AMOS 8-9 AND OBADIAH 12011 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Amos 8-9 And Obadiah 1

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2011.

Well, this evening as we continue on in the book of Amos, we're picking it up in chapter 8 and really finishing off his message to the nation of Israel. Just a quick refresher on who Amos was. He was a simple shepherd. He was out in the field working with the sheep as he was, you know, doing all his life. But then the Lord came and spoke to him and called him to bring a message to the nation of Israel.

And at this time, the nation of Israel was divided into two kingdoms. The northern kingdom was called Israel. They never followed the Lord. They were evil. They were rebellious against God from the very beginning. Then the southern kingdom was called Judah. And Judah had some good kings which led them to revival and back to the Lord. But majority of them were bad kings. And so the people generally were progressing away from God and running away from God as well.

So both kingdoms were in trouble, but God specifically called Amos to go from Judah, where he was from, to the northern kingdom to deliver a message of judgment. The message of judgment, as we've seen throughout the prophets, is also an opportunity to repent. And so he's telling them of the judgment that is to come, but also it's the invitation to

repent and get right with God. You don't have to experience the judgment of God. You can turn and find life that He offers to you. And so as we finish this up, we continue to see that same message being proclaimed. That judgment that is coming as a result of the rebellion against God. And so let's pick it up here in Amos chapter 8, starting in verse 1. It says, "...thus the Lord God showed me, behold, a basket of summer fruit."

And he said, Amos, what do you see? So I said, a basket of summer fruit. Then the Lord said to me, the end has come upon my people Israel. I will not pass by them anymore. And the songs of the temple shall be wailing in that day.

Verse 4, Verse 5,

that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals, even sell the bad wheat. Here as God is continuing to address the northern kingdom, He gives Amos a vision of a basket of summer fruit. So this is fruit that's picked during the summer, at the end of summer. And what we have here in this vision is basically a basket of ripe fruit.

Now, if you've ever had a basket of ripe fruit in your home, you probably are aware, you probably know, that when there's a basket of ripe fruit, you have to eat it.

Or you have to give it away. You have to consume it or get rid of it. It's not going to last very long. It doesn't, you know, unless you've got the fake plastic fruits in your basket. It's not going to sit there for a long time. It's not meant for decoration. It's not meant to last. It's there for a short season. It's only ripe for a short time. And then it begins to rot. And then at that point, you throw it out.

It's no more. It's not good any longer. And so that's the idea here. He says there's this summer fruit in the basket and he likens the nation of Israel to it. Israel is ripe for judgment. They're a basket full of rebellious people and they just have a short time left. It's just a short time and then God's going to throw them out. They're going to experience the judgment of their rebellion against God.

Now as they're hearing this message of rebellion against God, as they're hearing this message of judgment, God also points out that they are very religious, but it's only outward. There in verse 5, He talks about them saying, "...when will the new moon be passed?"

What he's talking about is the new moon feast, the celebrations that they would have. They would have these celebrations which were religious, which God commanded in His Word. They would practice the feasts, such as Passover and tabernacles and trumpets and these different feasts that God had established for His people. And he's describing them practicing those things

outwardly, but inwardly, their heart is not in it. Outwardly, they're going through the motions and they're practicing the feast. But inwardly, they're plotting their next victims. They're planning their next strikes. They're thinking to themselves, hey, when is this going to be over that we can go sell grain? When's this Sabbath thing going to be finished so that we can go make some money?

Their minds were not on the things of the Lord. Their hearts were not on things of God. And so although they were participating in religious festivals and feasts and things of that sort, their hearts and their minds were not there. Instead, they're involved in what God says in verse 4, is swallowing up the needy. And so He's calling out to those who are swallowing up the needy, those who are taking advantage of the needy.

How are they taking advantage of the needy? Well, he says you make the ephah small and the shekel large. What that means is, he talks about their falsifying the scales, was they were making the people pay more for less product.

So they were reducing how much they were giving them, but they were charging them more, but sneakily, underhandedly. You know, it's kind of like when you get a bag of chips and you think, oh, right, I got this whole bag of chips, and then you realize, oh, it's only this much chips. It's kind of like that. They were taking advantage of the poor, taking advantage of the people, and ripping them off and tricking them by manipulating the weights and using deceitfulness in the scales. And as a result, they were enslaving the people.

