Obadiah, I hope you've read this
one chapter, only 21 verses. It's an entire book, but if you
look at the first few verses here, you'll see that this is
a vision that God gave to His servant Obadiah, the man whose
name means servant of Jehovah. and also how that the Lord spoke
to Obadiah, his servant, about this nation called Edom, who
were the children of Esau, and how in verse one, I'm looking
at these verses and I'm just, if you can look at your Bible
and follow along, it'll be helpful, how the Lord had sent a message
to the heathen to come against the land of Edom in order to
destroy it. It's spoken of in verse one as
a rumor from the Lord and an ambassador that was sent among
the heathen And God put it in their hearts to come up against
them. It says in verse one, arise ye and let us rise up against
her in battle, against Edom. And then in verse two, it says
that the Lord made Edom appear small and weak in the eyes of
the heathen. They despised the Edomites and
so they, because they despised them, they came against them
according to God's will. So God is bringing the heathen
against Edom. In verse 3, it says that this was because of
the pride of heart. The Edomites were proud, and
their heart had deceived them in pride, and that they had in
their minds that they were high. They dwelt in a physical mountain
that had rocks and high places, but that represented what they
thought in their heart. In verse 3, It says, they dwell
in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, that say
in their heart, who shall bring me down to the ground? So this
attitude they had was pride, and their pride was against God
and against others. And then in verse four, God prophesies
through Obadiah saying that though they exalt themselves as the
eagle and set their nest among the stars, that's the height
of their pride, that the Lord will bring them down. And that's
in verse four. And then in verse five and six,
especially in verse five, it shows that even when thieves
come to rob somebody, Or if the gleaners or fruit pickers come
to pick grapes, they always leave something. But God says he's
not going to leave anything with Esau. He's going to utterly destroy
them. That's in verse 5. In verse 6,
The Lord says, how are the things of Esau searched out? How are
his hidden things sought out? So the things that he thought
were hidden, God has searched out. And in verse 7 it says that
the people who were friends of Esau, the men of his confederacy,
who even had dwelt uh... with him the men that were at
peace with him god has deceived uh... those i'm sorry it says
here in verse seven the men that were at peace with thee have
deceived thee those men who were the friends of Esau and Edom
they deceived Esau or his children Edom and they prevailed against
them and they had eaten bread with him but they were going
to wound him in other words they were going to betray Edom And
so the Lord says that there would be no understanding in Esau of
this. Verse eight, it says, in that
day, the Lord said he was going to destroy the wise men out of
Edom. And then in verse nine, the mighty men would be destroyed
out of Edom, so that the end of everyone of the Mount of Esau
would be cut off by slaughter. So that's verse 9. And then in
verse 10 it says, For the violence against thy brother Jacob, shame
shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off forever. Here, God,
in verse 10, is saying the reason why Edom was treated like this
by God, why God brought this judgment upon them, was for their
violence against Jacob, who was his brother. And then in verse
11, it describes how Esau looked upon his brother Jacob when God
brought the enemies of Israel upon them for their sins. And
that day, the Edomites just stood by. as they watched. And in verse
11 it also says, And that day strangers carried away the forces
of Jacob, carried them away captive, and foreigners entered into his
gates. And then Esau himself also entered
in, walked upon the ground that was given to the Israelites,
the promised land, and cast lots upon Jerusalem. It says that
Esau was one of them in verse 11. Then in verse 12 it says
that he starts a list here of seven or eight different things
that God said they should not have done. In verse 12 it says
they should not have looked upon their brother in the day that
they became strangers by being taken captive. They shouldn't
have stood by and just looked upon them. Remember Cain? God
told Cain, he says, where's your brother Abel? And Cain responded
with a smart mouth when he said, am I my brother's keeper? Which
is exactly the case. You are your brother's keeper.
