Dr. Mike Lester: Obadiah, My Brother's Keeper

well good evening take your books out not your notes we'll just call them books right and I am glad to be here tonight I'm excited about this new series the Lord has spoken I'm excited about looking at Obadiah I'm excited about preaching from a new Bible as well I got a new Bible for Christmas and what I like about it is this big print I can read it and so I'm excited about that 25 years my eyes aren't quite the same as they was when Pastor first picked us up at that airport and excited about the opportunity Obadiah is the smallest book in the Old Testament and I'm not sure how many times I've actually heard somebody preached from the book of Obadiah it's rare he can be easily overlooked and yet what he says is so very important and the principles that we learn from his book will help us even in the 21st century and so I'm excited about it we start with Obadiah tonight because chronologically as we'll talk about in a moment he'd be the first prophet written and so with that in mind let's turn to the book of Obadiah we'll read a few verses and sort of use that as a launching pad to sort of set a context for us Obadiah if you find chapter 2 you're in the wrong book all right Obadiah chapter 1 and only chapter 1 and verse number 1 Obadiah 1 verse 1 and I want you to notice how he starts he just says the vision of Obadiah thus saith the Lord God the Lord has spoken right so he just starts here's my vision God has spoken and the Lord God has spoken concerning Edom just out of nowhere the first verse hey this is not about Israel this is not about Judah this is about Edom we've heard a rumor from the war an ambassador is sent among the heathen arise ye and let us rise up against her in battle have made these small among the heathen thou art greatly despised the pride of thine heart hath deceived thee thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock whose habitation is high that's safe in his heart who shall bring me down to the ground and though thou exalt thyself as the eagle and though thou set thy nest among the stars thence will I bring the down saith the Lord a lot more gonna look at tonight but I think you can tell by the opening verses God is not happy with Edom okay so with that in mind let's pray then let's find out a few things about who eat them is who Obadiah is what's the purpose of this book and what can we learn from it so let's pray and ask the Lord to help us Lord thank you tonight for the singing we've been involved in thank you for the special we've heard and thank you for our church 2020 still moving forward thank you the vision that was shared by our pastor Sunday night and really Sunday morning and even in November just a lot of visions sharing what the things you've been doing in his heart and what we get to be a part of seeing accomplished and a pray now as we start this series help us to never get over the fact that the Lord God who created everything has spoken as well and I pray we would take heed to your word and learn from it well thank you for it in Jesus name Amen context makes a big difference if I were to tell you a quote from a pastor who was training pastors he said something like this because of the technological advances of today your people have ready hands for information dust we need to be well prepared to stay ahead of the learning curve of the people in the pews well that just sounds obvious until you consider the fact that was said by Charles Spurgeon Spurgeon was saying in the 1800s the technology is advancing so quickly we've got to do our best to stay in our study to stay ahead of the people in the pews well that was true in 1800s how much more is it true now the context in which he said that gives us a little bit more of an understanding so here's what's happening when we come to verse 1 we're roughly eight hundred and fifty years before the birth of Christ eight hundred and fifty years from this point Jesus will be born in Bethlehem's a manger so what's happening at this point in Jewish history well about a hundred years prior to this the nations have divided if you remember something about the Jewish history and the Jewish Kingdom for a long time God was the people's kings you had the judges and God was their king but during the time of Samuel the people said we want to be like all the other people we want a king so God gave them one he gave them Saul and Saul reigned for forty years at Saul's death there was a little bit of a turmoil as they were if I'd who was going to be God's choice and David stepped in and David rain for 40 years at David's death a little bit of a struggle between the brothers on who wanted to take control and David made sure that Nathan and the people knew that Solomon was his choice and Solomon reigned for 40 years sort of easy to remember the first three kings they all rain for 40 years those 120 years are called the United Kingdom at the death of Solomon as you read through the Old Testament that's when things can sometimes get confusing if we go too fast because all of a sudden now you're reading about a king of the north and the King of the South and sometimes they have the same name and sometimes they have similar names and at the death of Solomon we have Rio Boehm and Jeroboam and we have the kingdom divided we have the northern kingdom which is the ten tribes of Israel their capital city of Samaria we have the southern kingdom