Obadiah

“Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord. (Obadiah 4)

Obadiah is one of those books which, if a preacher refers to it, everyone is flipping through their Bibles—“Where is that? What does it come after? Where is it in the table of contents?” Obadiah delivers one chapter only, but it is a breath-sucking, heart-trembling chapter. “Destruction! Destruction on Edom!” shouts Obadiah. And with that, Obadiah was silent. But his word reverberates centuries later in our Bible. An oracle solely against a country that is far from us.  

Edom and Israel did not have friendly relations. Although Edom was a brother to Israel—Edom being Esau’s descendants—Edom was anything but brotherly to Israel. Brotherly rivalry sent shock waves, like ripples on water, that patterned national relations for their history. One person, one family, one generation—and history played out.

Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever. On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth….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…You should not wait at the crossroads to cut down their fugitives, nor hand over their survivors in the day of their trouble. (Obadiah 10, 11, 12, 14)

Betrayal. Hate. Boasting in misfortune. This was Edom’s sin. And Israel was left reeling, humiliated not only by the big powers of the time—Assyria—but also by its neighboring little nation of Edom. The Jews were asking God, “Where are you, Yahweh? Are you still there? Do you care? What about justice?” Obadiah responds. “The Lord will bring about justice.” As one commentator states, the prophet “made it possible for many Jews to go on believing in the moral government of the world, in the justice of their God” (Bewer).

God is just. God does see.

But furthermore, God is involved in the workings of the world. It seems sometimes that the world is driven by so many butterflies over the Atlantic that just keep flapping their wings—little breezes become tornadoes and hurricanes that rip through our lives, destroying families and nations and homes and countries. Yet, God is at work. He is sovereign over the creation, even when it seems like all is chaos. Even when it seems that evil has its way and when the world seems like it is in moral and spiritual and physical decay. Even in the midst of chaos, Obadiah audaciously declares God is in control. Even when history and current events seem to say otherwise, God is in control. He is working behind the scenes. He is sovereign over every nation, whether they acknowledge it or not.

God is just. God is sovereign. He is working out his plans that have been before the beginning.

I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. (Is. 46:10)

[God’s] intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made know to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Eph. 3:10-11)

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will. (Eph. 1:11)

You and I are part of his plan from before the creation of the world. “Do not fear,” he says. “I am in control. Right now, your circumstances may seem anything but in control. But let go. Wait on me. For I am just and will serve justice. I am sovereign, and I know what is going on in your life. This is part of my plan—for my glory and your good. I will work all things out for the good of those who love me, for I delight in you and I made you for my glory” (Rom. 8:28; Is. 43:7).

And the church can seem at the happenstance and dictates of the government and national trends. It can seem like a weak thing, tossed and swayed by the world. But the church is part of God’s eternal plan, and it will prevail. It is in the universal church through which God makes known to the rulers and authorities of the spiritual realms—those beings I do not even pretend to understand, but they are not of this world—his eternal mystery and purpose. God is working in and through the church today, on this earth on in the heavenly realms. He is sovereign and Almighty, in this earth and above the earth and under the earth. Before him we bow, and before him we cry, “Abba, Father!” Eternal mystery, eternal grace.