of Obadiah
than judgment on Edom.
God also promises
and predicts that
God’s people
Judah will rebound
and come back.
Obadiah 20–21 (ESV)
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 Sepharad shall possess the cities of the Negeb.
--
Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.
Those who escaped
you tried to capture.
Those taken as slaves.
They will rule over you!
Israel will expand boarder
Esau will be destroyed!
A long time ago in China, a girl named Li-li got married and went to live with her husband and mother-in-law. In a very short time, Li-li found that she couldn't get along with her mother-in-law at all. Their personalities were very different, and Li-li was angered by many of her mother-in-law's habits. In addition, she criticized Li-li constantly.
Days passed days, and weeks passed weeks. Li-li and her mother-in-law never stopped arguing and fighting. But what made the situation even worse was that, according to ancient Chinese tradition, Li-li had to bow to her mother-in -law and obey her every wish.
All the anger and unhappiness in the house was causing the poor husband great distress. Finally, Li-li could not stand her mother-law's bad temper and dictatorship any longer, and she decided to do something about it. Li-li went to see her father's good friend, Mr. Huang, who sold herbs. She told him the situation and asked if he would give her some poison so that she could solve the problem once and for all.
Mr. Huang thought for a while, and finally said, "Li-li, I will help you solve your problem, but you must listen to me and obey what I tell you." Li-li said, "Yes, Mr. Huang, I will do whatever you tell me to do."
Mr. Huang went into the back room, and returned in a few minutes with a package of herbs. He told Li-li "You can't use a quick acting poison to get rid of your mother-in-law, because that would cause people to become suspicious. Therefore, I have given you a number of herbs that will slowly build up in her body. Every other day prepare some pork or chicken and put a little of these herbs in her serving. Now, in order to make sure that nobody suspects you when she dies, you must be very careful to act very friendly towards her. Don't argue with her, obey her every wish, and treat her like a queen."
Li-li was so happy. She thanked Mr. Huang and hurried home to start her plot of murdering her mother-in-law.
Weeks went by, and months went by, and every other day, Li-li served the specially treated food to her mother-in-law. She remembered what Mr. Huang had said about avoiding suspicion, so she controlled her temper, obeyed her mother-in-law, and treated her like her own mother. After six months had passed, the whole household had changed.
Li-li had practiced controlling her temper so much that she found that she almost never got mad or upset. She hadn't had an argument in six months with her mother-in-law, who now seemed much kinder and easier to get along with. The mother-in-law's attitude towards Li-li changed, and she began to love Li-li like her own daughter. She kept telling friends and relatives that Li-li was the best daughter-in-law one could ever find. Li-li and her mother-in-law were now treating each other like a real mother and daughter, and Li-li's husband was very happy to see what was happening.
One day, Li-li came to see Mr. Huang and asked for his help again. She said, "Dear Mr. Huang, please help me to keep the poison from killing my mother-in-law! She is changed into such a nice woman, and I love her like my mother. I do not want her to die because of the poison I gave her".
Mr. Huang smiled and nodded his head, "Li-li, there is nothing to worry about, I never gave you any poison. The herbs I gave you were vitamins to improve her health. The only poison was in your mind and your attitude towards her, but that has been all washed away by the love which you gave to her".
Application
Application
Job 4:8 (ESV)
As I have seen, those who plow iniquity
and sow trouble reap the same.
Evil choices bring
evil into our lives.
The history between
two unhappy brothers
(Jacob and Esau)
extend far beyond
their own lives.
The legacy of deceit
and resentment created
in their lives
lived on through
their decendants
long after they
had died.
Let us create a legacy
that we want to
perpetuate among
our children.
And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
We can choose to
sow peace.
Appeal
Appeal
Let us be peacemakers.