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.

3 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?”

4 Though you soar like the eagle

    and make your nest among the stars,

    from there I will bring you down,’

declares the Lord.

5 ‘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?

6 But how Esau 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.

“It takes the entire Bible to read any part of the Bible. Even the brief walk-on appearance of Obadiah has its place. No one, whether in or out of the Bible, is without significance. It was Obadiah’s assignment to give voice to God’s Word of judgment against Edom.

 Back in the early stages of the Biblical narrative, we are told the story of the twins Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25-36). They came out of the womb fighting. Jacob was ancestor to the people of Israel, Esau ancestor to the people of Edom. The two neighbouring peoples, Israel mostly to the west of the Jordan River and Dead Sea and Edom to the southeast, never did get along. They had a long history of war and rivalry. When Israel was taken into exile – first the northern kingdom by the Assyrians in 721 B.C. and later the southern kingdom by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. – Edom stood across the fence and watched, glad to see her old relative get beat up.” (From Eugene Peterson’s introductory remarks in ‘The Message’).

Edom was proud.

Pride is at the root of all sin.

It makes you seem big in your own eyes, but, in truth, it makes you small.

It is also deceptive. It fuels an arrogance that cause you to think you are impregnable.

Truly, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov.16:18). This was the case with Edom.

Remember this:

“For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12).