You are to exhort your brother and to save him in whatever way
you can. You're to look out for him, to
pray for him, to do all you can to help him. So the Edomites
just stood by when the strangers, the Babylonians and the Assyrians
came in to destroy the people of Israel. And then he also says
in verse 12, you should not have rejoiced. They cheered when the
enemy came and destroyed Judah and Israel. He also says in verse
13, neither should you have spoken proudly. They boasted, the Edomites
boasted against Israel when Israel was in distress. And in verse
13, he said also you should not have entered into the gate of
the people of Jacob in the day of their calamity. When the enemies
were brought against Jacob, then Esau also walked in and helped
himself to their land. And then he also says, you should
not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity,
nor have laid hands on their substance. So Esau walked in
and took whatever he saw that was not his that belonged to
Jacob in the day that they were attacked by their enemy. In verse
14, he said, you also stood in the crossway when those who were
trying to escape from the enemy and you killed them. He says
in verse 14, neither should thou have stood in the crossway to
cut off those of his that did escape, neither shouldst thou
have delivered up those of his that did remain. So everyone
who was left after the enemy came through, Esau or Edom came
and delivered them up to their enemies. So now we're looking
at verse 15. It says, For the day of the Lord
is near upon all the heathen, as thou hast done, it shall be
done to thee, thy reward shall return upon thine own head. All
right, so I went through that quickly there so you could kind
of review, get pulled back into the message of this book. And
that's what I want to do tonight. I want to go through and look
at the message. I've got seven lessons here that
we see from this book. First of all, let me summarize
the first nine verses here. In the first nine verses, you
can see that God, through the prophet Obadiah, is declaring
judgment upon Edom. You can see the way it's talking
about how God is really going to slam them for their pride,
for what they did to Jacob. They thought they were secure,
they thought they were invincible, but Edom was the object of God's
wrath, and it was wrath that God determined to destroy them. And so God stirred up their enemies,
the heathen, and God's judgment in verse 3 and 4 was because
of Edom's pride. And God said in verse five and
six, they're going to be utterly destroyed, nothing will be left,
and their friends would betray them, they would deceive them,
and they that ate with them would actually rise up and destroy
them. And that was the judgment God promised upon Edom. God was
going to remove all their wise men, he was going to destroy
all their mighty men, and he was going to overthrow them.
That's the first nine verses. Then in verse 10, so the first
nine verses, God's judgment upon Edom. The next few verses, verses
10 through 14, you see the justice of God's judgment upon Edom.
Look at verse 10. And so all the way through, when
we were reading about all those things that Edom did when the
enemies attacked Jacob, They stood by. They actually entered
into their gates to help themselves. They were boasting against the
children of Jacob who were in distress. They spoke proudly
against them, with hatred against them. They were glad. They were
cheering. They rejoiced in the day of their
calamity. and they took what belonged to
Jacob, and then they killed people who were trying to escape from
Jacob, and they actually turned over to the enemy, those who
were left in Jerusalem and in Judah and stuff. So here you
see, that's God's justice. This is the reason God brought
this judgment, because of his justice on them. And then verses
15 and 16, shows the result of that judgment upon Edom, they
were utterly crushed. Historically, the Babylonians
and the Persians came against Edom and they destroyed them
so that at the time of Christ, there was no such thing as the
nation of Edom. They were gone from history.
So that was consistent with what God said. And then in verses
17 through 21, just to continue the outline here of the book,
in verses 17 through 21, God speaks to these people called
Edom by Obadiah, and he speaks to us to teach us the certainty
of the salvation of the children of Jacob, of Israel. So here
we see in verse 17, but upon Mount Zion, Now, Mount Zion,
when you say, when you read Zion, remember Hebrews chapter 12.
I'm going to read this to you so you can confirm that this
is speaking about what I'm about to say. In Hebrews chapter 12
and verse 22, you are not, but you are come to Mount Zion and
unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. Mount
Zion was a mountain. And on that mountain was a city. And so this represents the kingdom
of Christ and his people in that kingdom. That's what the heavenly
Jerusalem is. It's the church of the living
God, Christ as head, reigning over them as king, the captain
of their salvation. That's what we're come to. So
when it says in Obadiah 1, verse 17, he says, upon Mount Zion
shall be salvation, or deliverance, and there shall be holiness."
