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So, If y'all are joining in for the first time, we are going through a study on the minor prophets and we started a couple weeks ago and we took two weeks in the book of Amos and admittedly, with fear and trepidation on my part, going into Old Testament minor prophets but I am enjoying the study of it so much that this week, I had planned to preach on Joel because I was avoiding Hosea. The truth and then I figured that Joel was probably later and not earlier so I didn't want to not go chronologically and so I decided to do Micah and today, we're going do Obadiah. I've been studying all of the minor prophets at the same time. If it if that's not evident, They all reinforce one another. They have slightly different audiences that I think we can if the shoe fits, wear, right?
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Each of these, whether it's to the land of Edom or Gaza or Israel or Judah but Obadiah does not have a whole lot of personal biographical information in it and it is a dark cloud of impending judgment. That's what it is. There is a silver lining sort of in the middle towards the end, and there's one at the very end I think, but it's a dark cloud of impending judgment. Shortest book in the Old Testament. Last week, we went way long.
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This week, we'll see. This is the vision of Obadiah. That's all the information we have about him here. He's mentioned elsewhere but that's about as much as you're going to get about Obadiah. It might be that he's writing this book in the eight hundreds BC, and it might be he's writing about five eighty seven BC because the circumstances that he describes are either one of those times would fit it but we don't really know.
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We do know it's holy writ, right? It's scripture and we should pay attention to it. So, this is the vision of Obadiah. Thus, says the Lord God concerning Edom. Now, I mentioned Edom in Amos and I mentioned that usually when the name Edom comes up, that's Esau's line.
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So, from Esau down, the Edomites are almost always in scripture, the bad guys. When they show up, you know that they're going to be contrary to whatever it is that God is doing or trying to do. Whether they are well off, financially, or not, they are usually fairly aggravated with the people of God. The vision of Obadiah. Thus, says Lord God concerning Edom.
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We have heard a report from the Lord. We, Obadiah, I think he's using the royal we. He just says, we have heard a report from the Lord and an envoy has been sent among the nations. So, Obadiah is getting the word from the Lord that the envoy is already being sent out from other nations around Edom. Arise, the Lord says, and let us go against her, the her there is Edom.
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It's a message of impending judgment specifically for Edom, for battle. So God has made the decree and the nations are rising up against Edom. So this is the kingdom of Edom in yellow down here. It lasted roughly the thirteenth century BC all the way up until one twenty five BC, so that's a pretty long reign of a kingdom. They were eventually defeated by the Hasmoneans.
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Those are the intertestamental Jewish body. Right? The Maccabees, the Hasmoneans. That's happening between Malachi and Matthew in the four hundred years intertestamental silence. So, the kingdom of Edom is overcome eventually and the the prophecy that Obadiah is going to give and that Amos gave does come true.
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Spoiler alert. Okay? It's a prophecy though so it's on the front side. Edom built their houses high up in the rocks. It's kind of a pretty place.
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This is just a ravine, a cat, a a canyon, but this red area over here like the yellow area before, it shows. It's a pretty big kingdom. It's on the other side of the Jordan, South Of Jerusalem, South Of Judah, and East over that way. Behold, God says, I will make you small among the nations. You are greatly despised.
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Hey, welcome to church. Does Edom look small in the yellow there? No. It's way bigger than anything else near it. And if you take this map, it's even bigger than that, you know.
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But the arrogance of your heart has deceived you, Edom. You have great territory, and you're doing well financially, economically, and in battle, you're doing well. But your arrogance in your heart is what has deceived you. Now, we know universally shown throughout all Old Testament pericopes. All throughout the Old Testament, we see that God resists the proud and he gives grace to the humble.
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Then, we see it echoed in the New Testament three different times. God resists the proud but he gives grace to the humble and the Edomites are proud, arrogant folk. They trust in, well, let's just let him let's let Obadiah talk. You who live in the clefts of the rock, they literally live lived up above the plains in the mountains into cave dwelling places and built their homes in that way. You live in the loftiness of your dwelling place literally, but he's using this literally and figuratively here, this is a poem.