He says in verse 6, that we may buy the poor for silver. So they're enslaving the people, they're buying the poor. Notice at the end of verse 6, they're even selling the bad wheat. So they're even selling the wheat that's not good anymore, that rotten fruit, they're selling it to the people. And so what we see here is a snapshot of the condition of the nation who is going through the motions outwardly and they looked religious,

But inwardly, their hearts were far from God. They didn't care about the things of God. They were just waiting for the feast and the Sabbath to be over so that they could go do whatever it is that they wanted to do. I think that's something to watch out for for you and I as believers as well.

Because how many times do we sit in service and wonder, when is this going to be over so I can go do what I want to do? And it's very easy for us to come because it's part of our religion, it's part of our ritual, and it eases our conscience to come to church. But we also need to make sure that our heart is engaged, that when we're here...

That we're actually spending time in worship. And when we're looking at the Word, that our heart is open, that we're in tune with the Lord, that we can receive from Him and then be obedient to Him. That to come sit through a Bible study doesn't help you at all unless your heart is engaged. If your mind's far from here, if your mind's on other things, then you better watch out because it's a similar condition to what the nation of Israel was experiencing at this time.

Well, we go on in verse 7. It says, "...the Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob, surely I will never forget any of their works. Shall the land not tremble for this and everyone mourn who dwells in it? All of it shall swell like the river, heave and subside like the river of Egypt."

Here as he goes on in verse 7,

It says that the Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob. Usually in the Scriptures we see that the Lord swears by Himself. He swears by His own name. It's a guarantee. But here we see that He's sworn by the pride of Jacob.

The nation of Israel was so prideful. It was a guaranteed thing that God was able to swear on their pride. It was a guarantee they are going to be prideful. They are going to be full of pride. And so on their pride He swears that He will not forget any of their works. He says, I will never forget their works. As I have often reminded you here in the Minor Prophets.

Forgotten and forgiven sin is the benefit of confession and repentance. You know the scriptures. The Lord will cast our sin as far as the east is from the west. He removes our transgressions from us that far, the psalmist says. And we love those portions and we hold on to them. But here God says, I will never forget their sin. I'll never forget their wickedness. I will hold on to it. I will remember it. Time won't cover it up.

It won't cause me not to think about it anymore. I will never forget. Because forgotten sin and forgiven sin is the benefit of confession and repentance. In order for God to cast your sin as far as the east is from the west, you must confess. You must turn from it. Agree with God about that sin and stop practicing it. And then God will forget.

And God will cast it away. Then you'll be covered in the grace and the mercy of God. So we need to understand that if we do not repent, if we don't confess and agree with God about our sin, our sin will not be forgotten. It will never be forgotten. And so he says, I will never forget. He says it will come to pass there in verse 9 that He'll make the sun go down at noon.

Now this is probably referring to an eclipse that was going to take place. It's calculated anyways. Two eclipses that would have happened during Amos' lifetime around 784 or 763 BC. And so probably corresponds with one of those eclipses. But he also says he's going to turn their feasts into mourning. So they're continuing to practice the feasts. They're being spiritual. They're being religious.

But He's going to turn those feasts into mourning, their songs into lamentation, which were funeral songs. And so the songs that they were singing, even though their mind wasn't in it, their heart wasn't in it, now those songs that they were singing are going to be turned into funeral songs. He says there at the end of verse 10, "...I will make it like mourning for an only son."

And so the severity of the mourning, the severity of the sorrow that will result in the judgment that God is bringing, he says, will be like a person who is mourning because they lost their only child. I don't know what that's like. Probably many of you don't. But to have an only child and then to lose them, can you imagine the sorrow?

Can you imagine the mourning that would take place? It's not light mourning. It's not light sorrow. It's not, you know, well, just give me a week or two and then I'll be fine. I'll be okay. I'll be back to normal. I mean, it's devastating. It pulls your heart out. God says the mourning, when judgment comes, will be like a person who's mourning for their only child. Listen, here's the lesson we need to learn.

If you practice sin, you will seriously regret it. If you practice sin, if you continue on in sin and you don't turn as God's calling you back, as God sends Amos or these other guys, as He sends messengers to you and calls you back, if you continue to practice sin, you will seriously regret it. And when the judgment comes, when the consequences come for your sin and rebellion against God, it will be like mourning for your only child.

