Thursday
Evening Bible Study
April 27, 2006
Introduction
Date: There are several theories
as to the date of the writing of this book. The book describes the behavior of
the Edomites during an invasion of Jerusalem.
There were four invasions up to and including the fall to the Babylonians. But
it seems to me that the best scenario is that the book was written after the
fall of Jerusalem to the
Babylonians. That would make Obadiah a contemporary of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and
Daniel and put the writing of the book some time after 586 BC.
The Situation: Jerusalem
and the nation of Judah
were conquered and hauled off into captivity by the Babylonians. While the
nation was being conquered, the Edomites had been sitting on the sidelines
cheering for the Babylonians. Some have suggested that the Edomites had even
infiltrated Jerusalem and actually
aided with the eventual fall of the city.
It is thought that Psalm 79 was written around this time as well:
(Psa 79:1-4 NKJV) O God,
the nations have come into Your inheritance; Your holy temple they have
defiled; They have laid Jerusalem
in heaps. {2} The dead bodies of Your servants They have given as food for the
birds of the heavens, The flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth. {3}
Their blood they have shed like water all around Jerusalem, And there was
no one to bury them. {4} We have become a reproach to our neighbors, A scorn
and derision to those who are around us.
The neighbors included the Edomites.
Also Psalm 137:
(Psa 137:7 NKJV) Remember,
O LORD, against the sons of Edom
The day of Jerusalem,
Who said, "Raze it, raze it, To its very foundation!"
Ezekiel also wrote about these events:
(Ezek 25:12-14 NKJV) 'Thus
says the Lord GOD: "Because of what Edom did against the house of Judah by
taking vengeance, and has greatly offended by avenging itself on them,"
{13} 'therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "I will also stretch out My hand
against Edom, cut off man and beast from it, and make it desolate from Teman;
Dedan shall fall by the sword. {14} "I will lay My vengeance on Edom
by the hand of My people Israel,
that they may do in Edom
according to My anger and according to My fury; and they shall know My
vengeance," says the Lord GOD.
Jeremiah had a similar prophecy to Obadiah’s, and even some of the same
ideas and phrases. Could Jeremiah or Obadiah have copied some from each other?
(Jer 49:7-10 NKJV) Against
Edom.
Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel
perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished? (similar ideas to
Obadiah 1:8) {8} Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, O
inhabitants of Dedan! For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, The time
that I will punish him. {9} If grape-gatherers came to you, Would they not
leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves by night, Would they not destroy until
they have enough? (similar to Obadiah 1:5) {10} But I have made
Esau bare; I have uncovered his secret places, And he shall not be able to hide
himself. His descendants are plundered, His brethren and his neighbors, And he
is no more…
Obadiah
:1-9 A coming judgment for Edom
:1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom
(We have heard a report from the LORD, And a messenger has been sent among the
nations, saying, "Arise, and let us rise up against her for battle"):
Obadiah – his name means “servant of Yahweh”
Edom
– the descendants of Esau, the twin brother to Jacob (the father of the nation
of Israel)
The Edomites never got along with the Israelites.
They rejected Moses' request to pass through their land (Num. 20:14-20)
They opposed King Saul (1 Sam. 14:47)
They fought against David (1 Kings 11:14-17)
They opposed Solomon (1 Kings 11:14-25)
and Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 20:22)
They rebelled against Jehoram (2 Chron. 21:8)
For a long time the Edomites lived in Mount
Seir, south of the Dead
Sea. Their territory was full of mountains and deep canyons. If
you’ve seen “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”, you’ve seen one of those
canyons where they rode their horses to the secret “temple” which was really
the ancient treasury at Petra, one
of the main cities of the Edomites.
During the fifth century B.C., the Nabataeans dislodged the Edomites from
their territory, causing them to withdraw to Idumea in southern Palestine.
Herod the Great was an Edomite.
:2 "Behold, I will make you small among the nations; You shall be
greatly despised.
:3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, You who dwell in the clefts of
the rock, Whose habitation is high; You who say in your heart, 'Who will bring
me down to the ground?'
