Restoration for the Humbled
Notes
Transcript
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The book of Obadiah can be a difficult book to place in biblical history. For starters, there were about a dozen men named Obadiah in the Old Testament. The book itself gives no facts or background of any kind on the Obadiah that wrote this book. We only know four things with certainty. He was named Obadiah, he was a prophet, his name means “worshiper of God,” and his prophecy was directed to the Edomites.
Edom neighbored Israel to the south. It was the home of Esau and his descendants. Remember Abraham was the father of Isaac, who was the father of two sons, Jacob and Esau. These two brothers and their descendants were always at odds with one another. It is one of the largest sibling rivalries in history. Jacob took the name Israel and Esau took the name Edom. Sometimes they got along, but most of the time they did not. The prophecy of this book is pointed at Edom.
The vision of Obadiah.
Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom—
We have heard a report from the Lord,
And an envoy has been sent among the nations saying,
“Arise and let us go against her for battle”—
Edom has done something against the Lord that has drawn his attention and he has called the nations to wage war against them.
“Behold, I will make you small among the nations;
You are greatly despised.
“The arrogance of your heart has deceived you,
You who live in the clefts of the rock,
In the loftiness of your dwelling place,
Who say in your heart,
‘Who will bring me down to earth?’
“Though you build high like the eagle,
Though you set your nest among the stars,
From there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord.
The people of Edom lived in high places among the mountains. It was very rocky terrain. The mountains gave them excellent defenses, but there is also a double meaning here. Edom lived in high places. Elevation favored them and provided protection from their enemies but it also meant they had become arrogant and prideful because of their position. Edom thought they were better than Israel.
How many of you have a brother or sister? Did you have rivalries growing up? When I was younger, I definitely thought I was better than my brother and sister younger than me. There was a point in my teenage years where I thought I was untouchable. The more I got away with, the more risks I took. I was arrogant. I thought I could do anything. Then God humbled me. He allowed me to get caught. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. I learned I was vulnerable.
Edom had become arrogant because of their high position in the mountains and because of their opinion about themselves. But God says that He will bring them down from their lofty position both physically and socially or spiritually, etc.
He follows by expressing God’s intent that Edom will be plundered and their leaders destroyed.
“If thieves came to you,
If robbers by night—
O how you will be ruined!—
Would they not steal only until they had enough?
If grape gatherers came to you,
Would they not leave some gleanings?
“O how Esau will be ransacked,
And his hidden treasures searched out!
“All the men allied with you
Will send you forth to the border,
And the men at peace with you
Will deceive you and overpower you.
They who eat your bread
Will set an ambush for you.
(There is no understanding in him.)
“Will I not on that day,” declares the Lord,
“Destroy wise men from Edom
And understanding from the mountain of Esau?
“Then your mighty men will be dismayed, O Teman,
So that everyone may be cut off from the mountain of Esau by slaughter.
The Lord is communicating that Edom is at risk of being ransacked. Thieves could come in the night and plunder them. It would seem like such an intrusion would come not from a known enemy, but from their allies. Their friends will become their enemies. They are going to totally destroy the nation of Edom. But why is this the case?
“Because of violence to your brother Jacob,
You will be covered with shame,
And you will be cut off forever.
“On the day that you stood aloof,
On the day that strangers carried off his wealth,
And foreigners entered his gate
And cast lots for Jerusalem—
You too were as one of them.
“Do not gloat over your brother’s day,
The day of his misfortune.
And do not rejoice over the sons of Judah
In the day of their destruction;
Yes, do not boast
In the day of their distress.
“Do not enter the gate of My people
In the day of their disaster.
Yes, you, do not gloat over their calamity
In the day of their disaster.
And do not loot their wealth
In the day of their disaster.
“Do not stand at the fork of the road
To cut down their fugitives;
And do not imprison their survivors
In the day of their distress.
Edom had done violence against their brother Jacob. For that violence, they came under judgment by God. Do you remember the promise God made Abraham? Whoever blesses you will be blessed and who ever curses you will be cursed. Here, violence has been done to Jacob, who is also Israel. This act was not just from some foreign nation, but from Israel’s own relatives, descendants of Abraham. It is one thing for a stranger to do you wrong, but it is another when it comes from your own family. But God made a covenant with Abraham and He will uphold His end of the deal. Therefore, since Edom dealt harshly with his brother, God would repay them in kind.
