[0:00] Today we're going to be taking a look at Edom's cautionary history. I was going to say we're going to be taking a look at Edom's cautionary tale, but if I said tale, some people would get confused and think I'm talking about something made up or something that's not historically accurate, and that's not the case at all.
[0:23] We're going to be taking a look at the story or the Word of God as it applies to the nation of Eden, and it should be somewhat of a warning for us.
[0:44] In the back, could I get the power back, please? Thank you. Next week we're going to be taking a look at the story of Jonah.
[0:57] And so feel free to read that this week as you are going through your devotions. I had Obadiah, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah.
[1:10] Hopefully you are beginning to learn where in the Bible the minor prophets are, you know, as we study them slowly but surely. We're in Obadiah right now.
[1:24] I was going to have this question, you know, during our question and answer time at the end of the service, but as I was preparing this week, it just became more and more apparent that I needed to make this the starting point of our sermon today.
[1:43] Do you know and appreciate the difference between, okay, what is possible and what is profitable?
[1:58] Do you know and appreciate the difference between the two?
[2:10] I could have, instead of profitable, I could have used the word beneficial. As I'm, okay, okay.
[2:23] How old are you will be determined or how, you know, caught up in the affairs of the world will be determined by your response to this. Who here knows what it means to doom scroll?
[2:33] One, two, three, four, five. Oh, good. Oh, good. Thank you. It was mainly my family and I'm like, oh, no. To doom scroll is when you're online and you're, you know, maybe you're on Facebook, maybe you're, you know, doing whatever, and you start watching video after video after video, and the next thing you know, three hours are gone.
[2:56] People have stolen your, your car, your wallet, you know, you've been, you've been left on the side of the road and you don't care because you're just doom scrolling. I think that's what happened to the professional golfer who fell three stories down an elevator shaft.
[3:13] He was on his phone, pushed the button to the elevator, the elevator doors opened. He stepped in and about halfway down, he realized there was no elevator car.
[3:23] True story happened this week, messed him up, all right? In doom scrolling, you will find people who, they're flaunting their body to get clicks, to get likes, to get advertisement.
[3:51] They're selling their physical appearance to generate profit. You will find people who will do, you know, there was this movie, a couple of movies by this guy and his friends, and they would go out and they would blow themselves up or they'd do crazy stunts, you know, and people are looking at money and they're trying to get the money and they're really not realizing the back-end consequences, okay?
[4:25] And that's true not just on the internet, that's true in life in general, and it's even true in our faith. 1 Corinthians 10, verse 23 says this.
[4:39] Paul's writing to believers. Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible, but not everything is constructive.
[4:51] Or all things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but not all things build up. And we're going to be taking a look at how that applies, the difference between what is possible and what is profitable today and applying it to us, to our lives.
[5:10] In 1 Peter 5, verse 6, we read, Humble yourself, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time He may lift you up.
[5:21] And what I'm contrasting here is those people who are out there seeking wealth or seeking fame or seeking profit in their own way, on their own schedule, in their own manner, versus humbling yourself before God and waiting for Him to exalt you.
[5:44] There are those that self-promote, and then we within the church are to wait on the Lord. But that's basically where we're going. That's what I want to talk about today.
[5:55] And let's see if this makes some sense. As we get started today, we're in the book of Obadiah. Now, Obadiah, if you were to understand the meaning of his name, it means servant of the Lord.
[6:10] Obadiah is the servant of the Lord. There is like 19 different Obadiahs in the Bible. And we don't know which one this one is. He could have been really early.
[6:23] He could have been really late. We just don't know. But we're going to be talking about Edom, which is right down here. We mentioned this. You'll remember this slide from last week and everything.
[6:35] But Edom is right down here. And as we take a look at this, geographically, their location, they had control over one of the two major trade routes.
[6:51] If you were coming from Egypt and heading up here, or if you're heading up here, down, you either had to go along the coastline, which really was, I mean, it was easy walking, but there was an awful lot of fighting, an awful lot of territorial contests going on there.
[7:10] In fact, even today, right now, there's battles and there is conflict in this area as it has been throughout the ages.