and that's Judah and their capital city would be Jerusalem and there's Benjamin there in Judah and that's the southern kingdom and this divided kingdom has been in existence for about a hundred years as we come to obadiah's day when you look at the northern kingdom reading specifically through the books of first and second Kings and first and second Chronicles here's what we learnt about the northern kingdom not one good King there's not one good king in Israel where God said and he did that which was right in the sight of God it doesn't happen one time in the northern kingdom in the southern kingdom there's a dynasty it's the descendants of David they're not all righteous they're not all faithful but God had made a covenant to David and so God left David's seed on that's wrong and as we come to the time of Obadiah in the northern kingdom there's that famous couple we've all heard of Ahab and Jezebel and they're ruling and waging war and there's a prophet in northern kingdom standing against them his name is Elijah and the southern kingdom Jehoshaphat has recently passed off the scene Jehoshaphat was a godly king who was a good king he loves the Lord he didn't always make wise decisions one of the decisions he made was to marry his son to Ahab's house so Jehoram who's the king during a time of Obadiah marries a lady named Ethel ayah when you read through the books of the Chronicles she later on usurped the throne and tries to kill the Davidic line it's it's a satanic plot to wipe out God's line from David and God spares a little baby and seven years later he becomes king and that's what's happening in the world a happened Jezebel in the north and Jehoram in the south and wicked kings all around and in the middle of that God begins to bring judgment and as God begins to bring judgment into his people there's another nation watching Edom Edom we may not recognize that name but we probably know the progenitor the the ancestor of that race his name is Esau Esau and Jacob are a story of two brothers that don't get along I don't have any brothers I have two sisters we didn't always get along but I I never thought about selling them into slavery okay you read some times Jacob and Esau how they're tricking each other didn't you read about the sons of Jacob and how they're sort of added it's a dysfunctional family at times isn't it yet Esau and Jacob in those early days Esau got what the book of Hebrews calls a root of bitterness he never got over the fact that he sold his birthright for a measly pot of soup and he never got over that and and that translated into his descendants and and years later it's still Edom and Esau Adams descendants they're still battling it out and it reminds us of an ancient brother brotherly dual years before that Cain and Abel and Cain when he killed Abel he tried to hide it he asked God a simple question am I my brother's keeper and tonight as we look at Obadiah I've entitled tonight's message yes you are your brother's keeper and when Israel and Judah were being attacked and we'll come to it in a moment the book of 2nd chronicles when they were being attacked Edom was rejoicing cheering them on helping them and when the Jew Knights were trying to escape Edom was meeting him at the passes and killing them or turning them back handymen cilium office slaves and in the book we read here in the book of Obadiah in a moment when it came time to sort of split the loot and split the spoil eden was right there taking part of it they were rejoicing in the downfall of god's people and so Obadiah steps up and says now God wants to bring judgment upon you this is what's happening so another prophet not allied to the well-known one but a small profit Obadiah stands up in the middle of difficult times in the middle of the Philistines and middle of the Arab nations coming and attacking his people and in the middle of all that he sees God working in his people and God judging those who were not a friend to Israel reminds us of another covenant in the book of Genesis doesn't it so during this time we come to Obadiah so with that in mind by way of introduction let's ask a few questions who is this guy who is Obadiah his name means servant or worshipper of the Lord that's a good name he's a servant of the Lord he's a worshipper of the Lord he's a worshipper of Jehovah now Obadiah he doesn't list his father's name when you read a lot of the prophets this guy the son of this guy the son of this guy prophesied to this nation in this King you know oh I know witness took place pretty easy to identify Obadiah doesn't give us those little clues as a little hints he's not as he's not as forward with we don't know who his father was we don't know the kings that are ruling here in the name Obadiah it would be sort of a common name the servant of the Lord would be a common name for God's people and so asking who is this Obadiah could sort of be like asking the question did you read that book John wrote which John John living now John who's lived for like two hundred years ago John sort of a common name it doesn't really help us we need a little more information and so because of the lack sometimes of information on obadiah's ancestry and his descendants and the kingdom sometimes there's this debate on when he was written some people say he was written around 850 BC and some say he was written about 580 after the fall of Jerusalem and so we're arguing tonight and