That's how serious it will be. Again, we are reminded that sin is not to be played with. It's not something to just kind of shrug our shoulders and not be concerned with in our lives. It needs to be taken seriously. It needs to be dealt with. Pastor Pedro Garcia, I always remember one thing he shared at one of the pastor's conference was that you need to deal treacherously with sin because sin will deal treacherously with you.

You don't play around with it. Because if you do, when the results come, when the judgment comes, you will mourn as if you're mourning for an only child. Verse 11.

Verse 1,

In that day the fair virgins and strong young men shall faint from thirst. Those who swear by the son of Samaria, who say, as your God lives, O Dan, and as the way of Beersheba lives, they shall fall and never rise again. Here God now says that there's going to be a famine in the land. But not a famine like we think of, where there's a drought, not a famine of food or of water, but a famine...

of the word of the Lord. There's going to be a famine of the words of the Lord. Now we see there in verse 14, he refers to the people who swear by the sin of Samaria. The...

the worship of false gods that Samaria was practicing, they were involving in. He says there in verse 14, As your God lives, O Dan. And Dan was the place where one of the golden calves were set up for the nation of Israel so that they would practice this idolatry instead of going to the temple and worshiping the Lord as He had called them to. Beersheba that's also mentioned there was another place where they would go and they would worship these false gods.

And so what we see happening here is they've been calling on these false gods. They've been worshipping these idols. And at the same time, they've been practicing the religious feasts and things that God had prescribed. They're going through and being very spiritual and religious. But all while that's going on, they're refusing to listen to the Lord. So they're going through all the motions...

They're pretending to worship God. They're also worshipping all these false gods, but they're not listening to the Lord. They're not responding to the Lord's word through Amos, through Isaiah, through these other prophets that were sent to them, calling them to repentance. This famine for the word is not so much that God is not going to speak, but the famine for the word is that they are not going to listen.

As David Guzik puts it, he says, this is a problem with the hearer, not with the preacher. He goes on to say, when we seek God, it generally becomes easier to find Him. When we push away God, it generally becomes more difficult to hear and receive His Word. That's the reality. The Scripture tells us to draw near to God and He will draw near to us. When we seek God, when we're seeking after Him,

We learn to hear His voice. We learn His nature and His character. It becomes easier for us to turn to Him and to find out what He wants for our lives and the direction He wants us to go. As we draw near to God, He draws near to us. It's easier to find God as you're seeking Him.

But as you push Him away, where God's there speaking and saying, here's what I want, here's what you need to do, here's what I'm saying, listen to me, and we keep saying, la la la, you know, ignoring, pushing it away, I don't want to think about that, I don't want to talk about that, I don't want to deal with that area in my life. When we push that away, then it becomes more difficult to hear God, to receive His Word, to find that direction for our lives.

Sometimes people wonder, "Well, why am I not hearing from God? I don't understand. I need to hear. I have this decision. I have this situation. I need to hear from the Lord." Amos is telling the people, "You're not hearing from God because you've not been listening. And because you've not been listening, now there's a famine of the Word of God. Because you've been pushing them off and not paying attention." You know, there's many times in our lives as Christians

We want to have selective hearing when it comes to the Word of the Lord. I can share this from personal experience, okay? I want God to speak to me about the very specific things I want to hear from Him on. I don't want Him to speak to me on those other things.

Because I don't really want to deal with those areas. I don't want to talk about those areas. I don't want to change those areas. I'm not ready to let that go. I'm not ready to repent of that. And so I'm selective. Lord, I'm willing. You can speak to me whatever you want within this subject. I have to make this decision. God, where do you want me to go? Do you want me to take this job or that job? Do you want me to move here or there? Do you want me to go to this church or that church? And I'm really open to you, Lord, whatever you want.

And God says, well, I want to talk to you about this situation over here, or that over there. And you go, oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, I don't want to talk about that, Lord. This is the issue right here. I need to make this decision. So tell me about that, but don't talk about that. And we try to have selective hearing, selective listening, where we tell God, you know, the things that we want to know, the things that we want to hear. Only answer this particular question, Lord. Don't talk to me about those other things. But that's pushing God away.

That's us thinking in our pride that we know best and it's us refusing to submit to God. You see, really listening to God and seeking Him is not about tell me what you want in this specific situation, but it's really opening your whole life to the Lord and saying, Lord, you tell me what you want in any part of my life. It's all yours. And I'm not going to

ask you to tell me so that I can then try to negotiate whether or not I'm going to do what you want. But Lord, you tell me and I will do it. Whether it be in this area or that area or anything else. Maybe it's about something I don't even know about yet or I'm not aware of in my life. Lord, whatever you want to talk to me about, I'm completely open to you. That's what it means to listen to the Lord. To seek the Lord.