[7:20] Israel is just a land of conflict. The other option was to come over here to the east side of the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. And there was another path that you could go through here.
[7:32] And Edom controlled access to it. When the nation of Israel was coming out of Egypt, you know, and God was leading, let my people go. And they finally had spent their 40 years walking around the desert eating manna, manna burgers, manna shakes, manna whatever.
[7:50] They finally, they're going home and they get to Edom and they're like, all we want to do is walk. We're not going to do nothing. We're not going to bother nobody. All we want to do. And Edom said, no, and made them go all the way around their whole territory.
[8:07] So Edom has this position where they've got excellent topography, excellent location. They're just, they're physically situated in a great place, but we'll get to that.
[8:21] Just so you know, Edom, who are they? Who is Edom? Okay. Well, if we go back here to father Abraham, he had, he had two, he had two ladies that he had kids with, you know, to start with, Hagar, who had Ishmael.
[8:40] And that's where all the Arab nations come from. Right? But Sarah gave birth to Isaac. And Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau.
[8:56] And so Esau is the father of the Edomites. And Jacob is the father of the Israelites. So when we look here at Edom and Israel, we understand that they're actually family, close family, near family.
[9:22] I tried to train my kids that it's family together, family first. You come against my family and I don't care who you are.
[9:37] It's not good. You come against my neighbor. Maybe I defend them. Maybe I don't. But you come against my family and I'm coming after you. Right? Isn't that, how many of you were raised that way?
[9:51] Right? Family. Supposed to be important. Not here. They had no concept of protecting one another. They were like, I mean, even Jacob and Esau were hammering tongs.
[10:05] And they were brothers. So, all right. By the way, I just, I put this up here so that you, I mean, you remember this from last week.
[10:16] The kings and the prophets of the nation of Israel and Judah, you know, Saul, the beginning, all the way down here. 586, the Babylonian captivity. And interestingly enough, Edom attacks the fleeing Israelites during the Babylonian attack.
[10:36] And that's, that's going to come in really important here in the book of Obadiah. Huge introduction. So let's take a look at what the book of Obadiah actually says.
[10:47] I'm going to, I'm going to read most of the book. It's, it's all of 21 verses and I'm going to read the first 15. Okay. So here we go. The vision of Obadiah.
[10:59] Who was Obadiah? Servant of the Lord. All right. Mrs. James knew that it would be a question and answer time. So, the vision of Obadiah.
[11:11] 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.
[11:22] Let us rise up against her for battle. Behold, I will make you small among the nations. You shall be utterly despised.
[11:32] The pride of your heart has deceived you. You who live in the clefts of the rock in your lofty dwelling. Who, you who say in your heart, who will bring me down to the ground?
[11:44] Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the Lord. If thieves came to you, if plunderers came by night, how you have been destroyed.
[12:02] Would they not steal only enough for themselves? If a grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? How Esau has been pillaged, his treasures sought out.
[12:15] All your allies have driven you to your border. Those at peace with you have deceived you. They have prevailed against you. Those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you.
[12:28] You have no understanding. Will I not, on that day, declares the Lord, destroy the wise men of Edom and understanding out of Mount Esau?
[12:41] And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Taman, so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter. Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever.
[12:58] On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them.
[13:09] But do not gloat over the day of your brother in the day of his misfortune. Do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their ruin. Do not boast in the day of their distress.
[13:23] Do not enter the gate of my people in the day of calamity. Do not gloat over his disaster in the day of his calamity. Do not loot his wealth in the day of his calamity.
[13:33] Do not stand at the crossroads to cut off his fugitives. Do not hand over his survivors in the day of distress. For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations.
[13:48] As you have done, it shall be done to you. Your deeds shall return upon your own head. Okay.
[14:02] Alright, let's just... There's a vision, a message for Edom and the whole world. And it's a warning of coming judgment.
[14:14] And look at the things that they are warned about. In verse 3, we see that they're proud of their lofty position. The fact that they live on these excellent heights where they have tactical advantage over their enemies and they can rumble downhill and attack and then flee uphill and be defense.