that's the reason Obadiah comes first in this series that Obadiah was written about 850 BC why is that well in verse number 17 go ahead and look at that for a moment verse 17 but upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance it's an interesting phrase but here's what I want you to know about it maybe jot it down in a margin of your notes Joel quotes this in Joel 232 Joel was writing about 830 BC so if Joel was quoting Obadiah then Obadiah has to be written first so we're putting Obadiah as the earliest prophet because he's the first prophet to write Obadiah is also the first prophet who ever tell us something about the day of the Lord would be a reoccurring theme we hear in the major and minor prophets Obadiah is the first one to use that expression as he's writing so when did he live who was he he's a prophet whose name means name of the Lord servant of the Lord when did he live well as mentioned between 850 BC roughly that timeframe Joel quotes him Jeremiah quotes him or woods to him Amos quotes him and alludes to him this gives him sort of an early dating I've mentioned already the book is written against the nation other than Israel and other than Jude it's written about Edom so let's do a quick survey of who eat him was not only were they this descendants of Esau they were the people that in the early days of the Exodus when God was bringing them out they asked passes to go through eating's coasts and Eden said no no not coming into our coasts they refused them passage and throughout any time Edom could sort of get an advantage they wanted to and in the days of David David put him under subjection and you read about this in the reign of David he made all of the people and eat him to be subject to him they were brought under his control but during the time of Jehovah which is the time we've mentioned in second chronicles chapter 421 and 2nd Kings chapter number 8 Edom revolts they make their own King and they begin to establish their own independence and they're sort of raising up themselves the instalation of Israel you still see some of the descendants in the New Testament of Edom as well by the time we come to the New Testament they're not quite called Edom there's a different spelling of the name we're going through different languages the Hebrew language is sort of passing off the scene the Greek language is becoming more popular and so in a New Testament they're called it du Muir and so there's this idea of the enemy ins it doesn't mean a whole lot to us except we do know one very famous one Herod Herod who's called the king of Israel during the New Testament isn't really a Jewish person he's a descendant of Edom he's a usurper to the throne he's a Edomite who's come into the throne there because of his his his connections his connections with Roman as a result of that it's causing some problems and they're looking for a deliverer a messiah this battle for control of the land of Edom eventually finds these descendants going into a famous city and building high cliffs in the rocks and today we know there's famous sidious Petra perhaps you've seen a picture of Petra it's it's pretty amazing what they do in that stonework and these stone you you go into this area there's all just facades there and it's almost impenetrable and this is where the were dwelling and today modern-day Jordan and they thought that they were in a state that no one could touch them that no one could harm them you could see the pride we'll talk about in just a moment as we read these first few verses so these Edomite people here well what's the big idea what's going on in the book of Obadiah of what why why is this book being written okay let's turn if you will to second chronicles chapter 21 second chronicles chapter 21 we'll come back to Obadiah in just a moment second chronicles chapter number 21 there's a few things that happen in this chapter that's relevant to the time frame that we're in in the early part of this chapter verse number 1 Jehoshaphat dies he sleeps with his father Joe home reigns in his stead verse 8 in his days in Johor Rob's day this descendant of David who's not a good king the revolted from under the Dominion of Judah they made themselves a king and Joe home went forth with his princes and all his chariots and he fought against them he smote them but the verse 10 revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day also in verse 10 live note revolted from them they made high places and you're starting to see the Davidic Kingdom losing some of its land and some of its prestige verse number 12 Elisha sends a message to the king and basically saying you need to repent verse 16 the Lord stirs up against your harem the spirit of the Philistines the Arabians that were near the Ethiopians and they're fighting against Jehovah and against Judah and this is when Edom has revolted and Edom is sort of rejoicing about the fact that other people are attacking and the Philistines and the Arabians come into Judah verse 17 they break into it they carried all this substance that was in the king's house and they carried away his wives there was there was only one son left out of the doubt of the nation here then verse 18 because of Jehovah continual refusal to repent God brings an incurable disease upon him in verse 18 verse 19 he dies after two years with this disease the people made no burning for him he was 32 years old when it began to rain he