Obadiah

Introduction

It is a time of national pride in America – and I am all for it! Symbols and songs and statements that stir our national pride are seen and heard and read everywhere.

One of the most eloquent statements was written by Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr., on September 12^th – the day after the attack on America. I won’t read it in full, but I would like to quote from it. Speaking to the terrorists, Pitts asks,

"What lesson did you hope to teach us by your coward's attack on our World Trade Center, our Pentagon, us? What was it you hoped we would learn? Whatever it was, please know that you failed.

"Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned your cause. Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve. Did you want to tear us apart? You just brought us together. Let me tell you about my people. We are a vast and quarrelsome family, a family rent by racial, social, political and class division, but a family nonetheless. We're frivolous, yes, capable of expending tremendous emotional energy on pop cultural minutiae -- a singer's revealing dress, a ball team's misfortune, a cartoon mouse. We're wealthy, too, spoiled by the ready availability of trinkets and material goods, and maybe because of that, we walk through life with a certain sense of blithe entitlement. We are fundamentally decent, though -- peace-loving and compassionate. We struggle to know the right thing and to do it. And we are, the overwhelming majority of us, people of faith, believers in a just and loving God.

"You see, the steel in us is not always readily apparent. That aspect of our character is seldom understood by people who don't know us well. On this day, the family's bickering is put on hold.

National pride is running high; I’m all for it… But it needs to be kept in perspective.

For example:

1. In Colorado Springs, Colorado, four men threatened to burn down a mosque.
2. In Irving, Texas, someone fired shots into the Islamic Center.
3. In Chicago, a passerby threatened violence against an Arab man.

This is a troubling aspect our national pride that rises to the surface in moments like this. We need to keep things in perspective.

Obadiah’s prophecy gives you a perspective on national pride. He was dealing with the nation of Edom, the descendants of Esau. They were about to be destroyed on account of their improper national pride:

Obadiah 1:3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; you who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’

Obadiah 1:12 "But you should not have gazed on the day of your brother in the day of his captivity; nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; nor should you have spoken proudly in the day of distress."

"Pride" is mentioned twice in these verses. Edom had a wrong kind of national pride and it would destroy them.

We’re going to see three perspectives on pride: #1 Don’t Let National Pride Deceive You, #2 Don’t Let National Pride Distort You, and #3 Don’t Let National Pride Distract You.

#1 Don’t Let National Pride Deceive You

Edom is the key to this little book, and so we shall have to go back to Genesis to determine the identity of Edom. In Genesis, where we have the record of the generations of Esau, there is this comment: "Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom" (Gen. 36:1). Also this: "Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom. And these are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in mount Seir" (Gen. 36:8–9).

The Edomites were those who were descended from Esau, just as the Israelites are those who are descended from Jacob.

The story of Esau and Jacob is that of twin brothers, sons of Isaac and Rebekah. The boys were not identical twins; actually, they were opposites. The record given back in Genesis 25 begins as Rebekah is about to give birth to these twins:

Genesis 25:22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, "If all is well, why am I like this?" So she went to inquire of the LORD.

Genesis 25:23 And the LORD said to her: "Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger."

Esau was delivered first; he was the older. But Jacob would become the prominent son. Jacob had a spiritual discernment that Esau did not have. Esau was a man of the flesh and did not care for spiritual things. In fact, he so discounted his birthright that he traded it to Jacob for a bowl of soup! He didn’t sell his birthright because he was so hungry that he was about to perish, nor because there wasn’t anything else to eat in the home of Isaac, but because his was a desire of the flesh and he was willing to trade all of his spiritual heritage for a whim of the moment. The man who had the birthright was in contact with God, and he was the priest of his family. He was the man who had a covenant from God. He was the man who had a relationship with God. In effect Esau said, "I would rather have a bowl of soup than have a relationship with God."

This is an illustration of a great truth for believers today. It is a picture of Christians. A believer has two natures within him, and they are struggling with each other and against each other. In Galatians 5:17 Paul says,

Galatians 5:17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

These are the two natures of the believer, the new nature and the old nature. They are opposed to each other. Esau pictures the flesh, the old nature, and Jacob pictures the spirit, the new nature.

