Obadiah

There’s a story about a man from the city who was visiting relatives on a farm. He was out walking around with the farmer when the farmer gave a whistle and his dog herded the cattle into the corral, and then latched the gate with her paw. “Wow, that’s some dog. What’s her name?” The forgetful farmer thought a minute, and then asked, “What do you call that red flower that smells good and has thorns on the stem?” “A rose?” “That? it!” The farmer turned and called out to his wife. “Hey Rose, what do we call this dog?”

Today I will be starting a new series called “The Minor Prophets” . These are the books that normally only get read once a year if you do a year long read through the bible. These are the forgotten books of the bible.

We are very blessed here in the modern era to have a bible to give us divine understanding and intervention in our lives. But the ancient Jews were not so lucky. They relied on prophets to be the mouthpiece of God.

Hebrews 1:1 CSB

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways.

The PROPHETS are not always easy to UNDERSTAND.

Martin Luther had this to say about the PROPHETS: “The prophets have a strange way of talking, like people who instead of proceeding in an orderly manner, ramble off one thing to the next so that you cannot make heads or tails of them or see what they are getting at.”

The goal of this series is to go through 6 different minor prophets, to see how it calls back to the coming Messiah or even the second coming, what it meant to them back then through a cultural and historical viewpoint, and how it can help us grow in our walk with Christ today.

So lets dive into the first prophet and the shortest book in the Old Testament: Obadiah.

How many of you fought with your brother or sister growing up? Sibling rivalry is a very common

occurrence.

You may recall some of those battles between you and your brother or sister when you were younger,

and even still after 30, 40, 50, years.

Despite the occasional conflicts, arguments, and hurt feelings between you and your siblings, deep down you still love each other and you’re there for each other.

This, however, was not the case between two brothers in the Old Testament named Jacob and Esau—

the sons of Isaac (also known as Israel) and the grandsons of Abraham.

We know a good bit of this story. Esau was the first born, but sold his birthright to Jacob for some good meatball stew…just kidding…it was a red stew.

Then Jacob stole his inheritance by pretending he was Esau when his father was blind.

I don’t know about you but it seems the father of the tribes of Israel was a little Ka-nah.

Both brothers eventually MARRIED and went their separate ways forming two NATIONS.

The DESCENDANTS of Jacob formed the nation of ISRAEL, while Esau’s DESCENDANTS

formed the nation of EDOM.

Fast forward a little over 1,000 years and we come to the prophecy of Obadiah. Written about 840-845 BC.

by this time Israel is a DIVIDED KINGDOM—with Israel to the North and Judah to the South. The Nation of Edom is connected to the southern border of Judah.

As a SPOKESMAN of God, Obadiah waited patiently for God to bring about for Israel a glorious VICTORY over the EDOMITES, knowing that RIGHT would ultimately triumph over WRONG.

From the temper of the book we know that Obadiah was a PIOUS, PATRIOTIC resident of Judah who dared to put into WORDS how he felt about the nation of EDOM because of their EXPLOITATION of and CRUELTY against Israel.

Let’s read what he says at the beginning of this poetic discourse

Obadiah 1–9 CSB

The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord God has said about Edom: We have heard a message from the Lord; an envoy has been sent among the nations: “Rise up, and let’s go to war against her.” Look, I will make you insignificant among the nations; you will be deeply despised. Your arrogant heart has deceived you, you who live in clefts of the rock in your home on the heights, who say to yourself, “Who can bring me down to the ground?” Though you seem to soar like an eagle and make your nest among the stars, even from there I will bring you down. This is the Lord’s declaration. If thieves came to you, if marauders by night— how ravaged you would be!— wouldn’t they steal only what they wanted? If grape harvesters came to you, wouldn’t they leave a few grapes? How Esau will be pillaged, his hidden treasures searched out! Everyone who has a treaty with you will drive you to the border; everyone at peace with you will deceive and conquer you. Those who eat your bread will set a trap for you. He will be unaware of it. In that day— this is the Lord’s declaration— will I not eliminate the wise ones of Edom and those who understand from the hill country of Esau? Teman, your warriors will be terrified so that everyone from the hill country of Esau will be destroyed by slaughter.

Obadiah said to the Edomites, “I have received a message from God and His message is, the pride of

your heart has deceived you”- v. 3.

The pride that the PROPHET is talking about here is much more than SELF-IMPORTANCE, it is

SELF-SUFFICIENCY—the sense of INDEPENDENCE from God.

We are now living in a CULTURE and SOCIETY where more and more people feel like they no longer NEED God. I believe that’s one of the main reasons we are seeing less and less people

in our churches today—they just don’t NEED God.

They don’t NEED God to DIRECT them toward what is RIGHT and avoid what is WRONG, the GOVERNMENT is now their new MORAL CODE. They don’t NEED God to point out SIN in their LIFE and lead them to REPENTANCE because SIN is no longer RELATIVE—there’s no such thing as SIN anymore.

Throughout the Bible God makes it very CLEAR that ARROGANCE or PRIDE is SINFUL and

will not be TOLERATED.

