OH, BAD EDOM
Twelve Voices #5, The Book of Obadiah
Keith O’Connor
Woodland Church
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
(Amos 9:11-12, NLT) “In that day I will restore the fallen house of David. I will repair its damaged walls. From the ruins I will rebuild it and restore its former glory. And Israel will possess what is left of Edom and all the nations I have called to be mine.” The Lord has spoken, and he will do these things.”
(Obadiah 1:1, NLT) “This is the vision that the Sovereign Lord revealed to Obadiah concerning the land of Edom. We have heard a message from the Lord that an ambassador was sent to the nations to say, “Get ready, everyone! Let’s assemble our armies and attack Edom!”
Obadiah means Servant of Yahweh
(Genesis 25:19-26, NLT) “This is the account of the family of Isaac, the son of Abraham. When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean. Isaac pleaded with the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children. The Lord answered Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant with twins. But the two children struggled with each other in her womb. So she went to ask the Lord about it. “Why is this happening to me?” she asked. And the Lord told her, “The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son.” And when the time came to give birth, Rebekah discovered that she did indeed have twins! The first one was very red at birth and covered with thick hair like a fur coat. So they named him Esau. Then the other twin was born with his hand grasping Esau’s heel. So they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.”
· The story moves from the birthright of Esau that he sold in Genesis 25
· To how Esau got the name Edom, meaning red in Genesis 25:30
· To Genesis 27, when the blessing of Jacob was obtained, and how after this, the battle is on between them.
(Deuteronomy 23:7, NLT) “Do not detest the Edomites or the Egyptians, because the Edomites are your relatives and you lived as foreigners among the Egyptians. The third generation of Edomites and Egyptians may enter the assembly of the Lord.”
(Numbers 20:14-17, NLT) “This is what your relatives, the people of Israel, say: You know all the hardships we have been through. Our ancestors went down to Egypt, and we lived there a long time, and we and our ancestors were brutally mistreated by the Egyptians. But when we cried out to the Lord, he heard us and sent an angel who brought us out of Egypt. Now we are camped at Kadesh, a town on the border of your land. Please let us travel through your land. We will be careful not to go through your fields and vineyards. We won’t even drink water from your wells. We will stay on the king’s road and never leave it until we have passed through your territory.”
1. God’s judgment of Edom
(Obadiah 1:1, NLT) “This is the vision that the Sovereign Lord revealed to Obadiah concerning the land of Edom. We have heard a message from the Lord that an ambassador was sent to the nations to say, “Get ready, everyone! Let’s assemble our armies and attack Edom!”
2. The reasons for Edom’s punishment
a. Pride
(Obadiah 1:2-4, NLT) “I will cut you down to size among the nations; you will be greatly despised. You have been deceived by your own pride because you live in a rock fortress and make your home high in the mountains. ‘Who can ever reach us way up here?’ you ask boastfully. But even if you soar as high as eagles and build your nest among the stars, I will bring you crashing down,” says the Lord.”
(Obadiah 1:4, NLT) “even if you soar as high as eagles and build your nest among the stars, I will bring you crashing down, says the Lord.”
(Proverbs 16:18, NLT) “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall”
(James 4:6, NLT) “And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
b. Violence
(Obadiah 1:10-14, NLT) “Because of the violence you did to your close relatives in Israel, you will be filled with shame and destroyed forever. When they were invaded, you stood aloof, refusing to help them. Foreign invaders carried off their wealth and cast lots to divide up Jerusalem, but you acted like one of Israel’s enemies. You should not have gloated when they exiled your relatives to distant lands. You should not have rejoiced when the people of Judah suffered such misfortune. You should not have spoken arrogantly in that terrible time of trouble. You should not have plundered the land of Israel when they were suffering such calamity. You should not have gloated over their destruction when they were suffering such calamity. You should not have seized their wealth when they were suffering such calamity. You should not have stood at the crossroads, killing those who tried to escape. You should not have captured the survivors and handed them over in their terrible time of trouble.”
· It is because they stood by and did nothing to defend Israel (v. 11)
· It is because they not just watched, but participated in the horrible acts that was committed on Israel by foreign enemies (v. 11)
· They gloated over these horrible acts, instead of helping their wounded brother (v. 12)
· They ransacked the city and looted the property of Israel (v. 13)
3. God’s judgments pronounced on Edom
a. Their wealth would be plundered (v. 5-6)
b. Their alliances would be broken (v. 7)
c. Edom’s wisdom would be destroyed (v. 8)
d. Edom’s army would be defeated (v. 9)
4. Edom Destroyed. Israel Restored
(Obadiah 1:15-21, NLT) “The day is near when I, the Lord, will judge all godless nations! As you have done to Israel, so it will be done to you. All your evil deeds will fall back on your own heads. Just as you swallowed up my people on my holy mountain, so you and the surrounding nations will swallow the punishment I pour out on you. Yes, all you nations will drink and stagger and disappear from history. “But Jerusalem will become a refuge for those who escape; it will be a holy place. And the people of Israel will come back to reclaim their inheritance. The people of Israel will be a raging fire, and Edom a field of dry stubble. The descendants of Joseph will be a flame roaring across the field, devouring everything. There will be no survivors in Edom. I, the Lord, have spoken! “Then my people living in the Negev will occupy the mountains of Edom. Those living in the foothills of Judah will possess the Philistine plains and take over the fields of Ephraim and Samaria. And the people of Benjamin will occupy the land of Gilead. The exiles of Israel will return to their land and occupy the Phoenician coast as far north as Zarephath. The captives from Jerusalem exiled in the north will return home and resettle the towns of the Negev. Those who have been rescued will go up to Mount Zion in Jerusalem to rule over the mountains of Edom. And the Lord himself will be king!”
(Obadiah 1:15, NLT) “The day is near when I, the Lord, will judge all godless nations”
(Obadiah 1:21, NLT) “And the Lord Himself will be King”
Growthwork
1. Pride goes before destruction
(Proverbs 16:18) “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall”
2. Love one another – Be your “brother’s keeper”
(Hebrews 13:1) “Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters”
(John 13:34) “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.”
3. God is just and will make all things new
(2 Peter 3:13) “But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness”