Obadiah’s 21-verse book pronounces judgments without any hope of forgiveness (albeit it took 1,000 years before it was fulfilled). Not much is known of Obadiah or the time frame in which he wrote. His name means “Servant of God,” and he writes the shortest book in the O.T.
Since Obadiah does not write to Israel and his prophetic words of Edom’s destruction have been fulfilled. Why should we bother with these 21 verses at all? What application can be made towards our lives today from only around 600 words to a nation that doesn’t even exist?
Someone has well said that “A sermon’s strength is not necessarily proportionate to its length!” Such is the case with this prophetic book of Obadiah. Far too often we tend to evaluate the impact of something based upon its size, but consider the diamond next to the granite boulder; one is a gem, the other a mere big rock!
In Ch. 1: 1-18 Obadiah tells Edom the reason for their coming destruction in verse 3 when he says, “The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; you who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?” Edom’s main city was the rock city of Petra in modern-day Jordan. The city was inside a volcano with the only entrance coming from a very narrow passage (about 9-13 feet across) that winds around through steep cliffs for over a mile until it opens up into a large natural amphitheater whose walls have been carved into living quarters for over 100,000 people. The Edomites thought Petra impregnable as it was easily defended by 12 men. Edom’s pride in their security was the cause of their downfall. Such self-sufficiency, according to verse 10, had brought about “violence against your brother Jacob..”
According to Proverbs 6:16-17, the number one thing the Lord hates is “a proud look,” as it is what keeps men from God and one another. Edom had everything going for it, as they had a great fortress in which to protect itself, tremendous ingenuity as they had built a complete city out of rock, and had managed to have vegetable gardens with no known direct water source through aqueducts. They had commerce as they were in the direct path of the trade routes.
Yet with all of this going for them, they became arrogant, which led to indifference, which led to out-and-out violence against others. By way of application, every believer has two natures: one of pride (just a big rock), the other of humility, (a true precious gem). Paul spoke of this in Galatians 5:16-17, saying, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” He said in Col. 3:9 that we are to “put off the old man with his deeds.”
Obadiah reminds us that we have a choice, we can make our home in pride hiding out in a big rock of the flesh or we can choose to stand with our Lord in humility and shine the true gem of His glory!