And often times we experience our own personal famines of the word because we're not hearing from God, because we're not listening, because we only want God to speak to us about these specific things. And we're not surrendering ourselves to Him, giving Him full reign of our hearts and lives. And so that's where the nation of Israel was. They're experiencing now a famine, not because God's not preaching, not because God's not speaking, but because they're not listening.

And they've hardened their hearts against the Lord. But we head now into chapter 9 and verse 1 it says, I saw the Lord standing by the altar and He said, Strike the doorposts that the thresholds may shake and break them on the heads of them all. I will slay the last of them with the sword. He who flees from them shall not get away and he who escapes from them shall not be delivered.

Verse 1.

Verse 5.

The Lord God of hosts, who touches the earth and it melts, and all who dwell there mourn, all of it shall swell like the river and subside like the river of Egypt. He who builds His layers in the sky and has founded His strata in the earth, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth, the Lord is His name.

Here in verses 1-6 of chapter 9, Amos continues his message with the warning to the people that they will not escape. The one who flees will not get away. And he's reminding the people of who it is that they're dealing with. He's reminding the people, this is the Creator that we're talking about. There in verse 5 and 6,

He's the one who touches the earth and it melts. He's the one who builds His layers in the sky. He created the atmosphere. He's the one who built the strata into the earth, the different layers of the earth. He's the one who put that together, who formed it.

He's the one who calls for the waters of the sea and then pours them out on the face of the earth. The cycle of rain that's evaporated from the oceans and then taken up and then poured out as rain upon the different parts of the earth. He's the one who controls that whole cycle. He's the creator of the universe. He's reminding them, think about who it is that you're rebelling against. And here's what God has said.

There in verse 1 of chapter 9, he said, Strike the doorposts that the thresholds may shake. The thresholds,

are generally considered to be like a strong part of the building. That's why, you know, at least when I was young, they always said, you know, when there's an earthquake, run to the threshold, right? That's what's going to protect you. It's a strong part of the building. It's not going to collapse. And so to strike it in such a way that the thresholds shake, that they're broken, is a way of saying it's going to be a massive destruction, right?

Sometimes you see a building and it's just the doorways that are left, just the thresholds that are standing. But even those are going to be shaken. So the whole thing is going to be wiped out and demolished as a result of the judgment that is coming. God says, He who flees shall not get away. And then He goes through a series of five times saying, though they do this,

Then from there I will bring them back. From there I will pour out my judgment upon them. Though they go to Sheol or to hell, it doesn't matter how deep you dig, you can't get away from God. Though you climb up into heaven,

God says, it doesn't matter how high you climb, from there, I'm going to bring my judgment upon you. Though you go try to hide on Mount Carmel, which was a high mountain of the area, you can go try to hide there in the mountain, but from there, I'll find you, I'll bring you back. You can bury yourself at the bottom of the ocean, and from there, I'll bring my judgment upon you. Even if you are taken away into captivity, from there, you will experience the judgment of God.

And so the people are plotting, the people are thinking, we can get away, we can run, we can hide. They were secure in themselves. They were thinking, yeah, we don't have to worry about judgment, but even if we do, I mean, we're so fast, we can outrun any enemy. We're so clever, we can hide, we can outsmart whoever comes against us. And so they thought they were secure. But God's saying, look, I'm the Creator.

I made everything. You can't hide in my creation and think you're going to get away with it. I think you're going to escape me. You cannot outrun God. This is very similar to what David expressed in Psalm 139. He's like, where can I go from your spirit, Lord? If I go here, if I go there, if I go this place, I go to that place, I go this far, I go that far, you're there. Because God's everywhere. He sees everything. He knows everything.

There's no escaping. There's no outrunning. There's no outsmarting. So what do you do then? If he can't run, if he can't hide, what do you do? Well, the best course of action is submit to him. You need to submit to him. You're going to submit to him at some point anyways because you can't outrun him and you can't outsmart him. But the sooner you do it, the better for your sake.

