Intro:
1. Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick was the commander of the 6th Army Corps during the Civil War. On May 9, 1864 he was sitting under a tree, making battle plans. He got up and started walking toward his men, a lone Confederate sniper opened fire – the men scattered for cover.
The Maj. Laughed at his men and boasted, “What men! Dodging for single bullets? I tell you they could not hit an elephant at this distance! This now historical record of the account reads:
Before the smile which accompanied these words had departed from his lips…there was a sharp whistle of a bullet, terminating in a dull, soft sound; and he fell slowly and heavily to the earth.” He was killed instantly!
2. Pride gives us a false sense of confidence, but the Bible warns – Pride goes before destruction and the haughty spirit before the fall. The book of Obadiah uses Edom to illustrate this principle.
3. Pride Produces a False sense of Confidence.
Obadiah 1:1-9 (NKJV)
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"):
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.
I. First, the Pride of Edom. 1-9
Obadiah 1:1-9 (MSG)
1 Obadiah's Message to Edom from GOD, the Master. We got the news straight from GOD by a special messenger sent out to the godless nations: "On your feet, prepare for battle; get ready to make war on Edom!
2 "Listen to this, Edom: I'm turning you to a no-account, the runt of the godless nations, despised.
3 You thought you were so great, perched high among the rocks, king of the mountain, Thinking to yourself, 'Nobody can get to me! Nobody can touch me!'
4 Think again. Even if, like an eagle, you hang out on a high cliff-face, Even if you build your nest in the stars, I'll bring you down to earth." GOD's sure Word.
5 "If thieves crept up on you, they'd rob you blind—isn't that so? If they mugged you on the streets at night, they'd pick you clean—isn't that so?
6 Oh, they'll take Esau apart, piece by piece, empty his purse and pockets.
7 All your old partners will drive you to the edge. Your old friends will lie to your face. Your old drinking buddies will stab you in the back. Your world will collapse. You won't know what hit you.
8 So don't be surprised"—it's GOD's sure Word!— "when I wipe out all sages from Edom and rid the Esau mountains of its famous wise men.
9 Your great heroes will desert you, Teman. There'll be nobody left in Esau's mountains.
A. First, the Declaration. 1
1. Who is Involved.
a. Obadiah – one who worships or serves Yahweh.
(1.) An Israelite who was chief in the household of King Ahab (1Ki 18:3). Amid great spiritual degeneracy he maintained his fidelity to God, and interposed to protect The Lord's prophets, an hundred of whom he hid at great personal risk in a cave (1Ki 4, 1Ki 13). Ahab seems to have held Obadiah in great honour, although he had no sympathy with his piety (1Ki 5, 1Ki 6, 1Ki 7). The last notice of him is his bringing back tidings to Ahab that Elijah, whom he had so long sought for, was at hand (1Ki 9-16). "Go," said Elijah to him, when he met him in the way, "go tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here."
(2.) A chief of the tribe of Issachar (1Ch 7:3).
(3.) A descendant of Saul (1Ch 8:38).
(4.) A Levite, after the Captivity (1Ch 9:16).
(5.) A Gadite who joined David at Ziklag (1Ch 12:9).
(6.) A prince of Zebulun in the time of David (1Ch 27:19).
(7.) One of the princes sent by Jehoshaphat to instruct the people in the law (2Ch 17:7).
(8.) A Levite who superintended the repairs of the temple under Josiah (2Ch 34:12).
(9.) One who accompanied Ezra on the return from Babylon (Ezra 8:9).
(10.) A prophet, fourth of the minor prophets in the Hebrew canon, and fifth in the LXX. He was probably contemporary with Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Of his personal history nothing is known.
b. Lord God.
(1) We see God in His Sovereignty.
Lord – Adonai, speaking of a Master who has the right to expect absolute obedience from His creation. Adonai is the Sovereign master, ruler, owner, or superintendent of the planet. Isa. 6:1-5
Allen, “God was moving among men, working toward the accomplishment of his sovereign will and making the wrath of men, to praise Him (Psa.76:10). The God who made Cyrus his anointed king and Nebuchadnezzar his servant (Jer.43:10). He is presented as using, as the instruments of His ire nations who evidently and grievances of their own against Edom.”
“The dual thrust of verse 1 indicates two levels at which human history moves. The Lord is the ultimate mover, but there is also an international political alliance, motivated only by callous self-seeking (vv.5-7). Even nations raised up by such base motives serve the overriding purposes of a God who sovereignty shapes human affairs through countless envoys of his own (Psa.104:4). The nations are deaf to this realm in which they serve unconsciously (Isa. 45:4-7).” [Armerding]
(2) We also see God in His Self-Existence.
God – it is Yahweh usually translated LORD. It speaks of his eternal, self-existence. The I AM THAT I AM. While Adonai focus on obedience; our response to Yahweh should be one of dependence. Ex. 3:14
Pride refused to give God obedience and always has a dependence upon one’s self. Real humility is demonstrated by obedience to and dependence upon God.
c. Edom.
• 1. A name of Esau, possibly on account of his being covered with red hair
• Gen 25:25
Gen 25:30
Gen 36:1
Gen 36:8
Gen 36:19
• 2. A name of the land occupied by the descendants of Esau
• It extended from the Elanitic Gulf to the Red Sea, and was also called IDUMEA
o Gen 32:3
Gen 36:16
Gen 36:17
Gen 36:21
Jer 40:11
• Noted for its wise men
o Ob 1:8
• Sins of
o Ob 1:10-14
• Prophecies concerning
o Jer 25:21-23
Jer 27:1-11
Dan 11:41
• See EDOMITES
• FIGURATIVE of the foes of Zion
o Isa 63:1
• Wilderness of
o 2Ki 3:8
Nave's Topical Bible: A Digest of The Holy Sciptures.
Phillips, “The prophecy was directed against Edom. This little country bordered Judah in the north, ran south all the way to the Gulf of Aqaba, and bordered the desert in the east. Between 20 to 30 miles wide and about 100 miles long. Edom was a wild, rugged, mountainous, and almost inaccessible land.
Its central area was marked by red sandstone cliffs that towered as high as 5,000 ft above sea level. Its deep ravines were easily defended…It’s major cities were Bozrah in the north, Teman in the south, and Sela [Petra] in the center. No country was more bitter and hostile toward Judah that Edom.”
d. A Messenger – some sort of Ambassador.
CBL, “An envoy may refer to a previous message or to someone sent to the nations to alert them to an involvement against Edom, a dual thrust, indicating two levels at which history moves – the human and divine. God is the ultimate Mover who uses countless envoys of his own to shape human history (Psa. 104:4)
e. The Nations – notice it does not say all the nations.
“The nations, is the standard biblical term for the larger national entities of western Asia and northeast Africa.” [Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary]
Probably a coalition of neighboring Arab tribes…
Baker, “The nations that had a part in destroying the Edomites included the Nabateans, and the Romans. This points up a truth seen throughout much of the Bible: God sovereignty employs nations to accomplish His will on earth.”
2. What is Inacted.
a. Obadiah gets Special revelation from God.
a vision – suggests that the prophet saw something which he communicated and recorded in words. Therefore this book has Divine authority behind it, as does all the Bible.
b. The Lord thus sends a messenger and message to the Nations, to stir-up judgment against Edom for her pride.
Finley, “As the prophecy unfolds, it becomes clear that this council of war is future to Obadiah. He views the assembly in his vision and reports on it as though it has already happened using the prophetic perfect. However at the end of verse 7 [“shall lay a trap”] and then in vv. 8-9 he returns to regular means for the presentation of future events.”
Trans: So we have a Declaration by God, through human instruments, that Edom, because of her pride is going to be destroyed. The lesson we can learn from this verse is:
(1) The major lesson of this book – God hates pride!
(2) Like Obadiah’s name suggests, we should all be involved in worshipping and serving God.
(3) We should acknowledge God as Adonia. He is our Master, Lord, and we should determine to live in obedience to His will.
(4) We should see Him as the Eternal, Self-existent One who is worthy of our total dependence upon his sufficiency to take care of us and keep all His promises.
(5) We should learn that God is Sovereignly working out His perfect plan among the nations.
Con:
1. Lets push aside our Pride.
2. Health-food promoter J. I. Rodale, who created magazine Prevention, made an appearance on The Dick Cavett Show in the late 60s.
He was confidently boasting abut his physical well-being. He said, “The doctors had given me 6 months to live – 30 years ago! But because of the food that I eat, I will live to be a hundred.”
He no sooner got the words out of his mouth when he slumped over. Dick Cavett laughed thinking he was joking. But he was stone dead!
Pride boasts in something other then God alone and that is always dangerous…
Johnny Palmer Jr.
www.strugglingthruscriptures.ning.com
www.blogtalkradio.com/strugglingthruscriptures