[14:33] They attacked Israel during the days of trouble. Verse 10 and 11. They rejoiced to see Israel struggling.
[14:44] Verse 12 through 13. In fact, history shows that they... that when the Babylonians came and carried away the nation of Israel, the Edomites found the fleeing Israelites who had escaped and they sold them back to the Babylonians.
[15:07] Just think about it. It would be like... It would be like living in France and during World War II and you have Jews fleeing from Germany and you're at the French border and you say, come in, come in, come in, come in.
[15:24] And then you take them all and you give them back to the Nazis. That's basically what they did. It's just... It's horrible. And we see this again and again that they're warned not to do these things but they've done them.
[15:43] And then we get down to verse 15. For the day of the Lord is near upon all nations. And you see that the entire world is warned about their choices.
[15:56] Now look, Edom had a choice. God was disciplining Israel. Edom could come alongside and be a friend or could take advantage.
[16:14] And let me ask you, which one do you think filled their pockets? Coming alongside to walk with Israel during their days of trouble or plundering them?
[16:27] I know which one put more coin in the bank account. And that's what Edom did. Every chance Edom got to go in and take advantage, they did. Even the Jews that are fleeing from the Babylonians, they grabbed them and they sold them back and they're like, money!
[16:42] Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay!! But they're warned. They're said, as you have done, it shall be done to you.
[16:54] Your deeds shall be returned upon your own head. And even though Edom took every opportunity to take advantage of Israel's trouble, to profit, in 70 AD, when Rome built the second temple, Edom disappears from the pages of history.
[17:27] They're gone. They're totally wiped out. There is no nationality of Edomites. They're done. Does that mean they're all dead?
[17:39] No, but nationally, the nation of Edom is no more. They have been removed from the pages of history. They did not listen to what the Lord said.
[17:51] They saw the opportunity to profit right here. And they took that opportunity to profit right here, even though they'd been warned.
[18:03] Why would they do that? Could it be that they face the same challenges we face today?
[18:23] We have a problem in our judicial system. a huge problem in our judicial system. That problem is that the consequences are separated from the act.
[18:37] So, if I steal something, the consequences, if they ever come, are way, way, way down the road. If I murder someone in cold blood in front of people on live television, I live for a long time and people argue about whether or not I'm guilty, even though the blood's all over my hands and everybody knows it.
[19:05] You see, we've divorced the actions from the consequences. They're separated. And so what happens is people lose the link. it applies in other areas of life.
[19:27] Raising children. Do you realize that there are a lot of people who, they just want the kids to be quiet. They just want the kids to stop bothering them.
[19:38] They just want the children to, and so they feed them whatever they want. They let them do whatever they want. They give them whatever they want and they just plug them into electronics. You remember this.
[19:52] We had people that, they were slightly older in life. They were late 30s, early 40s and they had their last child. And if you've had a baby, you know they take a lot of energy.
[20:05] Amen? They fixed that by sticking the playpen in front of the TV and leaving the TV on. Do you know what they've done?
[20:17] Is they've taken care of what seems to be a good idea right now, ignoring the consequences that are coming down the road. They have, they have gone for the easy profit regardless of whether or not it's truly beneficial for them.
[20:39] Humble yourself, therefore, into the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you. You see, we need to understand profitable right here and now may not be beneficial.
[21:01] And we need to learn how to put our priorities in the right place. and we've got the best possible example of that in the person of Jesus Christ.
[21:13] And so we're going to take a look at this. Jesus Christ beyond anybody demonstrates being willing to endure the hard thing now because the reward is so great.
[21:28] Jesus Christ clearly demonstrates humbling himself before God even during the worst of circumstances because he's holding fast to the promise that God has given him.
[21:42] Now, to take a look at this, we have to go back to the beginning. So, go back to Genesis. Genesis. This may seem to some of us as review and if it is, great.
[21:58] If it's not review, great. I hope we learn something today. In the beginning, God created humanity and he made them what? Male and female.
[22:12] And they were good. That's what we read here. Take a look. Genesis chapter 1, 27 through 31. So, God created man in his own image.
