*Unfortunately, we were unable to record the sermon from Sunday, February 9, 2025. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.
The Kingdom of the Lord
obadiah
Your patient has become humble; have you drawn his attention to the fact? All virtues are less formidable to us once the man is aware he has them, but this is especially true of humility. Catch him at the moment when he is really poor in spirit and smuggle into his mind the gratifying reflection, ‘By jove! I’m being humble,’ and almost immediately pride - pride at his own humility - will appear.
~ C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
Main Idea: As the sovereign King, the Lord will humble the exalted and exalt the humble.
I. The Pride of Edom (1-14)
The sibling rivalry between Jacob and Esau (Gen. 25:19-34) evolves into a long-standing fraternal struggle between the nations of Israel and Edom. These two ‘brothers’ had near constant strife and animosity toward one another, often resulting in violence and warfare.
Obadiah indicts Edom for the “pride of their heart” that has “deceived” them (3). The Lord hints of numerous points of pride for the nation:
They presumed their topography meant they were invulnerable to attack (3-4)
They had relative wealth (5-6)
They had friends and allies (7-8)
They perceived to have worldly wisdom (8) and mighty strength (9)
The evidence of their deceptive pride became obvious in the way they treated others, particularly after Judah was defeated by Babylon:
They “stood aloof” as Judah was destroyed (11; cf. Prov. 3:27)
They boasted and delighted in their downfall (12; cf. Prov. 24:17-18)
They exploited and looted their ‘brother’ (13)
They assisted Babylon in capturing those fleeing (14)
1 Peter 5:5b-6: Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you
II. The Cup of Judgment (15-18)
Obadiah then expands the humbling, justified judgment on Edom to a picture of what will happen on the “Day of the Lord’ to all nations who follow in their prideful path (cf. Mt. 25:31-32). The nations will drink the “cup” of God’s wrath, a frequent theme of the OT (cf. Ps. 75:8; Isa. 51:17; Jer. 25:15, Eze. 23:33; Hab. 2:15–16).
God has provided a way of “escape” (17) from his righteous judgment on the prideful who oppose the Lord, his anointed (cf. Ps. 2:2), and his people. The incarnation of Christ was an act of ‘humiliation,’ leading to crucifixion, the supreme picture of humility (Phil. 2:5-8). On the cross, Jesus drinks the full cup of God’s wrath against pride and sin until it is dry (Mk. 14:32-42).
See him there, amid the olives in Gethsemane’s garden, prostrate in prayer, and covered with a bloody sweat as he pleads with his Father on his people’s behalf. Do you see that cup, filled with wormwood and gall, of which he must drink if you are to be saved? Can you bear the sight? Are you not overwhelmed with penitent sorrow as you see the Lord of life and glory lying there covered with his own blood, and know that all his agony was on your account? It is that poverty of his which has made you rich; for he has taken from your hand the cup of his Father’s just wrath against sin, and he has drained it himself; and, instead, he has set before you the cup of salvation, from which he bids you to drink the new wine of the kingdom full of joy and delight... Yet you never could have had that cup of blessing in your hand if he had not first emptied that other cup, which his Father gave him to drink—that cup of awful bitterness which he resolved that you should never taste.
~ Charles Spurgeon, “Christ’s Poverty, Our Riches”
For those of humble faith, the Day of the Lord will be a refining fire (17; cf. 1 Cor. 3:13-14); for those of prideful rebellion (like Edom), they will be like ‘stubble’ consumed by judgment (18).
III. The Kingdom of God (19-21)
Obadiah ends his book with a vision of the people of God expanding into and beyond the Promised Land, taking possession of an increasing portion of the earth. Ultimately, this is a “telescopic” vision of the restoration of all things, when “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15).
Dominion belongs to the Lord after the great reversal that comes on his day (Obad. 15). The Day of the Lord brings the Kingdom of God. God’s ultimate aim is not just a reversal of his people’s fortunes… not simply the defeat of enemies or the restoration of Israel, but his kingship over the whole world.
~ Craig Bartholomew & Heath Thomas, The Minor Prophets
Matthew 5:3: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Hebrews 12:28-29: Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
