Kingdom Keys - Obadiah Series

So maybe you’ve heard it said, ‘read your bible’ so you tried and failed. Our hope as leaders is that all of us will pick up God’s word and come to understand the true nature of God. After all, the bible is God’s Word curated over centuries detailing His nature, His will, the meaning of life and humanity’s historical interactions with Him. The Bible details the hidden keys to the Kingdom. Hence, the reason we are reviewing a new book each week.

This week we move ahead to the book of Obadiah. Obadiah means servant or worshiper of the Lord. He was a prophet we don't have a lot of background on, but we know he preached a single message between 500 to 600 years before Jesus arrived. Obadiah's message was for the distant relatives of Jacob's brother, Esau. A group so numerous they grew into a small nation or tribe called Edomites.

God knew the edomites. They were part of the blessed line of Abraham. They were counted as the offspring that would be too numerous to count. However, Edomites had a generational chip on their shoulder that stemmed from their forefather Esau. His mother favored her other son Jacob. It couldn’t be denied. All you have to do is read Genesis 27, to read the infamous moment in which his mother, Rachel cajoled his twin, Jacob to steal Esau's firstborn birthright. While the relationship between the fraternal twins would get worked out after a few years because Esau figured out how to be successful without a family inheritance, the damage was done. You can read all about that in Genesis 32.

It would be 1400 years after the injustice and reconciliation that the hillbilly jealousy, and pride in self determination, would cause Esau's descendants to ignore God’s warning not to add to the justice being done to Judah. It was part of God’s redemptive nature to bring His people back. A fact they failed to see. It was motivated by selfishness, disobedient to God’s leading, and a desire to get even for a past event.

Their generational hatred against Jacob's descendants was so great, they cheered when they conquered. And when the non violent fled, they also turned over their refugee relatives. How cold hearted do you have to be to turn over relatives? refugees? And conspire with the enemy?

As a prophet, Obadiah spoke for the Lord. He said in verse 15-16:

The day of the Lord is near for all nations.

All you have done will be done to you;

Your deeds will be in your own head.

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.

The edomites had apparently joined the Babylonians in their pagan rituals as they destroyed the temple on Mount Zion. Obadiah was assuring them they would disappear as a nation and it would be like they never existed. By the first century, the Edomites no longer existed as a nation and the few who were left were considered just as arrogant as Obadiah was referring too. King Herod was rumored to be of Edomite descent but by the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD they disappeared from history.

Obeye warned the Edomites about mistreating the Israelites because God would destroy them for their actions and He did. So what is the lesson we are to take from this fulfilled prophecy?

God hates rivalries? Parenting favoritism will lead to generational destruction? Family Feuds destroy nations?

There have been a number of famous feuds over time. The two that come to mind are the Scottish Chattans and German Dasslers.

Then there's the Chattan clan in Scotland around 1400. The history of which is sketchy. Many believe the two clans were actually relatives when a struggle for leadership separated the two. The hatred was so great and so many had died on both sides that the leaders agreed to the first large cage match whereby 30 of each sub clan were chosen to fight to the death with primitive weapons. They then entered a field area the size of a couple of football fields and who conceded first won the leadership of both clans. The ‘Cay’ or ‘camerons’ clan lost 29 before it was over. The Chattan lost 19 but won control. It was called the battle of the North Inch.

There’s the Dassler feud between brothers Adolf and Rudolf. They were shoemakers who became famous for outfitting Jesse Owens for the olympics in 1936 but couldn’t keep their egos in check. They would eventually split very publicly from which we get the Adidas and Puma athletic brands.

Anger is experienced at different emotional intensities depending on a number of factors

It reminds me of a story about two friends (Bill and Tom) having a couple of adult beverages late one night having a discussion about the difference between irritated, angry and rage. Finally, Bill said I will show you the difference. He picked up his burner phone and called an unknown number. It was about midnight. When the person on the other end answered it, he asked if Jones was available to talk? The sleepy man on the other end said, there is no one here by that name. You have the wrong number. After the call, Bill said the man was irritated. An hour later at 1am he called again asking for Jones. The man hearing the request again was a little more adamant about the fact there was no Jones at his home and angrily yelled to not to call again. At 2:30am, Bill called the number again. This time the man answered more than a little annoyed when Bill said, “This is jones. Did I have any calls that left a message?” when Bill returned to Tom at the bar, he said that the man was full of rage.