What he's talking about here is wherever Christ is in His
kingdom, there's going to be salvation, unlike the kingdom
of Edom. all who are in Zion shall be
saved, because they are in Christ." He's the King, and they're in
Him. And all of them are holy, holy by the choice of God giving
them to Christ, holy by the cleansing blood of Christ, and holy by
the washing of regeneration by the Holy Spirit. All those things
are the way that God makes them holy. In fact, in Exodus chapter 31
and verse 13, I want to read this verse to you. Exodus 31
and verse 13, the Lord says this, that you may know that I am the
Lord that does sanctify you. God is the one who sanctifies
us. What did Jonah say? Salvation
is of the Lord. What else can we say? Sanctification
is of the Lord. Exodus 31, 13. that you may know
that I, the Lord, doth sanctify you, where the Lord says he is
called Jehovah Kadosh." That's where that word sanctify is taken
from, Jehovah Kadosh. Jehovah, your sanctifier. And
so God promises here in verse 17 that those in Christ, the
church, in the kingdom of Christ and of God, are the ones who
are holy, they're saved, they're of the house of Jacob, that's
what the house of Jacob refers to. And it says in the same verse,
verse 17, in the house of Jacob shall, the house of Jacob shall
possess their possessions. Again, all of God's church is
given an inheritance, and that inheritance includes everything. Whether it's, I'll read it to
you from 1 Corinthians 3, verse 21. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 21,
it says, all things are yours. All things are yours, all inclusive. Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas
or the world or life or death or things present or things to
come, all are yours and your Christ's. And what could be more
blessed than that? To be Christ's. And Christ is
God's. So Jesus said, they're my sheep,
none can take them out of my hand, you are Christ's. And none is stronger than my
Father, none can take them out of his hand, Christ is God's. So here we see that all spoken
of in 1 Corinthians 3, 21 through 23. So in Obadiah chapter 1 verse
17, the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. That
includes what the Edomites owned, that's going to become the possession
of the house of Jacob. And then he goes on and talks
about all these things how the house of Jacob is going to be
a fire, and Edom is going to be stubble, they're going to
be burnt up, and so what does all this mean to us? What is
this book, what is the message of the book of Obadiah? So let's
go through this in seven different lessons. Now that we've refreshed
our memory of what it says here in scripture, let's go back and
look at these lessons. What is the message of this book?
Well, here's the message. Though the seed of the serpent,
remember Genesis 3.15? Though the seed of the serpent
hates God's people and constantly bruises the heel of the seed
of the woman, which is the church, the seed of the woman, which
is Christ and his church, shall ultimately crush the head of
the serpent and his seed. So we know that at the cross,
Christ defeated Satan. But in the unfolding of that
defeat, Christ's people, the church, are going to overcome
the kingdom of Satan. Christ the Lord himself is the
strong man who spoils his kingdom, and we are given the victory.
Remember 1 Corinthians 15, 57? The Lord gives us the victory
over death, over sin, over Satan. And Jesus said, I will build
my church, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
So the first thing we see here, the message of this book, is
that Edom represents the seed of the serpent. And the church,
the seed of Jacob, is connected with the seed of the woman, which
is Christ. And the seed of the woman is
going to bruise the head of the serpent. Okay? So I want to take
you to these lessons in order here. Let's take the first lesson
here. First lesson, God's purpose cannot
be hindered. It cannot fail. And what was
God's purpose in the book of Obadiah? Utterly to destroy Edom. To actually destroy them. He
said, I will bring thee down. How are the things of Edom searched
out? Thieves are not going to leave
anything in you. Your friends are going to betray
you. Those that were at peace with you have deceived you and
prevailed against you, and they've laid a wound to you, and there's
no understanding in you, and so you're going to be utterly
brought down. He says, I'm going to cut you off by slaughter.
and you'll be cut off forever, and shame shall cover you. This
is describing the judgment of God against the wicked of the
world, isn't it? Isn't this the same thing? This
is exactly what it is. God is going to destroy the wicked
of this world. And so God's purpose will not
be hindered. But this was God's purpose from
before time began. Remember, the elder shall serve
the younger. Moses said, I was just listening
to the Bible reading in Genesis this week, and Moses said, because
he's the one who wrote the first five books of the Bible, that
Noah's son Ham, remember he went into the tent, he saw his father
Noah uncovered in the tent, he went out and told his brothers
Shem and Japheth, and what happened? When Noah awoke from his wine,
he cursed Canaan, who was the son of Ham. And so, in the same
way that God said he hated Esau and never changed, his purpose
against Esau never changed, So also God's promise against the
Canaanites didn't change either. Noah cursed Ham and that was
what actually came to pass in history. And so we see that with regard
to Esau and Ham and many others in the Bible, that God's purpose
doesn't fail. For example, in the book of Exodus,
chapter 7, there were these two called Janus and Jambres who
withstood Moses to his face, but they could not go beyond
God's boundary. They tried to overcome Moses,
but it says in 2 Timothy, chapter 3, now as Janus and Jambres withstood
Moses, so do these also resist the truth. and put in that category
Esau, Edom, Ham, Canaanites, all these people in the Old Testament
which represent the reprobate in this world, those who are
determined to oppose Christ and his people. To the very end,
to the bitter end, they're going to oppose Christ and His people
in the unbelief of their heart, in the pride of their heart,
in the hatred for their brethren after the flesh. They're going
to try to destroy Christ and His kingdom. But God says, as
Janus and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth.
