July 21, 2024
Obadiah 8-14
“Divine Fury”
Do you remember who the target of divine fury was in Obadiah? Right… Esau/Edom. In Genesis, the big three patriarchs are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Abraham was the father of Isaac; the grandfather of Jacob. Jacob had a twin brother who was born first who should have been the third patriarch but he foolishly gave that birthright up. Esau’s descendants were the Edomites. Jacob’s descendents, of course, were the Israelites.
Both branches of the same family had their share of problems. The greatest of which was disobedience to God. Jacob’s side was corrected and restored. Never disowned. Never permanently removed from God’s favor. You hear stories about people who were permanently disowned by their family and it breaks your heart. But with Israel, God punished them with exile and conquest and upheaval. But they were always restored. They were always given a second chance.
But as we’ll see, the time for second chances ran out for Edom. Egregious is the polite way to describe their behavior toward their kin.
Remember, Obadiah’s prophecy focused on the destructive power of pride. It reminds us of the consequences of living in a self-serving manner. What are those two horrible things mindless oafs say about what governs their lives? “Follow your heart,” and “I’m living my truth.” Ugghh. It’s not a good look when people are primarily focused on their own feelings and desires without considering the impact on others. But that’s pride. Is it ever a struggle to set your own wants and desires aside out of consideration for others? I know it is sometimes for me. On the other hand, you know the joy that comes with putting others first…reaching for the higher good… being a blessing to church or family or community. Pride is a destroyer of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Here's something worth remembering:
PLACING OURSELVES UNDER GOD’S AUTHORITY, CONFORMING
OUR WANTS AND DESIRES TO HIS PURPOSES, WE FIND OUR HOPE IN ETERNAL RESTORATION.
That is how you defeat pride.
Here’s Obadiah 8-14:
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.On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealthand foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them.But do not gloat over the day of your brother in the day of his misfortune;do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their ruin;do not boast in the day of distress.Do not enter the gate of my people in the day of their calamity;do not gloat over his disaster in the day of his calamity;do not loot his wealth in the day of his calamity.Do not stand at the crossroads to cut off his fugitives;do not hand over his survivors in the day of distress.
First, let’s clarify another name used here. Teman. Teman is a form of
“Thaiman,” which literally means “south.” It indicates a district and town in the land of Edom. It is a part of Edom named after Teman, a grandson of Esau. Listen to Ezekiel 25:12-14:
“Thus says the Lord God: Because Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and has grievously offended in taking vengeance on them, therefore thus says the Lord God, I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it man and beast. And I will make it desolate; from Teman even to Dedan they shall fall by the sword. And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath, and they shall know my vengeance, declares the Lord God.
The roots, tracing all the way back to Abraham, run deep. Equally deep is the horribleness of Edom’s betrayal of her kin. It was just awful. God’s wrath will come down hard.
On a side note, Teman was a lovely city and region. Evidence indicates it dates back to around 1200 B.C. Its attraction was an abundance of waters. Kind of a considerable draw, considering its location in what is present-day
Yemen. A little desert-y. It had a huge number of springs. Because of that, it was a magnet for trade and travelers needing rest.
Here’s the significance of this side note. Edom’s forefather, Esau, had set them up in a beautiful place with positive prospects for thriving and growing and being a blessing for generations to follow. It was an ideal situation. They could have lived cooperatively with their relatives to the west, working together for protection and the common good. But here’s how stupid pride is. Instead of basking in the joy of their familial alliance, they pursued their own selfish agenda. Never a good thing. They threw it all away because they thought they knew better than God.
And now, there was no turning back. God was so patient with Edom. They had generations to change course. Do you remember the story of the exodus from Egypt? At one point, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. In other words, since Pharaoh was determined to follow the path he set, God allowed it to go forward. It would serve God’s purpose in freeing His people. I look at the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart as meaning God allowed his choices to reach their logical conclusion. No turning back.
That’s exactly what verses eight and nine mean. Destroying the wise men and their understanding simply meant that anyone in Edom who would have had any reasonable and logical input was shut down. No more input for you. Boom…gone.
Verse ten lays it all out:
Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever.
It is echoed in Joel 3:19:
“Egypt shall become a desolation and Edom a desolate wilderness,for the violence done to the people of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.”
And then there’s Amos 1:11-12:
Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,because he pursued his brother with the sword and cast off all pity,and his anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever.So I will send a fire upon Teman, and it shall devour the strongholds of Bozrah.”
The Edomites abandoned their blood-bonded obligations. What story does that remind you of from Genesis? Right…Cain and Abel. One brother against the other.
Families really can be horrible to each other. A lot of deadly sins involved in those struggles.
