DELIVERANCE: God Takes Care of His Own
We are going to look at the shortest and smallest book of the Old Testament. In terms of all the books in the Bible, Obadiah is #4 by word count:
#1 3rd John with 219 words
#2 2nd John with 245 words
#3 Philemon with 335 words
#4 Obadiah with 440 words
#5 Jude with 461 words
What is Obadiah about? Deliverance.
PRONOUNCEMENT (VERSE 1a)
OBADIAH 1a: “The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Sovereign LORD says about Edom– We have heard a message from the LORD: An envoy was sent to the nations to say,”
Obadiah makes it very clear in the first part of verse 1 that everything he is about to share is from God. None of what he is about to say are his ideas. None of what he will share are his opinions. Every word he shares in these 21 verses are from God. How does he let us know that?
First, Obadiah says that he has had a vision. The word that Obadiah uses, chazown, sounds like something you might order at a pizza place, but is actually an important word. The word means divine communication. Obadiah received divine communication from God and is relaying it to us.
Second, Obadiah points out that the One giving this message is in charge. He is the Sovereign Lord. He is the “Lord God” (ESV, KJV). He is the one in charge of the Universe and everything in it and we had better take note when He speaks. This is an authoritative Word from God.
Third, Obadiah says that he has heard the message given to a messenger or ambassador of the Lord. Obadiah is not speaking his words. Obadiah is not sharing his attitudes or what he thinks will happen, but rather he is reporting what the messenger from God has pronounced to the nations.
Who is this prophecy given to? I want you to notice that this prophecy is not even directed to Israel. It’s not directed to God’s people directly. Now, God’s people are involved, but the warning or the message from God is for the people of Edom who are the descendants of Esau. If you will remember, in Genesis 25, Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau. Jacob was the son through whom the nation of Israel came and Esau was also blessed with many descendants (Genesis 36). Genesis 25:30 shares with us Esau’s nickname was Edom and Genesis 36:43 states directly, “This was Esau the father of the Edomites.” This prophecy is directed to the descendants of Esau who live in the area outside of Israel to the southeast.
PRIDE (VERSES 1b-16)
We know that this small book was a message from God to the descendants of Esau sent by His messenger Obadiah. What does Obadiah say? Obadiah’s message to the Edomites is centered around pride and how it will be their downfall.
OBADIAH 1b-16: “Rise and let us go against her for battle”– 2 “See, I will make you small among the nations; you will be utterly despised. 3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’ 4 Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD. 5 “If thieves came to you, if robbers in the night– Oh, what a disaster awaits you– would they not steal only as much as they wanted? If grape pickers came to you, would they not leave a few grapes? 6 But how Esau will be ransacked, his hidden treasures pillaged! 7 All your allies will force you to the border; your friends will deceive and overpower you; those who eat your bread will set a trap for you, but you will not detect it. 8 “In that day,” declares the LORD, “will I not destroy the wise men of Edom, men of understanding in the mountains of Esau? 9 Your warriors, O Teman, will be terrified, and everyone in Esau’s mountains will be cut down in the slaughter. 10 Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever. 11 On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them. 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. 13 You should not march through the gates of my people in the day of their disaster, nor look down on them in their calamity in the day of their disaster, nor seize their wealth in the day of their disaster. 14 You should not wait at the crossroads to cut down their fugitives, nor hand over their survivors in the day of their trouble. 15 “The day of the LORD is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head. 16 Just as you drank on my holy hill, so all the nations will drink continually; they will drink and drink and be as if they had never been.”
The Edomites have a lot of arrogance in their hearts and they have much pride. As we read these verses, I believe we are to look at the Edomites and their attitudes and see if any of those attitudes are reflected in us. Do we think like them? Do we act like them? Do we have the same emotions as them?
We find in verses 3-4 that they are prideful in their location. The Edomites actually carved their cities and villages right into the land and into the rocks. This made them difficult to conquer. The whole land was steep mountains and dangerous valleys. It was desert with little water. It was an extreme place. Feeling secure or confident in ourselves can certainly bring pride and make us think we don’t need God. The message from God said that He would bring them down.