Men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith. They shall
proceed no further, for their folly shall be made manifest
to all men. as Janice and Jambry's folly
was. So, the first lesson is God's
purpose will not be hindered. All who oppose God's people in
this world, who mistreat them and persecute them, ultimately
will not hurt them because their purpose in God's eternal purpose
was to be a tool to bring a blessing on his people. And what is that
blessing? When they're afflicted, what
do the people of God do? What happens when God's people
are afflicted? Well, they cry. And what happens
when the people of God cry? The Lord delivers them, and God
is glorified. And this is the, let me read
some scripture to you. From Psalm 56, verse nine, it
says, when I cry unto thee, then shall my enemies turn back. This
I know, for God is for me. That's Psalm 56, verse 9. God
is for me. Psalm 56, verse 9. Here's another
one. In Isaiah 54, verse 17, no weapon
that is formed against thee shall prosper. These are the elect
of God, the redeemed of Christ. He says, no weapon that is formed
against thee shall prosper. Every tongue that shall rise
against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage
of the servants of the Lord. This is what God's promise to
them is. And their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. That's Isaiah 54, verse 17. Remember what God spoke to Abraham?
I will bless them that bless thee, and I will curse him that
curseth thee, and in thee shall all the families of the earth
be blessed." That was God's promise to Abraham. And so we can see
this, that all who oppose God's people in this world, according
to the promise of God, according to the purpose of God, shall
be hindered. I mean, God won't be hindered,
but they shall be destroyed. They will not go any further
than what God has determined. In fact, the trouble they bring
against God's people will serve God's people for the good. I'll
read to you this passage from Isaiah 43. Listen to this from
Isaiah 43. But now, thus saith the Lord
that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not, for I have redeemed thee. If God has redeemed his
people, you can know he's going to do the job all the way to
the end. That's what he's saying here.
Listen. Fear not, O Israel, for I have redeemed thee, I have
called thee by thy name. There they are, the two things
that Christ has redeemed us by his precious blood and by his
spirit he has called us. I have called thee by thy name,
thou art mine. We are God's elect. When thou
passest through the waters, I will be with you, and through the
rivers they shall not overflow you. When thou walkest through
the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the
Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopia and Sheba for thee, since thou wast precious in my
sight. thou hast been honorable, and
I have loved thee. Therefore will I give men for
thee, and people for thy life. And we could go on, this is from
Isaiah 43. So the point here is, is that
the wicked will be destroyed according to God's purpose, and
God's people will be saved, and the wicked will be used by God
to bring his people, and they will be, whatever's theirs will
be given to his people, and God will be glorified in their salvation.
Remember Acts 2, verse 23, Him, Christ, being delivered by the
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. Even the Lord Jesus Christ
was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God into the hands of wicked men. And yet, listen, whom God
has raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it
was not possible that he should be holding of it. And so all
who are in Christ, the seed of the woman, though we are delivered
up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, and
suffer at the hands of wickedness in this world, what's going to
happen? God is going to raise them up and He's going to overthrow
the intention of the evil in this world and He's going to
deliver His people out of it and in spite of it. in Acts chapter
4. It's also said the same thing,
"...of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed,
both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people
of Israel, were gathered together to do whatsoever thy hand and
thy counsel determined to be done." And Joseph told his brethren,
he says, as for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant
it for good to bring to pass as it is this day to save much
people alive. And so the death of Christ was
to save his people. And the evil in this world worked
according to God's will to destroy the evil in this world through
the death of Christ and through his resurrection and his ascension
and his intercession so that his intercession causes God by
His power to save His people in everything. And I just refer
you now to Romans chapter 8. I'll let you read that on your
own time. So that's the first lesson. God's purpose will not
be thwarted. It will not be hindered. It will
not be frustrated. God is going to carry out His
purpose to both destroy the wicked and use them in the salvation
of His people. And their intention against God
and His Christ and His people will only serve God's purpose. To show God's power over them
and to show His power to save. And His love for His people,
that special love. Because He loved them, therefore
He will save them. That's the first thing. Second.
