The Folly and Fall of Edom

This is the First Mustang Pulpit Podcast, a podcast of the weekly preaching and teaching at First Mustang.! Thank you for joining us. While John is away with his first doctoral seminar, I was this past week out at Master's Seminary in Los Angeles, enjoying that I didn't have to be the student.

But John has all this work to do. I had a little bit of work to do, what I was doing in the classroom, but I was glad to not be able to have to come home and do homework like he's doing.

So be in prayer for John in this journey. I had a very difficult time getting to Los Angeles. I went through, I think it was six plane delays and three flight cancellations.

And I was able to get on the last flight out of Oklahoma City and made it to Denver. And after delays there, there was one flight going out of there to the airport I was trying to get to.

And we were getting ready to load and rumor was starting to swirl they were having trouble. And if that flight got canceled, I was just out of luck and stuck somewhere in Denver.

We're supposed to be at the seminary teaching early the next morning. And I went and asked what was going on. And the person there at the gate said, well, we're having mechanical issues with the plane.

And I foolishly said, well, will we still be able to get out? Like, can we still get on the plane? Rather than thinking, do I want to be on this plane? I'm not sure that I want to.

We got on the plane. And then they sent us off of the plane and never told us what was going on. But, you know, while I was there waiting, you just have no control whatsoever at all, of course.

And just hoping that plans and details work out. And it's pretty staggering to think about when you're on an airplane.

It's got so much speed, so much power. It really is. It still amazes me that you can be in one part of the country and just three hours later in a totally different part of the country. That you can leave from one nation by the end of the day, be it another nation.

It really is a staggering thing. And yet, if there's something wrong with that plane, you're immediately completely powerless. These planes that fly up with the eagles, so to speak, can be grounded very, very quickly.

In fact, one of the planes got delayed because of a, or got canceled because there was a problem with the radio communications for the first officer. And the plane that is able to fly so high above everything else and be so beautiful and majestic and powerful can be grounded in an instant.

Well, something similar is happening when we look at the book of Obadiah. In fact, the nation of Edom is going to be compared to that of an eagle, that which is high and lofty and majestic and yet will very soon be brought down, be grounded, completely undone.

We began last week by way of an overview of walking through this very short book in your Old Testament, Obadiah. If you have trouble finding it, please just turn to the front of your Bible, the table of contents, and look for the page number.

Don't be embarrassed about that. We did that as a group last Sunday. And so if you're thinking, why do those people beside me find it so easily? Because they were here last week and marked it.

That's all they did, all right? But it's just one page, and so it'd be easy to turn past it and never find it. But I encourage you to do that.

If you need help, just find the book of Amos, if that helps you. I'm just kidding. It is right after Amos, though, but find Obadiah. This very short Old Testament book, 291 words is all it's comprised of.

I don't want to re-preach the whole introduction from last week. If you weren't here last Sunday, it may help you to go back this week and to view that, just so you can have a better understanding, because the history of what's going on before we get to the book of Obadiah is very important in the Old Testament.

But just by quick word of reminder, this is really the culmination of a feud. It's a feud that began in the womb of Rebekah. The Lord has declared that the older Esau will serve the younger Jacob.

And Jacob's going to go and settle there in Israel and in Esau and Edom. It's a feud that continued through the centuries, some 400 years after Jacob and Esau.

We looked at last week how Israelites were looking to pass through the land of Edom and made all of these provisions.

We will just go this one path. All we're looking for is a way to get through as a nation. And the king of Edom declined and did not let them do that. And throughout generations and decades and centuries, you see this long-standing feud flourish.

And the reality is that by the time Jacob and Esau have passed away, the feud is not just about them. It's about the anger and the bitterness and the hatred that's been passed down, which often happens.

That those who would be followers of somebody would often hold even more of a grudge or bitterness against people they consider adversaries, even than the people sometimes where the conflict started in the first place.

