Today's Word Radio

Brett Meador: What happens to those that reject God's word and blow off God's people and rebel with foolish pride? Destruction. Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Don't be that person. Watch out for pride and arrogance. The Edomites are a symbol of what not to do. Let us learn the lesson of humility as a nation. They lived large for 400 years, but then eventually they ended in doom.

Guest (Male): The people of Edom had treated Israel poorly for years, and the time had finally come for God to punish them for their bad behavior. As Pastor Brett Meador delivers a study of the book of Obadiah in today's word, we'll see what dishonorable deeds Edom had committed against God's children to bring about their own doom, and why it's not a good idea to be hostile toward his people, Israel.

Brett Meador: The book of Obadiah has got a heavy theme, but it's a good reminder for us of what not to do. In fact, the theme of the book of Obadiah is the doom of Edom. Edom sort of gets a record in the Bible. It's not the record you'd want to have, but of all the nations God talks about in the Bible that he's going to judge and pour out his wrath upon, he talks a lot about Israel because they're his children and their rebellion. So you do get a lot about the judgment of Israel and Judah and the northern ten tribes, Ephraim.

But who gets the second most judged and talked about nation of God's wrath being poured out on them? As it turns out, the Edomites, more than anybody else. Obadiah sums it up all in a nutshell why they're given to such doom, and he's going to explain why all this is going to go down the way it is. Let's take a look at verse one: "The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom: We have heard a rumor from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen. Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle." When the Lord says, "We're going to rise up in battle against you," you've got a problem.

But look what the Lord says in verse two: "Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised." And then the Lord's going to list seven sins of the Edomites. Here are the seven reasons why the Lord says he is going to thump them. The first sin is that most dastardly of sins according to the Bible, the sin of pride. And we see that in verses three through six.

It says, "The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, 'Who shall bring me down to the ground?' Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord. If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, how art thou cut off! Would they not have stolen till they had enough? If the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes? How are the things of Esau searched out! How are his hidden things sought up!"

This is the King James' way of saying you guys are prideful. You think you're big like the eagle or nesting among the stars, but he says, "I'm going to bring you down from your high horse." And so this issue of pride is what the Lord says is the first thing that's wrong. Of all the sins, pride seems to be one of the most dastardly. Proverbs 6:16 says, "These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look..." That's the very first thing.

And then the rest of it's pretty bad as well: "a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among the brethren." But isn't it interesting that at the very top of the list is a proud look? That's the problem with the Edomites. But also notice it says the pride in thy heart hath deceived thee. Self-conceit is nothing but self-deceit. When you think of yourself more highly than you should, that's called pride, but you're deceiving your own self.

That was the Edomites. It is a good warning for us to be careful of this issue of pride. The Lord hates that, and that's the first sin of the Edomites that God says is why they are going down. The second sin of Edom is they were ganging up on Israel. They made a confederacy of nations. They'd stir up other nations against Israel and sort of tag team to thump on the people of Israel. Verse seven says, "All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him."

"Shall I not in that day, saith the Lord, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?" Remember the intellectual part of the Edomites I was telling you about? The Lord says, "You're very smart, but I'm going to destroy your smartness." Verse nine: "And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter." Now those are strong words. You're going to be slaughtered. And it's not just anybody; it is your mightiest of men.

The word here for dismayed in the King James has no English word that's the equivalent of the Hebrew word. But the Hebrew word is a very strong and kind of horrifying word. If you look it up in the dictionary, the word that's used there literally means terrified, shattered, and broken. And this is the mightiest of men. Can you imagine our toughest soldiers, like our SEAL Team Six? And you find a SEAL Team Six guy who's shattered, terrified, and broken. That's what the Lord says is going to happen to your mightiest of soldiers. Because you've ganged up on Israel, the Lord's saying he's going to take your mightiest and your smartest out of the Edomites.

The third sin of Edom was violence, particularly against the Jews. The whole Bible records the Edomites and their dealings with the Jews. They were just violent toward them. And it says that here in verse 10: "For thy violence against thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off forever. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them."

You were like the Babylonians who crushed the Jews, Edom, or the Assyrians who came and killed Jews and dragged them off into captivity with hooks in their noses. The Edomites are getting blamed. Basically, the Lord's saying you did all this stuff too, just like the other nations, but your violence against your brother Jacob is going to shame you. The interesting thing is that the word violence in Hebrew is Hamas. The people of Hamas, in Arabic, don't think of it as violence, but that's what it is.

The Jews have been the victims of violence their whole existence, from the time of Pharaoh all the way to the present day. And the Lord says, "I see the violence, Edom, that you have carried out against my people." This is important, and it should determine how even we as Christians think about the political world. Remember, the Lord says, "I will judge the nations according to how they treated my people the Jews." There's actually a judgment. There's a Great White Throne judgment, there's the judgment seat of Christ, but there's also the judgment of the sheep and the goats.