reigned in Jerusalem eight years he departed without being desired they buried him in the City of David but not in a Sepulchre of the Kings he was an unwanted king an unloved King he he didn't bring about good things for the people and as a result God begins to bring his judgment in and part of that judgment as these nations revolting and attacking but while the Philistines are attacking and why the Arabians are attacking Edom would have been better off to just humble themselves and say hey maybe they're getting what they deserve but I'm not gonna say anything but instead they want to participate and God is bringing judgment upon Edom Obadiah mentions another nation for judgment Jonah will talk about in a few weeks also brings judgment against another nation the Assyrians Nathan would do the same thing the key phrase for the book of Obadiah sort of helps us remember yes you are your brother's keeper yes you have a responsibility to your brother Jacob not to rejoice when he's in turmoil but to come to his aid and you do that and so the key verse is verse number 15 the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen as how it's done it shall be done unto thee in other words what you've reaped you will sow the reward shall be upon dying o head that don't had now in all of that a lot of judgment we'll talk about in the next few moments but in all of that I want to remind us that Christ is still pictured in this single one chapter book in the Old Testament this book reminds us that there is one who still sits in judgment over all the nations the heart of the king is in the hands of the Lord he raises one up he brings another one down God still sits on his throne in heaven and is still in control and we can never forget that and so the book of Obadiah reminds us that there is a king in heaven who rules over the nation's this book also reminds us that there is a king in heaven who doesn't forget his covenant that he made with Israel you ever made a promise or had a promise made to you and circumstances change and as a result you weren't able to fulfill it like maybe you'd hoped or maybe it wasn't able to be fulfilled with you the way you'd hoped a lot of circumstances have changed since Genesis chapter number 12 when God made a promise to Abraham but while the circumstances have changed God has not God is still keeping his covenant with his people even though Philistines are attacking and the arabs are attacking and Edom is attacking even though everybody is attacking God says they're my people I've made a covenant they will not be wiped out they they may be winnowed out there may be a remnant but they'll always be my people because I've made a covenant in this book reminds us of that in this book also reminds us at the very end that there is a coming king who will set up his kingdom on earth and there will be no end and he'll make all things right again so that's sort of the big picture now how do we break this book now what's the outline of this book in verses 1 through 9 we have the coming destruction of Edom I've read the first four verses and so we picked up a few reasons on why God is judging them first of all because of their pride and arrogance they said that we have pry we we we dwell in these claps of the our habitations hi there's no one who can bring us down and God says oh there is there's someone who can bring you down and because of their pride it reminds us of the principle that pride goes before destruction a haughty spirit goes before a fall and here's a group of people that are boasting themselves up and and saying yes go get them let us help you fight against these Israelites on these Judah we're glad that this is happening and God says don't get too lifted up and pride there's another reason that's mentioned in these verses verses 5 to 7 if thieves came to D if robbers by night how about I'll cut off wood would they not have stole until they'd had enough they wouldn't have taken everything they would have taken till they had enough and then left if the grape gathers came to they they they wouldn't take everything they would leave some grapes but but you're wanting the total destruction of Israel you don't want to leave anything behind and as a result of that I'm bringing judgment because your greed and your wealth you think that gives you the right to sit in judgment over my people and I'm gonna bring judgment and then verses 8 and 9 shall we not in that day saith the Lord even destroy the wise man out of Edom and understanding at the mount of Esau and that mighty men ot man shall be dismayed to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter God is saying your people you're wise you're mighty they're all going to be slaughtered the coming destruction the coming humiliation and destruction of Edom these first nine verses well the second section of this book verses 10 through 16 God now lays out his case his reason God isn't just arbitrarily judging Edom it's deserved God doesn't arbitrarily bring judgment into someone's life the wages of sin God got it God is giving a payment for people's sin and so here God says I want you to understand that I've got Obadiah not only telling you you're gonna be judged I'm gonna tell you the reason that you're gonna be judged I'm gonna lay out where you went wrong what were your sins verse 10 for thy violence against thy brother Jacob violent she was violent against her brother and God says shame