Second lesson we see here in Obadiah. In the history of these
Edomites, we see the total hostility of the children of the serpent
toward the children of Christ, the seed of the woman, Christ
himself and they. This enmity, this hostility of
Edom against Jacob, of the kingdom of Satan against the kingdom
of Christ will go on and on until God brings time to an end. We're not surprised then when
it seems like wickedness in this world, even in our own nation,
seems to have risen to a peak, to a level we've never seen before. I heard someone tell me that
I think the Department of Justice in this country is trying to
prosecute parents for objecting to the way the government is
requiring their children to be taught in school of the most
despicable, unimaginable perversion of sexual
things. And because the parents are accusing
the school leaders of doing this to their children, the Justice
Department is seeking a way to bring those parents under condemnation
of the law. Can you believe it? That's just
an example. And we know that God says to
obey God or to obey men, let you, you governors decide, but
as for me, I'm going to obey the Lord. When it comes to what
we are taught, what we believe, what are taught to our children,
we will not submit to that evil. God will. deliver us from that
evil. He will use their evil intent
to bring His people to a closer dependence upon Him in Christ,
and God will deliver them in that day of trouble. Even though,
like it says in Romans 8, even though, as it is written, we
are killed all the day long and accounted as sheep for the slaughter,
in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that
loved us. And the battle is not just in
the realm of physical things and knowledge like in our schools,
but it's especially true in the religion of this world. If we
are frustrated, if our indignation is raised against
those kind of behaviors in this world, and you can think of abortion,
you can think of anything that's happening in this world that's
unjust. then call on the Lord. The Lord is in control. The Lord
put those people in their place. The Lord will bring them down.
But mostly, in the case of our own souls, this is what we have
to be concerned about, is the truth of Scripture and our salvation
by Christ. Okay, let's move on. The second
thing, as I mentioned here, is this enmity, constant hostility. Just like in our own body, the
flesh warth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh,
so it is in the world. There's this hostility. The natural
mind is enmity against the law of God. It is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. And yet it's also true
that the children of Satan in this world will do everything
they can, like Satan himself. They will pretend to be ministers
of righteousness and they will come as angels of light. And yet they will be bringing
the most vile doctrines imaginable. which is everything but Christ,
anything in our salvation but Christ alone. Be certain of that. Anything that purports to exalt
the will of man or the work of man or the worth of man or the
contribution of man or anything besides Christ alone is to be
despised. And we are to equip ourselves
with the armor of God, the helmet of salvation, the truth around
our loins, the breastplate of righteousness, the sword of the
Spirit, the shield of faith, and the shoes of the gospel,
and always praying in the Holy Spirit. Okay, so there's this
enmity, it's constant. The seed of the woman, it was
declared in the beginning, is going to bruise the head of the
serpent, and the seed of the serpent is going to bruise the
head of the woman. Revelation chapter 12, just read that whole
chapter, you'll see that the serpent rises up, tries to destroy
the first, the seed of the woman, and then the woman herself. This
is Christ in the church. I was looking at, Herod in Luke chapter 13. Listen to the way Herod, he's
like the Edomites here. In fact, I think someone told
me. Was it somebody here in the Bible study? I can't remember.
Someone told me, I didn't know this, that Herod was a descendant of Esau,
but I don't know how that thought entered into my head. But anyway,
Luke chapter 13, listen to this. In Luke chapter 13, the same
day there came, verse 31, the same day there came certain of
the Pharisees saying to Jesus, get thee out and depart hence,
for Herod will kill thee. The Pharisees were cheering Herod
on. This is what Jesus said. He said
to them, go ye and tell that fox, behold, I cast out devils
and I do cures today and tomorrow and the third day I shall be
perfected. He's speaking to Herod as to
the serpent. Christ is going to bruise and
crush his head. Herod is seeking to kill him,
which is the bruising of his heel, and according to God's
will, Christ was crucified, but according to God's will, he completely
crushed Satan and his kingdom. So there's this constant enmity.
It's a vile hatred. For all those whom the Lord saves,
even though they have no righteousness of their own, they have nothing
to boast in, nothing but Christ alone that they can look to.
And the kingdom of Satan hates Christ, and he hates all those
who are weak and helpless and poor that the Lord saves and
uses as trophies of his grace. snatching them out of the kingdom
of Satan, crushing him and destroying him and nothing that this fiend
of hell can do can oppose Christ from saving his people. Let the
gospel go forth in power and that's the way God will do it.
So the third lesson here is that in Obadiah chapter 1 verse 3,
the third thing we see here is that All who perish under the
wrath of God, perish for their own self-deceiving pride. See this in verse three, the
pride of your heart has deceived you. And this is the scary thing,
isn't it? This is the scary thing, that
our own minds, the way we think, the things that motivate us are,
The produce, the fruit of our heart, which is a heart of deceit
because of our pride. The heart is deceitful above
all things, desperately wicked. Who can know it? And so Obadiah
says, for the pride of your heart has deceived you. You that dwell
in the clefts of the rock, you think, you think that you cannot
fall. You are going to fall. And so
this is our natural selves. God has to humble us. And this
is the way he does it. He saves his people. But this
is what God says about all Men, women, boys and girls like Esau
who despise Christ and presume that they can ascend to heaven.
without a mediator, or that they can take care of their sins,
like it says in Romans chapter 10, they can take care of their
sins, which only Christ can do. By their own will, by their own
works, by their own goodness, somehow they hide themselves
in what they think is a safe place of their own personal experience
and worth and works, as like a high mountain of religious
experience, and they say in their hearts, all is well, no one can
bring me down. This is what Matthew 7, 21 and
23 is about. Those men who stood before Christ
at the last day and they said, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name? Have we not cast out devils in
thy name? Haven't we done many wonderful works in thy name?