That's when God says he's going to separate out the nations that treated his people well, and separate the nations that treated them poorly. Where did all this start? It started way back in Genesis 12 with the Abrahamic Covenant. The Lord said unto Abram, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."

Isn't it interesting that last sentence? "In thee all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Now the question is, how are the Jews going to bless all the families of the earth? Jesus. That's always the right answer. The Jews gave us the Messiah, Jesus. But isn't it also interesting if you look at what the Jews have contributed to science and medicine, comedy and art, technology and math? Some of the brightest thinkers in the world were Jewish people because they're God's blessed people.

But at the same time, so much of the world hates them and the Lord says, "Listen, I'm watching. I will bless those that bless you and I will curse those that curse you." And the Edomites are the personification of this truth. The Edomites were a curse to the Jews from their very beginning to their very end. And the Lord says he saw all that, and because of that, they're going to get crushed. God cares about his people and he loves the Jews. Don't be one of those people that are against the Jews.

That brings us to number four on our list of sins of Edom. The next thing they did is they were rejoicing in Israel's destruction. Look at verse 12: "But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress." So there's that pride again. They were magnifying themselves when the Jews were in distress. They were celebrating.

What is it about people today? Even today, if Jews are hurt or killed, there are still nations that celebrate in the streets. If an IDF Israeli soldier gets taken on the northern border or down south, there's a whole group of Muslim nations that will start celebrating in the streets. But the Lord says, when you do that against his people, Israel, whether it's a Taliban or Al-Qaeda or ISIS, there are fundamentalist Muslims who want to see death all over the globe, and they're the ones who were celebrating when Jews are hurt.

The Lord says he sees that. Antisemitism is raging right now in the world, and this is something we should know about. It is a sign of the times. But the reason this is so important for you and me is that the thing God says about the Edomites is that they're going to be crushed. Not only were they mean to his people, but they rejoiced when they were killed or taken off into captivity. God saw that and he is going to deal with them because of that sin of rejoicing at their peril and their destruction.

Number five: looting. Let's take a look at verse 13: "Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity." In other words, whenever the Jews were in trouble or being attacked by someone else, the pesky Edomites would come in and loot the cities that were being destroyed by other nations. They were sort of kicking them while they were down.

Number six: hindering the escape of the Jews. Whenever the nations would come and try to crush the Jews and the Jews were running for their lives, listen to what the Edomites did in verse 14: "Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress. For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head."

When the Jews were running for their lives from the Babylonians, the Assyrians, or whatever conquering nation was coming, these horrible Edomites would find the fleeing Jews. Do you remember when Jeremiah and the leader of Jerusalem that was left? It was a tiny remnant of Jews after the 586 attack of Jerusalem. They tried to escape, but some Edomites came and captured Jeremiah and the group and took them for a while. Then they got thumped and they went to Egypt. There's a sideline story where the Edomites took Jeremiah captive. They were constantly a burr under the saddle to the Jews.

Number seven: drunken celebration. Not only were they rejoicing, but then they'd get sloshed and have a party to celebrate the destruction of the Jews. Verse 16: "For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been." That's a fancy way of saying they're going to drink themselves to death. And that's what the Lord predicts for the Edomites.

Now this is pretty much doom and gloom for Edom. But in the last part of this, there's some hope. In verse 17: "But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions." Oh my, we could have done a whole sermon just on verse 17. First of all, when is deliverance actually going to be on Mount Zion? Zion is another name for Jerusalem and the temple mount in Jerusalem. There's going to be deliverance and there shall be holiness.

When will there be holiness on Mount Zion? When Jesus returns. Christ is going to come in his second coming and rule and reign from Jerusalem on Mount Zion. So this is a great prophecy about the Millennial Kingdom that's coming. Even in our time, it's in the future. There's hope. Even though it's way down the road from Obadiah's time, there's still hope coming for Jerusalem. But notice it says "and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions." You Bible students recognize this because the Lord kept telling the Jews he wanted them to possess their possessions, specifically the Promised Land.

If you look at a map of modern-day Israel, the Arabs call it the dagger that splits the whole Arab world. That is the way they look at the Jews. But did you know that the possessions in Numbers gives us the outline of the Promised Land that God says will be all of their land at some point in the future? It is not what we see today; it's not even close. Israel possessed more land during the reign of Solomon than at any other time. In fact, when Solomon did this, it was like one-tenth of the Promised Land that God promised to the children of Israel.

