God's Great Equality

Obadiah is only 21 verses long. It’s powerful message is conveyed by graphic verbal images of betrayal among brothers. Esau was Jacob’s brother. Edom was Esau’s home country. The Edomites were related to the Israelites by blood. Yet, when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians, Edom stood by and did nothing. In fact, not only did they not help their brothers, they captured fleeing Israelites and returned them to the Babylonians! Obadiah describes Edom’s reaction to Israel’s destruction:

Obadiah 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.

Edom stood by watched. Edom did not come to Israel’s rescue. Edom betrayed and abandoned their brothers. And even worse, Edom rejoiced in and gloated over Israel’s fate.

God’s indictment of Edom is this:

Obadiah 12 You should not look down on your brother in the day of his misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast so much in the day of their trouble.

Why should Edom not look down on his brother? Why shouldn’t any of us look down on those who get what they deserve, who fall under God’s judgment for breaking covenant with their King?

Obadiah answers,

Obadiah 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.”

Did you hear it? Why should we be careful to not look down upon our brothers and sisters in their troubles? Because we are all in the same boat. We are all subject to God’s defining judgment. We all stand before Him as sinners with no plea other than the plea for mercy on account of Jesus. We all face the same future. The Bible says, “The soul that sins, it shall die.” And then the Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” And then the Bible says, “The wages of sin is death . . . .”

Listen sinners, all of you, payday is coming and there is only one hope for any of us: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Every one of us needs the only Savior, Jesus, and we all need Him for the same reason, sin. There is no room to gloat over someone’s misfortune, for our day is coming.

Diamonds and dollars meant nothing when the Titanic sank. Everyone, from millionaire to sailor, from heiress to scullery maid were all in the same boat. The lifeboats held people from every position and status that were on board the ship. They all faced the same threat and relied on the same rescue for deliverance. There was only life and death and hope.

I think there are two current situations that make the message of Obadiah particularly useful today.

First, It doesn’t matter who wins the US presidential election. Ultimately, we are all in the same boat. We all are at risk of something more devastating than dashed dreams and hurt hopes. Physical Death awaits us all. Spiritual death awaits those who do not put their faith in Jesus. This is no time to gloat over political victories. This is the time to stand up and promote spiritual victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Second, it doesn’t matter who contracts COVID and who doesn’t. It would be wonderful if no one did, but reality proves some will. And some will die, and you know what? We are all in the same boat. It doesn’t matter whether we are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, black or white, Democrat or Republican or Independent, we will all die. We will all stand before God. We are all sinners in need of a Savior, and the Savior focuses entirely on the threat we face: death for sin.

God will have mercy. God will redeem and forgive. God will grant repentance and forgiveness. We who are in the same boat should not look down on our brother in the day of his misfortune. Instead we should extend the grace that has been extended to us, offer the mercy that has been offered to us, love with the love with which we have been loved, and refuse to stand aside doing nothing while our brothers and sisters perish.

Until next time, there’s something to think about.