July 14, 2024
Obadiah 7-10
“Betrayal of the Highest Order”
Let’s get right in to Obadiah 7-10:
All your allies have driven you to your border;
those at peace with you have deceived you;
they have prevailed against you;
those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you -
you have no understanding.
Will I not on that day, declares the Lord,
destroy the wise men out of Edom,
and understanding out of Mount Esau?
And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman,
so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter.
Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,
shame shall cover you,
and you shall be cut off forever.
Remember, these are words spoken by God through His prophet Obadiah to the nation of Edom. Also remember, this is only one of three instances where a prophetic word of judgment is spoken against someone other than the people of God. So we don’t have to know much to know how bad it is to have God’s prophet condemn you. Has to be a frightening prospect.
When have you been afraid? I’m not talking about spiders or snakes or when someone jumps out at you, saying, “Boo!” I mean legitimately afraid. When was the last time you were afraid?
Last month, Lori and I were returning from visiting our youngest son in Minneapolis. Travel tip…I don’t recommend driving through Chicago. But sometimes it’s unavoidable. Anyway, Sunday afternoon, June 9th, we were driving east on I90, between Rockford and the insanity of Chicago. Four lanes. We were in the third lane. Speed limit was still 70 MPH. I see, in the rearview mirror, a car zipping up in the fast lane, doing at least 75. Traffic is heavy and people are driving wicked crazy. As he speeds past us, the kayak on the roof of the guy’s car comes flying off. Those were frightening moments. Our front left tire ran over the nose of the kayak. A split second
or fraction of an inch sooner or later could have been disastrous. God is good all the time.
When have you been frightened or afraid?
I’m thinking here of Joshua 1:9:
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
That is absolutely terrific counsel. When faced with hardship, be strong and courageous. When disaster strikes, be strong and courageous. When things go upside down, be strong and courageous. Even when something is your fault, be strong and courageous. Because you know from God’s Word that He can set you straight and keep you straight. What outcome is there to fear when God gives you a way back? That’s exactly what he’s doing for Edom. He’s giving them a head’s-up so they can turn around.
When Jesus was crucified, there was a thief crucified on either side of him. If you remember the story, one thief hurled all kinds of abuse on Jesus. He mocked him. It was ugly. The other thief chastised the first one. And then, he made his confession of belief in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Jesus assured him of heaven when he died, which would happen soon. What I’m struck by is the missed opportunity of the unbelieving thief. He heard the exchange between Jesus and the repentant thief. He could have had a change of heart. He knew what was coming, and what would be missed. Yet he stayed the course.
Here's something simple you might want to write down:
NEVER IGNORE THE WARNING WHEN THE WARNING IS FROM GOD.
That’s why knowing the Bible is so important. Where else are we going to hear the warning from God? Never forget, Scripture is authoritative. People’s feelings and opinions aren’t.
Obadiah was the early warning system for Edom. In one short verse…verse seven…there are five highlighted warnings:
“All your allies have driven you to your border” = The nations Edom thinks are friends will, in the future, drive her from her territory.
“Those at peace with you have deceived you” = Edom’s treaty partners will turn on her.
“They have prevailed against you” = With absolute certainty, Edom will be conquered by those thought to be friends.
“Those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you” = Edom’s treaty partners, who are also their trading partners, will ambush them.
“You have no understanding” = They have no intelligence coming in of plans against them. They have no insight or wisdom into the consequences that await them.
I love all of these. Together, they predict that Edom will suffer greatly. The reason is not arbitrary or capricious. It is because Edom has engaged in unmitigated betrayal…betrayal of the highest order…against their brother Judah. All they cared about was themselves. Loyalty to their kin mattered not.
2 Chronicles 20 records an earlier story of the downfall of those who come against God’s people. It’s quite a long passage. But one of the things I’ve loved about this series on Obadiah is, it has opened up to us the depth and breadth of God’s Word. This is always good. It is a hint of things to come:
After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, Engedi). Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.
And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, and said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, ‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you - for your name is in this house - and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy - behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
Meanwhile all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.”
Then Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. And the Levites, of the Kohathites and the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.
And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say,
“Give thanks to the Lord,
for his steadfast love endures forever.”
And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another.
Now back to Obadiah. Two things in verse seven jump out at me.
First, there’s the nature of treaties. The phrase, “Those at peace with you,” indicates a formal agreement not only to settle hurtful scores, but a pact by which the parties declared their solidarity, friendship, and commitment to seek one another’s well-being. {Daniel I. Block, Obadiah commentary.}
Edom entered into agreements with untrustworthy tribes. Perhaps you’ve felt the sting of betrayal by someone you trusted. Ironically, those values which are attached to formal alliances should have existed between Edom and Judah without anything having to be written down. They were kin.
Those bonds should have been unbreakable. It’s nice knowing you have family and friends like that.
I’m reminded of this quote from Kurt Vonnegut:
“You meet saints everywhere. They can be anywhere. They are people behaving decently in an indecent society.”
All Edom had to do was maintain the kinship ties with Judah, and they would not have suffered the consequences foreshadowed in 2 Chronicles 20. Their pride took them to another place. A place devoid of God’s truth. A Twilight Zone of their own making…destinationdestruction.
The second thing from verse seven that grabs me is “You have no understanding.” They are so consumed by their narcissistic pride that they are ignorant of the big picture. There are things they know that they know. But they’re the wrong things. And there are things they don’t know that they think they know. And there are things they don’t know that they don’t know they don’t know. You know? It’s never a good thing to travel in your own ignorance. You rarely end up in a good place.
But that’s what the Edomites did. They acted like they knew better or more than God. It’s like when people make that stupid declaration, “I have to live my truth.” Or, “I’m being true to myself.” Or, “I’m following my heart.” Um…how about seeking to live one’s life according to the truth of God’s Word? How about conforming, as best as is humanly possible in this fallen world, to the teaching and example of Jesus Christ? I believe that’s what Paul means in Galatians 5 - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It’s never a bad thing to grow in Godly truth and wisdom.
We’ll close with an observation from Sheriff Andy Taylor. In an episode of The Andy Griffith Show, a hobo, played by Buddy Ebsen, told Andy he should just let Opie, Andy’s son, decide for himself how he wanted to live. Here’s how Andy answered:
“No, I’m afraid it don’t work that way. You can’t let a young’n decide for himself. He’ll grab at the first flashy thing with shiny ribbons on it. Then, when he finds out there’s a hook in it, it’s too late. Wrong ideas come packaged with so much glitter that it’s hard to convince ‘em that other things might be better in the long
run. All a parent can do is say ‘wait’ and ‘trust me’ and try to keep
temptation away.”
To paraphrase our Lord and Savior, if you have ears to hear this, you will hear.
May we always strive to have understanding.
Until next week:
“Oh, to have the word of Christ always dwelling inside of us; - in the memory, never forgotten; in the heart, always loved; in the understanding, really grasped; with all the powers and passions of the mind fully submitted to its control!”
Charles Spurgeon
That is the way to a truly joyful life.
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