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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy
word.
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, ‘Rise,
let us go against her for battle—See, I will make you small among the nations; you
will be utterly despised.’”
“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?’ Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord.
“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? But how Esau will be ransacked, his hidden treasures pillaged! 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.”
Obadiah 1-7
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks
be to God.
Today we begin to look at the Book of Obadiah who, as we
see within the mere 21 verses in this book, received a vision from the Lord
pertaining specifically to the nation of Edom. Look at the first seven verses
here:
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, ‘Rise, let us go against her for battle—See, I
will make you small among the nations; you will be utterly despised.’”
“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?’ Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord.
“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? But how Esau will be ransacked, his hidden treasures pillaged! 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.” Obadiah 1-7
Unfortunately, we don’t get to know a whole lot about
Obadiah but it’s believed he either lived during the time of Elisha or
Jeremiah. We do know that God thought enough of this man to give him an oracle
of what was to come regarding the nation of Edom. And while the Lord does give
us details about the nation in Obadiah’s day, it’s important to first revisit Edom’s
origins as it directly associates to Israel and provides us insight as to why
God was sending judgment on it.
To find a clue as to where Edom was rooted, we look at
our scripture passage and find it also referred to as Esau, yes, the same Esau
who was born to Isaac and Rebekah, the same Esau who had a brother named Jacob.
You remember the story, right?
Rebekah was carrying twins and Esau was the firstborn
followed closely by Jacob who emerged from the womb clasping his brother’s
heel. It would become an omen of things to come for Rebekah, favoring her younger
son Jacob, devised a ruse that tricked a nearly blind Isaac to give Jacob his
birthright, the birthright that rightfully belonged to Esau. Jacob would go on
to bear the name Israel and have twelve sons who would represent the twelve
tribes of Israel. Esau, after first wanting to kill his brother but then
choosing reconciliation instead, Esau settled in the hill country of Seir,
southeast of Israel proper, and the nation became known as Edom because it was
Esau’s nickname as he was known for making a delicious red stew.
From that point on, there were consistent conflicts that
happened between the Israelites and Edomites, as the Edomites could not get
past their historical heritage and the fact that Israel had taken the birthright
their founding father rightfully deserved. Further, and a point critical to our
passage from Obadiah, the Edomites refused to come to the aid of the Israelites
as the southern kingdom was attacked by the Babylonians. In fact, they gloated
over the misfortune of God’s people, even though they were related to them.
So God was going to send judgment on Edom. We know so
because the first seven verses of Obadiah tell us so, revealing that “an envoy
was sent to the nations”, calling them to rise up for battle against Edom who
the Lord planned to make “small among the nations” and “utterly despised”.
Of course, Edom thought they were bulletproof, that they
were protected from attack because they lived among the “clefts of the rocks”
and made homes “on the heights”. Their pride deceived them into thinking they
were untouchable, even being so bold to ask:
“Who can bring me down to the ground?”
Soon they would learn that the Lord Almighty can reach wherever
and whoever He wants. They would discover that no one is ever out of reach of
the hand of the Lord. For even though they believed they could soar like the
eagles and nest among the stars, the Lord promised He would bring them down. He
would see to it that they were ransacked just as Judah was with all their
hidden treasures pillaged (it’s believed the Edomites concealed their treasures
within the rocky crags).
In the end, Edom would be deceived and overpowered,
victimized and trapped before being ultimately destroyed, finding themselves
forcibly related to their kin to the north through judgment.
Today, I think we have a lot of people who adopt the same
attitude as Edom. These people feel they can do whatever they want to do and
violate whoever they choose to without consequence. Perhaps they would be well
served to take a look at this small book in the Bible that packs a big message,
a message that says no one is beyond the judgment of God, no one who is ever
out of His reach.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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