And so the book of Obadiah is all about the fall of the Edomites. Edomites are the descendants of Esau.

Esau meaning Harry exchanged his birthright for the red stew. Edom, the word for red. And so the descendants of Esau became known as the Edomites.

Edomites. And there in the book of Obadiah, we find this prophecy of the coming downfall of the Edomites.

They thought they were invincible. They thought their location, their physical, geographical location, which was very unique. They thought that would make them impenetrable.

They thought that there would be no way to be brought down. But look at verse 4. 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.

That which seemed to be lofty and majestic, high above all danger, the Lord says, I will bring you down.

Obadiah is a minor prophet with a major message. And just in case you're kind of new to learning your Bible, which if that's the case, I'm so glad that you're studying and reading and learning it, you'll hear the term minor prophets.

Don't ever hear that term and think that minor prophets in any way is saying less important. It's not that the major prophets have a more significant message than the minor prophets.

They're minor just in sense of length. The minor prophets generally are short, and that's why they're called minor, not about importance, just primarily about length.

And here is Obadiah, one of the minor prophets, with a major message about the coming downfall of the Edomites. We looked last week at not only the history leading up to the book of Obadiah, but even looked forward just a little bit after Obadiah at what happens to the Edomites.

And again, that's a very important part of your Old Testament history. And if you missed that last week, go back and watch that if you would, just to make sure you're aware of the full historical context of what we're looking at these next few weeks.

As we walk through today, we're going to look at verses 1-9, the folly and the fall of Edom. And we're going to do it with two headings. First, the danger of pride. And second, the destruction that awaits.

So first, the danger of pride. Why is pride such a dangerous thing? You're going to see it today in the context of the Edomites.

But to be sure, pride is as dangerous and destructive for us today as it's ever been. And so when we look at the danger of pride, make note, the first danger of pride, as we see in this context, in this text of Obadiah, is that pride deceives.

Pride deceives. Look at verse 1. The vision of Obadiah, thus says the Lord God concerning Edom.

So the first thing I want you to notice here is this vision is from the Lord God. Adonai Yahweh. God who is the owner of all things. The God who is with His people forever.

This is a word from the Lord God. This is a word from heaven to the prophet, speaking directly to the people of Edom, and speaking of their coming destruction.

Now in this short one chapter book, what you see is there are seven times this divine name for God is used. And that alerts us to something, namely that it is God who is the central character in this book.

While it is a warning and a word of destruction coming against the Edomites for the comfort of the Israelites, the main character in this story absolutely is none other than the Lord God Himself.

And you see that in verse 4. I've already read to you. From there I will bring you down, declares the Lord. The fall of the Edomites is not first explained by other nations.

It's not first explained by war. It's not first explained by natural disaster. The primary reason, the primary event that will bring the Edomites down is that as a judgment for their sin, the Lord God says, I am the one that will do this.

Sin is not just something in our life that puts other people against us. Sin, much more dangerously so, puts us on a collision course with God Himself.

pride deceives. They thought that they were strong. They thought they were invincible. They thought that they could be safe no matter what.

They thought that their pride, that their arrogance would have no downfall, and yet their hearts were deceived. And the message from heaven here is that their downfall is imminent.

Goes on to say in verse 1, we have heard a report from the Lord, and a messenger has been sent among the nations. Rise up!

Let us rise against her for battle. This is the Lord summoning the people to battle, and yes, there will be nations and leaders and kings and military and fighting, but in the end, this is about a people who have opposed the things of God who will meet their day of reckoning.

Verse 2, Behold, I will make you small among the nations. You shall be utterly despised. In that sentence in verse 2, in the original text, the first word there is small.

It's a word of emphasis. Jesus, small you will be. Small I will make you. Verse 3 speaks of the pride they have.

The pride of your heart has deceived you. You who live in the clefts of the rock in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, who will bring me down to the ground?

The people of Edom feel so safe, so secure, so arrogant. Because of their geographical location, they felt they would be impossible to conquer.