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In the loftiness of your dwelling place, who say in your heart, who will bring me down to earth? That's pretty bold. But they felt like we've got the fortress, we've got we've got our place, and it's a select place. Nobody can approach us. We have the high ground.
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We are fine. Nothing's gonna bring us down. Though you build high like the eagle, though you set your nest among the stars, from there, I will bring you down. And this declares the Lord. So to be opposed to the Lord God Almighty, that's not a good position to be in, but we know that he resists the proud, he gives grace to the humble.
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We know Edom is displaying pride right here and they have since the beginning. Remember, Esau and Jacob, right? That whole deal. You can go back to Genesis and read that if you want to. I will bring you down declares the Lord.
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If thieves came to you, if robbers came in by night, oh, how you'll be ruined. Listen to that little aside. Oh, yeah. It's bad. Have you all ever been robbed?
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It's terrible. We've had two cars stolen. Yeah. That's terrible. One in Central America, one in Mexico.
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Just awful. It's a terrible feeling. If thieves came to you, if robbers by night, we had somebody break into our house in the middle of the night one time. Tanya was in the shower, I was in the bed. Broke in, stole all of our stuff, and it is a terrible, terrible feeling.
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They stole my hat, which was full of wallet, keys, everything else, you know, and her pocketbook, passport, credit cards, all the stuff. If the starter had been working on the Suburban, they would have stole the Suburban. It wasn't, so they didn't. Key was left in the ignition. They didn't know that you had just hit it with a hammer and it'll be fine.
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If thieves broke in by night, if robbers came in, oh, how you'll be ruined. Would they not though steal only until they had enough? They didn't steal everything in our house. They just stole the quickest stuff they could get a hold of. This, would they not steal only till they had enough?
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This is not utter ruin. It's aggravating, but it's not utter ruin. If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleanings? They're going to miss a few grapes, you know. Oh, how Esau will be ransacked.
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Obadiah is delivering the word of the Lord. You've set yourselves up against the most high and you are going to fall and it's going to be a great fall when you do. So, if you remember Sarah and Abraham, Abraham, Abraham gets the promise of God that he will bear a son or be a son of promise and so he and Sarah are going to bear a son but when that didn't happen, he took matters into his own hands and he and Sarah even decided Hagar would probably be the way this works. So, rather than believe God's promise, they trusted in the way of man and Ishmael and Ishmaelites were born out of Abraham and Hagar. But God was true on his promise and Isaac did come along and Isaac marries Rebecca and they have Esau and Jacob and you remember the story about the two brothers.
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Esau is older but he sells his birthright for a pot of stew. Angry about it ever since. He passes that down to his kids and it's been Hatfields and McCoys since the very time of that blessing but God had the line of promise that was going to go through Jacob AKA also known as Israel, right? So, this is where it is and Esau's people were the Edomites and Jacob's people were the Israelites. Oh, how Esau will be ransacked and his treasures, his hidden treasures will be searched out.
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There's not going to be anything left. All the men allied with you will send you forth to the border. Now, this is an this is showing us what's happening with Edom or with Esau. Esau's people. Edom has allied with the allied with the nations around them and he's saying, you think that your military alliances are going to protect you.
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You think that you're good? All of the men that are allied with you are going to send you forth to the border first. You're going to be ones in line of battle first. You eat them and the men who are at peace with you will deceive you and they will overpower you. This is what's going to happen thus saith the Lord.
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They who eat your bread will set an ambush for you. So, you trust in in your military might, you're trusting in your secure habitation, and you're trusting in your alliances that you've made, but those who eat your bread will set an ambush for you. There's no understanding in him. That's there's no understanding in your in your alliance buddies. They don't get it.