We find in verses 5-6 that the Edomites were prideful because of their wealth. All the trade routes for the region went through their land and they controlled it. They enjoyed wealth with very little effort.
Wealth can certainly bring pride and make us think we don’t need God.
The message from God said that they would be conquered and they would lose all their wealth.
We find in verse 7 that Edom felt good and secure because of the allies the nation had. It is true that we can surround ourselves with friends and family that prop us up, but the wrong kind of friends can influence us away from God and not challenge us to live righteously. People around us can make us prideful in ourselves. The message from the Lord indicated that the very people that Edom trusted would turn on them.
We find in verses 8-10 that as a nation they also trusted in their wise teachers and in their armies. In the time that would come, God says to the Edomites that no wise teaching and none of their armies would be able to protect them. Even the remotest parts of Edom would have trouble. Education or skills or belief in ourselves can definitely lead to us not relying on God. The message from God said that the whole nation would suffer defeat.
We find in verses 11-16 that not only had the Edomites been infected with pride, but that pride had led them to mistreat the People of Israel. The people of Edom loved that Israel was in distress and they celebrated it. Gloating while other people suffer is a sin. Proverbs 24:17-18 says, “Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice, 18 or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him.” Not only did the Edomites celebrate when Israel was suffering, but from the way Obadiah tells it, the Edomites took an active role in rounding up survivors and handing them over to their enemies. They helped the enemies of Israel plunder and kill and enslave.
APPLICATION: What does this Biblical passage have to do with us?
The overwhelming message from this first part of Obadiah is that the pride of the Edomites has led them to act sinfully and mistreat others on purpose. They feel they are better than others and therefore have acted accordingly. Pride is leading to their downfall as a nation.
What does the Bible say about pride? A lot actually!
Psalm 10:4, “In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.”
Proverbs 11:2a, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace”
Proverbs 13:10, “Pride only breeds quarrels,”
Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Proverbs 29:23a, “A man’s pride brings him low”
Romans 12:16, “Do not be proud”
1 Peter 5:5, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble”
When there is pride in us, God will work to discipline it out of us. Pride leads to us mistreating others. Pride leads to attitudes that draw us away from God. Pride leads us to accept sin in our lives as normal. Pride comes out in our words and how we act. Pride is a sin. Pride is the source of racism, unforgiveness, workaholism, arguments, self-absorption, abortion, and so many other sins of which we need to rid ourselves. This is why pride needs to be constantly checked in our lives because it leads to so many other sins which compound in our lives.
Believe it or not, the message from Obadiah to Edom is not finished. Obadiah outlines the pride of the Edomites and how that will be their downfall. He outlines how they gloated over Israel when they had problems and this will be judged by God. Obadiah finishes out his short vision with the promise that God makes. The promise is that Edom will surely go away, but God’s People, His People, will remain and will be victorious in all things. God promises, in the last part of Obadiah, “I will take care of my people!”
PROMISE (VERSES 17-21)
OBADIAH 17-21: “But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy, and the house of Jacob will possess its inheritance. 18 The house of Jacob will be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame; the house of Esau will be stubble, and they will set it on fire and consume it. There will be no survivors from the house of Esau.” The LORD has spoken. 19 People from the Negev will occupy the mountains of Esau, and people from the foothills will possess the land of the Philistines. They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria, and Benjamin will possess Gilead. 20 This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan will possess the land as far as Zarephath; the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the towns of the Negev. 21 Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will be the LORD’s.”
The People of Israel, who are to be marked by safety, salvation, holiness, abundance, unity, and the presence of God will have victory over the Edomites. Edom will not win. Pride will not win. Those who are against God will not win. God wins. God’s People win. We see in history that all this came true. In 125 BC, what we call the time between the testaments, the Jewish leader and high priest John Hyrcanus led a campaign and conquered the Edomites. Everything that Obadiah saw 100% came to pass in verifiable history.
I love the two ways in which God promises “deliverance” for us in this last part of Obadiah.
In verse 17, God promises that, “on Mount Zion will be deliverance.” What does that mean? Mt. Zion is the nickname for Jerusalem. Mt. Zion is a poetic way in the Bible of talking about the People of God who are part of the Kingdom of God. Mt. Zion is a poetic way in the Bible of talking about where God dwells and describes all of God’s People, including us!
