Meeting God, Again - Obadiah

Today we’re going to get into the book of Obadiah. It’s a short book, but wow! I was shocked to find out how it sometimes gets interpreted. So we’ll talk about Obadiah… why it was written… what it’s about… but this sermon also gives me the chance to talk about proper bible study.

Here’s the thing… we need to study our Bibles responsibly.

The Scriptures cannot mean what they don’t mean.

In other words, the Scriptures we have were written purposefully. They had reasons for writing. They’re written by human beings under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Inspiration doesn’t mean that the Holy Spirit took over their bodies and downloaded the Scriptures into their brains. No...

God used real historical people… He used their individual talents… He used their passions… He used them in their own culture and circumstances… And He used them in their own contexts to convey the truths He chose to reveal to humanity.

So a good rule to remember when studying the bible is that Scripture was not written to us, but it is for us.

Let the Bible speak for itself. Don’t fall for the temptation of reading our own modern perspectives and worldview into the Bible. We have a responsibility to read it in its own context so that we can discern the timeless truths that it has for us today. So, before we get into Obadiah, let me give you an example of how not to interpret the Scriptures…

Welcome to my Bad Bible Interpretation 101 Class

Here’s Revelation 9:1-3

“The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3 And out of the 2 smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth.”

● Remember, this is an example of Bad Bible Interpretation: The Abyss sounds a lot like an underground bunker that opens up… kind of like in the Avengers movie. But then locusts come out of the Abyss… locusts fly, and it sounds like they have some kind of power? What are these locusts? Let’s read on...

Verses 7-9 say that the locusts looked like horses prepared for battle [so it sounds like they were armored]. Their heads had something like a crown of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.”

● Bad Bible Interpretation: The locusts John saw must be fighter jets with a detailed paint job! And the power that was like scorpions must be describing stinger missiles! After all… look at verses 4 and 5…

Verses 4-5, “They [the locusts] were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months.”

● Bad Bible Interpretation: These fighter jets were equipped with GPS guided stinger missiles, that somehow would only seek out Christians. But they must be some sort of chemical weapon, because it causes the Christians to be tortured - or sick - for 5 months.

Sounds crazy doesn’t it? I’ve actually heard and read Scripture being interpreted this way.

The problem is… well, there are numerous problems… but the main problem with my bad bible interpretation is that I completely ignored the fact that John was using Old Testament imagery to describe what he was seeing - the Old Testament is John’s context! 3

Did you know that the book of Revelation has by far the most Old Testament allusions?… well over 400! In fact, Bible scholars are well aware that just about every verse in Revelation has at least one, if not multiple allusions to the Old Testament. So, it stands to reason that if we’re gonna have any hope of interpreting Revelation correctly, we need to know our Old Testament!

Actually, the same is true for understanding the entire New Testament!

Knowing our Old Testament is SO important! You would be hard pressed to find one New Testament verse in all of its 27 books that doesn’t somehow allude to the Old Testament.

The Old Testament is important. They are the scriptures that our New Testament authors used and were very familiar with. When they talk about “the Scriptures,” they’re referring to what we call “The Old Testament.” And, as if that wasn’t enough, the Old Testament books are the very scriptures that Jesus used!

So, if anyone ever says to you that we can unhitch ourselves from the Old Testament like we don’t need it anymore… they couldn’t be more mistaken. We MUST be responsibly diligent with studying the WHOLE bible!

That’s why we’re spending a lot of time in the Old Testament on Sunday mornings. By the end of this year, 56% of our sermons will have been from the Old Testament. The reason is because I’m convinced that those of us who follow Jesus need to read and study the whole bible. And as we do that, we need to be responsible with the text by allowing the Bible to remain in its own context.

So you’re probably wondering… what were the locusts in John’s vision? Well, I would say that before we make a leap to fighter jets, we would do well by reading Exodus 10 where the LORD sends a plague of locusts over Egypt. We would also do well by revisiting the book of Joel that talks about a plague of locusts, which by the way had the appearance of horses and made a noise as loud as chariots (Joel 2:4-5). Clearly John had these passages in mind when he wrote Revelation 9 - the million dollar question is, why? But that can be for another time!

Obadiah 4

Obadiah was a prophet of God. His name means “servant of Yahweh.” Other than that, we don’t know anything about him. There are at least 12 other Obadiah’s in the Old Testament, but there’s no concrete evidence that links any of them with this particular prophet.

We do know that he lived in Judah - Yahweh God’s southern nation. We don’t know exactly when this book was written, however it could be the earliest book of the prophets… but it could also be a later book - we just don’t know. We do know that it lines up well with Jeremiah 49, but honestly, when this book was written doesn’t really matter because we don’t have enough information. What matters is the content in Obadiah.