The sooner you finally surrender and say, okay, I'm tired of fighting. I'm not going to run from you. Lord, I'm going to do what you want me to do. I'm going to get rid of that sin. I'm going to follow you in this area. I'm going to receive the salvation that you offer to me. The scriptures are quite clear. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. But the sooner you do that, the better it is for you. Because when you turn and receive and you're obedient,

Remember, forgiven and forgotten sin, that's the benefit of confession and repentance. And so yeah, you're a sinner. And yeah, you've rebelled against God. But as you turn to Him and follow Him, He pours out His grace and His mercy. That doesn't mean that we don't experience consequences for our sin. But we don't experience the judgment that God will bring if we continue to rebel against Him.

Let's go on in verse 7. It says,

Here in verses 7-10, we have some very, very serious words that we need to consider from the Lord. Some very serious things.

First off, the Ethiopians he makes reference to there in verse 7. He says, are you not like the people of Ethiopia to me? Now, for Israel, the people of Ethiopia were very far away. They were very distant. God's saying, you're just like that. You're distant from me. Even though you're going through these outward motions, even though you're going to church, basically he's telling them, you're far from me. You're distant. You're not drawing near to me.

He also says, I brought you from the land of Egypt. He reminds them of that work that he did, that deliverance, that salvation. But he also says, look, I also did that same thing with the Philistines.

The Philistines were there in the land next to Israel and they were always giving Israel problems. But the Philistines were not native to that place. The Lord says, I brought them there from another location. And the same thing with Syria. The inhabitants of Syria weren't native to that location either there on the north of Israel. The Lord brought them there. So God says, look, I'm able to move nations. You're not the only ones and yet you've kept yourself distant from Me.

And so what he says there in verse 8, he says, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom. He says, I'm looking at you guys. I'm watching your lives. I'm watching what you're doing. And he describes them as a sinful kingdom. And he says, I will destroy it from the face of the earth. He will destroy the sinful kingdom. He's going to deal with their sin, with their rebellion against God. The Philistines were brought there by God to the land next to them.

And they experienced the judgment of God. Syria was brought there by the Lord from another land. And they experienced the judgment of God. God says to Israel, don't think that you're any different. You're far from me. I'm watching your sinful practices. And I'm going to destroy this sinful kingdom. But he also says there in verse 8 something very important. He says, yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob.

And so he says, look, I'm going to bring judgment, I'm going to bring destruction, but I'm also going to preserve what we refer to as a remnant. There's going to be a small amount of people left over who survive the destruction and the judgment for God to preserve the nation, to preserve His people. But in order to do that, the way he's going to do that, in verse 9 he says, I'm going to sift you.

I don't know if you guys remember, if you were here, but it was, I think, back in about 2006 when they were building the two buildings behind us. And because of the condition of the soil, they had to dig down deep

And then they had these huge sifters, I mean huge, like probably about half the size of this sanctuary. And they were just using bulldozers and everything to put all this dirt on there and just sifting the huge amount of dirt. And they were pulling out old cars and tires and couches, all this junk that was in the soil, which is why it needed to be sifted. And so they did that in order to remove the junk and keep what was good.

Keep what they can still use. And so God uses this picture of sifting with the people. And He's going to be using this process of judgment to sift the people, to remove the junk, to remove the sinful, to remove the rebellious, and to preserve those who are faithful, preserve a small remnant. Notice He says though, "...yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground."

I love this about the Lord. Not the smallest grain will fall to the ground. So, verse 9.

Not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground. God's judgment is precise. He's not losing His temper and just wiping out everybody and just the good and the bad, they're all getting judged together. He's not overdoing it. It's measured. It's exact. It's exactly what's just and right and fair.

And so he says in verse 10, "All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword." Would you consider that for a second? "All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword." Think about that one more time. "All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword." These are God's people. He brought them out of Egypt. He established them. But those who practice sin shall die by the sword.

The wages of sin is death. Paul tells us that in Romans chapter 6 verse 23. And that's not just true for those who are not God's people. That's also true for God's people. The sinners of my people shall die by the sword. If we practice sin, we will experience judgment. God won't let it continue. He won't allow us to continue in rebellion. Even if we're His people. I would say even especially...

As His people. The sinners of My people shall die by the sword. Let's finish it up in verse 11. It says, On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages. I will raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom. And all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord, who does this thing.

Verse 1.

says the Lord your God. And so, here we end on a high note. He makes a quick about face and ends with the glory that is yet to come.