That is the background as you begin reading.

Obadiah 1:1 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, saying, "Arise, and let us rise up against her for battle"):

Obadiah is one of the Minor Prophets about whom we know absolutely nothing. His name was a very common one in Israel, and it means "servant of Jehovah."

He received his prophecy in the form of a vision. God revealed to Him that an ambassador from a nation allied with Edom was visiting other nations to convince them to join forces and attack Edom. As you continue reading, you realize that the Lord was allowing these nations to align against Edom in order to accomplish His purpose of destroying them.

Why destroy Edom?

Obadiah 1:2 "Behold, I will make you small among the nations; you shall be greatly despised.

Obadiah 1:3 "The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; you who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’"

It was because of a kind of national pride that God would destroy Edom. "Pride of… heart" is the attitude of a life that declares its ability to live without God.

Edom’s pride came from three sources: Her defenses, her alliances, and her wisdom.

Her defenses are seen in verses three and four:

Obadiah 1:3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; you who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’

The Edomites considered themselves impregnable and invulnerable because they were situated in a region of rugged mountains with high cliffs that protected them from attack. Petra, the major city, could only be entered by a narrow, winding canyon. By "narrow" I mean maybe fifteen feet at its widest. A dozen men could easily defend it against an entire army. Even if the entrance were breached, the Edomites could carry on a successful defense from the mountains. In their culture and at that time it was hard to imagine a more secure spot.

Secure as they were in their high mountain cities, God would bring them down:

Obadiah 1:4 Though you ascend as high as the eagle, and though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down," says the LORD.

Obadiah 1:5 "If thieves had come to you, if robbers by night - Oh, how you will be cut off! - would they not have stolen till they had enough? If grape-gatherers had come to you, would they not have left some gleanings?

Thieves generally leave something behind; grape-gatherers leave gleanings behind. But when God destroyed Edom, it would be complete and thorough.

National pride will deceive you if you trust in your defenses and not in God.

Edom’s alliances were a part of her pride, and these are seen in verses six and seven:

Obadiah 1:6 "Oh, how Esau shall be searched out! How his hidden treasures shall be sought after!

Obadiah 1:7 ^"All the men in your confederacy shall force you to the border; the men at peace with you shall deceive you and prevail against you. Those who eat your bread shall lay a trap for you. No one is aware of it."

Our president is wisely seeking to form global alliances against terrorism. It is necessary if we are to win the new war we are involved in. It is necessary, but it is not trustworthy! The heart of man is deceitful and wicked; alliances are easily broken. Our national pride will deceive us if we trust a global alliance as the answer rather than to ally ourselves squarely with God.

Edom’s wisdom was the final component of her national pride; look at verses eight and nine:

Obadiah 1:8 "Will I not in that day," says the LORD, "Even destroy the wise men from Edom, and understanding from the mountains of Esau?

Obadiah 1:9 "Then your mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that everyone from the mountains of Esau may be cut off by slaughter."

Edom was noted as a center of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding in the ancient world. Located along a notable trade route, Edom absorbed much information from many parts of the world. She was sought out by other nations for counsel and direction.

According to God’s Word,

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

There is a wisdom in the world, but human wisdom is nothing to be proud of. We need the wisdom of God’s Word to counsel and direct us.

National pride in our defenses, our alliances, and our wisdom will deceive us if they are not subordinated to a fear of the Lord.

#2 Don’t Let National Pride Distort You

Obadiah 1:10 "For violence against your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever.

Obadiah 1:11 In the day that you stood on the other side - in the day that strangers carried captive his forces, when foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem - even you were as one of them.

Obadiah 1:12 "But you should not have gazed on the day of your brother in the day of his captivity; nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; nor should you have spoken proudly in the day of distress.

Obadiah 1:13 You should not have entered the gate of My people in the day of their calamity. Indeed, you should not have gazed on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity.

Obadiah 1:14 You should not have stood at the crossroads to cut off those among them who escaped; nor should you have delivered up those among them who remained in the day of distress."

