Obadiah 1-9
Notes
Transcript
Big Idea:
Big Idea:
Christmas is about the Gift of Grace that canceled our judgment.
Intro:
Intro:
Good morning! Welcome to Church Online.
Today, we start a brand-new sermon series. We spent the last few months in the Psalms, but for the next few weeks, we will be in… the book of Obadiah. That’s right… I said Obadiah!
Some of you are like, “I didn’t even know there was an Obadiah in the Bible!” So, let me give you another shock - it’s also going to be our Christmas series! Now, those of you who may have read this short prophetic book are shocked! Because you’re like, “What in the Saint Nick does Obadiah have to do with Christmas?!?”
Last week, I asked our Worship Pastor, Jon, to help me come up with a title for this series, since he’s creative in that way. His verbatim words to me were, “You’ve got your work cut out of you! Obadiah does not appear to be the most straightforward Christmas passage!” He’s right - it’s different! But isn’t that the Vision God gave us as a church for 2021 - Different!
We started the year building upon Isa 43...
“Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
We believe God was desiring to do a new work in our community - a different work! And I think we’ve seen God do that! And since we’ve started the year being DIFFERENT, we’re going to finish the year DIFFERENT! I believe this Christmas series is going to be so different that over the next few weeks you are going to ask yourself, “Is this, Christmas?” And that’s actually the title for this series, “Is this, Christmas?”
As we study Obadiah, you are going to wonder what all of this has to do with Christmas. And I promise you we will connect the dots. But I want you to ask the question, “Is this, Christmas?” Because, I think this is a healthy question for us today.
It’s no secret that, culturally, we have a problem understanding and celebrating Christmas correctly. We’ve made it about so many other things than what it is truly about. And I believe, by asking the question, “Is this, Christmas?” we’ll gain a better, more accurate perspective on this beautiful season of good news as we answer that question!
Are you ready? Let’s get started.
A little context to help our understanding...
Obadiah is a prophet who we know almost nothing about. There are other “Obadiahs” in the Bible, but they are likely not the prophet in this book.
The name Obadiah means “servant of Yahweh (God).”
He’s writing during the time of the Babylonian exile, when King Nebuchadnezzar from Babylon destroyed Jerusalem (586 BC), captured the Jews, and took them to Babylon (which is modern day Iraq).
And the audience of this book includes Edom, who were Israel’s neighbors. In fact, they were relatives. The Edomites were the descendants of Esau, who was Jacob’s (the patriarch of Israel) twin brother. And just like the rough relationship between the two brothers, the relationship between Edom and Israel was tense. They were often enemies… (anyone got family like that?)
With that, let’s begin reading...
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!”
Exegesis:
Exegesis:
Let’s not rush past this introductory verse. Notice three phrases:
Vision.
“Says the Lord God.”
“ A report from the LORD.”
As we dive into this book, let’s consider what’s being said.
First off, this is a vision - it’s a supernatural revelation from God that He wanted communicated.
These are the very Words of God! It’s what God is SAYING thru the prophet. It’s a direct REPORT from the Commander of Heaven’s Armies, the King of the Universe, the Creator Himself!
Additionally, though it’s primarily directed to Edom (verse 1 says… concerning Edom), the audience is wider. It’s also a message Israel needed to hear (we’ll discuss more about that later). Furthermore, it’s a message we need to hear too!
By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, this prophecy made it into the Scriptures/Bible. That means this message falls underneath this truth...
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
It means, again, we need to hear this message too. So, I encourage you to pay attention because God is speaking to you! And His message is: A messenger has been sent among the nations: “Rise up! Let us rise against her [Edom] for battle!”
We’re not really sure who this “messenger” is… maybe it’s an angel or human. It’s not really important. What’s important is that God wants Edom to know he is gathering a grip of armies together to fight against Edom. And the sense is, “Edom - you’re in trouble!”
Now, you gotta understand… Edom wasn’t a global powerhouse. They didn’t have the military might of America, where they could reply, “Okay, you wanna go? Gather whoever you want. Let’s do this!” No, they were a tiny nation. What gets them into trouble is… they thought they were a big deal.
They were like my dog Rocky. He’s a yorkie-poo. He’s small. But he thinks he’s a big deal. And he thinks he can fight bigger dogs, but he can’t! That’s like Edom. We see it in the next few verses...
Behold, I will make you small among the nations;
you shall be utterly despised.
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?”
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.