Obadiah 1-2

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”—

2 “See, I will make you small among the nations; you will be utterly despised.

Who is Edom?

[Map] Edom is a nation situated right below Judah. Their descendants can be traced all the way back to Abraham’s son, Isaac. So we’ll need to talk about Isaac's family in order to figure out why Edom is being judged in Obadiah...

Isaac was married to Rebekah, and they became pregnant with twins! The LORD said to her in Genesis 25, “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 Rebekah gave birth, verses 25-26 say that “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.”

The boys grew up, and at one point Jacob tricked his older brother Esau into selling his birthright to him. Esau was so hungry for red stew that he actually sold his birthright to Jacob, as long as Jacob would make it for him. So Jacob made the stew, got the birthright, and interestingly they started calling Esau “Edom” because of this - the word Edom means ‘red.’

Birthrights were important in the ancient world because the firstborn son was the one who would get his father’s inheritance. Since Esau was born first, he had a rightful claim to it. But as we saw in previous verses, God said that the older brother would end up serving the younger brother.

So Jacob got the inheritance from his father Isaac, and the scripture says in Genesis 27:41 that “Esau held a grudge against Jacob.” And this wasn’t just a little family squabble… Esau wanted to kill his brother! [twisted Cain & Abel]

[Map] Eventually the brothers parted ways. Jacob was renamed “Israel” by Yahweh God Himself, and his 12 sons and their descendants became the nation of Israel. Meanwhile, Esau took his family and headed to the hill country of Seir. They settled there, and the land became known as Edom (remember… Esau was nicknamed Edom). Esau’s family line became known as the Edomites.

But even though Jacob and Esau settled in different lands, the grudge between them continued on long after they were gone (Numbers 20:14-20).

We see this throughout history when Israel would be attacked by nations like Babylon, Edom would just stand by and let it happen or sometimes they would take advantage of the situation by looting Israel while they were being attacked.

So, back to Obadiah…

God says this about the Edomites…

3 The pride of your heart [Edom] 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?’ 4 Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.

Let’s pause here. These verses, and the ones that follow, are about judgment on Edom. When did this happen? Again, there are multiple possibilities so we’re not sure. But here’s an example where a proper method of interpreting the Bible matters…

Now, there are groups of people who interpret this passage, and all of Obadiah, in interesting ways. And what I’m about to share with you might shock you. But I want you to know that I’m not sharing this to make any sort of political or racial statement. So please hear me clearly… I mean no disrespect to anyone… I’m just sharing with you a growing interpretation of this scripture that you might run into, or see in the news...

There are religious movements right now that teach Edom represents white people, and the real Israelites are hidden in plain sight today. This is called the Black Hebrew Israelite movement. They teach that those enslaved during the transatlantic slave trade, and their descendants, are the real Israelites. And one of their major proof texts that they use is right here in the book of Obadiah.

They also use the account of Jacob and Esau. They say that Esau must have been born white, because who else could turn red (remember, Esau came out ‘red’)? They also teach that Jacob was smooth skinned and not hairy - if you’re familiar with the story, they get this because Jacob used animal skin to deceive his father Isaac into giving him the blessing that Esau actually deserved.

So in Obadiah, verses 3 and 4, they would say that the people who make their home in the high places, are white people who make their homes in skyscrapers. 7

It’s basically the same interpretation method I used to say that the locusts in John must have been fighter jets.

I could go on and on, but their entire theology is based off of their belief that Jacob was black, and Esau was white. And it’s this belief that leads them to think that Obadiah’s entire prophecy is actually against people today who are white.

Remember, this is one group… it’s The Black Hebrew Israelite movement. And they do claim to be a peaceful group, but the reality is that when they misinterpret scripture like this and they force it to be what they want it to be. And unfortunately their movement is incredibly divisive. It actually serves to promote racism rather than equality.

Again, I realize this might be a touchy subject, so please understand what I’m saying. I’m making you aware of the dangers of misinterpreting scripture. When we come to scripture already hyped up with our own agenda, we tend to read that agenda into scripture… saying, “well this must be that…” That kind of interpretation of the Bible has produced many cults.

So it’s to our benefit to know how to approach the Bible in its own context, not only for spiritual growth and teaching it to others, but also so that we’ll be able to stand firm on the truth of the Word when we’re faced with these kinds of fallacies.

Back to Obadiah - Who were the people living in the high places?