Proverbs 16:18 CSB

Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.

Because of the PRIDE of the Edomites, they were BLINDED to the fact that God had always been there for them. He had always BLESSED them. They, too, were Abraham’s descendants, and the recipients of God’s PROMISE. Well, that is, until they allowed their PRIDE to DECEIVE them and LEAD them down the PATH of DESTRUCTION.

They trusted in their own security because of where they lived. The capital city of Edom was “SELA,” the Hebrew word for ROCK. (Grk: PETRA

If you saw the movie: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, you may recall the scene where Indiana Jones and his father rode on horseback through the clefts of the rocks to get to the fortress

of PETRA.

They felt that no ENEMY could penetrate their FORTRESS, but Edom’s MIGHTY FORTRESS was no match for God.

A NATION today may BOAST of its great RICHES, its great MEN and INSTITUTIONS of KNOWLEDGE, it’s great ALLIES and MILITARY POWER, but if God chooses to bring a NATION to its KNEES, there is nothing that can be done to STOP Him.

Let’s continue reading in our text

Obadiah 10–14 CSB

You will be covered with shame and destroyed forever because of violence done to your brother Jacob. On the day you stood aloof, on the day strangers captured his wealth, while foreigners entered his city gate and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were just like one of them. Do not gloat over your brother in the day of his calamity; do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction; do not boastfully mock in the day of distress. Do not enter my people’s city gate in the day of their disaster. Yes, you—do not gloat over their misery in the day of their disaster, and do not appropriate their possessions in the day of their disaster. Do not stand at the crossroads to cut off their fugitives, and do not hand over their survivors in the day of distress.

God is judging Edom for the VIOLENCE, CRUELTY, and BETRAYAL perpetrated against the Nation

of Israel—their brother Jacob.

Although Edom did not INITIATE the ATTACK against Israel, they didn’t lift a finger to STOP

others from doing so.

This is an example of VIOLENCE of SILENCE. When principles of RIGHTEOUSNESS are involved that DEMANDS that a STAND be taken, it is a SIN to be NEUTRAL in such cases.

We must always take a STAND for what’s RIGHT regardless of the CONSEQUENCES.

Things like abortion, the movement to have pedophilia legalized, facebook gossip and fact checking agenda. The list goes on and on.

Instead of helping Israel when other nations were ATTACKING, they “REJOICED in their DAY of TROUBLE and DESTRUCTION.”

If you’ve ever wondered what God thinks about those who REJOICE in the TROUBLE and MISFORTUNE of their fellow-Christians, then you need to spend some time REFLECTING on the words of OBADIAH.

The Edomites might not have been the ones who BREACHED the gates of Jerusalem, but they certainly took ADVANTAGE of it. They entered the city to SHARE in the SPOILS of God’s PLUNDERED people.

During the ATTACKS against Jerusalem, many of the Israelites would FLEE for their lives only to be ROBBED or KILLED or CAPTURED by the Edomites who stationed themselves at the CROSSROADS of the ESCAPE ROUTE.

But God had enough!!

Obadiah 15–21 CSB

For the day of the Lord is near, against all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; what you deserve will return on your own head. As you have drunk on my holy mountain, so all the nations will drink continually. They will drink and gulp down and be as though they had never been. But there will be a deliverance on Mount Zion, and it will be holy; the house of Jacob will dispossess those who dispossessed them. Then the house of Jacob will be a blazing fire, and the house of Joseph, a burning flame, but the house of Esau will be stubble; Jacob will set them on fire and consume Edom. Therefore no survivor will remain of the house of Esau, for the Lord has spoken. People from the Negev will possess the hill country of Esau; those from the Judean foothills will possess the land of the Philistines. They will possess the territories of Ephraim and Samaria, while Benjamin will possess Gilead. The exiles of the Israelites who are in Halah and who are among the Canaanites as far as Zarephath as well as the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the cities of the Negev. Saviors will ascend Mount Zion to rule over the hill country of Esau, and the kingdom will be the Lord’s.

Obadiah was the first to use the phrase “The Day of the Lord”, and it has since been used many

times in both the Old and New Testament.

The phrase, “The Day of the Lord” also refers to the COMING of Christ to JUDGE the WORLD

1 Thessalonians 5:1–2 CSB

About the times and the seasons: Brothers and sisters, you do not need anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.

“The Day of the Lord” always results in two ACTIONS: 1). The DESTRUCTION of the accuser. 2). The SALVATION of the accused”

As you look on the CURRENT MAP of PALESTINE, you no longer see the NATION of EDOM listed. ISRAEL is still there, but EDOM has long been DESTROYED. God kept his PROMISE.

Obadiah said that “the house of Jacob will possess its inheritance”- v. 17.

This, I believe, not only refers to the physical descendants of Jacob, but also the FUTURE house

of the REDEEMED that are in Christ—the CHURCH.

The angel Gabriel told Mary that the child she was carrying “will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end”

Although Obadiah was written almost 3,000 years ago, the HOPE and RESTORATION that he speaks of is being fulfilled today in the life of every Bible believing, Jesus following CHURCH that has ever existed.