Although Edom was small, they had a strategic location. They were surrounded by rocky terrain and high cliff walls. Some of you are familiar with the city of Petra. Maybe from watching Indiana Jones. Although Petra itself wasn’t built by the Edomites, it’s the same area. And their strategic stronghold made them overly confident.
The prophet compares the height of their cliff walls to the attitude of their heart. You see, the Edom’s real problem was their pride. It was the attitude of their heart that yelled, “Who will bring me down to the ground?” Or, in the words of modern theologian “Fat Joe,” they said, “Nothing can stop me I’m all the way up!”
And just in case you’re wondering why pride is a problem… essentially, pride is telling God Almighty, Creator of all things, King of the Universe, “I don’t care about You or Your plans! I got my own thing going on.” Wasn’t that the attitude of Esau, the father of Edom?
What did Esau do? He gave away his God-given inheritance as the firstborn son for soup. He spit on God’s plan for his life and said, “Just give me what I want now.”
Another problem with pride is it makes us stupid. But not just in little things… but in life-critical issues (like our relationship with God and other people).
Furthermore, pride makes us do things we regret later on. And by the time we realize it, it’s too late. The damage is done.
Esau regretted his pride… the book of Hebrews writes...
Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the firstborn son for a single meal. You know that afterward, when he wanted his father’s blessing, he was rejected. It was too late for repentance, even though he begged with bitter tears.
And his descendants, following in his prideful footsteps, are about to pay for it too… because when it says...
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?”
… the sense isn’t just a pride towards other humans, but also towards God. Like Edom were saying, “God, who? We did all of this without God! What’s God gonna do?” Which is why God replies...
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.
As my boys get older, every now and then they get a little crazier. As they get bigger, they get more bold. If you will… pride begins to affect their thinking. And they got an attitude when they speak to me. Like they done forgot who they talking to...
And I’m like, “Uh, uh, who you talking to? Are you crazy? I’m not one of your little friends...” Pride makes them stupid and I have to put them in their place. That’s what God is doing here. God’s like, “Have you forgot who you talking to? Even if you flew higher and build higher than anyone in history… it’s nothing compared to Me.” And He checks them...
But before get too comfortable criticizing them, ask yourself if you do the same thing?
Does my pride rebel against God?
Do I care about God’s plans for my life?
Or, am I only concerned with my own thing?
Because pride can reveal itself in more ways than just rebellious attitudes...
Pride is prioritizing our feelings over God’s promises.
Pride is trusting in our bank account over His supernatural provision.
Pride is pursuing our selfish desires over God’s calling.
Pride is even thinking you can coach basketball without his help - like what I was trying to do earlier (Jesus said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing!”) Pride is saying, “I don’t believe You, God! I know better than You!”
And here’s our first application from the book of Obadiah...
Edom’s pride represents our pride.
Edom’s pride represents our pride.
Just like Edom had a pride problem, we have a pride problem. Just like pride made Edom make bad choices, we make bad choices based on our pride. And today, just as God called out Edom’s pride, maybe He’s calling out our pride thru the preaching of His Word?
Remember...
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
It was written long ago, but it’s alive and can speak to us today. Therefore, we need to pay attention. Especially considering the next part...
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?
How Esau has been pillaged,
his treasures sought out!
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.
Will I not on that day, declares the Lord,
destroy the wise men out of Edom,
and understanding out of Mount Esau?
And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman,
so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter.
What message does God want Edom to know? It’s that “Judgment is coming!” And not just judgment, but COMPLETE JUDGMENT. Like, God’s judgment will be so thorough there’s nothing left. No sign of anything good. No hope.
Honestly, in some ways, the judgment described here is a picture of hell. I can see my son Nole going, “Oooooo, Dad said hell.” [Cover you mouth]. But I’m not saying it as a curse word, but referencing an actual place.
My friends, despite what our society may say or think, the Bible (God’s word / God’s truth) says hell is real.
It’s a place where nothing good is present.
It’s a place of eternal and complete torment.
And probably worst of all, it’s a place were there is no hope.
Have you ever thought about that? Sure, hell is filled with evil things. It’s a place of consuming fire. But the scariest thing for me is that it’s a place where it will NEVER get better. We can endure a lot of things in this life because of hope - the future possibility of improved circumstances. In hell, hope doesn’t exist. It will never get better.
Hell is God’s full judgment on sin. It’s God’s holy wrath. I can guarantee you there’s no party going on down there. In fact, the demons themselves are afraid of it. One time, a group of demons saw Jesus and fearfully screamed...