If you read the book of Numbers, there's a very clear definition from the Nile River in Egypt all the way up to the Euphrates River, and then there are some north and south boundaries. If you draw a line of God's promise, this is the Promised Land. The world says Israel doesn't have a right to exist, they don't have a right to be in their land, and that they're occupiers. But when all is said and done, this will be the size of Israel when the Millennial Kingdom comes. When Christ comes and takes over, he's going to possess their possession. Verse 17 reminds us of that.

Verse 18 goes on and says, "And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it." When the Lord speaks something, it's a done deal. The Edomites are toast. Verse 19: "And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and the plain of the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead."

Gilead is everything east of the Jordan River, that giant area from Jordan all the way over to Iraq. "And the captivity of Jerusalem, which is at Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south." Some people say that Sepharad might be Spain, and Spanish Jews that were there will come back into the land. I love verse 21: "And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord's." Who wins? Whenever you see capital L-O-R-D in your Bible, that means specifically the name Jehovah. The kingdom will ultimately be Jehovah's.

What do we learn from Obadiah? What happens to those that reject God's word and rebel with foolish pride? Destruction. Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Watch out for pride and arrogance. The Edomites are a symbol of what not to do. Let us learn the lesson of humility as a nation. Secondly, don't be surprised when the ungodly prosper for a season. The Edomites were very prosperous. Remember the psalmist in Psalm 73? "Oh Lord, why do the wicked prosper?" He kind of moans about that, but then at the end, he says he saw their end.

They lived large for 400 years, but then eventually they ended in doom. You might not like it that the wicked are prospering, but this life on earth is but a vapor. You and I have eternal life to look forward to with the Lord where he's going to rule and reign forever. Thirdly, Obadiah's book underscores the fact that God is just. God's going to make righteousness prevail. And when it's all said and done, we'll all say, "Righteous and true are his judgments." Hebrews 10:30 says, "For we know him that hath said, 'Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense,' saith the Lord. And again, 'The Lord shall judge his people.' It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

The Edomites blew this off and they got destroyed. Deliverance through Jesus Christ is the way to be saved. Follow Jesus, believe in God's word. The one who responds in obedience to the grace of God has everything to gain, but the person who spurns his grace in pride has everything to lose. Follow the Lord, believe in his Son, Jesus Christ, and be saved. Salvation belongs to the Lord, but the Edomites totally ignored that and they ended up destroyed. Don't be that person, but repent of your sins and follow Christ and be saved. Amen?

Guest (Male): Pastor Brett Meador, drawing a reminder of God's offer of salvation is offered as a free gift as he comes to a conclusion about our look into the Old Testament book of Obadiah in Today's Word. And I trust you'll stay right there as Pastor Brett will join me in a moment with some final thoughts on Obadiah. But first, Today's Word is the radio ministry of Athey Creek Church, just south of Portland, Oregon, where Pastor Brett Meador is the senior pastor.

Our vision on Today's Word is to proclaim the hope of salvation and help people know Jesus through careful study of the Bible. We invite you to find out more by going to todayswordradio.com. If you missed any portion of this study, you'll find all of Pastor Brett's messages online at todayswordradio.com. All right, I have Pastor Brett with me now. As we've just concluded this short one-chapter book of Obadiah on Today's Word, there's some pretty serious things that Obadiah shared from God in relation to how the people of Edom had mistreated Israel.

Brett, do you see any similarities to some of the nations and people today who treat Israel the same way? And if so, what do you believe God's plans are for those who treat Israel with that kind of disdain?

Brett Meador: Well, Kurt, when Israel was vulnerable and under attack, Edom didn't step in to help and they just really rejoiced over the suffering and even took advantage of their weakness. And God made it clear that this kind of attitude against God's people, the chosen Israel, wasn't going to go unnoticed. In Obadiah 1:15, it says the Lord says, "For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee."

Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. That goes with nations as well, and that's what this book really has told us. Obadiah talks about how you treat Israel is going to matter for you. And we see that in modern days. October 7th, some of the world rejoiced and some of the world grieved. And I believe those behaviors of nations are still going to be held accountable for the way they viewed Israel. In fact, there's a judgment coming Jesus talked about called the judgment of the sheep and the goats. And that's largely going to be linked to God judging the nations. How did you treat my people? It's interesting that people even in some church circles have neglected to care for Israel the way that the Bible prescribes.

Guest (Male): That's a great reminder from scripture and in this case from the Old Testament book of Obadiah that God does look at nations and people even today and how they treat his chosen people. Thank you, Brett. Well, as we wrap up this book from the prophet Obadiah, I want to mention that if you'd like more information about Athey Creek Church, Pastor Brett Meador, or Today's Word, you can visit our website at todayswordradio.com. Well, that's all the time we have. Next time, Pastor Brett Meador will jump into a book from one of the most famous men in the Bible, and that's the prophet Jonah. Today's Word with Pastor Brett Meador is an outreach of Athey Creek Church in West Linn, Oregon.