ENGAGE
In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote these insightful words:
There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which everyone in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. I have heard people admit that they are bad-tempered, or that they cannot keep their heads about girls or drink, or even that they are cowards. I do not think I have ever heard anyone who was not a Christian accuse himself of this vice. And at the same time I have very seldom met anyone, who was not a Christian, who showed the slightest mercy to it in others. There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.
What vice do you think Lewis is writing about here? [Wait for answers]
I’ll let Lewis answer that question himself:
The vice I am talking of is Pride or Self-Conceit….
TENSION
I could make a very good case that pride is the most dangerous sin of all because it is the root of all other sins. Most of us would probably say that the first sin was committed in the Garden by Adam and Eve, but the first recorded sin the Bible actually occurred when an angel called Lucifer in Isaiah 14, rebelled against God because of his pride. So it’s no wonder that pride was the weapon that he used to tempt Adam and Eve in the Garden and the tool that he uses most often against us still today.
It’s possible that there are some of you here this morning that may very well think you don’t need this message because you don’t have a problem with pride. But I can assure you that if you are thinking that, then you need this message much more than you imagine.
One of the main problems with pride is that it is so easy to spot in someone else, and yet so difficult to discern in our own lives. Pride is so insidious that we often take pride in the fact that we think we have overcome pride in our own lives.
TRUTH
This morning, as we continue in our series titled “Little Books with a Big Message” we’ll take a look at the shortest book in the Old Testament – the book of Obadiah, which contains only 21 verses.
We really don’t know a whole lot about Obadiah. Although we find 12 other people in the Old Testament with the that name, it is not clear that any of them can be connected with the author of this prophetical book. All we know for certain is the meaning of his name - “servant or worshipper of YHWH”.
According to the Jewish Talmud, Obadiah is said to have been a convert to Judaism from Edom, and a descendant of Eliphaz, the friend of Job. If that is true, it makes Obadiah’s message even more intriguing since he would be bringing his prophetic message to his own people.
There is nothing in the book that allows us to ascertain the date of its writing with any degree of certainty. There are two main possibilities – either around 845 BC during the reign of King Jehoram in Judah or around 586 BC after the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem. While I tend to favor the earlier date, the fact is that the main message of the book and its relevance to us is not dependent on when exactly it was written.
What we do know is that this message was delivered to the southern kingdom of Judah. As we’ll see, this is a message of hope to a people who have continually been subject to the attacks of their enemies, particularly those from Edom. And while this is a message of judgment for Edom, it is a message of hope for God’s people. And even today, it serves as both a message of warning and of hope for us.
[Read Obadiah 1a]
As I’ve already alluded to, we see right away that this message concerns Edom. So I want to take a moment to briefly review some important facts about Edom, But before I do that, I want to draw one important bit of information from the text here in Obadiah. I want you to look in verse 10 and again in verse 12 and see how God views the relationship between Edom and Judah. What key word do you find in both of those verse? [Wait for answer}]. That’s right – brother.
And if we trace this relationship between Edom and Judah back to its roots, we discover that this is essentially a family fight between two nations that should have been brothers, not enemies.
The strife between these two nations had its beginning in the womb of Rebekah, the wife of Isaac. Rebekah had tried to have children for quite some time, with no success, so Isaac prayed for her and she became pregnant with twin boys. God revealed to her that these two boys would become two nations and that the older child would serve the younger.
Esau, the older son, whose name comes from a Hebrew word that means “red”, became the father of Edom, which comes from the same Hebrew root word. His descendants eventually settle in a mountainous area southeast of Israel in what is modern day Jordan.
The younger son, Jacob, obtained Esau’s birthright and blessing by deceit. Many of you know that God later changed Jacob’s name to Israel and he became the father of the commonwealth of Israel, which, after the death of King Solomon, was divided into the northern kingdom which retained the name Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.
In spite of the enmity caused by Jacob’s deceit, in Genesis 33 we find that Jacob and Esau make peace and are reconciled. But that peace certainly isn’t passed down to their descendants, because we see evidence of Edom’s hostility toward Israel, and later Judah, throughout the Old Testament.
So with that background in mind, let’s begin reading what God has to say to Edom.
[Read Obadiah 1a-10]
Here is the main idea that we’re going to find in this passage today:
When pride prevails
relationships fail
Here in Obadiah, we see that is true for Edom in both its vertical relationship with God and its horizontal relationships with its brother Judah. The root cause of Edom’s problems is clearly stated in verse 3 – they have been deceived by the pride of their hearts. And we are prone, both as individuals, and as a nation, to follow in their footsteps and also experience failures in both our relationship with God and our relationships with others.
As I mentioned at the beginning of the message, pride is at the root of all of our sins. And in the case of Edom, and for us, one of the best indicators that pride is a problem is that we try to find our security in all the wrong places. And when that happens, we get blinded to both our need for God and our responsibilities toward others.
