Sermon Tone Analysis

The Heart of the Matter

Obadiah                      Sept.

14, 1997

 

Scripture:  Psalm 137

 

Introduction:

 

          So far in our studies on the minor prophets, we have discovered in Joel that God brings judgment (locusts - Day of the Lord) upon his own people when they stray from the worship of the One True God (Joash), but that he also brings grace and mercy through repentance.

We saw that all peoples stand in the valley of decision regarding faith in God.

In Nahum we saw God’s judgment upon a foreign nation (Assyria - Nineveh) because they fell away from the mercy that God gave them during their repentance at the preaching of Jonah.

We saw that sometimes God rings just once.

We saw that wicked king Manasseh from Judah (one of God’s own) repented at the time of this prophecy and stayed God’s judgment upon himself and his nation because he came to understand that God is dangerous.

Here in Obadiah we will see God’s judgment on the betrayal of a brother which is at the heart of the matter.

The nation of Edom occupied the land SE of the Dead Sea, SE of Judah.

This land was nearly impenetrable with mountains and crags and cliffs and canyons.

It was a lofty and relatively safe place to live.

Edom was the nation that descended from Esau, the fraternal twin brother of Jacob.

Jacob, born second in sequence to Esau,  had wrestled the birthright from his brother by a combination of cunning opportunity and deceit.

The point was that Jacob wanted what Esau did not value and got it.

Even though Esau didn’t value his birthright, he hated the thought of being manipulated out of it and hated Jacob for it.

They became bitter enemies.

It was God’s plan that the birthright go to Jacob even though he wasn’t first in line for it.

God often has his reasons.

In this case it may just be that it was because Jacob would do anything to obtain the birthright.

We should consider this in the Christian context.

How much do we value our birthright by faith in Christ?

Would we sell it for a bowl of soup?

I know of such people who have turned their lives back over to sin once they have known the truth.

It is all a matter of the heart.

Jacob had a heart for the things of God even though he wasn’t perfect.

Esau had a heart for himself and his vengeance brought grief to Jacob’s descendants for a long time.

This all came to a head when God called Judah to account for their sinfulness and allowed Babylon to carry them off into captivity.

Edom stood at the gate of Jerusalem and cheered their fall from grace.

They were Israelites in distant relationship but not at heart.

There are several messages here for us as Christians.

By faith in Christ we are brothers not only with Christ:

 

*Mt:12:50  For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."*

but with all Christians, and especially God’s chosen people, the Jews.

If there is ever vengeance to be had we must be reminded of:

 

*Deut.

32:35  It is mine to avenge; I will repay.

In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them."*

*Deut.

32:43  Rejoice, O nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for his land and people.*

Indeed, we must not ever harbor rejoicing in our hearts over the downfall of any other person or people:

 

Illustration:  “Revenge - I’ll Fix Anthony”

Edom thought they had come of age and now they were going to have their day.

They forgot that the day belongs to God.  Their cheesy smile was about to be changed from Edom to Swiss.

It was about to be shot full of holes.

Application:  My relationship with my own brother.

*Prov.

24:17 ¶ Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice,*

*18  or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him.*

Edom was making a big mistake.

It was a matter of the heart.

Look again at the end of Psalm 137:7 where they ask God to remember what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell.

Is not the prophecy of Obadiah the answer?

*I.

The Message from the Lord (v.

1)*

          {a sovereign decree}

 

*1 ¶ 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, and let us go against her for battle"--*

* *

*II.

The Abasement of Edom (vv.

2-9)*

*          A.

Edom’s Character (vv.

2-4)*

*     *              {no heart for God}

*          *          *1.

Edom’s future smallness *despised *(v.

2)*

* *

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

* *

*                   2.       Edom’s present pride *humbled *(vv.

3-4)*

* *

*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.*

* *

*          B.

Edom’s Calamity (vv.

5-9)*

*          *          {no grace from God}

*     *              *1.

Edom’s ransacking (vv.

5-6)*

* *

*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!*

* *

*                   2.       Edom’s entrapment (v.

7)*

* *

*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.*

* *

*                   3.       God’s initiative (vv.

8-9)*

* *

*8  "In that day," declares the LORD, "will I not destroy the wise men of Edom, men of understanding in the mountains of Esau?*

*9  Your warriors, O Teman, will be terrified, and everyone in Esau's mountains will be cut down in the slaughter.*

* *

*III.

The Charge Against Edom (vv.

10-14)*

*          A.

The Reason for the Charge (v.

10)*

*                   {violence against his brother Jacob}*

* *

*10 ¶ Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever.*

* *

*          B.

The Explanation for the Charge (vv.

11-14)*

*                   {participation in Jerusalem’s trouble}*

*                   1.

The charge defined (v.

11)*

* *

*11  On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them.*

* *

*                   2.

The charge repeated and amplified (vv.

12-14)*

* *

*12  You should not look down on 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 look down on them in their calamity in the day of their disaster, nor seize their wealth in the day of their disaster.*

/ /

/Edom is symbolic of all Gentiles here in that they should not oppose God’s people.

The reason may be seen in verse 15 and amplified in Amos 9:11-12 that the nations shall be the inheritance of God and his Christ and of his people.

This is further explained in the application of the verse in Amos to Acts 15:16-17 where these inherited nations, including Gentiles, will seek the Lord./

*/ /*

*14  You should not wait at the crossroads to cut down their fugitives, nor hand over their survivors in the day of their trouble.*

* *

*IV.