Pride is an attitude but it always gives rise to certain actions and reactions. Edom’s reaction to the Babylonian invasion of Judah and Jerusalem was to rejoice and gloat. They actively betrayed the Jews; they cut-off their possible escape and delivered them to the Babylonians. Then they went in and looted and plundered their cities.

I’ve heard several new "urban legends" involving retribution against local Middle Eastern businessmen because of their supposed rejoicing over the terrorist attack on America. There have been attacks on American citizens because of their ethnic appearance or religious preferences

We need to be careful to not let our renewed sense of national pride distort our biblical values.

#3 Don’t Let National Pride Distract You

Obadiah closed the shortest in the Old Testament by looking ahead beyond even our own time to the future restoration of the nation of Israel. He used the technical phrase, "The Day of the Lord," which describes the Last Days of human history that begin with the darkness of the Tribulation period on earth.

Obadiah 1:15 "For the day of the LORD upon all the nations is near; as you have done, it shall be done to you; your reprisal shall return upon your own head.

Obadiah 1:16 For as you drank on My holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink continually; yes, they shall drink, and swallow, and they shall be as though they had never been."

Obadiah predicted a future judgement by God upon all nations. It will be centered around their respect for "My holy mountain," a reference to Israel and Jerusalem. God judges nations with regard to their respect for Israel.

We may not like it, but our great nation is not the center and focus of biblical or human history. Biblical and human history is the story of God’s plan to redeem a fallen, sinful race of people by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, among them as God in human flesh to be their Savior. To accomplish His plan of redemption God created a new nation through Abraham – the nation of Israel. He made unconditional covenants with Abraham and Abraham’s descendants. Much of what is happening in the world today involves the Jews, Jerusalem, and Israel. As I explained two weeks ago, the attack on America is largely because we are one of Israel’s few allies. Yet I am glad we are her ally, knowing God judges nations with regard to their politics toward His covenant nation.

Obadiah ends with a promise of future blessing upon Israel. Though she was taken captive by Babylon, God would restore her and she would possess all that He had promised.

Obadiah 1:17 "But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

Obadiah 1:18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame; but the house of Esau shall be stubble; they shall kindle them and devour them, and no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau," for the LORD has spoken.

Obadiah 1:19 The South shall possess the mountains of Esau, and the Lowland shall possess Philistia. They shall possess the fields of Ephraim and the fields of Samaria. Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

Obadiah 1:20 And the captives of this host of the children of Israel shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath. The captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad shall possess the cities of the South.

When it says "then saviors shall come," the word "saviors" indicates that Jesus Christ will appoint judges, or co-rulers, to help Him rule and reign. This looks forward, beyond the Church Age, to the reign of Jesus upon the earth – His 1000 year reign known as the Millennium.

I said, "Don’t let national pride distract you," and here is what I’m getting at. You and I are citizens of this great nation, the United States of America. We have rights to defend and responsibilities to perform. But we are first and foremost citizens of heaven; we are first and foremost spiritual citizens. While we cannot know exactly how every historic event furthers or fits into God’s prophetic plan, we know the general outline. We know that we are almost to the end; that the Rapture of the Church could occur at any moment. We know that regardless what nation on earth someone is a citizen of, they are part of either the kingdom of darkness or the kingdom of heaven. Our greatest right and responsibility is to be a part of bringing the Gospel to those in the kingdom of darkness so that they can receive the forgiveness of sins and live forever with God and Jesus in heaven.

To put it simply:

Whatever is happening in or to America, and whatever does happen in or to America as we fight the war on terrorism, we must not become distracted from our primary mission as citizens of heaven.

Conclusion

National pride – I’m all for it! But there is a proper national pride, our patriotism, and there is an improper national pride.

It might interest you to know that the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States flag did not originally contain the words "under God." It wasn’t until June of 1954 that an amendment was made to add the words. Then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower said,

"In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America's heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country's most powerful resource in peace and war."

Eisenhower was a man uniquely familiar with America’s defenses; with America’s alliances; and with America’s wisdom. Yet he accurately declared that "spiritual weapons" are to be preferred.

In our national pride we must look to God as our shield and strength. Now is a time of heightened spiritual hunger – and we have the bread of life to share, the living water to offer.