is gonna be brought to you verse 11 and the day that thou stood astana the strangers carried away captive Judas forces and foreigners entered into Judas gates and and foreigners and strangers cast lots for Jerusalem uest as one of them you were right there you were violent and then you aided and abetted Israel's enemy Judas enemy you aided and abetted them you took part what else well verse 12 thou should us not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day he became a stranger you shouldn't have rejoiced of the children of Judah in the day of their destruction you shouldn't have spoken proudly in the day of their distress you had the wrong attitude when I was bringing judgment to my people and as a result of that I'm gonna have to judge you verse 13 now should us not have entered in the gate of my people and the day of their claiming they were in great distress you wash right into their gates and you took part as they were casting Lots for the city you didn't help you were part of the problem yeah that should this not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity you shouldn't have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity you you shouldn't have stood in the cross way as people were trying to escape you shouldn't have been there to cut those people off that's what he says in verse 14 you shouldn't have delivered up those that did remain in the day of distress so you're cutting off people that were escaping those that you did capture you sent back and God says you were violent you aided and abetted and you didn't help your brother so verses 15 and 16 God says I'm gonna have to judge you and here comes that phrase verse 15 for the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen now probably should define a word here growing up I grew up in the south and I'd often hear something like this don't be a heathen so when I read this word in my mind a heathen is just it's somebody who who doesn't do what's right but that's not the Bible definition of a heathen the heathen in the Bible are the Gentile nations you have the Gentiles and you have God's people that's really the only classifications and those who weren't Jews were called the heathen and so in the day of the Lord is gonna come near upon all the Gentile nations God is gonna bring judgment there as thou has done it shall be done unto thee thy reward shall return upon thine own head as you drunk upon my holy mountain so shall also the heathen drink continually yea they shall drink they shall swallow them they'll be as though they had not been Edom had helped to spoil Israel so God said he was going to have Eaton's enemies spoil her Edom killed the Judean fugitives so God said that Edom x' men would be killed you can sort of see the the just meted out here this is what you did this is what I'm doing this is what you did okay you spoiled my people you're gonna be spoiled my people were fugitives you killed them your men are going to be killed I had survivors that will return to the enemies so your allies are gonna expel you out of the land too you rejoiced over Judas loss so I'm gonna cover you with shame the punishment is fitting the crime the reason for Eaton's judgment and then verses 17 through 21 we see the future Kingdom for Israel remember all this context we set the nation of Judah is being destroyed they're being attacked by three different nations the Philistines are attacking the Arabs are attacking the are attacking it doesn't look like very promising times for the kingdom of God it just looks like everything is falling apart often and Obadiah he describes their plight as calamity calamity calamity distress he's painting a picture here that it feels hopeless and yet in the middle of that hopelessness God has spoken and the light shines through and the future we've heard it so many times sometimes it almost becomes cliche but it's so true the future is just as bright as the promises of God and here God has spoken God has given promises in the middle of all the calamity God says now look I'm judging Edom and right now I'm disappointing you but don't but don't ever think this is the end because I've still got a plan for you and aren't you glad God of second chances aren't you glad that God said doesn't say hey look I made a promise you blew it case closed I'll find somebody new God gives the Judah giudice and Israelites chance after chance after chance after chance in the old and new Testament and today and you know what that does for me it just reminds me that I'm grateful God gives me so many chances - we have a God who says look I am for you and I've made some promises and I've got your best I know the end that I have told you I know the desires I had told you their thoughts are good it may not look good right now but I'm working behind the scenes trust me and so verses 17 through 21 out of all the hopelessness the tone shifts to one of Hope because the kingdom is coming verse 17 we've talked about the mountain of Esau we talked about that mountainous area of Jordan that mountainous area in Petra where they felt like they were going to be delivered but no deliverance doesn't come from there verse 17 deliverance is from another mountain upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance and there shall be holiness and the house of Jacob and notice it's the house of Jacob not the house of Judah God's looking forward to once again when these divided