:4 Though you ascend as high as the eagle, And though you set your nest
among the stars, From there I will bring you down," says the LORD.
(Je 49:16 NLT) 16 You are proud that you inspire fear in others.
And you are proud because you live in a rock fortress and hide high in the
mountains. But don’t fool yourselves! Though you live among the peaks with the
eagles, I will bring you crashing down,” says the Lord.
There were places in Edom
where the nation had built cities high in the cliffs. The city of Petra
(Sela) was like that surrounded by cliffs that were 2,000 ft. high. They
thought they were impervious to attack. They could easily defend themselves
against all attackers.
Lesson
Deceived by Pride
Pride tells me that “I’m okay”. Pride tells me I don’t need anyone’s help.
Jesus wrote a stern warning to the church at Laodicea:
(Rev
3:14-18 NKJV)
"And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, 'These things
says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of
God: {15} "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could
wish you were cold or hot. {16} "So then, because you are lukewarm, and
neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. {17} "Because you
say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have
need of nothing'; and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor,
blind, and naked; {18} "I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the
fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that
the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye
salve, that you may see.
The problem is that as strong as I may be, I always need
help.
Illustration
When Harry Truman was thrust into the presidency, by the
death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Sam Rayburn took him aside. “From here on
out, you’re going to have lots of people around you. They’ll try to put up a
wall around you and cut you off from any ideas but theirs. They’ll tell you
what a great man you are, Harry. But you and I both know you ain’t.”
Illustration
Charles Spurgeon
writes,
There was once in London
a club of small men, whose qualification for membership lay in their not
exceeding five feet in height. These dwarves held, or pretended to hold, the
opinion that they were nearer the perfection of manhood than others, for they
argued that primeval man had been far more gigantic than the present race, and
consequently that the way of progress was to grow less and less, and that the
human race as it perfected itself would become as diminutive as themselves.
Such a club of Christians might be established in most cities, and without any
difficulty might attain an enormously numerous membership. For the notion is
common that our dwarfish Christianity is, after all, the standard, and many even
imagine that nobler Christians are enthusiasts, fanatical and hot-blooded,
while they themselves are cool because they are wise, and indifferent because
they are intelligent.
When we think we’re “something”, we’re probably much
smaller than we can see.
The pride of the Edomites would lead to their downfall. Pride leads to misery
Illustration
I received a little printed form the other day with a
rather intriguing title: How to Be
Perfectly Miserable. And it goes on to list a few things you can do that
will not only make you perfectly miserable but also keep you that way.
1. Think about
yourself.
2. Talk about
yourself.
3. Use the personal
pronoun "I" as often as possible in your conversation.
4. Mirror yourself
continually in the opinion of others.
5. Listen greedily
to what people say about you.
6. Insist on
consideration and respect.
7. Demand agreement
with your own views on everything.
8. Sulk if people
are not grateful to you for favors shown them.
9. Never forget a
service you may have rendered.
10. Expect to be
appreciated.
11. Be suspicious.
12. Be sensitive to
slights.
13. Be jealous and
envious.
14. Never forget a
criticism.
15. Trust nobody
but yourself. I need God’s help.
Illustration
C. S. Lewis called pride “spiritual cancer,” which eats up
love and contentment. It is actually a sign of our own insecurity and feelings
of inferiority. Spurgeon poetically warned us not to be proud of race, face, or
place.
Jesus said,
(Mat 16:24
NKJV) Then Jesus said to His disciples,
"If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross, and follow Me.
:5 "If thieves had come to you, If robbers by night; Oh, how you will
be cut off!; Would they not have stolen till they had enough? If
grape-gatherers had come to you, Would they not have left some gleanings?
Look how similar this is to:
(Jer 49:9 NKJV) If grape-gatherers came to you, Would they not
leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves by night, Would they not destroy until
they have enough?
The idea is that normal thieves leave some things behind. Grape pickers
don’t pick all the grapes but leave “gleanings”. But Edom
will be wiped clean.
:6 "Oh, how Esau shall be searched out! How his hidden treasures shall
be sought after!
