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30 June 2008
Word on the Web
Obadiah 1 v 1-4
This is the vision of Obadiah.
This is what the Lord GOD says about Edom
We have heard a message from the LORD.
A messenger has been sent among the nations, saying,
"Attack! Let's go attack Edom!"
"Soon I will make you the smallest of nations.
You will be greatly hated by everyone.
Your pride has fooled you,
you who live in the hollow places of the cliff.
Your home is up high,
you who say to yourself,
'No one can bring me down to the ground.'
Even if you fly high like the eagle
and make your nest among the stars,
I will bring you down from there," says the LORD.
When I was young, in the days before political correctness had been invented, you would sometimes hear a frustrated parent say to a misbehaving youngster or teenager "You're not too big for me to give you a smacked bottom!" The message this conveyed was that no matter how big or grown up the youngster thought themselves to be, they would always be the parent's child, and as such the parent would always feel that they had some responsibility - and therefore authority - over them.
This seems to echo what God is saying to the Edomites in this passage. The Edomites have deluded themselves that they are beyond the reach of anyone, and that they can behave as they wish with impunity.
Sadly, not much seems to have changed in the 2,500 or so years since this passage was written. There are many rulers, both individuals and governments, who regard themselves as having no accountability to anyone, and who believe that they can act just as they please without there being any consequences for their actions. But God tells us here that this is not so, and this should be a great comfort to us, not just because no-one likes to see evil triumphing over good, but because it places the responsibility of delivering justice where it truly belongs, with God. Yes, we must oppose evil wherever we encounter it, but we must always remember that it is not our responsibility to take revenge for wrongs done, and that is a great relief.
Father God, please help me to remember that I am never to big to be beyond your authority. Thank you that I don't have the responsibility for avenging wrongs that have been done, just for trying to do good in the world. Amen.
Written by John Jackson
Word on the Web
Obadiah 1 v 1-4
This is the vision of Obadiah.
This is what the Lord GOD says about Edom
We have heard a message from the LORD.
A messenger has been sent among the nations, saying,
"Attack! Let's go attack Edom!"
"Soon I will make you the smallest of nations.
You will be greatly hated by everyone.
Your pride has fooled you,
you who live in the hollow places of the cliff.
Your home is up high,
you who say to yourself,
'No one can bring me down to the ground.'
Even if you fly high like the eagle
and make your nest among the stars,
I will bring you down from there," says the LORD.
When I was young, in the days before political correctness had been invented, you would sometimes hear a frustrated parent say to a misbehaving youngster or teenager "You're not too big for me to give you a smacked bottom!" The message this conveyed was that no matter how big or grown up the youngster thought themselves to be, they would always be the parent's child, and as such the parent would always feel that they had some responsibility - and therefore authority - over them.
This seems to echo what God is saying to the Edomites in this passage. The Edomites have deluded themselves that they are beyond the reach of anyone, and that they can behave as they wish with impunity.
Sadly, not much seems to have changed in the 2,500 or so years since this passage was written. There are many rulers, both individuals and governments, who regard themselves as having no accountability to anyone, and who believe that they can act just as they please without there being any consequences for their actions. But God tells us here that this is not so, and this should be a great comfort to us, not just because no-one likes to see evil triumphing over good, but because it places the responsibility of delivering justice where it truly belongs, with God. Yes, we must oppose evil wherever we encounter it, but we must always remember that it is not our responsibility to take revenge for wrongs done, and that is a great relief.
Father God, please help me to remember that I am never to big to be beyond your authority. Thank you that I don't have the responsibility for avenging wrongs that have been done, just for trying to do good in the world. Amen.
Written by John Jackson