Where God dwells, there is deliverance.
With God’s people, there is deliverance.
God provides deliverance for those who are in His Kingdom.
God provides for those of us who are believers in Jesus Christ. God provides deliverance for us in this life and in the next. We who are believers in Jesus have everything that God promised in the last part of Obadiah:
Safety: Our souls are kept safe by God and nothing can take us away from Him
Salvation: Salvation of our souls is assured through Jesus Christ and His death on the cross
Holiness: Believers are set aside as God’s People and He claims us as His own.
Abundance: In Him, we are given love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control.
Unity: Believers are connected to each other through the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Victory: Believers are more than conquerors over sin, death, and temptation.
In verse 21, God promises that “Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will be the LORD’s.” The deliverance that God provides will not stay only in Jerusalem but will expand into the rest of the world. They will become deliverers themselves of a kingdom that will never be destroyed.
This says to me that even though people sin with pride, it can be healed and forgiven. Deliverance can come even to those who deal with pride. The message of deliverance is for all of us no matter our sin. God promises that even the Edomites can be redeemed.
I guess in the end we have to decide who we are in the Book of Obadiah.
Are we the people of Edom who rely on ourselves and are so prideful that we keep away from God? Those people are outside of the Kingdom of God and are ruled by pride and everything that comes with it. They are on their own in disastrous days.
Are we the people of Israel who are delivered by God and offer deliverance to others? Those people are inside the Kingdom of God and are ruled by faith in Christ and everything that comes with it. God takes care of them and delivers them in disastrous days.
I know who I am. Who are you?
OBADIAH: AN EXAMPLE OF ALL HUMANITY
Obadiah, “servant of YHWH,” has a vision (chazon… audio/visual) about Edom. His words and vision had lasting implications for the people around Israel and also spoke about trouble for Jerusalem (verse 15).
The prophet was invited some way into the presence of God and was shown a vision of what was to come for Edom. This prophetic book, very small, has lasting implications for the region and an entire group of people (Edom). Our reference for Edom is the famous city of Petra which is a great example of the types of things of which these folks were proud.
> Pride is a key thought in Obadiah.
> The proud King Herod(s) in the New Testament are key as well (see the connection below)
Edomites were related to Israelites in major ways. Edomites are the children of Esau. God is upset with these ‘brothers of Israel.’ We need not forget these are also children of Abraham as are the Hebrews/Israel.
We see that Edom not only stood by as Israel was oppressed and sold into slavery, but these people helped and celebrated the destruction and hardship of Israel. They did not help their brothers in any way shape or form. In fact, they benefitted from the harsh conditions in Israel.
Edomites stood in opposition to God’s plan and covenant with Abraham. This created a problem because God would have blessed them, but they were a ‘bad brother’ instead. This nation (verse 15) would be swept up in the “Day of Yahweh” and will be the final day when sinners meet their doom in the judgment of God. God tells Edom that their deeds will come back to haunt them and their deed will be on their head.
Verse 18 = fire
Verse 18 = flame
Verse 18= stubble
Verse 18= burned and consumed
Verse 18 also says there will be no survivor of the House of Esau.
In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the word “Edom” (without vowels) can be and is rendered in a way to equal the word “human.” It is put in the Septuagint “remnant humanity.” As Acts 15:17 states, these verses can historically speak of Edom linking Edom as an example of humanity in general. Edom was judged and totally destroyed as a nation. So too might humanity be totally destroyed if God is ignored.
Understand Edom was Israel’s brother and also a neighboring nation. So they were judged not just because they grew wicked, but they didn’t love their brother Israel. For this, they were judged. However, at the time of Acts 15, the nation of Edom was gone. Edom had become a type of idiom to represent all of humanity using wordplay.
Isn’t it interesting, that King Herod held the position as Israel’s King under the power of Rome? A man who was said to be the last of the Edomites? Just peruse Scripture and see what befell those people who spurn God and mistreat His people.
Those who mock or mistreat God’s People had better watch out.
Dwelling In Scripture 