READ: Obadiah
Verses
chosen for meditation: Obadiah 1
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:
“Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”
REFLECT
Obadiah
is the shortest book in the OT, with high attention on Edom. Why is Edom, where
Obadiah seems to be very angry with, a concern to us? To understand this, we trace the history between Israel and Edom.
The
animosity between the two nations runs deep, beginning from the fight between
Isaac’s two sons, Esau and Jacob even when they were in Rebekah's womb. We
know of how Esau flippantly sold his birthright to Jacob, and how Jacob cheated
Esau of their father’s blessing. The two eventually drifted and their growing
families formed two neighbouring nations: Edom (from Esau’s descendants) and
Israel (from Jacob’s descendants).
Their
conflict continued through the years, especially between Edom and the southern
kingdom of Israel, Judah. Here, Obadiah 3-4 speaks of Edom’s pride and
arrogance. Their blessings of geography made Edom feel invincible and no need
for God. Situated in the mountains, surrounded by rugged terrain, it was easy
to defend and hard for nations to attack. Their fortress was impregnable, but
not so for God, who would humble them (Obadiah 8).
The
last straw drawing God’s judgement is found in Obadiah 10-14, which showed Edom’s
violence in his betrayal of Judah during a time when they were allies. First,
they just stood by and watched when the Babylonians took the city of Jerusalem
(v11). They even enjoyed the show, gloating and rejoicing over the demise of Judah
(v12). If that was not enough, they entered the city and looted whatever they
could (v13). They even looked for escapees, handing them over to Babylon (v14).
God
assured that Edom would get what’s coming for them for their deeds. The passage
also posed a warning to the rest of the nations (including God’s people) that all
will be called to account on the day of the Lord.
RELATE
The
passage begins with a call to battle the enemy (v1), and Obadiah 2-14 gives a clear
picture of what makes Edom an enemy. A key aspect of spiritual maturity is identifying
the right enemies. The Bible does not fault us for having enemies, but challenges
us to be sure that they are indeed self-appointed enemies of God. So who are
our real enemies?
Often,
who we view as enemies are simply those who hurt us personally. When someone opposes,
disagrees, or hinders what we desire to do, we label them as enemies. We make
enemies of those who misunderstand or misjudge us. We fight those who do not
like us or gossip about us. Sometimes, we view as enemies those who hold a
different political view, or have different cultural values and lifestyles. This human preoccupation with petty grievances distracts us from confronting our true enemy.
Jesus
made clear who our real enemy is: Satan, and those who align with his evil
schemes (Luke 10:18-19). It is the evil force rampant in the world that seeks to destroy,
rather than give life. Obadiah reveals the components that make someone an
enemy of God: pride and arrogance that leave people vulnerable to Satan’s
recruitment, to do Satan’s will to oppose our God's purposes of righteousness and
justice for the world.
We
seek to identify the proud enemies of God, to protect the needy, but we must admit that we can be
among them at times. Arrogance tends to rule our lives. Much of what we do is
self-worship leading to pride. As we become more competent and professional as
workers, we begin to trust in our own wisdom and strength. Like the Edomites,
we think ourselves safe in our securities of material protection. So, the first
thing is to confess this pride we have towards our achievements, experience and intellect.
We confess that we too have selfish glee over the failures of others. We too,
have hurt others. We begin with that, building vigilance to guard
ourselves from becoming enemies of God.
The
next, is to focus on the true enemy, and stop wasting energy fighting
those who are not. Reserve your energies to do your best work for God. Many times, our squabbles blind us to the fact that
the very people we are fighting also love God and have good intentions. That
is the truth hidden behind our difference in work styles, opinions,
personalities and the way we communicate. We then find ourselves using our time
more to argue over who is wrong, when it could be used to help the lost know God.
If
we truly love God, we will set aside and look past these differences, working
together as a body of Christ to fight the good fight. The passage culminates in
Obadiah 21, reminding us that victory over our true enemy has already been
won. Our role here is to persevere with that hope in this fallen world
temporarily ruled by Satan, making as many disciples as we can so that the joys
of victory can be shared with them on the day of the Lord. We are not dismayed
also, as the true enemies who cause pain and seem to get away scot-free
will be dealt with by God, in His own time and way, like how God dealt with
Edom.
REST
One
Voice, by Marty Nystrom, covered by Robert Gay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fozt8j8-VdM
Chris
Chong
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