Many people do not realize the insidious nature of pride. Throughout the Bible we see that God is opposed to the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. The book of Obadiah is named after the prophet Obadiah whose name means servant of the Lord. God used His prophets to bring words of correction and judgment. Obadiah was tasked to deliver a message of judgment to the Edomites. The Edomites were descendants of Esau. They were bitter enemies of the Jewish people and perpetuated the troubled relationship between Jacob and Esau. The Edomites represent those who are proud and arrogant and think they can live their lives apart from God:

The arrogance of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in the loftiness of your dwelling place, who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to earth?” (Obadiah 3)

Pride is deceptive, we may think that we’re above God’s laws, but no amount of earthly prestige, performance, or possessions are beyond God’s reach:

“Though you build high like the eagle, though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord. (Obadiah 4)

Edom had lived independently from God and attacked His chosen people and now they would face judgment:

Because of violence to your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame, and you will be cut off forever. On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth, and foreigners entered his gate and cast lots for Jerusalem — you too were as one of them. (Obadiah 10-11)

How often do we blindly go through life with a cavalier attitude concerning God? Thomas Carlyle taught us, “The greatest of faults is to be conscious of none.” Have we become aloof to the needs around us, thinking that we are above God’s judgment? If we truly know God, then we will be humble; and if we truly know ourselves, then we will not be proud.

Just as Edom was judged, there is a coming judgment for the nations who ignore God:

For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head. (Obadiah 15)

Obadiah teaches us that the proud and rebellious will face judgment, but the humble who trust in God will experience deliverance:

But on Mount Zion there will be those who escape, and it will be holy. And the house of Jacob will possess their possessions. (Obadiah 17)

Do our lives reflect the earthly Edomites living independently from God, or those who follow after God? The proud and arrogant will face judgment, but the godly will experience compassion:

The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry. (Psalm 34:15)

Associate Pastor – Discipleship.  The Church at LifePark

Professor of Discipleship, Columbia International University

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