God Takes Care Of His Own Series

MESSAGES FROM THE PROPHETS:

God Takes Care of His Own

OBADIAH 1-21

#6weeksintheprophets

INTRODUCTION… Good Things Come in Small Packages (p)

There is a phrase that we use that is mostly true I think, “Good things come in small packages.” The phrase means that something does not need to be big in order to be good. Any person who has ever received a ring or other type of jewelry would agree that this is true. Babies are small and they are nice… a little messy… but nice. A gift card does not take up too much room and is a wonderful gift that a person can use in any way they like. A box of thumbtacks is a tremendous gift and takes up no space at all. When giving a gift, money takes up just a little room… even a big stack of it. I think it is true… good things come in small packages.

This morning we are going to look at the shortest and smallest book of the Old Testament. In terms of all the books in the Bible, Obadiah is #4 by word count.

#1 3rd John with 219 words

#2 2nd John with 245 words

#3 Philemon with 335 words

#4 Obadiah with 440 words

#5 Jude with 461 words

What is Obadiah about? I have read articles in the past that said (overviewbible.com/least-popular-book-bible/) according to web searches and other statistics that Obadiah is the least studied or least popular book in the Bible. Well, we are going to dig into Obadiah today because Obadiah has an important message for us about deliverance that we need to hear.

TRANSITION

We begin by looking at his pronouncement.

I. PRONOUNCEMENT (VERSE 1a)

READ OBADIAH 1a

“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,”

Obadiah makes it very clear in the first part of verse 1 that everything he is about to share is from God. None of what he is about to say are his ideas. None of what he will share are his opinions. Every word he shares in these 21 verses are from God. How does he let us know that?

First, Obadiah says that he has had a vision. The word that Obadiah uses, “chazown,” sounds like something you might order at a pizza place, but is actually an important word. The word means “divine communication.” Obadiah received divine communication from God and is relaying it to us.

Second, Obadiah points out that the One giving this message is in charge. He is the Sovereign Lord. He is the “Lord God” (ESV, KJV). He is the one in charge of the Universe and everything in it and we had better take note when He speaks. This is an authoritative Word from God.

Third, Obadiah says that he has heard the message given to a messenger or ambassador of the Lord. Obadiah is not speaking his words. Obadiah is not sharing his attitudes or what he thinks will happen, but rather he is reporting what the messenger from God has pronounced to the nations.

Who is this prophecy given to? I want you to notice that this prophecy is not even directed to Israel. It’s not directed to God’s people directly. Now, God’s people are involved, but the warning or the message from God is for the people of Edom who are the descendants of Esau. If you will remember, in Genesis 25, Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau. Jacob was the son through whom the nation of Israel came and Esau was also blessed with many descendants (Genesis 36). Genesis 25:30 shares with us Esau’s nickname was Edom and Genesis 36:43 states directly, “This was Esau the father of the Edomites.” This prophecy is directed to the descendants of Esau who live in the area outside of Israel to the southeast.

TRANSITION

We know that this small book was a message from God to the descendants of Esau sent by His messenger Obadiah. What does Obadiah say? Obadiah’s message to the Edomites is centered around pride and how it will be their downfall.

ILLUSTRATION… The Plucking of the Birds Part 1 (p)

Imagine if you would a little area where all kinds of birds live. There are toucans, flamingos, peacocks, golden pheasants, and all kinds of colorful macaws. They all live in harmony except for one season when villagers who live nearby challenge each other to see which villager can pluck the most feathers from the birds. It is fun for the villagers and painful for the birds.

One day, the season came for plucking feathers. The youngest of the village approached the birds and began chasing birds to grab their feathers. One group of birds saw the villagers coming and hid. One bird decided not to hide. The peacock decided not to hide. The peacock, instead of hiding, decided to raise its head high, spread out its beautiful feathers, and strut around like he was hot stuff. Surely the bird would be seen as too beautiful to pluck and the villagers would leave him alone.