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I love the King James version for some reason on this. I don't know why I memorized this a long time ago, but it sticks in my head. All the men of the confederates thy confederacy have brought thee even unto the border. The men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee and prevailed against thee and they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee. There's none understanding in him.
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Goodness gracious. This sounds like bad news if you're an Edomite, right? Well, not on that day, declares the Lord. Will I not on that day, declares the Lord, destroy the wise men from Edom and the understanding from the Mountain Of Esau. Will I not do that?
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Then your mighty men will be dismayed, oh Teman, and if you're wondering who Teman is, he is Esau's grandson from Genesis 36. These are the chief of the sons of Esau, son of Eliphaz, firstborn of Esau, the chief Teman, that's Teman. Then your mighty men will be dismayed, oh Teman, so that everyone may be cut off from the Mountain Of Esau by slaughter. This sounds awful, especially for a powerful nation that's trusting in all of their military might and everything else. It you're coming down.
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So that everyone may be cut off from the Mountain Of Esau by slaughter because why? Now, if you remember from Amos, we had an oracle against Edom from Amos. Probably could be around the same time. It's not certain of that but this oracle against Edom has the announcement of judgement and then it has the reason and then it has a punishment. That's what the color code was for the last couple weeks.
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The announcement of judgement and then the reason and then the punishment and so, in this one, he's now given the reason. He was saying, this is going to happen. That's the announcement of judgement and now he's saying the reason is because of the violence to your towards your brother, Jacob. Now, these are not literally Jacob and Esau. These are their people.
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This is the line of both. Because of your violence, Edomites towards the Israelites. Amos says this, because he pursued his brother with the sword and he literally did that as his brother but then his people did that forever after that and stifled his compassion, did not care about his own brother. His anger also tore continually, and he maintained his fury forever even throughout his whole line. So I'll send fire upon Teman, there's his grandson again, and it will consume the citadels of Basra.
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That's from Amos, but Obadiah says, because of your violence towards your brother Jacob, you'll be covered with shame, and you'll be cut off forever. This is the announcement and the reason behind it. On that day that you stood aloof standing back and watching what was happening on the day that strangers carried off the wealth of Israel. Now, this could have been immediately after that Babylonian captivity 586, right right around in there, you know. Around that time when Babylon was coming and taken everything.
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It says, you stood back and you didn't protect your brother. You didn't take care of him. You've declared him as an enemy even when outsiders, even outsiders like Babylon, right? Came in. Can y'all see family stuff going on in this?
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Anybody who has more than one child? I only have one but if you see more than one child and and this plays out so often, it's like, I'm just going to sit back. But you know what? You're supposed to protect your little brother. I'm the bigger brother.
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I'm supposed to protect my little brother. Now, we might fight like cats and dogs, but if somebody else messes with my brother, that's a big deal. And it was supposed to be a big deal to the Edomites when somebody messing with the Israelites. On the day that strangers were carrying off Israel's wealth and foreigners entered his gates and they cast lots to divide up Jerusalem, you too were as one of them. You were complicit with them and you know better.
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Don't gloat over your brother's day, the day of his misfortune. Don't sit back and think he got just what's coming to him. That sorry joker stole my birthright. And don't rejoice over the sons of Judah in their in the day of their destruction. You're not supposed to be happy that he's getting his comeuppance and notice that God is giving Israel his chosen people their comeuppance for the same reason actually, pride because God resists the proud and he gives grace to the humble.
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Don't be rejoicing. I see you over there smirking and smiling about it that your brother just got a whooping. It shouldn't make you happy. Don't boast in the day of their distress. Don't enter the gate of my people in the day of their disaster and that's what they were doing.
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Edom went in with Babylon to conquer Israel. Oh. That's that's rough. It wasn't like Esau had not been taught. It wasn't like Edom had not been taught.
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The land, the ancestry was huge. It was really important and they knew about the deal that God made with Abraham and Sarah. They knew about it. 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. You don't take advantage of the situation, you know better.