With a shriek, he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In the name of God, I beg you, don’t torture me!”
The demons are afraid of God’s judgment. And it’s the same judgment Edom now had to worry about. Here’s the bad news for some of us...
Edom’s judgment represents our judgment.
Edom’s judgment represents our judgment.
Merry Christmas! Are you asking, “Is this, Christmas?” yet?
In the book of Obadiah, we must understand that though the original and primary audience is Edom, there’s application to us today!
Edom’s pride represents our pride.
Edom’s problem is our problem.
And, Edom’s judgment is our judgment, because we too have spit on God’s plan for our lives and said, “I got my own thing going on.”
Connect this to Christmas:
Connect this to Christmas:
So, what are we supposed to do? And also… it’s been 20 mins and almost no mention of Christmas. Why are we talking about this? What does this have to do with Christmas?
In the Bible, judgment (which is a result of pride) has an opposite. It’s called grace. And we can define grace as, “Getting what we don’t deserve.”Grace is remedy for pride. And like Edom, because of our sin (pride), we deserve eternal and complete judgment. But 2000 years ago, on that first Christmas, God gave us grace instead. He gave us a gift we didn’t deserve. He gave us His Son, Jesus Christ.
And Jesus humbled Himself, came to earth and took on human flesh, for a specific reason. He came to save us from our sins. Isn’t that what the angel told the shepherds?
And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
And the way He became our Savior is by taking the judgment we deserved upon Himself. That’s what would eventually happen on the Cross. The apostle Paul explained it this way...
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
Christ lived the perfect life we could never live. Then, on the cross, he exchanged places with us. He absorbed the full wrath of God that we deserved, as if He were a sinner like us, so that we could be free, as if we lived a perfect life like Him.
And the only thing we need to do in return is receive it. Like the gifts many of us will receive on Christmas morning, all we need to do is open up our hands.
Response:
Response:
This Christmas, our church is doing an Advent devotional together on RightNow Media. In it, Pastor Derwin Grey talks about getting a gift for a special person. You know, the type of gift you spend a lot of time thinking about - just-the-right-gift. You even save and sacrifice to buy it. And on Christmas morning, you’re super excited as the one you love opens it. But after they tear the wrapping off the box and hold the gift in their hand, they look at it, then look at you, and say, “What the heck is this? I don’t want this?” Imagine how your heart would break.
All too often, we react to God’s gift of grace the same way. Each Christmas, we break the heart of “the God who loves us.” In our pride, we say, “God, I don’t want this. I don’t want Jesus!” Instead...
We want the physical gifts.
We want the time off from school or work.
We want the bonus check from our employer.
We want the holiday parties.
… But again, we don’t want Jesus.
We’ve made Christmas about so much “other stuff,” but if we’re honest, we could ask, “Is this, really Christmas?”
This year, let’s fix that. Let’s remember that Christmas is all about Jesus. The one who saved us from the judgment we deserved. Doing that may require...
Some of us first honestly asking ourselves, “Does my pride look like Edom’s?”
We may need to ask, “Is my currently final judgment on the same path as Edom’s?”
And if you don’t like the answer, what you can do about it is, humble yourself, turn from your sin, and open up your hands to receive the gift of Jesus Christ. Do that today because tomorrow isn’t promised. Don’t let your pride deceive you. Judgment can come at anytime.
But here’s one more thing to understand from our passage... while Obadiah’s message to Edom was one of judgment, to Israel, it was a message of hope. During this time, Israel was suffering. Edom helped add to that suffering (we’ll see that next week). But the purpose of this prophetic message towards God’s people told them that one day things would be made right. It gave them hope!
Isn’t that the message of Christmas too? It’s the season of hope. My favorite Christmas song is “O Holy Night.” And one of my favorite lines is, “Long lay the world in sin and error pining, till He appeared, and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices!” My friends, our world is weary and there is a community of people (maybe some in here) who need hope! They need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. Good news is rare in our day!
So, maybe your pride doesn’t look like Edom’s. Maybe you’re not worried about judgment because Jesus saved you. But today, God’s reminding you to spread hope. Christmas isn’t solely a time for you to enjoy Jesus. It’s an opportunity for you to share hope with your community.
So, who are you inviting to the Christmas service?
Who do you know needs to hear the good news?
Well, go tell them! Give some one a gift and then tell them about THE GIFT OF JESUS.
Let’s pray...
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