:7 All the men in your confederacy Shall force you to the border; The men
at peace with you Shall deceive you and prevail against you. Those who eat your
bread shall lay a trap for you. No one is aware of it.
Even the people that Edom
had counted as allies would betray it.
:8 "Will I not in that day," says the LORD, "Even destroy
the wise men from Edom,
And understanding from the mountains of Esau?
There is some evidence that the Edomites had a reputation for wisdom.
We believe that the book of Job takes place among the Edomites.
Job himself is thought to be identified under the genealogy of Esau as one
of it’s “kings”
(Gen 36:31-34 NKJV) Now these were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king
reigned over the children of Israel…
when Bela died, Jobab the son of
Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place
Note some of the other names associated with the line of Esau,
(Gen 36:10 NKJV) These were the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of
Esau, and Reuel the son of Basemath the wife of Esau.
(Gen 36:11 NKJV) And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.
(Zepho, wasn’t he related to Harpo, Chico,
and Groucho?)
Remember Job’s friends? Look at some of their names:
(Job 2:11
NKJV) Now when Job's three friends heard of all this adversity that had come
upon him, each one came from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite,
Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment
together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort him.
Job was known as:
(Job 1:3 NKJV) …the greatest of all the people of the East.
At one point, Job gets a little sarcastic with his “friends” because they
apparently came to give Job some of their wisdom:
(Job 12:2 NKJV) "No doubt you are the people, And wisdom will
die with you!
Lesson
Losing your wisdom
We might even think of it as “losing your mind”
Illustration
A psychiatrist was making his rounds at the state hospital
one day when he entered a patient’s room. He found patient #1 sitting on the
floor, pretending to saw a piece of wood in half. Patient #2 was hanging from
the ceiling by his feet. The doctor asked patient #1 what he was doing. The
patient replied, “Can’t you see? I’m sawing this piece of wood in half.” The
doctor inquired of patient #1 what patient #2 was doing hanging upside down
from the ceiling. “Oh, he’s my friend,” #1 said, “but he’s a little crazy. He
thinks he’s a light bulb.” The doctor looked up and noticed that patient #2’s
face was turning red. The doctor asked patient #1, “If he’s your friend, you
should get him down from there before he hurts himself.” #1 replied, “What? And
work in the dark?”
Paul tells us how people can lose their “wisdom”.
(Rom 1:18-32 NKJV)
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, {19} because
what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
{20} For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and
Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
No matter how much people argue, it’s really quite obvious
that there is a God. Just open your eyes and look around you.
{21} because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but
became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. {22} Professing to be wise, they became fools,
{23} and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like
corruptible man; and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. {24}
Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts,
to dishonor their bodies among themselves, {25} who exchanged the truth of God
for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who
is blessed forever. Amen. {26} For this reason God gave them up to vile
passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against
nature. {27} Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman,
burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful,
and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. {28} And
even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over
to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; {29} being filled
with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are
whisperers, {30} backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors
of evil things, disobedient to parents, {31} undiscerning, untrustworthy,
unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; {32} who, knowing the righteous judgment of
God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do
the same but also approve of those who practice them.
There is quite a moral slip-n-slide that takes place when
men refuse to acknowledge God. It all sounds so very much like today.
There’s a connection between wisdom and fearing God. When you stop honoring
God, you lose your real perspective in life.
Getting your “mind” back involves getting things right with God.
Job, the Edomite, knew about wisdom:
(Job 28:28 NKJV)
And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to
depart from evil is understanding.'"
Wisdom comes when we get things right with God.
Got questions? Are you looking for
answers? Are you looking for wisdom?
Make sure you have things right with God.
Then ask:
(James
1:5-8 NKJV) If any of you lacks
wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach,
and it will be given to him. {6} But let him ask in faith, with no doubting,
for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. {7}
For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; {8}
he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
:9 Then your mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, To the end that
everyone from the mountains of Esau May be cut off by slaughter.
Teman – one of the chief cities of the Edomites, also the home of
Job’s friend Eliphaz.