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Don't stand at the fork of the road to cut down their fugitives while they're in a weakened state. Don't take advantage of that weakened state. I know you're always aggravated with them, and don't imprison their survivors in their day of distress. Now, right here, we hit the end of kind of a session. He's telling them what they ought to have done and they ought to do.
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It's forecasting what's coming. Right? He he's saying, you're going to do this but don't do it. Right? You're going to do, don't do it.
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Don't be a part of it. Don't have anything to do with this. Don't do this. And then in 15, you would think it would be that the judgment of God is going to fall on Edom. He's already forecast that.
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He's already given the reason for that and punishment would be certainly the thing but this little hinge right here seems odd upon first reading especially. We know that Edom's bad guys when we started reading this. We see what they've done and what they're going to do and he's given them a direct command not to do it and they're going to do it anyway. For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations. Oh, it's not just Edom and the day of the Lord for Israel was coming, right?
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That was coming the day of their downfall was coming. The day of the Lord draws near on all the nations. That's a slightly different shift in tone. The judgment of God is coming on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you.
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You proud people who are taking over other places and lands and who are taking advantage of their calamity in their day of distress. You are subjugating people and oppressing people. Amos would say the rich are oppressing the poor, and he's specifically talking about the the powerful militarily, economically are taking advantage of the one in a weakened state. As you have done, it'll be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head.
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Now, this is a biblical concept of sowing and reaping. You know, that's just the way that it works and it's not karma. It's not the same thing as karma. But it has a little bit of that sound, doesn't it? You knew better and you did it anyway for your own benefit and that's not going to stand before almighty God.
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God being almighty and you setting yourself against him. That's not a good thing because just as you drank on my holy mountain, all the nations will drink continually and they'll drink and they'll swallow and become as if they had never existed. Almighty God raises up kingdoms and then kingdoms fall, and the cycle usually involves getting too big for your britches. Getting proud and not being open handed and not being a good neighbor, helpful. This remind me of Romans 13.
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Actually, if there's not a good place to break this, I just use three and four. Remember when it talks but there's no authority on earth except for that which is ordained by God. And when you're living under Nero like Paul was when he wrote this, this time period, rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority of outside influence? Then do what is good and you'll have praise from the same for it's it, the powers that be is a servant of God to you for good.
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But if you do what's evil, be afraid For it does not bear the sword for nothing. For it it government is a servant of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. In this case, God was using the Babylonians or the Assyrians or any group of the big cats around the little mice, Right? New Testament stuff, that is speaking directly to Christians under an oppressive Roman regime. He said, just keep your head down, make it your goal to live a quiet simple life, share the gospel, and live with it.
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Don't go against it. You don't have to rise up against it. Micah, oh gracious. Micah is so good. Micah six eight fits into any conversation.
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But on Mount Zion, there will be those who escape and it will be holy. Did I mention there's one silver lining? That's it. There will be those who escape on Mount Zion. This is the place right outside of Jerusalem, right outside the old city, right there where the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost, right where the church has its birth, right there near the cross of Calvary on Mount Zion.
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There will be those who escape and it will be holy, completely of God, set apart, consecrated, and the house of Jacob will possess their possessions. What? They're losing and what you're taking from them is going to come back to them. This is the only silver lining I saw. Now, I think the last line might be two but we're four verses away from that.
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On Mount Zion, there will be those who escape. And who are they? The humble. God resists the proud and he gives grace to the humble. Then the house of Jacob will be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame, but the house of Esau will be a stubble.
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You're going down, eat them, and they'll set them on fire and consume them so that there will be no survivor of the whole house of Esau. Why? Because they continued in their pride, and the Lord has spoken. Almighty God has spoken. For those of the Negev will possess the Mountain Of Esau and those of the Shephelah, really really good land, the Philistine Plain, and also possess the territory of Ephraim and the territory of Samaria and Benjamin will possess Gilead and those names and places may not mean much to you at all but God is saying, there will be a great reversal.
