Obadiah: the Power of Pride

Obadiah – Revd. Buffy Langdown

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight Lord.  Amen

Obadiah, a book so small that you could easily overlook it, yet within its poetic words we discover a powerful and timeless message that resonates with the redemptive nature of God. This short book consists of only one chapter, yet it speaks volumes about divine justice, humility, and the unwavering faithfulness of the Almighty.

The book of Obadiah emphasises some wonderful attributes of God. It emphasises His sovereignty. His holiness, and His love.

We need to be reminded of these things today. As individuals, as a church and as a nation, we need to be reminded of just who God is.

A little background to the book of Obadiah. Well, the truth is, we don’t know a lot about Obadiah. We know Obadiah was a prophet —he spoke on behalf of God. We don’t even know if their name was Obadiah as the name Obadiah literally means “One who serves the Lord” so it’s possible it was a prophet who wanted to remain unknown, and who wanted to emphasise the message and not the messenger.

We are also not really sure when they lived. Some scholars believe they lived in the 9th century BC during the reign of King Ahab, and others think they lived in the 6th century BC around the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. But — it’s not just when they lived that’s a mystery as there aren’t many details about them either. It was God’s message that was important not the prophet who proclaimed it.

The book is a collection of divine judgments against the nation of Edom. The message of the prophecy from Obadiah is the problems and perils of pride.

“The pride of your heart has deceived you.”

It might help if I explain that the people of Edom have a shared ancestry with the Israelites. What do I mean? Well the people of Edom are descendants of a man named Esau. Esau has a twin brother Jacob — who later is given the name Israel — Jacob is the man who’s the father of the 12 brothers whose offspring become the twelve tribes of Israel. Do those names sound familiar, So Jacob and Esau are brothers, their parents were Isaac and Rebekah. And Isaac’s father was Abraham. So, both the Israelites and the Edomites are descendants of Abraham. They are blood relatives.

Obadiah vividly portrays the betrayal between the brothers, simply put Edom stands idly by, even participating in the plunder of Jerusalem as Judah is plundered and defeated.

The book begins with a vision given to Obadiah, a servant of the Lord. The first four verses are a quotation from Jeremiah 49:14-16. God had already prophesied against Edom, about their pride and now their judgment was coming. They did not listen to the warning and did not repent. Therefore, God’s judgment will leave nothing (5). The nation of Edom will be stripped bare, and the destruction will be complete.

In these opening verses, we witness the prophet’s revelation of impending judgment against the nation of Edom. However, the tone is not one of gloating but rather a call to attention—a plea for the nations to recognize God’s sovereignty.

Obadiah emphasizes the humbling truth that even the mightiest and proudest will be brought low before the Creator.

This serves as a reminder of the importance of humility before God, acknowledging our dependence on Him and His divine authority.

The next verses delve into the consequences of Edom’s pride and arrogance. Their self-reliance and reliance on their fortresses would not save them from the divine judgment that awaited. What’s being described here in verses 3 and 4 is the actual geography of the land. The land elevates to a high plateau of roughly 5,500 feet which is where Edom was situated. And it was guarded by narrow passages through towering rocks which made it an easy place to defend. And all this military advantage only adds to their pride and arrogance.

Obadiah highlights the destructive nature of pride and serves as a cautionary tale for all who place their trust in worldly strength rather than in the Lord.

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.

Just like no height nor depth nor breadth can separate God’s people from his love — no height nor depth nor breadth of defences can protect God’s enemies from his wrath. And listen to God’s accusations against them.

5 If thieves came to you, if plunderers came by night — how you have been destroyed! — would they not steal only enough for themselves?

The implication being even thieves leave some stuff behind, but Edom hasn’t treated their relatives this way.

So, all of that — standing aloof, plundering, gloating, rejoicing over the ruin of Judah, boasting in their distress — all of that was happening — not against an enemy — or even just some neighbouring nation — they did all of this to their own blood relatives. That’s where their pride had led them — to boasting and rejoicing over the demise of their own relatives. And so now…

Instead of being clothed in their nationalistic pride — they’re clothed in shame.

Instead of honour and the feeling of importance — Edom has fallen — they’ve been brought down low — they will be destroyed.

And this dark scene ends with there being no hope for a future restoration of the nation of Edom because there will be nothing left to restore.

Why? Because pride comes before the eternal fall.

(Mere Christianity, C S Lewis). "Pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense"

Who could argue with such a statement? From the beginning of the Bible, it is clear that pride is a serious problem in God's creation. We learn from Isaiah that pride lay at the root of Satan's attempts to exalt himself: "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High" (Is 14.14). After being cast down he brought his temptations into the Garden of Eden tempting Eve with the promise that she and her husband could be as "gods, knowing good and evil" (Gen 3.5). Was the garden unpleasant, the food poor, or the Lord ungracious in any way? Pride reared its ugly head, and before long Adam and Eve were hiding behind a tree ashamed of the consequences of their rebellion.

So, is Obadiah a book with a message relevant to today? We only have to listen to the news each day to see that there are many conflicts between nations and different groups in today’s world which have created great tensions, fear and suffering. Many have been driven from their homes, and are refugees in another country, people who desperately need a vision from God, a message that will bring them some hope and comfort in their suffering.

There is a further factor in the hostility that God’s people suffered in Obadiah’s day that is common to the situations we are called upon to face. The tensions between Judah and Edom were ongoing problems which seemed to be incapable of any lasting solution, just as many of our international, national, ecclesiastical and personal problems seem incapable of resolution for us today.

But the closing verses of Obadiah bring a message of hope and promise. The prophet declares the coming Day of the Lord—a day when God’s justice will prevail, and His people will be vindicated. This day is not only a day of judgment but also a day of restoration and deliverance for those who trust in the Lord.