:10-16 Reasons for judgment – crimes against Israel
:10 "For violence against your brother Jacob, Shame shall cover you,
And you shall be cut off forever.
brother – Jacob and Esau were twins. Esau fathered the Edomites,
Jacob fathered the Israelites.
You ought to be nice to a brother. Before going into the Promised Land, Israel
was commanded:
(Deu 23:7 NKJV) "You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is
your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were an alien in his
land.
But the Edomites didn’t return the favor.
:11 In the day that you stood on the other side; In the day that strangers
carried captive his forces, When foreigners entered his gates And cast lots for
Jerusalem; Even you were as one of them.
:12 But you should not have gazed on the day of your brother In the day of
his captivity; Nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah
In the day of their destruction; Nor should you have spoken proudly In the day
of distress.
They were happy at their enemy’s distress.
:13 You should not have entered the gate of My people In the day of their
calamity. Indeed, you should not have gazed on their affliction In the day of
their calamity, Nor laid hands on their substance In the day of their calamity.
They actually contributed to the collapse of the nation of Judah.
:14 You should not have stood at the crossroads To cut off those among them
who escaped; Nor should you have delivered up those among them who remained In
the day of distress.
Lesson
Loving your enemies
God has always been serious about how we treat our enemies.
(Prov 24:17-18 NKJV) Do
not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he
stumbles; {18} Lest the LORD see it, and it displease Him, And He turn away His
wrath from him.
Jesus said,
(Mat 5:43-48 NKJV) "You
have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your
enemy.' {44} "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse
you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you
and persecute you, {45} "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven;
for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the
just and on the unjust. {46} "For if you love those who love you, what
reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? {47} "And if
you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the
tax collectors do so? {48} "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your
Father in heaven is perfect.
Illustration
Dear Preacher,
I heard you say to love our enemies. I am only six and do not have any yet. I hope
to have some when I am seven. Your friend, Love, Amy
I guess most of us don’t have that problem, do we?
Illustration
Thomas Merton writes,
Do not be too quick to assume that your enemy is a savage
just because he is your enemy. Perhaps
he is your enemy because he thinks you are a savage. Or perhaps he is afraid of you because he
feels you are afraid of him. And perhaps
if he believed you were capable of loving him he would no longer be your enemy.
Do not be too quick to assume that your enemy is an enemy
of God just because he is your enemy.
Perhaps he is your enemy precisely because he can find nothing in you
that gives glory to God. Perhaps he fears you because he can find nothing in
you of God's love and God's kindness and God's patience and mercy and
understanding of the weakness of men.
Do not be too quick to condemn the man who no longer
believes in God. For it is perhaps your
own coldness and avarice and mediocrity and materialism and sensuality and
selfishness that have killed his faith.
Illustration
Corrie Ten Boom shares this true story in her book, The Hiding
Place:
It was a church service in Munich
that I saw him, the former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door
in the processing center at Ravensbruck.
He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that
time. And suddenly it was all there—the
roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, Betsie’s pain-blanched face. He came up to me as the church was emptying,
beaming and bowing. “How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein,” he
said. “To think that, as you say, He has
washed my sins away!” His hand was
thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had
preached so often to the people in Bloemendaal the need to forgive, kept my
hand at my side. Even as the angry,
vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I
going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I
prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him. I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my
hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of
warmth or charity. And so again I
breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I
cannot forgive him. Give me Your
forgiveness. As I took his hand the most
incredible thing happened. From my
shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to
him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed
me. And so I discovered that it is not
on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing
hinges, but on His. When He tells us to
love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.
:15 "For the day of the LORD upon all the nations is near; As you have
done, it shall be done to you; Your reprisal shall return upon your own head.
Lesson
Reaping and Sowing
They got what they gave.
This is a standard of how God will judge people:
(Rev 16:4-7 NKJV) Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the
rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. {5} And I heard the angel
of the waters saying: "You are righteous, O Lord, The One who is and who
was and who is to be, Because You have judged these things. {6} For they have
shed the blood of saints and prophets, And You have given them blood to drink.