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The enemies of God will come down in their pride and those who are humble before him and trusting in him will be raised up 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 the Sepharad will possess the cities of the Negev and the deliverers will ascend Mount Zion to judge the Mountain Of Esau and the kingdom will be the Lord's. Okay, the kingdom will be the Lord's, I think is another silver lining, right? How is it that we are going to arrive at the place of the kingdom of God? It's gotta be through humility. It has to be.
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It's the only way. Humbly accepting the way that God has made and not persisting in our own humanity which we see over and over. In Amos, there were seven nations plus one, right? And all of em were guilty. Roman says that all of us are guilty.
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No, there's not one that's without sin, right? So, we are all guilty but we can agree with God about that sin and humility and he forgives it. He brings us out of the kingdom of darkness which is every kingdom of this Earth and into the kingdom of light. So, takeaways from the book of Obadiah. Enemy of God is not a position to be envied.
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Can we all agree on that? So, if we know the enemy of God is the one who is proud, then, let's say, humble ourselves. Let's humble ourselves. I'll get to that in a minute. To be arrogant is not a good thing.
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I think we lift up pride and we in English, there's a kind of pride where we say, that's good pride and that's bad pride. School pride's alright. Not so certain about that. I think we've got a really overactive sense of team. Right?
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And so, to be arrogant though is just not a good thing. To be proud is setting yourself in opposition to almighty God. Therefore, don't be so high and mighty. That's pretty good advice. Don't be too big for your britches.
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Trust your wife when she says, You're getting too big for your britches. Security in your earthly wealth is illusory. I haven't done any grammar all day. Hey, illusory implies a false impression based on a deceptive resemblance or faulty observation or influenced by your emotions that prevent a clear view. Think about that.
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When you're sitting pretty and economically everything's fine and you've got a secure place and you've got your fortress, that's an illusion because unless the Lord builds a house, they labor in vain who build it, right? Trust in the Lord alone because the kingdom is his. For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations. So, as New Testament believers, our mandate, they're our commission, our great commission is based on this. The day of the Lord draws on all the nations.
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Pontata Ethne is all the nations and that is the post, that's the, those are the folks that we're supposed to be presenting the gospel, teaching, baptizing, teaching them to be all that I've commanded, you baptize and disciple in the nations because the day of the Lord approaches on all the nations. It's not just the folks surrounding first century Israel. For those who choose by pride to remain enemies of the Lord, there will be no survivor. That's just the way that Obadiah puts it and he doesn't say anything about where he came from or what he did and the Bible doesn't have to but thus saith the Lord. He carried forward his message faithfully.
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Probably around the same time as Jeremiah. There's some real close similarities between the two. It sounds like it's about that time. This is this is something to pay attention to. If there's a place where you're feeling like you're secure because you've done it for yourself, I'd say be careful, lest you fall.
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Now, I'm going go. That's the end of Obadiah. I got two minutes. Here we go. This is my probably my favorite paragraph in the whole New Testament and it preaches so well and so easily.
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If you if you get a chance to memorize one paragraph, I think this is a really helpful one because the whole Bible really comes down to pride and humility. When it comes down in the end, the love of God is available for the humble. If you resist that love and your pride, God will let you. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God so that he may exalt you at the proper time. Having cast all your anxiety on him because he cares about you, be sober and be alert.
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You do have an adversary. The adversary is the prosecuting attorney. He knows the list of charges and you're guilty. But you've been declared innocent, okay? Be sober, be on alert, your adversary, the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
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So, resist him. James says, if you resist him, he'll flee. Greater is he that's in you than he who's in the world. So resist him. Firm in your faith.
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Knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brothers and sisters who are in the world, don't feel like the lone ranger. After you've suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you into his eternal glory in Christ. He will himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
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Would you stand? I'm going invite the band back up. And we're going to sing one more to the only king forever