Edom’s pride was reflected in the four major areas where they had placed their security:
• Their might (vv. 3, 4)
From the 13th century to the 6th century BC, the Edomites had settled in the mountainous region south of the Dead Sea. The capital of Petra was an almost impregnable fortress located in a valley which can only be reached through a narrow canyon with towering walls on each side. And there in Petra they had created large caves high up in the sandstone rocks. This is certainly what Obadiah was referring to when he described the people who lived in the clefts of the rocks in their lofty dwellings.
In that setting, the people of Edom felt very secure from any kind of attack that might be launched against them.
• Their wealth (vv. 5, 6)
Today we often say that a key to good business is ”location, location, location”. And Edom certainly took advantage of their location. Anyone who wanted to trade with Egypt had to travel through Edom. So Edom was able to control and tax all the commerce that passed through their country, They also had fertile soil that yielded good crops and were the center of a great copper industry.
So Edom was depending on their wealth as an important means of security,
• Their politics (v. 7)
Because of their strategic location, they had entered into a number of political alliances, that made them feel secure.
• Their wisdom (vv. 8, 9)
Another source of pride for Edom was their wisdom, which was centered in the town of Teman, which was known as a center of wisdom and military intelligence. In the book of Job, Eliphaz, one of Job’s so-called “friends”, is identified as a Temanite.
The people of Edom felt like they were very secure because they believed that their superior wisdom and military strategy would protect them from their enemies.
So Edom was proud because they were strong, rich, smart and had a lot of powerful friends. Of course we would never take pride in those things, either as an individual or a nation would we?
God’s response to the pride of Edom is that He is going to completely destroy everything that they have taken pride in, everything that they have been counting on for their security. And He is going to do that for two reasons.
First, the Edomites had completely forsaken God. They should have been looking for their security in Him, but they chose instead to find their security elsewhere. So God was going to take away all of those things.
Second, God was to bring judgment against the Edomites because of their violence against Judah. And in the next section of the book. God lays out His case against Edom.
[Read Obadiah 11-14]
In this section we see how that
When pride prevails
relationships fail
when it comes to our horizontal relationships with other people.
There is a downward spiral here that largely mirrors what can happen to our own relationships, even those with our brothers and sisters in Christ, when pride prevails. Let’s see if we can identify the three distinct steps in that process:
• Passivity (v. 11)
At first, Edom just stood by and watched as others attacked and plundered Jerusalem. They didn’t necessarily do anything to promote these attacks against Judah, but they didn’t do anything to stop them either.
This really doesn’t seem all that bad, does it? At least not until we evaluate their actions in light of this passage:
So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
James 4:17 (ESV)
Remember, the people of Judah are their blood relatives. And when they see them being attacked, rather than come to their aid, the Edomites just sit by and watch.
Many of us are probably familiar with this quote often attributed, probably mistakenly, to Edmund Burke:
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
Regardless of the source of that saying, it certainly applies to the actions, or rather lack of any action, on the part of the Edomites. And inevitably, it led to the second step in the progression.
• Promotion (v. 12)
After a while, the Edomites no longer just stood by and watched - they became cheerleaders. They began to gloat over the misfortune of Israel and rejoice in their ruin.
• Participation (vv. 10, 13, 14)
As this downward spiral progresses, Edom actually becomes involved in the actions against Judah. They take part in the looting, they keep people from being able to flee from the attacks, and even hand over the survivors to the enemies.
It's easy to see the kind of downward spiral that pride produced in the Edomites, but it’s a lot harder to recognize when we do the same things. So let me ask some probing questions:
• Have you ever seen a fellow human being in need and just ignored that need, maybe because you feel like it would be beneath you to associate with that person?
• Have you ever stood by silently while others criticize and gossip about a family member or a friend or a fellow church member or even your pastor because you’re worried about what others might think of you?
• Have you smirked or cheered (either publicly or privately) when someone you dislike suffers a difficult time in his or her life? Do you enjoy telling others about the struggles of those people because you think it makes you feel better?
• Have you ever gotten so mad at someone else that you’ve actually participated in an action that was intended to “pay them back”? When I think of that question I’m reminded of those who claim to be Christians who would bomb an abortion clinic or who would go to a funeral of a fallen soldier and tell the family that their son or daughter deserved to die because of some particular sin in our nation that they have determined is worse than any other?
When pride prevails
relationships fail
That is true in both our relationship with God and in our relationships with others.
But there is some good news here in Obadiah. We don’t have time to cover that in a lot of detail but let me read the last part of the chapter and make a few comments.
[Read Obadiah 15-21]
God proclaims that the “Day of the Lord” is “near” and that when that day comes, He is going to judge Edom and restore both Israel and Judah.
Since today it has been nearly 3,000 years since Obadiah spoke these words, we probably need to address the word “near”. It is a word that describes something that is “close at hand”. So it certainly conveys the idea of close in time, but we need to keep in mind that the prophets are speaking of an event that is close in time when viewed from God’s perspective.
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2 Peter 3:8 (ESV)
From God’s perspective even a few thousand years is very “near” compared to eternity.
But the word “near” also conveys the idea that the “Day of the Lord” is “close at hand” because it is certain. For the prophets it was a present reality in the sense that they could already see these future events being pictured by the events of their day and by the near-term fulfillment of these prophecies.