For it is their just due." {7} And I heard another from the altar saying,
"Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments."
Paul wrote,
(Gal 6:7-9 NKJV) Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for
whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. {8} For he who sows to his flesh
will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the
Spirit reap everlasting life. {9} And let us not grow weary while doing good,
for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
Jesus said,
(Mat 7:1-2 NKJV) "Judge not, that you be not judged. {2}
"For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the
measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
(Luke 6:31 NKJV) "And just as you want men to
do to you, you also do to them likewise.
This even works in our own relationships
Illustration
Dale Carnegie once said, "You can make more friends
in two months by becoming really interested in other people than you can in two
years by trying to get other people interested in you. Which is just another
way of saying that the way to make a friend is to be one."
G.K. Chesterton used to say, "The truly great person
is the one who makes every person feel great."
The following illustration reveals the accuracy of the
above listed statements.
In Queen Victoria's
time, a young woman had the good fortune of being escorted to dinner by William
E. Gladstone, who was considered one of the most brilliant statesmen of the
19th century. On the following evening,
the same young lady was escorted by Benjamin Disraeli, novelist, statesman and
twice prime minister of Great Britain.
When asked for her impression of these two great rivals,
she replied, "After an evening with Gladstone,
I thought he was the most brilliant man I'd ever met. After an evening with Disraeli, I thought
myself to be the most fascinating woman in the world!"
(Prov 18:24 NKJV)
A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend
who sticks closer than a brother.
:16 For as you drank on my holy mountain, So shall all the nations drink
continually; Yes, they shall drink, and swallow, And they shall be as though
they had never been.
Isaiah also prophesied concerning this:
(Isa 34:5-8 NKJV) "For My sword shall be bathed in heaven;
Indeed it shall come down on Edom,
And on the people of My curse, for judgment. {6} The sword of the LORD is
filled with blood, It is made overflowing with fatness, With the blood of lambs
and goats, With the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in
Bozrah, And a great slaughter in the land of Edom. {7} The wild
oxen shall come down with them, And the young bulls with the mighty bulls;
Their land shall be soaked with blood, And their dust saturated with
fatness." {8} For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, The year of
recompense for the cause of Zion.
:17-21 Israel
is coming back
:17 "But on Mount Zion
there shall be deliverance, And there shall be holiness; The house of Jacob
shall possess their possessions.
I think this is talking about when Jesus comes back.
:18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire, And the house of Joseph a flame;
But the house of Esau shall be stubble; They shall kindle them and devour them,
And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau," For the LORD has
spoken.
By the time of Jesus, the Edomites were practically non-existent. The only
known Edomites we know of were the Herods, who were called “Idumeans”.
:19 The South shall possess the mountains of Esau, And the Lowland shall
possess Philistia. They shall possess the fields of
Ephraim And the fields of Samaria.
Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
This talks about the new boundaries for Israel.
South – the southern area of Judea will
extend eastward to include the mountains south of the Dead Sea
(in modern Jordan)
Lowland – this is the area west of Jerusalem,
next to the Mediterranean Sea. Philistia
includes the coastal towns now occupied by the Palestinians.
Ephraim … Samaria
– the area of central Israel,
areas that had been abandoned after the Assyrians had conquered the northern
kingdom in 722 BC.
Benjamin – Gilead is the area to the east of
the Galilee, currently occupied by Syria
and Jordan.
Today’s Israel
does not quite fit these boundaries yet.
:20 And the captives of this host of the children of Israel
Shall possess the land of the Canaanites As far as Zarephath. The captives of Jerusalem
who are in Sepharad Shall possess the cities of the South.
Zarephath – a city located between Tyre
and Sidon in modern Lebanon.
Elijah hung out there (1Ki. 17) where a widow took care of him during the
famine of his day.
Sepharad – an unknown city
:21 Then saviors shall come to Mount
Zion To judge the mountains of
Esau, And the kingdom shall be the Lord's.
Perhaps this is talking about judges coming out of Jerusalem
who will help rule over the area of ancient Edom
during the Millennial reign of Jesus on the earth.