These high peaks gave them a sense of security. Where they were located, they literally were protected by rocks, literally shielded by mountains.

And yet those earthly shields are of no consequence when the Lord seeks to bring them down. The place where they dwelt was about 20, 30 miles wide, about 100 miles long, situated among the mountains.

It was almost inaccessible. It was fortified, high, and they felt that because of where they were, that there is no one who could overcome them.

Now think about this with people in our world today who feel like because of their name, or because of their title, or because of their wealth, or because of their influence, that they feel like they can get by with anything.

Maybe even in your own heart, you have a sense of that. Not that you necessarily feel lofty and majestic, or that there are people physically coming after you, but you feel like you have so much safety and so much security in all of this that you've built up around you, and yet, just like the plane I was trying to get on a few days ago, one small thing grounds it.

Same thing happens in our life today. Those who are strong, and powerful, and successful, and wealthy, if one thing goes wrong in their body, they can be completely taken out.

And people go through life feeling like they can be so secure and so strong in the works of their hands, and feel like they don't need to care about the things of the Lord, because they've got all the things of the world, and yet, pride always deceives a heart that way.

In Obadiah's day, the capital city of Edom is a place today called Petra. It was essentially unknown to the world until 1812 when a Swiss explorer found it.

The interesting thing about Petra is the passageway into it is only about 15 feet wide, and then it narrows from there.

So the entrance into this city, hundreds of feet tall, that the entrance goes on for about a mile, but only about 15 feet wide, which means chariots of armies coming after it can't get through, and it was said of the ancient city, you could guard the entire city with 12 men because of the way that the city was built, because of the way it naturally fell there.

And so they would look at their surroundings and feel completely safe. When Obadiah gives this vision from the Lord, the Edomites would have no reason to fear anything in and of themselves.

The problem is, verse 4, they have set themselves on a collision course with the Lord God. Pride deceives the heart.

Pride makes us think we're better than we are. Pride makes us think that other people are beneath us. Pride makes us think that we're above accountability.

It's been said that in every stage of our Christian development, in every sphere of our Christian discipleship, pride is our greatest enemy and humility, our greatest friend.

Now think on that for just a minute with me. In every stage of your personal discipleship, pride is your greatest enemy and humility, your greatest friend.

To walk in humility would require that we would be people who would be often confessing our sin because when we confess our sin often, it breaks us, it humbles us, and that is helpful for us.

And if we're not confessing our sin, then we may tend to go through life thinking that we are better than we are and that other people are beneath us and if we think people are beneath us, we won't serve them.

And so I think that is said very well that pride is our greatest enemy and humility, our greatest friend. And then back to verse 4, 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.

Their walls in the city were so high that eagles would nest there. In the Old Testament, the usage and description of the eagle speaks of strength and swiftness and loftiness.

And though Edom was metaphorically high as the eagles, yet it would be no match for God. This past week, when we were finally able to take off on one of the flights, there was a daughter, a mother and her daughter, I would guess teenager, sitting beside me and this daughter took out her phone when we were starting to take off and she lifted the window and she held her phone up to film the flight taking off.

And I thought, you know, people do that, no big deal. And then we got up high and she was still filming. About ten minutes later, she was still filming.

And I thought, she's going to record the whole flight. And then I thought, some bad things and why that could be ironic if someone was doing that.

And eventually, I heard her say that it was her first time to ever fly. She'd never been up so high. She was just amazed that you could actually fly above the clouds.

And she wanted to capture every second of being that high in the sky. It's just amazing. Well, the Lord specifically uses this imagery in verse four of the eagle soaring high, soaring aloft, setting their nest among the stars.

The picture, the idea here is that an eagle flying majestically up above everything else, above all the fray, above all the danger. In fact, one of the times when we were flying this past week, they came on and said, we're getting a little bumpy, so we're going to try to fly above the storm.

