Journey Through Obadiah
Many years ago, I was traveling in Jordan, and we were training preachers of the Word of God. It was an amazing time. Before I left the country, the Jordanian pastor who was hosting me said, “I want to show you a few of the sights.” So, he took my father and me one afternoon, and we had an amazing time.
He took us to a famous place known as Petra. I had heard of Petra, of course, for years, but I was not prepared for what I was about to see. When we arrived, there was an enormous rock face with a very small opening, a place to enter in a pathway of sorts. And as we began down that path, through the rock walls that jutted up on both sides, it became obvious that we were entering into a civilization, at least back in history, to a period where it was a major civilization.
That small pathway became almost a highway of sorts, to a place where many people, multitudes, would have walked in their time. There were places to the right and to the left where markets would have been set up, and wares would have been sold. Then we came around a corner, and there in front of us, as high as you could see, was an enormous temple face.
Listen: Journeying through Obadiah
The Setting of Obadiah
I had never seen anything like it in my life. Oh, perhaps I had, because in some old movies, this particular temple face has been used. But I had never been to anything like it. We walked out to the temple, and then when we looked to our right, as far as the eye could see, was a huge rock city. There were people taking rides on donkeys and mules up the side of this rock face up the cliffs.
There were houses and buildings cut out in the face of the rock. It was an amazing experience. I discovered that the place where I was standing was the city, the place that the Book of Obadiah is all about. We have come from our journey through Scriptures to one page. That is right — just one page in your Bible, one little chapter known as the Prophet Obadiah. Let us journey through Obadiah and learn more about this man and God’s message through him.
Overview of Obadiah
What is Obadiah all about? Well, Obadiah is God’s message to a nation known as Edom. These were the people who dwelled in that walled city of Petra. When I realized that, this little book of Obadiah came alive to me. It is an amazing book.
Here is a little background to aid your comprehension. Judah had recently been ransacked by Babylon, but now God is going to deal with Judah’s neighbor, Edom. You may say, “I don’t know the name Edom. Who is that?” The Edomites were the descendants of Esau.
Jacob and Esau, Judah and Edom
You remember Jacob and Esau. Jacob became Judah. Esau became Edom. From the very beginning, Jacob and Esau couldn’t get along. Recall Genesis 25:22, even in their mother’s womb, “the children struggled together within her,” the Bible says. Then Esau hated Jacob for cheating him out of his birthright.
Later, that continued beyond their lifetime when the Edomites refused passage to Israel when they tried to enter Canaan. At one point, Edom even invaded Israel and carried captives away. Now that Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon are ransacking Judah, guess what Edom is doing there? They are standing on the sidelines, applauding. Then they go a step further: they even help round up some who escape to turn them over to the Babylonians.
Edom’s Enduring Hatred of Judah
Edom hated Judah. They hated God’s chosen people. We should pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and we should pray that we are always friends with Israel because those who bless them, God blesses, and those who curse them, God curses. The Edomites are an example of that. And this conflict between these people groups would persist even into the New Testament.
For example, the lion of Jacob is seen in the person of Jesus Christ. Did you know that King Herod who tried to kill baby Jesus was an Edomite? It is the story of two nations. God said, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” (Romans 9:13) That was not the cause of their characters. That was the result of it.
The Message of Obadiah
God saw their heart and the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, were wicked, ungodly men. And why was it? We have now come to the message of Obadiah. Obadiah 15: “For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.”
Here is the Old Testament law of sowing and reaping. What you have done is coming back on you. And God pronounces doom on the nation of Edom. Literally, God wipes them away, and that city is in ruins even today. That area is history today. It is a barren desert wasteland. Why is that? Remember that all sin began with pride — Satan’s pride, then Eve’s pride, then Adam’s pride.
The Sin of Sins — Pride
All of our sin is rooted in pride. Edom’s disobedience and rebellion and wickedness was all rooted in pride. In Obadiah 3, God says to them, “The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?”
You see, the root sin was pride. Oh, there were many fruits that grew out of that. But the sin of sins is human pride. They dwelt high in a rock fortress, this invincible city of Petra. And yet they forgot someone lived in a greater city higher than they lived. And that was the God of heaven.
In verse four, they even see themselves as the eagle. In Eastern symbolism, the eagle was always representative of deity. What arrogance! They said, “We are God.” No, you are not God. And the true God will bring you down. They even ask, “Who will bring me down?” And God answers that with a resounding – I will, I will! “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12)
The Theme of Obadiah
Pride brings destruction. That is what Proverbs 16:18 says. And the Edomites are a classic example of that. The great theme of the Book of Obadiah is the product of pride. What it brings, all the wickedness it brings, and then eventually the judgment that it brings.
Obadiah is the prophet of poetic justice. He is a man who had a glimpse of God and a glimpse of God’s revelation to him that he delivered. And that glimpse was this: you cannot sin and flaunt your sin and get by with it. Now, immediately, we think, well, that is a good message for lost people. Oh, friend, that is a good message for all of us.
I remember years ago one of my favorite Bible teachers, Dr. Frank Sells, saying, “Thank God for everything the Lord uses to humble you.” If God is using something or someone in your life right now to humble you, praise the Lord for that. Stop right now and say, “Thank you, Jesus, for using that person, or using that thing to remind me that I am nothing and You are everything.”
The Choice: Pride or Humility
We sometimes get all high and mighty, don’t we? We get lifted up. Our balloon gets pretty big, and God has to let the air out of it. He has to remind us that He is God and we are not. Friend, no matter where you are, who you are, or what you are dealing with today, you are not God. But there is a God in heaven who works in the affairs of men, who wants to work in your life today, if you will let Him.
We have a choice to make. Will we be like the inhabitants of Petra? Will our life story simply be ruins, history that someone walks through someday and says, “Well, this was interesting, this must have really been something at some time?” Or will you allow your life to humble itself before God and say to the Lord, “Lord, you build me. You make me what you want me to be.”
The only rock cleft I want to dwell in today is the one I want to hide in before the Lord. I want to come to Him who is the rock of my salvation and hide in Him. He is my protector, my provider — He is everything to me. May God help us all today to walk humbly before our God, and to avoid the product of pride.
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