Obadiah

The Problem of Pride

The story is told of two ducks and a frog who lived happily together in a farm pond. The best of friends, the three would amuse themselves and play together in their waterhole. They would splash each other, play tag, and just lounge about, often with the frog laying down and sunbathing on the back of one of the ducks while they floated. One year, though, the heat of the summer came a bit early and the lack of winter snow or spring rain led to a drought and the pond began to dry up. It was evident they would soon have to move. That was no problem for the ducks, who could easily fly to another pond. But the frog was stuck. So it was decided that they would put a stick in the bill of each duck that the frog could hang onto with his mouth as they flew to another pond. The plan worked well--so well, in fact, that as they were flying along a farmer looked up in admiration and mused, "Well, isn't that a clever idea! I wonder who thought of it?" The frog said, "I diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid..."

Pride gets us into so much trouble doesn’t it.

A man needs above all to be saved from what is the root of all sin—his self-will and his pride. - Andrew Murray

When I was younger, in my early years of marriage, I had so much pride. I used to say “I’m happy to admit I’m wrong if you can prove it.” I assumed that I was right unless I was shown I was wrong. It drove Abby nuts. But more than that, it was putting a barrier up between Abby and I. She couldn’t trust me because I was always antagonistic. My pride allowed no room for other opinions and so i was for me and against her. Not a great way to start in marriage.

“The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress is because they haven’t yet come to the end of themselves. We’re still trying to give orders, and interfering with God’s work within us.”- A.W. Tozer

Pride blinds us to who God is and what he is doing. It’s a hindrance to our spiritual growth. It elevates us above God and says we know what’s best.

PRIDE IS THE IDOLATRY OF SELF

One of the common sins that Israel and Judah are guilty of throughout the OT is cheating on God by worshipping idols. We saw it in referred to in Hosea when God called idolatry adultery and we saw it last week in Amos as one of the charges God lays against Israel.

Pride is a sin that offends God because it denies his sovereignty. Instead of saying how great God is, we say how great we are. We are taking responsibility for the work that God is doing.

In the book Obadiah, the prophet starts by saying,

Obadiah 1–2 NLT

1 This is the vision that the Sovereign Lord revealed to Obadiah concerning the land of Edom. We have heard a message from the Lord that an ambassador was sent to the nations to say, “Get ready, everyone! Let’s assemble our armies and attack Edom!” 2 The Lord says to Edom, “I will cut you down to size among the nations; you will be greatly despised.

People are gathering to attack Edom, but really the attack is coming from God. God is at work behind the scenes. When we let pride dwell in our hearts and minds, we are diminishing the background work of God.

Pride is the idolatry of self; it does not come from God. The apostle John says,

1 John 2:15–17 NLT

15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

We are called to die to our pride, to put our trust in God - to live in such a way that declares his sovereignty in our lives.

And that’s what the book of Obadiah is all about. We are in week 4 of our series, “Messengers: The Minor Prophets” where we are looking at the last 12 books in the OT.

Not much is known about the prophet Obadiah. Scholars are even unsure about his name because Obadiah in Hebrew means “a servant or worshipper of Yahweh” - a term that really could be anyone. But whomever Obadiah was, it’s clear that God gave him a vision concerning Edom.

Edom was a country south of Jerusalem, in land that is split today between Israel and Jordan, and the people there lived up in the hills and mountains, which helped protect them from attacks from other nations.

What’s maybe the most fascinating thing about the Edomites was that they traced their ancestry back to Esau.

If you are familiar with the story in the OT, Jacob and Esau were the children of Isaac and Rebekah. Jacob tricked Esau and Isaac into giving him his birthright which put them at odds with each other. They later reconciled and not much is heard of them until the time of Moses. When Moses was crossing the desert with the Israelites, he sent word to the Edomites, calling them brothers, and asked for safe passage through the land. The Edomites said no and even sent an army out to enforce it, and from that time on, they remained enemies, even though they were related. King Saul fought them, David fought them and won, subjugating the nation for years. A few generations later, they revolted and became independent again. It’s a long history of warfare between these two nations who are brothers.