[Map] Well, Edom is situated on a mountain range. And believe it or not, the Edomites would actually hand carve homes for themselves high up in the mountains. If you can see Petra on the lower middle of that map, that’s one of the places I visited last year.

[Petra and Wadi Zin Slideshows] (switch to full screen for livestream viewers)

So, Obadiah’s prophecy from the Lord is saying that the problem with Edomites living high up is that they think they’re untouchable! They think 8 that it doesn’t matter what nation rises up against them, they’re safe in these mountains. Well, their pride would prove to be their downfall.

Let’s keep going… verse 5...

5 “If thieves came to you [Edom], 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? 6 But how Esau [Edom] will be ransacked, his hidden treasures pillaged! 7 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.

Their pride blinded them to the point that even their friends would plot against them, and they would never see it coming!

That’s what pride does! It blinds us. But as Peter says, we would do well to be alert and of sober mind, because we know that our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Our pride in ourselves can convince us that we’re untouchable, but in reality we’re nothing without Jesus.

8 “In that day,” declares the LORD, “will I not destroy the wise men of Edom, those of understanding in the mountains of Esau? 9 Your warriors, Teman, will be terrified, and everyone in Esau’s mountains will be cut down in the slaughter. 10 Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever.

Again, Edom participated with other nations to attack Israel. That’s not something the Lord will forget. Their judgment would eventually come!

11 On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his [Israel’s] wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them. 12 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. 13 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. 14 You should not wait at the crossroads to cut down their fugitives, nor hand over their survivors in the day of their trouble.

Yahweh God is saying, I’m judging Israel, and I’m using other nations to do that… but I’m not using you! You have no right to take advantage of this situation. If anything, you should be defending Israel as your brother. But because of your pride, I’m going to bring you down as well. Yahweh God wasn’t going to put up with Edom’s grudge against Israel anymore.

15 “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.

The Day of the LORD - it’s a theme throughout all the prophets - it’s the future day when all nations will be judged - that day hasn’t happened yet. That’s the great white throne judgment that happens in the book of Revelation.

But look at how Edom will be judged. Edom’s going to be judged measure for measure - in other words God is saying, “What you’ve done, they’re going to do to you.” Edom will be judged by their own works.

The reality for Edom is that they were not the people of Yahweh God. They were not chosen as Israel was. They didn’t serve Yahweh. They served other gods. So, they’re judged by their works. Scripture is very clear that if we’re judged by our own works, then we have no hope in the day of the LORD - because there’s no amount of good works that is good enough for us to stand righteous before a holy God.

16 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. 17 But on Mount Zion [Jerusalem] will be deliverance; it will be holy, and Jacob will possess his inheritance.

So all the nations are going to be in judgment, even God’s people, the Israelites. But there is hope! We saw this in Amos last week... God isn’t going to destroy all of His people.

18 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.

And at some point - again, this hasn’t happened yet - Israel will possess the land of Edom. 11

19 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. 20 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. 21 Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will be the LORD’s.

And that’s the end of Obadiah... So what can we learn?

Well, Edom’s downfall was their national pride. We can take a few things from that:

● As we talked about last week, followers of Jesus are Christians first. We need to be careful to not let our national pride overshadow our believing loyalty in Jesus. Remember, as Paul said in Philippians 3:20: “our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” ● As believers, we will still be judged by our works, but we know that we’ll be saved through faith in Jesus because of His life, death and resurrection. ○ God has always had a plan of redemption. Even in the Old Testament times, God’s plan was to send His son, Jesus, to provide a way for humanity to be brought back into a right relationship with Him. ○ And this promise of salvation is offered to the entire human race. 1 Timothy 2:4 says that God desires that all people would be saved, and that’s through the saving knowledge of the truth - that Jesus is 12

Lord and it’s only through faith in Him that we can have the gift of eternal life with Him. ■ Interestingly, the Hebrew word for humanity is adam. The Hebrew word edom uses the exact same letters, it’s just pronounced differently. ■ So, I actually think the relationship between these two words is very purposeful because in a sense, Edom is an image of humanity and their downfall - but it has nothing to do with race! It has everything to do with our sin-nature as human beings and our desperate need of a Savior. We can’t be in a right relationship with God through our performance in this life. The pride we have in ourselves is worth nothing to God - it’s our downfall. But our faith in Jesus is worth everything.

We live in trying times. Our faith is tested everyday… especially now with social injustices and divisiveness in our nation. But over these next several weeks, don’t forget that if you’re a follower of Jesus, that is your true identity. The words we say and the things we do should all flow from our loyal love to the true King of kings… Jesus.

Let’s Pray