Well, that's what you do if you have access to do that. You get above it all. Well, that's the picture of Edom. In their mind, they're above it all.

dangers of the world, threats of other nations, they're above it all. Their defenses in their mind keep them safe.

Their geography is their perfect defense. And they're soaring, as it were, with the eagles among the stars, able to fly over any and all danger that may be down below.

Their pride has deceived them into thinking they are invincible. Proverbs 16, 18 says, pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Pride deceives. If there is today any pride in your heart, I want to urge you to take that very seriously.

whatever it may be that has convinced you in your heart that you are above it all, heed the message and the warning from the book of Obadiah that pride leads to destruction.

Pride deceives. Another thing that pride does is pride destroys. Verse 5, if thieves came to you, if plunderers came by night, how you have been destroyed.

Would they not steal only enough for themselves? If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? And you say, what in the world does this mean?

Let me walk you through what he's saying here. Using the imagery of thieves and of vineyards, his point is that if a thief were to break into your house tonight, what would they take?

They might take jewelry. If you had cash laying out, they'd grab that. They might take a laptop or a computer.

If you had a TV that was able to be carried out, they might grab that. And they might ransack through your house.

You might find doors kicked in and drawers opened and things tossed back and forth. And if you have a home office, you might find a desk has been ransacked.

But you're not going to go into your home even if it's been burglarized and find everything missing. They're not taking everything. Thieves aren't known to carry washers and dryers with them.

Thieves aren't known to take towels and washcloths. They're not taking couches and recliners. They're not taking windows and mirrors.

And yet, in verse 5, the picture is that the way Edom will be destroyed, they will be left with nothing.

He says, if thieves came to break in, they would only take what they want. Meaning, they can only take what's most valuable. They can only take what they can carry. They can only take what they can get away with.

Not so for you. You're going to be utterly destroyed. He says, if grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings?

The lower slopes here in Eden provided the great location for them to have these productive vineyards. And people would leave gleanings behind.

But the picture in Obadiah is that their pride is not just going to lead to their downfall, it's going to lead to their utter destruction. There will be nothing left behind.

Verse 6, how Esau has been pillaged, his treasures sought out. interesting way to describe it in verse 6 if you look carefully.

Let me read it again. How Esau has been pillaged, his treasure sought out.

What tense is that? It's past tense. this hasn't happened yet. This is speaking of what's going to happen.

And yet, it is being spoken of as though the past tense. Because what God decrees, God accomplishes.

And it doesn't matter how safe the Edomites feel or how secure they seem. Because of their pride, they are on a collision course with the Lord God, and the Lord God is more powerful in His judgment than the Edomites are in their defenses.

Even their secret treasures will be destroyed. His treasures are sought out. The picture here is the thief comes in to steal, but you've got other treasures, secret treasures, and the thief found them too.

It would be like if at your house you've got all of your things that are there and maybe you even have cash on hand in a safe somewhere, but just in case, like your doomsday scenario, you've got your cash and your coins buried in the backyard, the picture is the thieves came in and they stole what was there and they even were able to find what was the secret treasures.

It would be like coming home and saying they took our cash, they took our checkbooks, they took all of our money, and you say well thank goodness they didn't know that we had cash buried in the backyard, we better go get that so that we can have something to live on, and then you go to dig up your secret treasure and when you get there you find it's already been plundered, there's nothing left behind.

This is the picture of the coming downfall of the Edomites. Verse 7, 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, you have no understanding.

Edomites weren't known to have a large army, didn't particularly need one, but they were known to make alliances with nations around them.

And the prophecy in verse 7 is of those alliances failing them. Let me show it to you to help you to see this. He says, first, all of your allies have driven you to your border.

These are their military allies. These are nations who had some kind of a treaty with with Edom. Those who had promised to help them if ever needed.

And now those allies are gone. It speaks secondly of those at peace with you. These are their political allies.

