Obadiah 1-21

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"): 2 "Behold, I will make you small among the nations; You shall be greatly despised. 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? 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. 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? 6 "Oh, how Esau shall be searched out! How his hidden treasures shall be sought after! 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. 8 "Will I not in that day," says the Lord, "Even destroy the wise men from Edom, and understanding from the mountains of Esau? 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. 10 "For violence against your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 17 "But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. 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. 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. 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. 21 Then saviors shall come to Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord's.

In the Book of Obadiah, that only has one chapter, we first learn of Edom's humiliation (vs. 1-9). Next we get a picture of the spiteful behavior of Edom toward God's people (vs. 10-16). The chapter concludes with the gracious promises to Israel; that they shall be restored and reformed, and shall be victorious over the Edomites, and become masters of their land and the lands of others of their neighbors (vs. 17-20), and that the kingdom of the Messiah shall be set up by the bringing in of the great salvation (vs. 21).

The verses that stands out to me today are Obadiah 3, 4 "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? 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 was a prophet from Judah who told of God's judgment against the nation of Edom. Edom's physical location became a metaphor for the proud and haughty spirit that the nation had displayed at the time of Judah's distress. Trusting in its high places and mountainous strongholds, Edom came to believe that no one could bring it to account for its actions. Not only that, Edom had rejoiced over the misfortunes of both Israel and Judah, and yet the Edomites and Jews descended from two brothers?Esau and Jacob (Genesis 25:19-26). But just as these two brothers were constantly fighting, so were Israel and Edom. God pronounced judgment on Edom for their callous and malicious actions toward His people. The Edomites felt secure and they were proud of their self-sufficiency. But they were fooling themselves because there is no lasting security apart from God. In these verses God is not pronounce these harsh judgments against Edom out of vengeance but in order to bring about justice. God is morally perfect and demands complete justice and fairness. The Edomites were simply getting what they deserved. Because they murdered, they would be murdered. Because they robbed, they would be robbed. Because they took advantage of others, they would be used. Don't talk yourself into sin, thinking that "nobody will know" or "I won't get caught." God knows all our sins, and He will be just.

Is your security in objects or people? Ask yourself how much lasting security they really offer. Possessions and people can disappear in a moment, but God does not change. Only He can supply true security.

I pray that you would know true security today.

Proverbs 21:31 (KJV) 

    The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the Lord.

Love in Christ,

Alan J. Schrader