The glory in the final days. Now, this is referring to something that is still future for us. What we refer to as the millennium or the millennial kingdom. When Jesus returns, when He rules and reigns, Israel will be restored. And it's going to be rebuilt and reestablished. It's going to be glorious as there it experiences the full blessing of God.

Because it's at that time that the nation will turn fully back to the Lord. It will not, as a nation, turn back to the Lord until that time. And so during that time, there's going to be a great work of God. He says there in verse 13, "...the plowman will overtake the reaper."

I love this picture. Because it's like, you know, you got the guy gathering grapes, you know, and he's picking the fruit, he's pulling the fruit off the vine, and the plowman's right behind him like, you know, hurry up, get that down, because, you know, we're planting the next row, we're planting the next crop. But the land is so productive and so abundant, you know, you drop a seed and boom, immediately you're reaping the harvest. And so the treader of grapes...

is bumping into the one who's sowing seed. It's taken so long to bring in all the grapes that now it's time to sow seed again already. It's so productive, they're having a hard time bringing in all the fruit as a result. So he says, the mountains shall drip with sweet wine. So the land is once again going to produce like it once did. It's going to be very fruitful.

Not only that, but the captives are going to be brought back, he says there in verse 14. The nation of Israel that's been spread all throughout the world, they're going to be brought back to the land. They're going to be re-established there. They're going to be planted there and no longer pulled up. And so God is bringing judgment here.

And He's bringing judgment upon the sinners of His people. But He's going to preserve the remnant. And He's going to preserve that remnant that is faithful to Him. And then in the last day, they're going to be established and it's going to be glorious. And so that's the message of Amos to the nation of Israel.

Now as we head on into the book of Obadiah, we're shifting gears a little bit because Obadiah is speaking not to Israel and really not even to Judah, but he's speaking to the nation of Edom, which is to the south of Israel.

The nation of Judah. And although Obadiah comes immediately after the book of Amos, it's actually probably about 200 years later that Obadiah is prophesying. But the message is very similar and it goes hand in hand. And so it goes right along with the things that we're studying this evening. As we finish up Amos, now we'll take a look at Obadiah. So look at verses 1 through 4. It says this.

The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom. We have heard a report from the Lord and a messenger has been sent among the nations saying, Arise and let us rise up against her for battle.

Behold, I will make you small among the nations. You shall be greatly despised. 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? Though you ascend as high as the eagle, and though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down, says the Lord.

Here as we start off the book of Obadiah, we don't know much about this man named Obadiah who is writing these things and prophesying these things. So what we know about him we learn in this book. But he is speaking to the nation of Edom.

Now Edom was a nation, I said, that was to the south, but it was populated by the descendants of Esau. And so what we're looking at is a long battle that has been going on between Jacob and Esau. You remember even in Rebekah's womb, she was like, man, why is there so much trouble while I'm pregnant? And she went to the Lord, the Lord said, because there's two nations there and they're going to be fighting together.

And so they were already fighting in the womb and then now several hundred years later, the descendants of Esau and the descendants of Jacob, which is the nation of Israel, they're at odds with each other and Edom has been attacking and persecuting Israel and that's why God is bringing this prophecy through Obadiah. Well, he addresses...

the nation of Edom and really their pride here in verses 2 and 3. He says, I'll make you small and you'll be greatly despised because in verse 3, the pride of your heart has deceived you. This is something to pay attention to, okay? Pride always deceives you. Pride will always deceive you. Satan was lifted up in pride.

And he was deceived. Remember, he thought, well, I'm going to be like God. I'm going to set my throne up in the heavens. And he was immediately deceived in his pride. Pride will deceive you.

To cause you to think that you're untouchable, unreachable, to cause you to think that you're the exception, that's why you don't have to obey, to cause you to think that you can do whatever it is that you want to do. Pride will deceive you. And that's something to pay attention to because, listen, you are prideful. You're prideful. You and I, it's something that we have to deal with. We have pride.

And so we're susceptible to be deceived by our own selves, by our own pridefulness. So that we think we don't have to listen to God or we know what's best. And so the nation of Edom, God says, I'm going to bring you down. You've lifted yourselves up. You're full of pride. But He says in verse 4, I will bring you down. Though you ascend as high as the eagle, much like we saw in Amos, no matter how high you go, I will bring you down from there. Here is the guarantee.