And Jesus said, you're boasting. He didn't say it like this, but
this is what they were doing. They were boasting and trusting in their
righteousness. They never once spoke of Christ
and His righteousness. And Jesus said, I never knew
you, because they didn't come as helpless, sinful people who
had but one hope, Christ and Him crucified, which is what
God teaches His people to do. So that's the third lesson here,
is the heart of man is proud and self-deceiving, and what
destroys, that God destroys those who are proud in heart. The fourth
thing that you see here about the country here of Edom is,
notice, the entire nation of the Edomites was destroyed, the
entire people of Edom. And so here is what's called
the far-reaching influence of evil. Now, notice, the people
of this nation acted like their father, Esau. They had the same
character as their father. The whole nation mimicked and
followed the example of their father. Just like in our own
experience in our life, it's so easy for people to follow
the example of wickedness. Denise and I were watching a
program on TV, and they're on this TV program, they have this
young woman, and she's pretty, she's talented, she has this
huge worldwide following. And they had a commercial with
her in it, and in the commercial it said, God is a woman. And
it had her in this field of flowers and all these things. It just
made you want to vomit. So sickening. That's called the
far-reaching influence of evil. People are admiring and following
this kind of nonsense in the world without any conscience,
it seems, against it. Listening to this woman say,
God is a woman. In other words, I am God, is
what she's saying. That's horrible. What a horrible
thing this is. And think of this. The men in
Matthew 7, verses 21 to 23, who stood before Christ and said,
but haven't we prophesied in your name, cast out devils in
your name, done many wonderful works in your name? They had
a following. These were men who spoke about
the name of Jesus and in this world had a following. All their
followers believed what they believed. and yet they will end
up in hell with those men and they will look at them. And they
will say, you brought me here because of your false doctrine.
I believed it, and that's my fault. But you also, by your
false doctrine, your example. So the far-reaching influence,
the whole nation of Edom was utterly destroyed. So all in
the kingdom of Satan will be cast out. And that's something
to think about, isn't it? Something that should cause us
to do what? Lord, save me from my own deceptive
heart, right? Or my own pride. I have nothing. I'm just like them. Were it not
for grace, I will be with them. Lord, save me for Christ's sake.
That's it. Now the fifth lesson here is that, in this book, is
the reason why men perish for their sins. And notice in verse
10, Obadiah verse 10. For thy violence against thy
brother Jacob shall shame cover thee, thou shalt be cut off forever. Why? Was it because God delighted
to choose Esau to damnation? Did God choose, did He delight
to destroy Esau before the foundation of the world? No. I take no pleasure
in the death of the wicked. Esau destroyed himself according
to the purpose of God. The reason for his destruction
was not that God took delight in the death of the wicked, as
if God predestinated him to death and to sin. No. Death is the
result of our sin. The wages of sin is death. The
judgment of God that comes upon the people in hell comes upon
them because of their sins. For the violence, your violence
against your brother Jacob's shame shall cover you. And these
eight different things, he says in verse 11 through 14, he said,
you should not have looked on the day of your brother and the
day he became a stranger. You just stood by. Neither should
you have rejoiced, cheered over the children of Judah in the
day of their destruction. These eight things, that's the
second one. Number three, neither should you have spoken proudly
in the day of his stress. You boasted against him. Ha,
ha, ha. See, you're getting what you deserve, as if I'm more righteous
and more deserving than you, or stronger or wiser. I avoided
judgment. Fourth, you should not have entered
into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity. You're
going to take over. You're going to become their
rulers. You're going to take the place of government against
them. Fifth, the other one, you should
not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity.