These are other nations with whom they had a friendliness with them. So you've got your nations that you've made military alliances with.

And then you've got those you've made political alliances with. And now all of that has fallen apart. And then thirdly, it says, even those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you.

These are those they thought were their friends. Who's left to protect them? The political structure has fallen apart.

The military alliances have fallen apart. Even their own friends and trusted people in their life have fallen apart. And again, look at the text and the context of verse 7.

All your allies have driven you to your border. Those at peace with you have deceived you. They have prevailed against you. This is in the past tense.

There there's terminology that speaks of how you use this kind of language in vocabulary and what it speaks of are those things that are yet to come that you speak of as they have already happened because it's that certain.

He says at the end of the verse you will have no understanding meaning you're never going to see this coming.

Because of pride you think you're above it all you think you soar with the eagles you're up with the stars you think you're too powerful you think you're too strong you think you're too safe you think you're too secure and what you don't even know are that your political allies your military allies your personal allies are all going to fail you and you put your hope and your trust in your own strength and when this day comes the prophet says you'll have no understanding you'll never see it coming because pride deceives and pride destroys that's the danger of pride verses one to seven verses eight and nine let's look at the destruction that awaits them the destruction that awaits them first thing we see in verse eight is they have to reckon with

God will I not on that day declares the Lord destroy the wise men out of Edom and understanding out of Mount Esau this is why Edom is not safe because they took pride in their natural defensibilities because of the rock literally the rock which surrounded them but it's the God who made that rock that is now against them and they have no defense God opposes those who oppose God's people in the New Testament Saul is persecuting Christians and Jesus appears to him on the road to Damascus and think of what

Jesus says to Saul he says Saul Saul why are you persecuting what me Saul Saul why are you persecuting me well how is he persecuting Jesus because he was persecuting his people Jesus goes on to say earlier in the gospels he said if you have shown love to the least of these you've shown love to me because God identifies with his people and here are the Edomites who have opposed God's people and because of that they are opposing the Lord and they find their security in the rock but it's the God who made the rock who is against them they thought their earthly geography would keep them secure but it's the maker of heaven and earth that they have opposed he says back to verse eight the wise men out of

Edom will be destroyed Edom was known for their wisdom because their physical location they're a part of the king's highway and so these wise men from the land would be able to go out and interact with people that were traveling through on that king's highway and so the traveling intellectuals of their day would have frequent conversations with the wise men of Edom and so it was a way that Edom became known for their intellect their knowledge their ability to talk and explain to think and defend and in verse eight he says will I not on that day declares the Lord destroy the wise men out of Edom and understanding out of Mount Esau they're going to see their military political and personal allies deceive them and they're going to see their own wise men have no understanding now you don't have military power and now you don't have unique insight and intellect you will be left with nothing verse nine they will realize their weakness and your mighty men shall be dismayed

O Teman so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter Teman was one of Esau's grandsons Genesis 36 the chief city in the north was named after him and I want you to notice what this prophecy is detailing because their wise leaders will be wiped out what good would it be to have strong men in battle if you have no wise commander to lead them to this fall if you go watch a football game you're going to see some big strong men on the football field but if you don't have a coach who has designed an offense and a scheme that tells them where to line up and when to snap the ball and who to block and what to do with the ball if you just get 11 big strong guys out there and they can just hit and run and yell and scream and be tough and there's no organization and there's no strategy those 11 men will look foolish in about three seconds and the prophecy says not only are your military alliances going to falter your wise men will be destroyed no one to lead you this is the folly and the fall of

Edom that will come but having gone back all these hundreds of years ago to Edom and understanding the context with which this prophecy came let me now take Obadiah and bring it forward to our life today in 2025 what are some lessons and questions for us to consider number one what are you relying on for your strength and security what are you relying on for your strength and security wisdom tells us we ought to take care of ourselves this this is the only body you've got for this life wisdom says to take care of it most of us are going to live longer than our ability to be able to work and provide a living so wisdom tells us we ought to be able to we ought to work to store up extra today so that we have something to live on the end of life so wisdom tells us take care of your body wisdom tells us provide for the things that happen at the end of your life but the question is what then where's your strength and security coming from when your body does give out where's your strength and security coming from when the money itself is gone is there anything that you're relying on that can last past your last breath and the word of

God the warning to those who have ears to listen is that you best make sure your security rest in God himself!