Edom was not merely spectating the misfortune of Judah. They were active participants. Imagine you have a brother or sister living across the street from you or on the property next to you. A group of thieves comes to your house and tries to rob you. They overpower you and start taking everything. Then you find out that among the band of thieves is your own brother or sister’s family. How devastating would that be? This is essentially what happens to Israel.
God warned Edom not to gloat or rejoice over the misfortune of their brother. We live in troubling times. In the past decade, it is far more likely for someone to record another’s plight before extending a hand to help them. If a fight breaks out in the school, everyone’s phone goes up to record it. There are countless videos on YouTube that have captured the misfortunes of others while people stand idly by as spectators. Edom’s sin was the equivalent of robbing their brothers while livestreaming. But God says don’t boast. Why? Verse 15 tells us.
“For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you.
Your dealings will return on your own head.
As you have done, it will be done to you. There is a shift that takes place here in verse 15. The prophecy zooms out from a focus on Edom to the day of the Lord that is coming for all nations. Edom is a foreshadowing of what will come to pass for all nations. The language of Edom’s destruction continues followed by a restoration of Israel.
“Because just as you drank on My holy mountain,
All the nations will drink continually.
They will drink and swallow
And become as if they had never existed.
“But on Mount Zion there will be those who escape,
And it will be holy.
And the house of Jacob will possess their possessions.
“Then the house of Jacob will be a fire
And the house of Joseph a flame;
But the house of Esau will be as stubble.
And they will set them on fire and consume them,
So that there will be no survivor of the house of Esau,”
For the Lord has spoken.
Then those of the Negev will possess the mountain of Esau,
And those of the Shephelah the Philistine plain;
Also, possess the territory of Ephraim and the territory of Samaria,
And Benjamin will possess Gilead.
And the exiles of this host of the sons of Israel,
Who are among the Canaanites as far as Zarephath,
And the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
Will possess the cities of the Negev.
The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion
To judge the mountain of Esau,
And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.
The demise of Edom is certain. You see the language of drinking here. In this context, the cup they are drinking from is the cup of God’s wrath. Isaiah and Jeremiah use such language. The cup the nations are to drink from are the cup of God’s wrath. Edom’s downfall serves as a picture of the human condition. The human condition says that I am the boss of me and nobody can tell me otherwise. I am the boss of me and you must accept and celebrate me or I will silence you. I’m in control, not God.
Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before stumbling.
It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly
Than to divide the spoil with the proud.
But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
The message is twofold. First, If you build up pride for yourself, it will lead to destruction. There is an appointed time where those who sit in lofty places who think they are untouchable will find out they are not. The second we discover in the rest of this book.
This section touches on a restoration of Israel. When that time comes, they will possess the land of Edom. The book begins as a zoomed in concept of judgment against one nation and then zooms out to address the day of the Lord for all nations. But it actually ends with a ray of hope. Israel will be restored. They will be humbled, but they will be restored.
I want you to know something. The Bible only really addresses two people groups: the children of God and those who are not. Yes, there are all sorts of nations, but God deals with people on the basis of whether they are his children or not. On the one hand we can look at the book of Obadiah and see the judgment of God or we can look at the book and realize that the reality is that Edom’s doom was not definite. Every time God brings judgment on a people, there is opportunity for a response. Should those in Edom agree with God that they had sinned, God would allow them to join in covenant relationship with God alongside their brothers. God did so with Rahab. God did so with Nineveh in Jonah. God extends the invitation for others to join his family. The same is true today. Restoration can be found but only through humility will it be found.
Today is no different. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. The whole earth faces God’s judgment but the reality is nobody has to face it. Salvation is offered to all who humble themselves and respond to God’s prophetic voice. Had there been people in Edom who heard the words of Obadiah, responded through repentance, and trusted the Lord for salvation, they would have found it. That may have been the case, but Obadiah does not tell us. The message is the same today. The world is on the wrong path. It is headed for destruction. But if you heed the words of God, you will be saved.
God has uniquely called each one of us to be his voice in this age. As salt and light, we are to prevent the decay and shine the light of truth in the world around us. People need to know that the only thing they can depend on is the Lord Himself. So share Him to the world.