Whoever is lifted up in pride will be brought down. It's guaranteed. 100% of the time, without exception, whoever is lifted up in pride will be brought down. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 23 verse 12, Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. If you exalt yourself, you will be humbled. It's a guarantee.

And so Edom has exalted itself as they've been attacking the nation of Israel, the nation of Judah. And so now God's presenting the warning to them. In verse 5 He says, "...if thieves have come to you, if robbers by night, oh, how you will be cut off!"

Would they not have stolen till they had enough? If great gatherers had come to you, would they not have left some gleanings? Oh, how Esau shall be searched out! Now his hidden treasures shall be sought after. All the men in your confederacy shall force you to the border. The men at peace with you shall deceive you and prevail against you. Those who eat your bread shall lay a trap for you. No one is aware of it."

Will I not in that day, says the Lord, even destroy the wise men from Edom, and understanding from the mountains of Esau? Then your mighty men, O teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that everyone from the mountains of Esau may be cut off by slaughter. Here as God continues on, He makes reference to thieves. And He says, look, if thieves had come among you,

They would only take as much as they could carry. They would only take so much, but they would leave some things behind. And as he's developing this thought, he kind of cries out in the middle of it there in verse 5. He says, oh, how you will be cut off. As he thinks about the devastation that will take place, he's saying, look, thieves would leave something behind. Just like grape gatherers leave behind a few grapes. They missed some grapes there on the vine.

And thieves leave things behind, but the judgment that you will experience for your pride, will leave nothing behind. Everything will be taken. Everything will be affected. Oh, how you will be cut off. And so all of your treasures, they will be found. All of your alliances that you're trusting in, they're going to be broken. All those that you thought were friends, they're going to turn on you. All of your wise men, these are things that Edom was very well known for.

They were very well known for their wise men, but they'll be gone. Their mighty men, their strength, they'll be dismayed, they'll be weak, they'll be broken because of their pride. They will be brought down, they will be humbled. Verse 10. Here we learn why this judgment is coming. He says, "...for violence against your brother Jacob."

Verse 1.

Nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction. Nor should you have spoken proudly in the day of distress. You should not have entered the gate of my people in the day of their calamity. Indeed, you should not have gazed on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity. You should not have stood at the crossroads to cut off those among them who escaped you.

nor should you have delivered up those among them who remained in the day of distress. Verse 15 For the day of the Lord upon all nations is near. As you have done, it shall be done to you. Your reprisal shall return upon your own head. For as you drank on my holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink continually. Yes, they shall drink and swallow, and they shall be as though they had never been."

Here God pronounces upon them, "The judgment is because your violence against your brother Jacob." And so God's reminding them of their history, their relationship. These are the descendants of Esau. Jacob and Esau were brothers. And these descendants of Esau are attacking and being violent against the descendants of Jacob. "This is your family," God is saying.

And you're behaving violently against them. For violence against their brother, God says, shame will cover you. Why? Well, in verse 11, He begins this

or this monologue of in the day, he goes on. He says over and over again. He's talking about the day of the nation of Judah. Probably when Babylon came and conquered the land of Judah. He says, look, in that day, in that time, as they're being conquered, they're being taken away captive, you, not only did you just stand by and let it happen, that's one thing, but you helped the attackers. And you were against your brethren.

So he says, in the day that Israel was conquered, you should not have, and seven times he says, look, you should not have done this. What did they do? Well, they gloated. There's Israel getting conquered. They see the city burning. They're like, yeah, that's awesome. I love it. They're rejoicing over the destruction of Israel, the destruction of Judah. They're speaking proudly.

Again, they're boasting, they're trusting in themselves. But they even went beyond that and it says that they entered the gate and they're taking stuff. And so they're taking advantage of this opportunity and stealing and robbing the people who are being conquered. But they didn't even stop there. They cut off those who escaped. They're like, hey Babylon, we'll help you. Yeah, there goes one. I'll go get him.

So they're setting up traps, they're catching the people who are fleeing from the city as it's being attacked. And then, they didn't just catch them, then they delivered them up to the enemy. And so over and over again, God says, you should not have done that. They're experiencing the judgment of God, the rebellion against God in this way will result in their brokenness, their shame that will come upon them.

God says in verse 15, As you have done, it shall be done to you. As we've seen so often in the scriptures, you reap what you sow. That will never change. That's God's law. Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. And as you have done, God says to Edom, it will be done to you.

