Obadiah 1-4 The Pride of Your Heart Has Deceived You

Main Point

God has spoken, pride lies, and false saviors fail.

Introduction

The book of Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament, yet its message is sharp and clear. God will humble the proud, and false saviors cannot stand on the Day of the Lord. Obadiah speaks against Edom, the descendants of Esau, who placed their confidence in high rocks, strong defenses, and the pride of their hearts.

This is not only ancient history. The same warnings confront us today. Judges showed that God’s people fell apart when they did what was right in their own eyes. Jude warned that false teachers twist grace and lead the church astray. Obadiah declares that those outside God’s covenant who trust in themselves will fall. Pride blinds. Sin destroys. God judges. Only His King can save (Obadiah 1:1 to 4).

1. A Message from the LORD of Coming Judgment

Obadiah opens with a vision. The message did not come from his imagination. It came from the throne room of God. Obadiah’s name means Servant of the LORD, and Scripture tells us nothing else about him. No lineage, no job, no status. He is a servant chosen to speak a word that belongs to God, not to man (Obadiah 1:1).

The word targets Edom, the line of Esau. The Lord declares that He will summon nations against them and make them small and despised among the nations (Obadiah 1:2). This would have seemed unlikely to many. If Israel fell to Babylon, how could God bring Edom to account. The answer is that Israel’s fall did not prove God was weak. It proved God was faithful. Exile was covenant discipline, not divine failure. Deuteronomy warned that disobedience would bring defeat and scattering. When Israel fell, God kept His word of discipline in order to purify His people (Deuteronomy 28).

Jeremiah records a matching oracle against Edom that confirms both message and moment. God says, Behold, I will make you small among the nations, despised among mankind. Your pride has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock. Though you make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down. Edom shall become a horror (Jeremiah 49:14 to 17). The vision in Obadiah and the word in Jeremiah stand together. Israel was under the shadow of Babylon. Edom stood nearby in arrogant confidence. God promised to bring Edom down.

We must keep the distinction between discipline and condemnation. Israel’s judgment was a Father’s discipline that aimed at restoration. Edom’s judgment was a final sentence with no promise of hope. Yet the door of mercy was not locked to outsiders. The law made room for those who turned to the Lord in faith. Outsiders could enter the covenant by submitting to the Lord and to His law (Exodus 12:48 to 49). Edom’s doom came because they rejected the God of Abraham and trusted in themselves.

We see this pattern across Scripture. When Israel was crushed by Midian, they cried out, and God sent a prophet to recall His rescue from Egypt and to confront their disobedience. God raised Midian as discipline to call Israel back to Himself (Judges 6:6 to 10). When Jeroboam built an altar at Bethel and led Israel astray, God sent a man of God to foretell that a king named Josiah would one day defile that altar. That is what happened in Josiah’s reforms. He pulled the altar down and burned bones on it, just as God had said (1 Kings 13:1 to 2; 2 Kings 23:15 to 16). In each case God’s word sounded impossible when first spoken, yet it came true. So also with Edom. Their defenses looked safe, but their end was certain.

At the cross we see the same dividing line. Two criminals hung beside Jesus. One mocked Him. The other confessed his guilt, affirmed Jesus’ innocence, and asked for mercy. Jesus promised him paradise that very day. Both men were under the same sentence, yet one received mercy and the other did not (Luke 23:39 to 43). Edom stands with the mocker. Mercy is real, but pride refuses it.

God has spoken, and His judgment is certain.

2. Trusting in False Saviors

Edom’s downfall began in the heart. They trusted what they could see. They lived high in the rocks and said in their hearts, Who will bring me down to the ground. Their walls felt like salvation. Their vantage felt like safety. They mistook visible strength for true security (Obadiah 1:3).

God answered, Though you soar like the eagle and build your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down. Their height could not hide them. Their walls could not keep Him out. Pride blinded them to reality. The verdict was final and personal. I will bring you down, declares the Lord (Obadiah 1:4).

This is not only about Edom. Every generation trusts in false saviors. The wicked boast in desires and say, I shall not be moved. They think they will never meet adversity (Psalm 10:3 to 6). Wealth tempts us to believe we are safe, yet Scripture says, See the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in rich abundance and found refuge in his own destruction (Psalm 52:7). Human leaders cannot save. Do not trust in princes or in any son of man. When his breath departs his plans die with him (Psalm 146:3 to 4). Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18). Jeremiah says, Cursed is the one who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns from the Lord (Jeremiah 17:5).

Jesus told a story about a rich man whose land produced a great harvest. The man planned to build bigger barns and to rest in his wealth. God said, Fool, this night your soul is required of you. His barns could not save him. He died and left everything behind (Luke 12:13 to 21). Edom’s high rocks and our full barns are the same kind of false savior. They cannot stand when God calls a person or a nation to account.

Pride lies, and false saviors fail.

3. For the Church

Did God stop sending warnings after Edom. No. From the beginning He has warned humanity about the end of rejecting Him and choosing evil. The gospel follows the same pattern. If we remove or soften the reality of coming judgment to make the message easier to hear, we create a false gospel. If sin is not judged, then Christ died for nothing. To hide judgment is to empty the cross of its meaning.

