Short and Sweet

Obadiah 1–21 “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. 
“In that day,” declares the Lord, “will I not destroy the wise men of Edom, those of understanding in the mountains of Esau? Your warriors, Teman, will be terrified, and everyone in Esau’s mountains will be cut down in the slaughter. Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever. On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them. You should not gloat over your brother in the day of his misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast so much in the day of their trouble. You should not march through the gates of my people in the day of their disaster, nor gloat over them in their calamity in the day of their disaster, nor seize their wealth in the day of their disaster. You should not wait at the crossroads to cut down their fugitives, nor hand over their survivors in the day of their trouble. 
“The day of the Lord is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head. Just as you drank on my holy hill, so all the nations will drink continually; they will drink and drink and be as if they had never been. But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy, and Jacob will possess his inheritance. Jacob will be a fire and Joseph a flame; Esau will be stubble, and they will set him on fire and destroy him. There will be no survivors from Esau.” The Lord has spoken. People from the Negev will occupy the mountains of Esau, and people from the foothills will possess the land of the Philistines. They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria, and Benjamin will possess Gilead. This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan will possess the land as far as Zarephath; the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the towns of the Negev. Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will be the LORD’s.”

• Obadiah is a message from the Lord to the nation of Edom.
• But why does God refer to Jacob as their brother?
• Why is the nation of Edom against that of the Israelites?
  
  

Genesis 25:22–26 “The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob....”

• Jacob → Israel → Israelites 
• Esau → Edom → Edomites 
  

• There is a strong belief that Obadiah was written around or shortly after the fall of Jerusalem in 586BC
• Esau and Jacob were born around 1800BC...
• That is a 1200+ year gap between the twins, Esau and Jacob, and the book of Obadiah about these two nations

• Where was the brother nation of Edom?

• Stood aloof
  • Aloof means: removed or distant, either physically or emotionally
  • Merriam Webster says “Aloof suggests a cool reserve arising from a sense of superiority or disdain for inferiors or from shyness”
  • I dont think Edom was "shy" so we can assume the others are true!
• Celebrated and gloated
• Rejoiced at Judah's destruction
• Took part in seizing their possessions
• Cut down fugitives
• Handed over survivors

Psalm 137:7 “Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. “Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations!””

Obadiah 2–3 ““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?’” 

• Edom lived in the mountains of Seir.
• Their mountains gave them protection.
• Their mountains gave them security.
• But eventually their sense of security turned into pride.
• And the pride in their heart deceived them
  

• Our marriage?
• Our money?
• Our career?
• Our house?
• Our possessions?
• Our life?
• Our kingdom?
  

Obadiah 4 “Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord.” 

Obadiah 15–21 ““The day of the Lord is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head. Just as you drank on my holy hill, so all the nations will drink continually; they will drink and drink and be as if they had never been. But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy, and Jacob will possess his inheritance. Jacob will be a fire and Joseph a flame; Esau will be stubble, and they will set him on fire and destroy him. There will be no survivors from Esau.” The Lord has spoken. People from the Negev will occupy the mountains of Esau, and people from the foothills will possess the land of the Philistines. They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria, and Benjamin will possess Gilead. This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan will possess the land as far as Zarephath; the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the towns of the Negev. Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.” 

• We are not the ones who are in control
• Edom is not in control (even though they were prideful and thought superior of themselves)
• Babylon is not in control (even when they waged war against Jerusalem and took Israelites captive)
• Even the Israelites are not in control (and they were the chosen people of God!)
• GOD IS IN CONTROL!

• “And the kingdom will be the LORD’s”!!!!

Isaiah 2:12–18 “The Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled), for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty, and all the oaks of Bashan, for all the towering mountains and all the high hills, for every lofty tower and every fortified wall, for every trading ship and every stately vessel. The arrogance of man will be brought low and human pride humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day, and the idols will totally disappear.”