And I would ask you to consider this evening as we look at the nation of Edom, as we look at the nation of Israel and the judgment that God promised. Are you in danger of judgment? Are you lifted up in pride? Are you far from God and not listening to Him? Are you continuing to practice things that are not of God, things that are sinful? Have you rejoiced over the calamity of others? Are you contributing and taking advantage of others in their destruction?

God would say to you, "You're going to reap what you sow." And you and I, we need to stop sowing bad seeds and expecting good results. Because that's not what happens. It's a law. It's not going to change, especially not just for you. And you can test it. Go in your yard and sow some seeds. If you sow apple seeds, you'll get an apple tree. If you sow grass seeds, you'll get grass. If you sow weeds, you're going to get weeds.

You can test it, you can prove it yourself. Stop sowing bad seeds and expecting good results. They were thinking, we don't need to worry about this happening to us. Why? Oh, you know, we're strong, we're protected. We've got high mountains and strong fortresses and they won't do to us what they're doing to Judah. No one can touch us. That's pride. That's how we think.

Oh yeah, that happened to that person and boy do they deserve, but that would never happen to me. They're lifted up. And so God's going to bring them down. Verse 17, But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance. And so he closes the book of Obadiah in a similar way to Amos. So he's pronouncing this judgment, but then he finishes off by looking at the future glory of the nation of Israel. He says, On Mount Zion there shall be deliverance.

And there shall be holiness. The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. The house of Jacob shall be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame. But the house of Esau shall be stubble. They shall kindle them and devour them and no survivors shall remain of the house of Esau for the Lord has spoken.

The south shall possess the mountains of Esau, and the lowland shall possess Philistia. They shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria. Benjamin shall possess Gilead, and the captives of this host of the children of Israel shall possess the land of the Canaanites, as far as Zarephath, the captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad.

shall possess the cities of the south. Then Savior shall come to Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau and the kingdom shall be the Lord's. Now this last portion again refers to that millennial kingdom, that final kingdom that the Lord establishes.

And he says, look, what's going to happen is Israel will survive. God's preserving his remnant. They'll be brought back into the land. They'll be established and they'll be blessed. But there in verse 18, he says, Esau will be like stubble. They're going to be burned. They're going to be gone. They're going to be no more. He even says, no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau. And you know what? That has been fulfilled. You don't run into Edomites today.

You don't run into people who have descended from Esau. They've been destroyed. No survivor has remained. It took place back in 66 to 70 AD as the Romans were conquering the land. And they, like the nation of Israel, were rebelling against Rome and fighting against them. Edom was completely crushed by Rome. And they've never been heard from as a people again. God's Word is fulfilled.

Let me just remind you of the words of Jesus. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled. They had exalted themselves. And the result? Now they've been humbled. No survivor remains. What we see here as we finished up Amos and looked at Obadiah, once again we see the seriousness of sin. That it's not to be played with, it's not to be toyed with. And those who practice sin will experience judgment.

And the judgment will be so severe, it will be like mourning for an only child. It's serious stuff. We need to take it seriously. However, the announcement of judgment is always the invitation to repentance. And God says, if you confess your sin, I'm faithful and just to forgive you and cleanse you of all unrighteousness. Our sin can be forgiven and forgotten if we turn to Him.

If we surrender ourselves to Him. However, if we refuse, our sin will never be forgotten. And as we've done, it will be done to us. And we will experience the judgment, the consequences, the penalty for sin. But if we turn to the Lord, if we repent and confess, it's not just outward words that we say, but it's a life. And we stop living in that lifestyle. We stop living and practicing those things and turn to the Lord.

Our sin is cast as far as the east is from the west. So Ronnie is going to close us in one last song this evening. And as he does, I want to encourage you. What's God speaking to your heart? Is there an issue of pride? Is there an issue of you not listening to the Lord? Is there an issue of you practicing things that you know are not of God?

Don't just shrug it off. Don't just think, I'll deal with it later. Don't think, I'll outrun God and I'll escape the judgment. If you're involved in sin, the sooner you submit to the Lord, the better. So let's do it now. Let's use this opportunity to confess, to be forgiven, to repent. So let's just take some time, just us and the Lord, just all by ourselves. You hear from God. Surrender to the Lord. Humble yourself now.

so that He doesn't have to humble you later. Let's worship the Lord together.