kings become one again and he's seeing the house of Jacob as a whole the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions one of the ways a dispensationalist reason the Bible is literally and when God promises a certain land to a certain people and he gives certain boundaries then a dispensationalist says within that land belongs to those people and God's gonna give it to them a dispensation wasn't spiritualize it he doesn't say well maybe that's not what he meant he says no this is what God said God spoke this is what he meant and so even today as we read the Bible we're grateful that God is carving out the existence of Israel there since 1948 but we also realize they don't have their entire land yet and God is saying right here that one day the house of Jacob will possess their possessions and the house of Jacob will be a fire the house of Joseph aflame it's on fire and it's consumed but what's being consumed the house of Esau will be the double the house of Esau will be kindled and it's gonna be devoured and there should not be any remaining of the house of Esau why because the Lord has spoken you said that seems like a pretty strong punishment they rejoiced when God's people were being attacked and as a result of that God is not going to bring judgment there he's gonna completely take that nation out of play yes because God said he would bless those who blessed Israel and he would curse those who curse Israel and we're seeing it played out here in this little book of Obadiah verse 19 and they have the South shall possess the mount of Esau and they have the plane of the Philistines and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim and the fields of Samaria Benjamin shall possess Gilead and that captivity of this host of the children of Israel they're gonna possess that of the Canaanites all the way up to Zarephath that little bitty place where there was a widow woman who fed Elijah up in a very northern corner God says the land is going there and the captivity of Jerusalem it's going to possess all the cities of the south from north to south you're going to possess it all save yourself come up on Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau and the Kingdom shall be the lords God is going to establish his kingdom let's wrap it up that's a book that took place 850 years before Jesus was born or 2,000 years on the other side of that the events we've just described these last 30 minutes happened 2,800 years ago so I read it there's not too many books that are 2,800 years old did I read for fun I'm not trying to find ancient books just to read to pass the time the Word of God is a living book which makes it timeless and so these events that happened 2800 years ago are still relevant for us as New Testament believers today what are some takeaways here's a few of them number one let's never forget to let God determine our significance Edom thought they could determine their own they lifted themselves up and pride and God says when you try to lift yourself up and pride I've got to put you but if you just humble yourself I'll exalt you in due time let's let God be the one who determines our significance not us number two the law of sowing and reaping is not just some New Testament truth it's the truths that God has enacted in every time in place you reap what you sow and we're gonna make sure that we're not sowing to the flesh we're sowing to the spirit this battle between Jacob and Esau being flat being fleshed out in this text behind the scenes is really a battle with the flesh and the spirit - and we don't want to sow to the flesh we because if we do we'll reap to the flesh thirdly when I read the book of Obadiah and I see God's judgment against the neighbouring country that should have been their brother's keeper I'm reminded I need to love mercy and that's pretty easy as an instructor rarely do I get an email when somebody says I deserve judgment please give it to me most the time I'm getting emails hey this happened this happened could I get a little mercy we all tend to love mercy if I get pulled over by by someone with light shining I'm not asking for judgment that moment I'd really like mercy those are those a great time for mercy so we don't struggle with the loving mercy part but that's not the entire formula we're to love mercy we're also to walk humbly and we're to live righteously if I could paraphrase what Michael would say a few years after this we're gonna to love mercy to walk humbly to live righteously and when we do that we have God's blessing on our lives in the final takeaway even when circumstances seem out of control and it seems like hopeless bleak and you don't even know if tomorrow will come when you read the book of Obadiah you're reminded there's a God in heaven who keeps his promises in this New Testament day we have a lot of promises to claim let's never get over the fact even though sometimes it may feel out of control we have a God who's never ever let this world get out of control and we can trust him simple truth in the book of Obadiah

Channel: Lancaster Baptist Church

Views: 1,384

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Keywords: preaching, sermon, Christian, God, Jesus, Lancaster Baptist Church, Lancaster Baptist, Pastor Paul Chappell, Paul Chappell, Dr. Mike Lester, Obadiah 1

Id: H4bSYe4L2GA

Length: 32min 54sec (1974 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 16 2020