The church cannot be silent about the Day of the Lord. The prophets were ignored and mocked, yet God required them to speak. Jesus told His disciples that the world would hate them as it hated Him (John 15:18 to 20). Paul told Timothy to preach the word and to reprove and exhort with patience and teaching, because a time would come when many would not endure sound teaching but would gather teachers who say what they want to hear (2 Timothy 4:2 to 3). The pull to mute judgment and to speak only comfort has always been present.

People in Jesus’ day tried to argue against repentance by pointing to tragedies. They spoke of Galileans murdered by Pilate and of people crushed by the tower in Siloam. Jesus did not soften the call. He said, Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish (Luke 13:1 to 5). Tragedies in this life do not prove that God is unjust. They do not excuse anyone from repentance. They are warnings that point to a greater judgment.

This is where pulpits often bend. To avoid offense, the message of repentance is framed as optional or turned into simple encouragement. The parable of the house on the rock is an example. It is often preached as comfort for life’s storms. That is partly true, but it misses the sharp edge. Jesus places this word beside the warning that not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom, and that many will claim mighty works on that day only to hear, I never knew you (Matthew 7:21 to 23). The storm that brings the house down is not only trouble in this life. It is the Day of the Lord. The house on sand falls with a great crash because it cannot stand in judgment (Matthew 7:24 to 27). God’s patience in delaying that day is mercy, not absence. He is patient, not wishing that any should perish, but the day will come like a thief, and all works will be exposed (2 Peter 3:8 to 10).

Who carries this message now. The church does. Jesus said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, teach them to observe all that I have commanded you, and I am with you always (Matthew 28:16 to 20). Peter preached that Jesus is Lord of all and the judge of the living and the dead, and that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name (Acts 10:34 to 43). Paul wrote that God has given us the ministry of reconciliation and that we are ambassadors for Christ as God makes His appeal through us. God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:18 to 21).

What is the heart of our message. Repentance. John the Baptist said, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 3:2). Jesus said, The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel (Mark 1:15). Peter said, Repent and turn back so that your sins may be blotted out and times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that He may send the Christ for you, Jesus (Acts 3:17 to 20). Repentance is not an add on. It is the doorway. To offer Christ without calling for repentance is to build a house without a foundation.

The church must hold this line. To soften the message may win approval for a moment, but it costs souls. To speak it faithfully may bring ridicule, but it offers life. God has spoken, pride lies, and false saviors fail. The church exists to make that truth heard until Christ returns.

Conclusion

Obadiah begins with a vision that reminds us that God has spoken, His judgment is certain, and His word cannot be ignored. Edom’s pride deceived them. Their defenses betrayed them. Their condemnation was sealed. Israel’s discipline showed God’s sovereignty. Edom’s destruction showed His justice.

The warning does not end with Edom. Jesus said that tragedies in this world are not proof that God is unjust. They are reminders that all must repent (Luke 13:1 to 5). He taught that the wise build on the rock and the foolish on the sand. When the storm comes the house without a foundation will fall with a great crash. That storm is not only hardship in this life. It is the Day of the Lord when every person will stand before Him (Matthew 7:21 to 27). God’s patience is mercy, but the day will come (2 Peter 3:8 to 10).

The church has been given this message. We must not trust in false saviors that will collapse. We must not turn the gospel into something safe and powerless. God has spoken, pride lies, and false saviors fail. Our only hope is to repent and to trust in Christ who bore the judgment we deserve and who gives eternal security. There is a day set for all of humanity to give account. Let us not forget that. Let us proclaim it without fear. Let us hold fast to Christ, knowing that justice and righteousness will prevail when He returns.

Scripture Reference Index

• Deuteronomy 28 — Covenant warnings that explain Israel’s exile as discipline.
• Jeremiah 49:14 to 17 — Parallel prophecy that confirms Edom’s downfall.
• Exodus 12:48 to 49 — Outsiders welcomed into the covenant when they turn to the Lord.
• Judges 6:6 to 10 — God disciplines Israel through Midian to call them back.
• 1 Kings 13:1 to 2 — Prophecy that Josiah would defile Jeroboam’s altar.
• 2 Kings 23:15 to 16 — Josiah fulfills the word and destroys the altar at Bethel.
• Luke 23:39 to 43 — Two criminals show the difference between condemnation and mercy.
• Psalm 10:3 to 6 — The proud heart says, I shall not be moved.
• Psalm 52:7 — Trust in riches leads to ruin.
• Psalm 146:3 to 4 — Princes and human strength cannot save.
• Proverbs 16:18 — Pride goes before destruction.
• Jeremiah 17:5 — Cursed is the one who trusts in man.
• Luke 12:13 to 21 — The rich fool shows the folly of trusting in wealth.
• Matthew 28:16 to 20 — The risen Lord sends the church to make disciples of all nations.
• Acts 10:34 to 43 — Jesus is Lord of all, judge of the living and the dead, and salvation is offered in His name.
• 2 Corinthians 5:18 to 21 — The church receives the ministry of reconciliation as Christ’s ambassadors.
• Matthew 3:2 — John calls for repentance because the kingdom is at hand.
• Mark 1:15 — Jesus calls for repentance and faith in the gospel.
• Acts 3:17 to 20 — The call to repent so that sins are blotted out and times of refreshing come from the Lord.
• Luke 13:1 to 5 — Tragedies are not excuses. All must repent.
• Matthew 7:21 to 27 — Not everyone who says Lord will enter. The wise build on the rock for the Day of the Lord.
• 2 Peter 3:8 to 10 — God’s patience is mercy, yet the Day will come like a thief.