As we read the book of Obadiah we need to remember the context. Israel has been ravaged by another nation, most likely the Babylonians when they began their takeover and forced the exile. They are a hurting, broken people.

Obadiah’s letter is written to Israel, about Edom. Because of their pride, Edom had done some horrible things against Israel so God gave this vision to Obadiah to encourage Israel by reminding them that God will judge those who have hurt them and that God will restore Israel.

The root of all that Edom did to Israel was found in their pride - in their idolatry of self.

Pride, by it’s definition, is about me. When I allow pride to take me over, I stop being others-oriented and I become self-centred, which is what Edom did. And the manifestation of that self-centeredness for Edom, and for many of us, is revealed in the self-focussed thoughts we have, such as when I used to think that I was right unless proven otherwise.

As we go through Obadiah, let’s look at three things that pride says to us, when we allow it to overtake us.

1. Pride says, “It’s not my problem” (vs. 11)

For those of us who were watching TV in the 90’s we may recall the epic last episode of Seinfeld. The show ends with Jerry, Kramer, George and Elaine getting arrested for watching a man get his car and wallet stolen while they did nothing to help. They are found guilty and have to spend a year in prison for it.

That’s sort of what happened to Israel. While they were getting sacked and plundered by their enemies, Edom, their brothers, stood by and did nothing to help.

Obadiah 11 NLT

11 When they were invaded, you stood aloof, refusing to help them. Foreign invaders carried off their wealth and cast lots to divide up Jerusalem, but you acted like one of Israel’s enemies.

We are not allowed to stand by and do nothing when our brothers and sisters face calamity, even if it’s a calamity they have brought upon themselves.

We are called to be like Christ, who was not sitting up there in heaven, watching us, snickering and eating popcorn. No, he intervened on our behalf and helped us when no one else could by taking our sin upon himself - by paying the price we couldn’t pay with his own life.

Jesus intervened in order to save us and he continues to intervene in our lives, bringing us healing and transforming us to become more human - to become more like him.

The apostle Paul says,

Galatians 6:2–3 NLT

2 Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. 3 If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.

The Edomites should have stepped in to help rescue Israel, or at least help them rebuild. But they did nothing.

Pride - that idolatry of self - says “It’s not my problem.” Christlikeness says, “those are my people” and reaches out with love to help.

2. Pride says, “I’m more important than you” (vs. 10)

Now, nobody I know would ever say this out loud. But when pride gets in our hearts, we may live this like it’s true. We start thinking we are entitled to things other people aren’t.

When Christian Herter was governor of Massachusetts, he was running hard for a second term in office. One day, after a busy morning chasing votes (and no lunch) he arrived at a church barbecue. It was late afternoon and Herter was famished. As he moved down the serving line, he held out his plate to the woman serving chicken. She put one piece on his plate and turned to the next person in line.

"Excuse me," Governor Herter said, "do you mind if I have another piece of chicken?" "Sorry," the woman told him. "I'm supposed to give one piece of chicken to each person." "But I'm really hungry," the governor said. "Sorry," the woman said genially. "Only one to a customer." The govenor leaned forward and said quietly, "Do you know who I am?" he said. "I am the governor of this state." The woman leaned in towards him as well. ”Do you know who I am?" the woman said. "I'm the lady in charge of the chicken. Move along."

Pride wants to take what isn’t ours because we think we deserve it. The Edomites, perhaps thinking they were entitled because of their long history of warfare with their Israelite brothers, decided to come in and plunder the land now that Israel had been weakened. In verse 13 it says,

Obadiah 13 NLT

13 You should not have plundered the land of Israel when they were suffering such calamity. You should not have gloated over their destruction when they were suffering such calamity. You should not have seized their wealth when they were suffering such calamity.

