Bible study with me: Obadiah

This is a small "bible study with me" blog post and I decided to start this off with - the book of Obadiah. You could read along and then follow along as I study it in the blog post. 

It is a message to Edom (descendants of Esau, son of Isaac who is a son of Abraham) about how they were deceiving themselves with pride in their heart, possibly because of where they lived (high up in the mountain - safe and secure in themselves). In essence God is saying that they were too proud in their ways. They attacked Jacob's  (Esau's brother) descendants (Jerusalem) along with the foreigners who were invading Jerusalem, they stood aloof and did not help them and they even ridiculed them and were happy when their wealth was taken away (it also records that the Edomites participated in the destruction of Jerusalem by taking away some of the wealth as well) .

 The message also talks about God's judgement being near, and the way they treated others (especially people they are closely related to and should be protecting) and things they did will be done to them. The things they have - will be lost and others will take their place/ kingdom - whereas the ones whom they ridiculed will be restored to glory!  God will bring them down, and leave nothing in the possession of the Edomites that they can gloat over as other kingdoms will take possession of their land.

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 rocksand make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’ 

4Though 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! 

7All 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,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. 

10Because 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. 

15“The day of the LORD is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head. 

16 Just as you drank on my holy hill, so all the nations will drink continually; they will drink and drink and be as if they had never been. 

17 But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy, and Jacob will possess his inheritance. 

18 Jacob will be a fire and Joseph a flame; Esau will be stubble, and they will set him on fire and destroy him. There will be no survivors from Esau.” The LORD has spoken. 

19 People from the Negev will occupy the mountains of Esau, and people from the foothills will possess the land of the Philistines. They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria, and Benjamin will possess Gilead. 

20 This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan will possess the land as far as Zarephath; the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the towns of the Negev. 

21Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will be the LORD’s.

Source: 

BibleStudyTools

Sometimes our sight is so limited that we don't see that the high position that God may have placed us in is not of our own doing or making  - that we can use that as an excuse to gloat over people who are going through a rough patch. I think we need to be more sensitive of the needs of others (not just to those who are related to us, but even others) and not think about what we can gain from them but we can give to them. 

This is easy to type out for me but actually practicing it can be rather hard. From this passage I learn that not only do I need to watch out for pride, but also that putting down others and using others for my own gain is not going to go unnoticed in the eyes of God. 

Do I think of myself as better than everyone else? Do I find worth and security in my situation and circumstances instead of in God? Is there anything I can do to help my neighbor? Do I sometimes stand aloof when someone near me is going through troubled times? Do I take advantage of others difficulties for my gain? Do I feel happy at other people's miseries or do I empathize and take the trouble to be of some help? 

Do I thank God for the blessings He has placed in my life? Do I guard the people he has given me a connection with, from trouble - to the best of my abilities? 

I think that the answers to all of these questions are going into my personal journal tonight, and unfortunately not all of them right now may be God - honoring. But I think that is the whole point of the exercise of starting to dig into studying the Bible more. God's grace is the only way any of us are going to be anything like Jesus, anyway so I need to lean into that. 

I also learnt that sometimes it feels like there is a lot of negative destruction happening in my life, while I am still under the care of God. Like the people of Jerusalem it might feel like there is no one on my side and everything is over, but I need to trust that God's eyes see me and my situation and that His just judgement will prevail in the end.

Would you also study this with me and study our own lives a little bit better so that we can live in a way that God wants us to? What do you think the message of Obadiah means to you?

More resources:
Overview: Obadiah by the Bible Project

-Jeffy