[22:23] In the image of God, he created them. Male and female, he created them. And God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heaven and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
[22:40] And God said, behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth and every tree with seed and its fruit. You shall have them for food.
[22:51] And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food. And it was so.
[23:03] And God saw everything that he had made and behold, it was, yeah. Yeah. It wasn't like, that'll work. Like the porch swing I made my wife.
[23:15] Like, yeah, she won't notice. That's not the way it was. God looked at it and he said, very good. I like it. Right? So here we are created and everything's perfect, right?
[23:28] But then what happens? Genesis chapter 2. Verses 16 and 17, we read of our failure. God commanded the man saying, you shall surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.
[23:45] For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. God puts Adam in the garden and he puts a standard, a test. He puts this, say, look, this is what you will do if you honor me.
[23:58] If you believe, if you are faithful, you will not eat of the tree of knowledge. That's the standard of faith. And here comes chapter three. Verses six and seven.
[24:11] When woman saw the tree that it was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and the tree was desired to make one wise, she took its fruit and ate it. And she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it.
[24:26] Then the eyes of both were opened and they knew that they were naked. God created us good, wonderful, awesome, gave us all the blessing.
[24:41] The whole world was our, and we had dominion over it, it was great, and we failed. And therefore, because of that, we got kicked out of the garden.
[24:55] It's hard to work. Work became a four-letter word. labor for ladies, having children. Apparently, it's bothersome.
[25:06] It never bothered me at all, but most ladies complain about it, saying it's somewhat painful. I wouldn't know. You know, the consequences were brutal.
[25:19] But what did it say? The day you eat of it, you shall surely die. And death came into the world. Sin and its consequences.
[25:32] And could you imagine being Jesus and God up in heaven and looking down and saying, all right, get out the old smite button, we're going to start over. You know, hit the old smite button, bolt of lightning, poof, right?
[25:47] And then they start over. They could have done that. They were totally justified in being able to do that. But God had a plan. And that plan was to bring him ultimate honor and glory.
[26:02] God's plan was to use our failures to build up, to earn, to establish, to be raised up in glorious praise.
[26:17] Our failures, he said, watch this, this is going to be awesome, everybody's going to love me. he had a plan. Genesis chapter 1, or, oh, sorry, Romans chapter 5.
[26:35] I already did the Genesis, now I'm in Romans. Romans chapter 5, verses 6 through 8. While we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.
[26:53] For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person, one would even dare to die. By the way, are there any good people? No, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
[27:09] All we like sheep have gone astray. We're sinners, hell-bent and hell-bound. God chose his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
[27:29] Rather than stand back in righteous anger, Jesus chose to die for our sins. And the reason is what we find in Philippians chapter 2.
[27:40] this is incredible. Like I said, I know for some people this is review, but it doesn't matter how much of a review it is, it's awesome. Pick it up in verse 6.
[27:56] Talking about Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be held on to, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
[28:12] Though he was in glory in all that that entails, and all of the angelic beings worshipped him, and everything was perfect and great, he didn't think that he had to hang on to that.
[28:24] Rather, he decided that he was going to rescue us. And so, he emptied himself, that means that he let go of that perfection of glory, and took upon himself, he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death.
[28:55] 1 Peter 5, verse 8, humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God. That's where we started today, right? Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God.
[29:06] Well, Jesus Christ humbled himself by becoming obedient even to the point of death, even death on a cross.
[29:17] He did this not because he had to, he did this not because, he did this because of his love for us. And what's the result? Verse 9, therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed upon him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
[29:46] So we have Edom going about seeking its own way and they end up being scrubbed from the pages of history.
[29:59] We have Jesus Christ who exists in perfection humbling himself and taking upon himself the form of a servant humbling himself even to the point where he died and if you've read the Bible you know at any point in time he could have said yo this is not fun I'm going home he could have stepped back into glory but he endured it he humbled!