As Christians, we find comfort in the assurance that God’s justice will ultimately triumph.

The Holy Spirit empowers us to persevere in faith, knowing that our hope is anchored in the promises of God.

The foundation of pride: is forgetting God. Pride comes from believing that we do not need God. We think we can depend on ourselves. We have our own strength. We have our own wealth. We have our own abilities. We do not need God. We are self-sufficient. The sad thing is that pride is glorified in our culture. To be independent and self-assured, even to the point of harming others, is admired.

The things the people of Edom took pride in are the same things we take pride in as individuals, as a culture, and as a country.

In our culture, pride has been elevated to a virtue. We’re encouraged to take pride in our work, to take pride in our families, to take pride in our finances and material possessions.

Now here’s the fine line with pride. It’s not a bad thing to feel like you’ve accomplished something that you’ve worked hard for. But we must be cautious in making a virtue out of the sin of pride.

Pride can show up in our lives in so many different ways — and many of them are very subtle and so natural to us — that we don’t even notice them.

In our lives, it prompts reflection on the areas where pride may have taken root.

The Holy Spirit, working within us, convicts and calls us to surrender our pride, recognizing that true strength is found in reliance on God alone.

Our pride means we have forgotten God. We think that our success is by our might and forget that it is because God gives it to us.

Pride inevitably leads us further away from — and not closer — to God. For example, in our pride, we expect that Jesus must love us even if we ignore his commands. We think we can do whatever we want, whenever we want, however we want, and Jesus must love us — regardless. And that kind of thinking is built on pride. And pride — well it comes — not just before a fall. Pride comes before the eternal fall.

And that’s what we find in Obadiah — that pride comes before the eternal fall — and not just for the Edomites — but for anyone. But there is hope.

The final verses of this prophecy record a vision of the future concerning what God will do. Notice something interesting in verse 15. The judgment of the day of the Lord is not spoken against Edom. The day of the Lord is near for all the nations. Remember that this prophecy opened with God rousing the nations to attack Edom (1). But now the prophecy moves forward in its declaration. The day of the Lord will come upon all the nations. All people are going to stand under judgment. Edom now represents all the peoples and nations that stands against the Lord.

Notice the measure of God’s judgment in verse 15. “As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head.” To say this scripture another way, that which you sow you will also reap. What we have done to others is what God is going to do to us. Rejecting the Lord means that there will not be grace toward us but a repayment for what we have done to others. This should be a terrifying thought to us. What we have done to others is what God will do to us.

Verse 16 pushes this idea even further. The nations are going to drink and swallow what God is pouring out. God frequently uses this idea of drinking the wine of his wrath as an image of judgment (cf. Isaiah 51:17; Jeremiah 25:16, 28; Habakkuk 2:16). God repays and his wrath will bring about a full judgment that no one will be able to stand against. God ends the book of Revelation with the same note.

“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.” (Revelation 22:12 ESV)

Knowing that God will repay according to our deeds, we should feel the doom that is coming to every person because of what we have done. We have failed. We are full of pride. We have lacked compassion. We have acted in ways that show we do not trust in the Lord. But there is an offer of salvation in verse 17.

There is a means of escape and deliverance. Zion is the place of escape. Zion is the place of rescue and safety. Hope is in the Lord. Those who turn to Zion will not be repaid for their sins. God’s people are pictured as the victors. Notice that “the house of Jacob shall be a fire” and “the house of Esau stubble.” In verses 19-20 God’s people are pictured as being restored on God’s promised land in God’s kingdom. In verse 21 God’s people are pictured as deliverers who will rule over the enemies of God and the kingdom will belong to the Lord. The kingdom is restored. Obadiah pictures the reversal that the scriptures teach: the humble will be exalted, and the proud will be humiliated.

Jesus — instead of being proud — came to be a humble servant of those who think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think.

Jesus — instead of gloating over our deserved misfortune — God’s judgment of us for our sin — Jesus instead of coming to gloat — came to be killed. And as we hung him on the cross — we gloated over him — rejoicing that we’d finally brought him to his end.

And Jesus — in our days of distress — instead of boasting over us — Jesus tells us to “not let our hearts be troubled.” (John 14:1a) He tells us to “not worry” but “to seek the Kingdom of God.” (Matthew 6:31, 33) And when you think about the distress Jesus endured for us — like when he knew he was about to be killed — and was under so much distress that he sweated drops of blood as he prayed for us — well that shows us the length Jesus was willing to go to prove his love for us.

Love. Understanding his love for us is what will humble us. And growing in our love for him is what will bring an end to our prideful ways.

And the assurance to all who receive and respond to Jesus’ love to seek forgiveness is that nothing will separate us from his love. Not even our pride. How so? Because our pride has been defeated by Jesus’ love. And we will come to see that we have no need for pride when we step into the safety and security of his eternal love for us.

Yes, pride comes before the eternal fall. But pride is defeated by the eternal love of Jesus.

Preventing pride is as simple as being thankful to God and honoring God for all things in all circumstances. This is one reason why the scriptures repeatedly tell us to always be thankful and pray without ceasing. This is how we can defend ourselves against pride. Who you are is because of God. What you have is because of God. Where you are is because of God.

In the book of Obadiah, we discover a profound and relevant message that speaks to the core of our human experience. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are invited to humble ourselves before God, confront the destructive nature of pride, cultivate brotherly love, and find hope in the ultimate victory of God’s justice.

May the message of Obadiah resonate in our hearts, inspiring us to live in alignment with the transformative power of the Holy Spirit, and may we, like Obadiah, be faithful messengers of God’s enduring love and redemption. Amen.