We have been studying the book of Obadiah together and understanding that God has given a vision to Obadiah concerning Edom. The people of Edom have stood on the sidelines while Israel and Judah were taken captive by the Assyrians and Babylonians, and they have ridiculed, pillaged and impeded those who were trying to escape this carnage. We have learned that Edom may be used as a type of our flesh and satan, and when God's face is against them, they have no chance. Today Obadiah continues his vision with the declaration of the words of the ambassador who has been sent against Edom. He wrote in verse two:
Behold, I have made you small among the heathen: you art greatly despised.
Obadiah says, “Behold I have made”. Whenever we see the words of God through a prophet we should pay particularly close attention to them. We must remember that the Creator is involved, and His absolute power and authority are at hand. God has given Edom over, made, assigned and constituted them to the fate He desires, and in this case He has made them “small among the heathen”. The idea is that Edom felt exalted and haughty, great and extraordinary, and now God has made them insignificant, meaningless and unimportant. They who were once highly esteemed among nations, those who were non-Hebrews, are now to be in a different state. It is an minacious and forbidding role to be in the cross-hairs of God Almighty.
Notice to the next line: “you are greatly despised”. The word “despised” is “bazah” in Hebrew. It means despicable, vile, and worthless. What would it be like to have someone say something like that against us, never mind the fact that it is God? Yet God has the nation of Edom targeted. Notice too that not only are these people “despised”, but they are “greatly despised”. In other words they are exceedingly, abundantly, and forcefully despised. We should get the idea that God is extremely unhappy with the nation of Edom. As the writer of the book of Hebrews wrote in chapter ten and verse thirty-one:
[It is] a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
The country of Edom has had it. God is against them, and when He is a foe there is no way out. We must remember that it is a good thing to have God on our side. We do not want to have Him be our enemy. We want Him to be our friend, and He desires for us to be His friends. But access to relationship and fellowship with God only comes on His terms, not ours. We must seek the plan that God has given for us lest we become as those who oppose Him. There is only one who can give us access to approach God as a friend rather than a foe, and His name is Jesus. Jesus came to the Earth to remove sin that separates people from God, and when we believe that Jesus died for our sins, we now have access and acceptance with the Heavenly Father. If we do not appropriate His only provision, we are as Edom, and satan and the desires of our flesh rule in our lives.
Remember as we continue our study that God is against not only Edom, but satan and the flesh are types which are found as we look closely at Edom. May God ever be against satan and his attacks, and may God be against our flesh that so easily follows satan's rebellious ways.
Next time we will look further into Obadiah's prophecy and discover the reason God was against Edom, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow...there is more...
Look for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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