[30:24] himself and because of that he's been given a name that's! above every name because of what he did every knee will bow before him and give him glory because he humbled himself in obedience he not only secured our salvation but secured for himself untold glory Edom had a choice Jesus had a choice and we have a choice take a look at Matthew chapter 7 Matthew chapter 7 verses 13 and 14 enter by the narrow gate for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction and those who enter by it are many for the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life and those who find it are few you got choices people there's the easy way and
[32:02] I got to be honest with you we live in a hell bent society we live in a sin warped world we live where the pressure to follow the crowd is immense and there are so many people and they seem like they're just skipping along so happy going down the easy road and let's be honest it's the easy road it's it's like it doesn't take effort it's just you roll along there's no there's no obstacles there's no penalties it's just there we go the problem is the easy road leads to destruction and we have a choice we can enter by the narrow gate and we can take the hard road if we take a look at Edom they chose the easy path if we take a look at Christ he chose the hard path let's be honest
[33:04] Edom went for centuries oppressing Israel Edom for centuries dominated that region and they were you could have been an Edomite and been fat healthy and wealthy for a long time but eventually what happened God was faithful to his word imagine being Christ humbling yourself and being born on this earth you have gone from being all powerful creator God who spoke and the world came to being who spoke and the stars were scattered across the universe you you went from being the God who orchestrated and handled everything and you humbled yourself in submission to God the Father and became an infant who could not control his own bowels who became a child whose mother told him to clean up his room because she wanted to have tea with the neighbors whose dad in frustration you know imagine being a kid you've gone from being top of the heap to being your school teacher telling you to check your homework you're like right you know but he humbled himself and we can read elsewhere it's not like he was not like when he was living on the earth he gave himself a
[34:51] Herculean body you know long flowing hair big muscles height deep commanding voice the sort of thing that when when he walks by all the ladies went woohoo and all the men went man I wish it could be like him there was nothing about Christ that looked that way he was he was he was just average Joe he walked by and people didn't even notice him because he humbled himself it was not the easy path and imagine being crucified when you could have just stepped out of it and he knew what was coming remember in the garden it was so bad that he had sweat drops of blood because he knew it was going to be painful Edom's choice was to take the easy road and for a while it went nice but in the end they reaped the consequences
[35:52] Christ took the hard road and it was not fun at all but in the end every knee will bow every tongue confess and you and I face a choice too will we take the easy road or will we take the hard road 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 23 all things are lawful you realize that if you become a Christian you are free from the Mosaic law in fact you can do whatever you want because you have been forgiven if you turn to Christ if you accept the salvation that he provides you are free from guilt from all sins that you have committed and all sins that you will commit and the sin that you are committing right now because you have been judged you are completely free therefore all things are lawful but not all things are helpful all things are lawful but not all things build up let no one seek his own good but the good of his neighbor you and I face choices today even as believers how will we live our lives humble yourself therefore unto the mighty hand of
[37:35] God that in due time he can lift you up turn to Romans chapter 12 Paul is writing to believers and he says this I appeal to you therefore brothers by the mercies of God got that I appeal to you God has been merciful to you in forgiving!
[38:04] you look those of us who have partaken of salvation God has given us the greatest blessing that is possible forgiveness therefore I appeal to you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God what is good and acceptable and perfect my friends all of us must choose our paths we have choices and we need to keep in mind the words of God he calls us not to serve ourselves but to serve him and we have that promise from him that in due time he will lift you up okay okay
[39:22] I'm going to make a point here some people are going to go oh but it's okay you're in a gun battle and your team is winning yay this is great and you stand up to celebrate and get thumped in the noggin by the last bullet don't raise yourself up too early it's it's not good for you you wait until the guy in charge says okay you can stand up now right let's be honest humble yourself therefore under the mighty hand of God present yourself as a living sacrifice so that in the end he who knows you better than you know yourself who loves you more than you can ever understand will himself lift you up and exalt you that's our challenge that's our that's our call if you're not a
[40:31] Christian today's the day if you haven't turned to Christ if you are a Christian today's the day to get on the right track I cannot personally say that I've ever been off the right track all believers screw up and go the wrong way at some time can I get an amen but God is gracious and he allows us to get back on the right track amen father thank you for your love lord I know that the challenges that we face we live in a rotten society we live in a world that is that is going the wrong way and it's not easy to stand up for you help us to to to go the!