See? See that trouble that's coming on them, all the suffering
they're undergoing? That's a good thing. Sixth, you
should not have laid your hands to their substance in the day
of their calamity. And this is in verse 13 where I'm at right now. Should not have laid your hand
to their substance in the day of their calamity. And then verse
14. Neither should you have stood in the crossway to cut off those
that did escape. And verse 14 still. Neither should
you have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day
of distress. So you see, judgment comes upon
the wicked for their sin. Even though God said in the beginning,
Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated, it was because of, the
just cause of their condemnation was their own sin. It was God's
purpose to bring upon Esau what Esau deserved, what he earned. That was the hatred of God, to
leave him to his own heart's lust, and therefore to leave
him under the justice of God. And so then immediately following
these eight evidences God brings against Edom for their destruction,
he pronounces this judgment. Notice verse 15, Obadiah verse
15. As thou hast done, It shall be
done to you. Thy reward shall return upon
thine own head. Isn't that justice? This is what
you've done? Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth? I'm going to bring justice upon
you. As you have done, it shall be
done to you. Thy reward shall return upon thine own head. And
the term thy reward here is what Edom and Esau reprobate men in
religion and unbelief, those who are in endless war against
Christ and his people, this is what they give. Their reward
to God's people is what Edom did to Israel. They hated them,
they sought to destroy them, they boasted against them, they
did all these eight things that we mentioned here in history.
And so, you can see here that that what God's judgment, the
judgment he pronounces on Edom and Esau is the very thing they
brought against Jacob and against the people of Israel or the kingdom
of Satan brings against Christ and his people. Remember when
God judged the serpent, first he talked to Adam, then he talked
to Eve, and then when it got down to the serpent, he said,
all right, buddy, here's the way it's going to turn out. Your
head is going to be crushed. The Lord himself is going to
take on the seat of the woman, and he's going to, stronger than
you, he's going to crush your head. But right then after that,
God clothed Adam and Eve with the skins of that animal. What
grace, no mercy for the serpent, no mercy for his seed, but grace
for Adam and Eve in Christ. All right, so notice this. Everything in this universe is
precisely according to God's eternal purpose that was set
down before time began. The whole world is ruled and
it's disposed according to God's everlasting love for Jacob and
his everlasting hatred for Esau. The vessels of mercy are vessels
of mercy, and they shall never be vessels of wrath. And the
vessels of wrath are vessels of wrath, and they shall never
be vessels of mercy. That's absolutely clear from
God's word in Romans chapter 9. But here's the other truth. Judah is a perfect example. Jesus
said, you're all clean when he washed his disciples' feet, but
not all. You're clean, but not all. I
have chosen you, but I have not chosen this son of perdition.
Judas. So this is the way it is, from
before time began. Vessels of wrath. But here's
the truth of scripture that is also equally clear, and it carries
an equal force, and this is where it causes us to stand in sobriety
before God. No one goes to hell because God
delighted to destroy them, but Whoever perished being innocent,
where were the righteous cut off? Job 4, verse 7. God's vessels of mercy are prepared
for glory because of His grace alone. That's one thing we have
to get clear. If we are vessels of mercy, it's
because of grace alone. We didn't get ourselves there.
We don't lift ourselves out of the pit. God alone can do that. But vessels of honor fit themselves
for destruction, according to Romans 9. They reap what they
sow. They oppose their own salvation. And their minds are constantly
hostile toward God. And men and women, therefore,
go to hell because of their own willful, obstinate rebellion
and unbelief. Esau is in hell today because
he despised Christ, because he preferred the world to the Son
of God, because he preferred a meal over God's eternal inheritance
of grace in Christ. And the entire nation of Edom
perished for the same reason. They perished because they hated
God and His people, and that is clear from God's judgment,
because He said it was for their pride, for their attitude, and
for their conduct towards His people. They proved themselves
to be vessels of wrath, seed of evildoers, children of Satan,
children of perdition, by their thoughts and by their works.
And so, we have to reemphasize this. All of God's vessels of
mercy are prepared for glory by grace alone given to them
in Christ, who God made to them wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. But the rest, he left. to their
own selves, to act out their own heart's desire and receive
the just condemnation of it. These things are playing from
scripture. Romans chapter two, in Romans chapter nine, throughout
scripture it's clear. Sixth, the sixth lesson now,
gotta get moving faster here. Read with me verses 17 through
21. I read them briefly, let's read
them together. Verse 17. But upon Mount Zion
shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness, and the house
of Jacob shall possess their possession. And the house of
Jacob shall be afire, the house of Joseph aflame, and the house
of Esau for stubble. And they shall kindle in them
and devour them, and there shall not be any remaining of the house
of Esau, for the Lord has spoken it." This is talking about the
utter destruction of Esau and the fact that the church of God
is going to be the one who is given rule over all things and
given all that belongs to the kingdom of Satan now. Verse 19. and they of the south shall possess
the mount of Esau, they of the plain, the Philistines, they
shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria, and
Benjamin shall possess Gilead, and the captivity of this host
of the children of Israel, in other words, those who were in
captivity of God's people, shall possess that of the Canaanites,
even unto Zarephath, and the captivity of Jerusalem, which
is in Sefarad, shall possess the cities of the south, and
saviors shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau,
and the kingdom shall be the Lord's." So, what is all this
saying here? It's talking about the total
victory of Christ and his people over this world, and over the
kingdom of Satan. So we ought to rejoice here.