I’ll never forget something that happened in the first church I served. I was fresh out of seminary, not even thirty-years-old. In fact, it was also, if my memory serves me right, the second funeral service I had ever done. It was for the grandmother of a woman who attended our church. Small church in Kansas City, Missouri. The decedent wasn’t a member. No one else in the family was, either. I only knew the granddaughter.
Well, I walk into the funeral home, and the funeral director immediately pulls me aside. Since they got there…this is the day of the funeral…since they got there, the immediate family had been bickering. We’re not talking quiet squabbles. Lots of in-your-face confrontations and anger. Guess what it was over? Money…possessions…who was going to get what after the funeral. I’m just this stupid 27-year-old pastor, walking into a family funeral feud.
I gathered all the pertinent information from the funeral director. Not choosing sides or trying to mediate, I simply said, “If this doesn’t stop, right here, right now, I’m walking out those doors. When the rest of the family and friends arrive, you’re going to have to conduct this service on your own.” The funeral director was in full agreement that he wasn’t going to bail them out.
If you’ve ever been subjected to family fights, you know how painful they can be.
We’re now ready to consider Esau’s crimes. Obadiah does something
quirky here. Usually charges are brought and then sentence pronounced. Here, sentence is declared – shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever {don’t miss the shall} – and then the charges are listed. Let’s get to those now.
Instead of following the example of Esau, who had made peace with his brother Jacob, Edom instead took pride in the alliances she made with other countries. And the thing is, they would prove to be her worst enemies. Here’s how Jeremiah 49:7 captured it:
Concerning Edom.
Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished?”
Edom failed miserably to be there for her family.
Here are three specific things done against Jacob {Israel}.
First, they stood by and did nothing as invaders carried off the best and
the brightest of Israel. That’s what the word, “wealth,” means in verse eleven. It’s not just money and material things. It’s a wealth of competence, power, and intellectual property. It was a total disruption of the human population.
Second, the foreign invaders entered Jacob’s gates. That means all their defenses failed. When Obadiah uses “gates,” he means they are inside the city. Their violence…raping the women, slaughtering the men, pillaging and ransacking their homes and buildings…was complete. As Lamentations 4:12 describes it:
“The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any of the inhabitants of the world,that foe or enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem.”
Third, they “cast lots for Jerusalem.” It was common practice for conquerors to divide up the spoils by casting lots. It was like rolling dice. And as all this was taking place, Edom not only did nothing, but they also participated and profited. “You were like one of them,” Obadiah said.
Horrible, horrible people with despicable leaders.
Because of this, their doom will come.
Let’ look at the final chastisement again. It comes in verses twelve through fourteen. I love how Obadiah words this.
{You should not} But do not gloat over the day of your brother in the day of his misfortune;{You should not} Do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their ruin;{You should not} Do not boast in the day of distress.{You should not} Do not enter the gate of my people in the day of their calamity;{You should not} Do not gloat over his disaster in the day of his calamity;{You should not} Do not loot his wealth in the day of his calamity.{You should not} Do not stand at the crossroads to cut off his fugitives;{You should not} Do not hand over his survivors in the day of distress.
But you did. You did. And now you are done. Edom is, as they say, toast. God’s fury will fall.
Here’s one last thought. Anyway you care to sllice it, Edom stood by and watched. Edom stood by as spectators, cheering on the evildoers. When you do that, what does that make you? Exactly. An evildoer. Worse, they eventually joined in. Wickedness wins when people do nothing. That’s what’s so beautiful about Covenant Church. In the midst of a fallen and broken world, we’re planting seeds of goodness and kindness. God has blessed us with anti-Edom antibodies. Amen?
Here’s something else you might want to write down:
ESAU THE BROTHER HAD BECOME ESAU THE ENEMY.
After pronouncing sentence, Obadiah enumerated Esau’s crimes against Jacob:
He gloated when his brother fell.
He celebrated his ruin.
He boasted that, as Jacob fell, he was doing fine.
He invaded to ransack the sacred city of God’s people.
He gloated over Jacob’s dire straits.
He stole Jacob’s property.
He foiled escape plans for those trying to flee calamity.
He betrayed those who were fearful for their lives.
Praise God we have a Savior who gives us the power and wisdom to stand against what is wrong. Jesus is our light. Faithfully following him will always leads us to do the right thing. As someone has wisely observed, “You can’t have peace in the church without doctrinal purity in the church. True peace comes on account of the truth, not through compromise.” {Burk Parsons} Being faithful to God’s Word always leads to doing the right thing. Amen? There are no Edoms in the Body of Christ.
Let’s close with this thought on how Jesus Christ keeps us centered and focused on being light in a broken world:
I WENT TO BED WITH MORE GRIEVANCES THAN I COULD COUNT AND WOKE UP WITH MORE GRATITUDE THAN I CAN MEASURE.
Frank Bruni
And together, the people of God said:
SOLI DEO GLORIA…
To the Glory of God Alone
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