God says God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble if you are reading and studying James 4 where that verse is found God opposes the proud and someone said to you can you give me an example of what happens when God opposes the proud just turn to Obadiah and read it to them it's a very clear strong graphic explanation of how God opposes the proud we tend to go easy on pride God does not it's been said that those who hold a grudge are blinded by bitterness and numbed by hatred when we think of pride we often think in terms of arrogance boasting that would be a way that some people are proud but it's not the only way that pride gets made manifest pride can be made manifest by bitterness that's actually much of what we see in the history of the

Edomites when he chased it back to the very beginning that's at the heart of their problem and so when I say pride it's not just a matter of you saying my daddy can beat up your daddy pride can be a refusal to forgive pride can be becoming comfortable with hatred pride can be thinking someone doesn't deserve your forgiveness and when we think like that we hold a grudge and we hold on to grudges we become blinded by bitterness and numbed by hatred being comfortable hating somebody else being comfortable holding bitterness towards somebody else is a sure sign of manifested pride which leads me to a third question that is is there someone that you need to forgive is there someone you need to forgive everybody in this room everyone has been hurt by someone everybody has experienced hurt you has had a friend that wasn't there for you you have a spouse who has hurt you you have a business who took advantage of you you have someone who was stolen from you you have someone who has lied to you you have someone who has taken you for granted if I were to ask you and you were to play along and I were to say raise your hand if someone has ever hurt you every person would raise their hand every one of us have been hurt some of those hurts have been big like life altering things and some of them have been smaller things that you have been able to navigate through but there's nobody in this sanctuary that has been immune from somebody else hurting them at some point in some way and the problem becomes when you've been hurt and you don't forgive you become angry and sometimes that anger explodes and you've done that or seen that and sometimes that anger just is a slow build and it doesn't get expressed by the exploding argument or the tirade it just turns into a calloused bitterness some of you in this room have been so angry you've exploded that's dangerous others though have taken comfort that you've kept your emotions in check and you've never really said what you wanted to say and you've never really exploded how you felt like exploding but you've taken comfort how you've kept that in but you have grown numb to the reality of this slow

festering bitterness that's settled in your heart and I want to encourage you today that if there is someone you need to forgive forgive them it doesn't mean they didn't hurt you doesn't mean that they're not in the wrong it just means that your soul cannot flourish while you're holding on to unforgiveness and bitterness and pride put you on a collision course with the purposes of God now I'm not saying that

God is going to treat you like Edom what I am saying is the same God who is opposed to the pride in the Edomites is the same God who is opposed to the pride in my heart in your heart and the wisest thing that we could do is to remind ourselves that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble sometimes we think in terms of but if I forgive them who's going to make it right for them and if I forgive them then how am I going to ever have joy and satisfaction if it feels like they were released from that and if I forgive them then who's going to hold them down what I want you to understand is on the authority of

God's word that when you forgive your heart receives grace and grace makes you gentle and your heart soft and it makes you joyful the path to joy is the road of forgiveness and if you wonder will God keep his word to give me the grace I need just ask yourself how many Edomites you know God keeps his word you don't know any

Edomites because God kept his word and he will keep his word to give grace to the humble Lord your word today is instructive for us and I pray that we would listen and respond in obedience we thank you for the truth of scripture and the direction it gives to us in Christ's name amen around now and have one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one fathers up послед one one one one one fathers fathers back one one one fathers fathers fathers fathers hat fathers fathers fathers fathers 해� by fathers