PRIDE COMES BEFORE A FALL
Opening Prayer
Lord we are a humble people before You.
Read OBADIAH 1:1–14
Obadiah’s Vision
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, 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[a]
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,[b]
but you will not detect it.
8 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“will I not destroy the wise men of Edom,
those of understanding in the mountains of Esau?
9 Your warriors, Teman, will be terrified,
and everyone in Esau’s mountains
will be cut down in the slaughter.
10 Because of the violence against your brother Jacob,
you will be covered with shame;
you will be destroyed forever.
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.
12 You should not gloat over 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 gloat over them in their calamity
in the day of their disaster,
nor seize their wealth
in the day of their disaster.
14 You should not wait at the crossroads
to cut down their fugitives,
nor hand over their survivors
in the day of their trouble.
Footnotes
- Obadiah 1:3 Or of Sela
- Obadiah 1:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
‘Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time.’ (1 Pet 5:6)
Think Further
A friend attended a funeral which she described as ‘sad’ because of vicious tension within the deceased’s family. There had been vicious tension between Israel/Judah and Edom for a long time, and it seems that when Judah was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 B.C., Edom joined in against them. So the prophecy is about judgment for the Edomites for the way they treated their ‘brother’ (10,12). God takes human covenants seriously (husband/wife, siblings, neighbors, communities, nations…); when Edom betrayed Judah, it defied the will of God, even though God was using Babylon to punish Judah.
Edom’s geographical context sheds light on these verses. Esau lived in the ‘hill country of Seir’ (Gen 32:3; 36:6–9 ). Positioned southeast of the Dead Sea, it has amazing natural fortifications: the highlands rise in three steps to about five thousand feet above sea level. They consist of mountains, cliffs, chasms, rocky defiles, stony plateaus, and abundant water and food. The inhabitants felt invincible – but God said he would ‘bring them down’ (see 3,4). Pride indeed comes before a fall, as pride means vanity, arrogance, and independence from God. It must be exposed and judged. Should we search our hearts to see if pride has a foothold within us?
In verse 5, the prophet describes thieves (who take what they want) and grape pickers (who leave gleanings) (Deut 24:21; grapes were grown in Edom, cf., Num 20:17). Edom’s downfall will be complete and all its treasures taken in reprisal for how it treated Judah. Even the wise will be destroyed (8) – Edom had a reputation as a cultivator of wisdom (E Achtemeier, Minor Prophets 1, Paternoster, 1996, p245). Edom should not have acted that way (11–14). In today’s world, we are all too aware of the injustice and cruelty of some people against others; God will surely act to avenge, one day.
Apply
Pray into today’s news headlines, where there is war, terrorism, acts of inhumanity. ‘Maranatha; come, Lord Jesus!’
Closing prayer
Lord, our heart is not haughty, our eyes not lofty, nor do we exercise ourselves in matters too high for us.
Book and Author Intros
Extras
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Encounter with God is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.