So the “Day of the Lord” is near for us as well, both in terms of its timing and in terms of it being a present reality in our lives. And when that day comes, whenever it is, God is going to do away with the pride that destroys our relationships with God and with others. But in the meantime, God leaves us to take the steps we need to take to make sure that our relationships don’t fail because pride prevails.
APPLICATION
HOW TO KEEP PRIDE FROM PREVAILING IN MY LIFE
1. Find my security in Jesus alone
Here is a really good test to evaluate whether you are finding your security in anyone or anything other than Jesus. Ask this question:
If God were to remove this person or this thing from my life, how would it impact my relationship with God and with others?
In the 1980’s God blessed me with a very good job where I made a substantial amount of money and was able to save a considerable amount of that in a 401(k) retirement plan. However, during the real estate crash of the late 1980’s that company went bankrupt and I was out of a job and I took the money from the 401(k) and invested in the Baptist Foundation of Arizona, where I earned a good return and the money was supposedly being used to plant and build new churches in Arizona. Because I was in the process of starting a new business and Mary was still at home with our kids, we had to withdraw some of those funds periodically to cover our living expenses.
In 1999, it became known that the BFA officials had been basically running a Ponzi scheme in which they were using the funds from new investors to make interest payments to the existing investors because the assets they owned were not generating enough income. Eventually the whole organization came tumbling down, many officials were convicted of crimes and the BFA declared bankruptcy. Nobody could access any of their funds for many years and when the bankruptcy eventually wrapped up investors got only pennies on the dollar.
I remember how during that time, there were a lot of people who became really angry, which led to many destroyed relationships within the body of Christ. I’ll be honest, I certainly wasn’t happy about the situation either, and probably since I wasn’t nearing retirement, it was a lot easier for me to say that my security wasn’t in those funds than it was for the people who depended upon them in their retirement. But I can honestly look back on that situation now and say that my security was in Jesus and not in those funds. And as a result, that situation did not affect my relationship with others and if anything, it actually strengthened my relationship with God.
So I want to encourage you to take an inventory of the people and things in your life and ask how your relationships with God and with others would be impacted if God were to take away a family member, or a friend, or a job, or your house, or your bank account or IRA. And if you discover during that process that you’re finding your security in anything other than Jesus, would you confess that to God, repent, and ask Him to help you find your security in Him alone?
2. Keep short accounts with God
I still remember to this day a disturbing video in which a 16 year old honor student was beaten to death when he got caught in a brawl between rival gangs as he walked home from school in Chicago. As the brawl began, the people not involved in the brawl were just sitting around watching, but they don’t do anything to stop it – not even call the police. Then it’s not long before some of them start to cheer and encourage those involved in the altercation, and then eventually even become involved in the action. And as a result, a 16 year old boy was beaten to death with a 2 x 4.
That is what happens when we don’t nip our sin, which almost always rooted in pride, in the bud immediately. I’m reminded here of the words of James:
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
(James 1:14–15 ESV)
In those verses, we see the downward spiral of sin that I talked about earlier. And if we don’t stop that progression early on, it will eventually lead to death.
Fortunately, God has provided a way for us to avoid the penalty of spiritual death for our sin by putting our faith in Jesus, who paid that penalty on our behalf on the cross. And if you’ve never done that, then that is the crucial first step that you need to take in order to find your security in Jesus alone. But even if you’ve made that commitment, you’re going to continue to sin and if you don’t deal with that sin at its earliest stages, it is going to have an impact on your relationship with God and with others.
So that means that all of us need to keep short accounts with God. Every day, as we read His Word, we ought to begin by praying and asking God to help us see any sin in our lives that is revealed in the Bible. We should regularly be praying the prayer of the Psalmist:
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
(Psalm 139:23–24 ESV)
As I’ve said before, that is a prayer that God will delight in answering.
And then we need to repent, which includes taking concrete steps in our lives to make sure that sin doesn’t become a lifestyle.
INSPIRATION
When pride prevails
relationships fail
But the good news is that if we’ll deal with our pride in a healthy manor by finding my security in Jesus alone and keeping short accounts with God, all our relationships, both with God and with others can be a source of great joy.
[Prayer]
ACTION
My prayer this morning is that you will take some time to apply what you’ve learned this morning.
For some of you, that might be putting your faith and trust in Jesus alone for the very first time.
For those of you who have already done that, I want to encourage you to spend some time this week asking the question that I posed earlier:
‘
If God were to remove this person or this thing from my life, how would it impact my relationship with God and with others?
And then would you spend some time in prayer with God and ask Him to help you honestly answer that question and to help you find your security in him alone.
Discussion questions for Bible Roundtable
1. How would you define pride? What might be some ways that pride is manifest in ways we might not expect?
2. Why do you think it is so easy to recognize pride in others and so hard to see it in ourselves?
3. What are some people and things - even very good ones – where we have a tendency to find our security in today’s culture?
4. Why is pride so harmful to our relationship with God?
5. Why is it so hard to keep “short accounts” with God? What are some practical things we can do to get better at that?