They mocked the Israelites for losing almost everything and stood above them gloating, like Muhammad Ali did over Sonny Liston. They even stole from them, kicking them when they were down.

I see this manifest in my own heart often when I am driving. You are driving along, doing the speed limit, or maybe 10 over as is normal here, and then someone blows past you going 150 km/hr and you go, man, where’s a cop when you want one. Then, a kilometer or two up the road, you see that same car pulled over and you smile. You are rejoice over someone else getting a ticket. I’m happy that the police will make them hurt, financially at least.

Our God is a just God and he made us in him image, with a desire for justice. But God is also merciful and although we want to claim that mercy for ourselves, we often aren’t great at extending it to others.

Instead of seeking exceptions and entitlements to get us ahead, we need to value others first. Paul, in writing to the church in Philippi, says,

Philippians 2:3 NIV

3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,

As Christ saw us lost in our sin, he gave up his life for ours. He saw us as more important than himself and so he died for you and I. He could have used his entitlements - he could have called down an army of angels to rescue him at any point. But he chose to suffer so that you and I could be free.

Pride says, “I’m more important than you.” Christlikeness says, “I did not come to be served, but to serve, and to offer my life as a ransom for many.”

3. Pride says, “I’m not accountable” (vs. 3)

1 John 1:8 NIV

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

We may not enjoy really admitting it, but we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We’ve all done things, said things, thought things that have gone against the character and call of Christ.

And almost every Christian I know would agree with that. We are good at saying, “I am a sinner.” But we aren’t all very good at actually admitting what our sin is specifically, how it has impacted God and others and worked, by the power of the Holy Spirit in us, to change our behaviour.

Whenever Abby and I used to argue, the part I never really wanted to hear was her thoughts on how my actions impacted her. I wanted reconciliation without accountability. I have learned, and am still learning, to be better at engaging with the negative outcomes of my actions.

In the vision Obadiah has about Edom, God says to the Edomites,

Obadiah 3 NLT

3 You have been deceived by your own pride because you live in a rock fortress and make your home high in the mountains. ‘Who can ever reach us way up here?’ you ask boastfully.

They thought, that because their cities were fortified and hard to reach because of the mountains, that they would not be held accountable for what they did to Israel. But God said otherwise. He rallies the nations to attack Edom as punishment for their sin.

Our pride tricks us into thinking that we aren’t going to be held accountable for our actions.

I know it’s hard to believe but there are even some Christians who use God’s grace as an excuse to get away with sin.

Like the Paul says in Romans, they say,

Romans 6:15 NLT

15 Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!

Because all of my sin is forgiven, I can do what I want, right? No. Because all your sin is forgiven, you are set free to walk in love and holiness with our God, remembering that our scriptures teach us that everyone, Christians and unbelievers alike, will be held accountable for what we say and do.

The Apostle Paul says,

2 Corinthians 5:10 NIV

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

We all will be judged someday. For those of us who are in Christ, that judgment will be merciful as we experience the fullness of our redemption through Jesus. For those who are not in Christ, for those who have rejected him, the judgment is harsh. But all of us are still held accountable before God.

Pride says, “I’m not accountable.” Christlikeness says that we repent of our sins and turn to our God who loves us and invites us to become more like Jesus.

The book of Obadiah is a cautionary tale of the pervasiveness of pride. The Edomites had allowed their pride to overtake them. They stood by while Israel was decimated. They gloated over them and mocked them while they were down and then plundered them. And they thought they would get away with it because of where they lived.

But God held them accountable for how they treated their brothers, the Israelites. And while all the sins that our pridefulness has caused has been paid for by Jesus, God is calling us to kill the pride in our hearts that keeps us calloused to the suffering around us, that causes us to rejoice when calamity happens to our enemies, and prevents us from turning to God in repentance.

How do we kill that pride? By remembering that when we were helpless - that when sin and death overpowered us - Jesus looked upon us with loving grace and intervened on our behalf. And because he did that for us, we can now step in to help others.

Pray.