God is making a solemn promise, certain, he's predicting with
certainty, that the church will be victorious. And so we should
rejoice in the everlasting salvation of God's elect because it is
a matter of absolute certainty. Though in all appearance we are
utterly weak, insignificant in this world, and we have no power
against the rulers of this world. Christ is on the throne. His
will will be done. We will be given the victory.
The matter is all of promise, all of grace, all because of
Christ and it is given to us for his righteousness sake and
therefore it comes to us by faith alone. It's not by our works
or our strength or our wisdom or anything like that. And so
here Obadiah looks beyond time to that last day when Christ
shall come in his glory and in that day holiness shall be seen
in all the people and in all the kingdom of God, in the kingdom
of Christ. The whole house of Jacob shall
possess their God-given divinely purchased possessions, and the
church shall be to that kingdom of Satan a fire and stubble,
and it shall be destroyed. The kingdoms of the world, it
says in Revelation 11, 15, the kingdoms of this world shall
become the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ. And so what
is this? What is the last lesson here?
And here's the last lesson for us in the book of Obadiah. We who look to Christ, we who
believe on him by God's grace. Here's what it says in Lamentations
chapter three, verse 24. The Lord is my portion, therefore
will I hope in him. The seventh lesson is the only
hope for proud sinners is the Lord Jesus Christ, and He is
the portion, He is the everlasting life, the eternal inheritance
of all those who look to Him. Jesus said, Verily, verily, I
say to you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that
sent Me, hath everlasting, he already has everlasting life,
he shall not come into condemnation, but he is passed from death to
life. Will you follow Esau? Will I?
Will I follow Esau? To hell will I choose what gratifies
my flesh, or will I follow Jacob by clinging to Christ in faith
as all of my righteousness, and my everlasting life, and my eternal
inheritance? Only our sins will damn us. God's gift of righteousness in
Christ alone will justify us. We can't make it happen. God's
got to do it all. Therefore we come to Christ and
we ask, we call on the name of the Lord. So let us look to Christ
only. Let us call on Him alone. Call
on Him to save us to the uttermost. He has promised to do it. He
rose and ascended and reigns and intercedes for us and He
shall have His way. Therefore, let us with full assurance
fully expect that because God made Christ our wisdom and righteousness,
our holiness and our redemption, that He will also freely give
us all things with Him, even this world and Satan's kingdom
shall shortly be put under our feet. Don't be discouraged by
the seemingly powerful reign of wickedness and the increasing
reign of it in this world, look to Christ because, as it says
in the Proverbs, out of the heart are the issues of life. Not out
of politics, not out of science, out of the heart. The issue is
the reign and the rule of Christ in the heart. That's where the
kingdom of God is. The kingdom of God is within
you. And that's what we need to do.
Recognize that the battle is in us. When Christ is in us,
we have the hope of glory. Let's pray. Father, we thank
you that the Lord Jesus Christ is our life. We died with Him,
we rose with Him, He lives in us, He is our life, therefore
we shall never die. Whatever death is in our body,
we know that it is a victory. We know that the Lord Jesus Himself
has said that we shall never die. So we know that it must
be a full release. from this life to glory. It must
be that way in which you decouple us from the sin and death of
this body to the full righteousness. to be with the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we know that when He comes, His entire church as one body
together will be raised up and given a glorious body like His
glorious body, joined to Him forever to see Him face to face
and to commune from the very depths of our being with the
Son of God in all of His glory and to be in the presence of
God without fault, without shame, not ashamed, because the Lord
Jesus Christ is everything to God for us, and we are in Him.
Help us, Lord, to look to Him in all things and to rejoice
in Him, and help us to proclaim His greatness, to proclaim His
salvation, and pray and call and make our supplications to
Him at all times. for your people, for your glory
in this world, that the gospel, which is the power of God, would
call your people from death to life. Translate us from the kingdom
of Satan to the kingdom of your dear son. In his name we pray,
amen.