Obadiah: The Fruits of Not Forgiving

Good morning! Thank you for joining us once again for our service today. Whether you are here or watching at home, we are grateful that you have taken the time to honor the Lord by worshipping Him today. This morning we will begin a short, 2-part series called “Major Words from Minor Prophets.” Today, we will be going through the book of Obadiah, the shortest book in the Old Testament (just a mere 21 verses). This book is one of the most fascinating in Scripture - not just because of what is in it, but because of the circumstances surrounding it. We aren’t sure who wrote it (other than his name was Obadiah); we aren’t totally sure when it was written (although we can guess an approximate time). Now if you were to pick up a book in a bookstore, those would be 2 of the first 3 questions you would ask, no? Who wrote it? When was it written? What is it about? Well, the last question is what we are going to dive into this morning. Perhaps you spent time as a child reciting the books of the Bible like I did in Sunday school; maybe you learned them in song like many others. In any case, the book of Obadiah is one of many seemingly random names that come in the back half of the Old Testament; what we call many of those books is Minor Prophets. Minor in their book size, not in their importance. Major Prophets would be like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel.

What is Obadiah prophesying?

Based on context and academic knowledge, Obadiah’s prophecy here took place sometime after Jerusalem’s destruction by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. This was the last stand of the people of Israel in the split kingdom era. The Northern kingdom of Israel had been conquered by the Assyrians 136 years earlier; as the OT tells us, the Northern kingdom did not have a single king that “did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord.” This was the era of men like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Israel and Edom’s history together was as intertwined as any relationship between brothers. Edom had its own kingdom and its own royalty, but over time, they joined with Israel/Judah and broke off from them in a back and forth type relationship. The Edomites were servants of King David and were instrumental in his becoming king. Later in the divided kingdom, the Edomites revolted against the rule of Judah (2 Chron 21) and broke off the kindred relationship between themselves and God’s people. They broke off to do their own thing, just as they had done when Esau and Jacob split with one another. This was a common thread. We can take a stop there and ask ourselves, how common is that in our own lives? How often do we play this game with God or with God’s people?

Let’s read the text of the book of Obadiah together before we get too involved in the story.

Obadiah 1–21 ESV

1 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!” 2 Behold, I will make you small among the nations; you shall be utterly despised. 3 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?” 4 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. 5 If thieves came to you, if plunderers came by night— how you have been destroyed!— would they not steal only enough for themselves? If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? 6 How Esau has been pillaged, his treasures sought out! 7 All your allies have driven you to your border; those at peace with you have deceived you; they have prevailed against you; those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you— you have no understanding. 8 Will I not on that day, declares the Lord, destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of Mount Esau? 9 And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman, so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter. 10 Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. 11 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. 12 But do not gloat over the day of your brother in the day of his misfortune; do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their ruin; do not boast in the day of distress. 13 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. 14 Do not stand at the crossroads to cut off his fugitives; do not hand over his survivors in the day of distress. 15 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. 16 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. 17 But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape, and it shall be holy, and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions. 18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau stubble; they shall burn them and consume them, and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau, for the Lord has spoken. 19 Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau, and those of the Shephelah shall possess the land of the Philistines; they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria, and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. 20 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. 21 Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.

Let those who have ears to hear the Word of God, let them hear.

We can go back to the beginning and see that God’s judgment was about to fall on Edom through the conquest of other nations. The Babylonian Empire had laid waste to the majority of the Middle East, and Edom was up next. While from an outside view it may look like your typical imperial conquest, but in reality, this was a judgment from the Lord.

Obadiah, Jonah and Micah: An Introduction and Commentary b. Message and Circumstances (1b–C)

Obadiah’s judgment pronounced on a foreign people is not Israelite nationalistic chauvinism, but rather the recognition of universal responsibility and guilt before the God of both Israel and the nations

We see later on beginning in verse 10 that it was more than just a judgment on Edom for being a bad “brother.” They actively took part in the destruction, plunder, and violence against the Israelites of Judah.

Obadiah 10–12 ESV

10 Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. 11 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. 12 But do not gloat over the day of your brother in the day of his misfortune; do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their ruin; do not boast in the day of distress.

Their rejoicing, their distress, and their pain was celebrated by Edom.

So what does Edom’s choice have to do with us?

The Old Testament presents a unique opportunity for us as Christians to have a full narrative history to learn from and grow in. We are given example after example on how we ought to live as individuals or nations; as well as, of course, examples of how we ought not to live. Obadiah’s prophecy for Edom is a two-fold lesson for us as people of God.

God’s love for His people is a got-your-back kind of love

This is the love that my sister and I had for one another growing up. We didn’t always get along and we didn’t always agree, but when push came to shove, there was an understanding that we were on the same team and that we were there for one another in any kind of conflict. She being the older often took up that mantle; while I, being the much larger, took up that mantle later on. Now, her 6’4” husband does a pretty good job of that :).

I think also of a parent’s love for their child. If you’re a parent who’s disciplining your child (just like God was disciplining Israel), you know that the complicated nature of your relationship with them at that time does not change how much you love them or the fact that you’ve got their back. If anyone attempted to harm your child physically, emotionally, or in any way, their place of discipline doesn’t matter. What matters is who they are to you and everything you’d do for them.

How much more true is this of the Lord for us? He is, through Obadiah’s words and the actions of the incoming armies, got the back of His people.

We seek an empathetic spirit and a posture of forgiveness

Now What do we do with this Word?

We heed the words of Obadiah through Christ

As in all things in the Old Testament, we apply the words written through the lens of the salvation of the Lord Jesus. How do we do this? We take the warnings and the spirit of protection and apply it to where we are today. We have the same hope and same relationship with God today as we are God’s people.

We live to forgive as we have been forgiven

Matthew 6:14–15 ESV

14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

It was the roots of unforgiveness that festered over time between Israel and Edom that led to this situation. Yes, Israel had made mistakes; yes, God was disciplining them for their idolatry and sin; but God’s love for them and protection over them never wavered. He wasn’t going to stand idly by while others danced on the grave. God would do the same to the Babylonians, the Romans, and every other group that would seek to harm His people. The invitation for all of us today is to be forgiven in Christ and then seek to be forgiving of others in our lives.

If you haven’t accepted the forgiveness of God through Christ, don’t delay. Don’t seek your own path; receive the forgiveness that God offers to sinners and you will always have that got-your-back love. You’ll have it forever in Christ.