When people remove God from the equation of life, Satan will fill the vacuum. If God is backed out of the picture, then Satan’s attitude is allowed to move in and become a little more dominant. When people in positions of leadership in this world back God out of the picture, the space is filled with self-determination. The emphasis comes back on man.
When self-determination becomes the dominant factor, pride very quickly rises to the surface. The word pride here simply means exaltation, to rise, arrogance. Arrogance and pride are core values of Satan and very central to who he is and the attitudes he broadcasts. When his spirit is allowed to influence the mind of man a hostile field of play is set up for a way of life that is hostile towards God.
The Theological Wordbook informs us that pride is negative when there is a shift of confidence from God as the object and source of pride, to oneself as the object and source. Mistreatment of other people rises to the surface. God is relegated to the “of no importance” bin. And then the mistreatment of other people follows:
“Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide in times of trouble? The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised. For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire; He blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord. The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts” (Psalm 10:1–4).
“The Lord will destroy the house of the proud, But He will establish the boundary of the widow” (Proverbs 15:25). “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, Than to divide the spoil with the proud” (Proverbs 16:18-19). That is pretty much the way it is going to be for anyone who is filled with pride, and in general, with the nations who are prideful.
In the book of Obadiah, Edom (the nation descended from Jacob’s brother Esau), a prideful nation, is a lesson for all nations, for all people. The context is largely focused on God’s condemnation of Edom for their treacherous actions towards their brother Jacob (Israel) and his descendants, and the punishment that God will mete out to them.
“The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom (We have heard a report from the Lord, And a messenger has been sent among the nations, saying, ‘Arise, and let us rise up against her for battle’): ‘Behold, I will make you [contemptable] among the nations; You shall be greatly despised. The pride of your heart has deceived you, You who dwell in the clefts of the rock, Whose habitation is high; You who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’” (Obadiah 1–3).
Edom felt secure in their physical location with Petra and Mount Seir as a great defense, as a fortress that area provided. However, the core of God’s condemnation of Edom was their arrogancy, pride and vanity. Their frustration with God was that “. . . God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,” (1 Peter 5:5–6).
The same pride of Edom is manifested today amongst most of this world’s nations. That is one of the reasons God must deal with the world in the way that He does – because pride and self-determination is one of the dominant attitudes and attributes of Satan. God will prove self-determination to be false foundation on which to build our lives.
Edom’s pride not only led him to a profound hatred of Jacob’s descendants, Israel, but also to a hatred of Israel’s God. “They have said (here is the attitude), Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more” (Psalm 83.4). The Expositor’s Bible Commentary makes an interesting point about that:
“Not only did the Edomites do all they could to frustrate the desperate people of Judah; they also encouraged the Babylonians to ‘tear [Jerusalem] down to its foundations!’ The word ‘foundations’ implies more than the actual foundations of the walls of Jerusalem, as it also pertains to the God-established order in creation, in His rule, and in His election of a people as his own. The Edomites were hoping for the destruction of the ‘foundation’ of Yahweh’s rule on earth. This interpretation receives its validation in Obadiah’s prophecy against Edom.”
That, perhaps, is a key to God’s punishment of Edom. Not only did they want to get rid of Israel, but in getting rid of Israel, they were getting rid of the people God had chosen to represent Him. So they were, in fact, wanting to get rid of Israel’s God. It’s more than just animosity. They hated God. Such was their pride and their arrogance. They rejected God Himself. The people of Israel were sons of Isaac, and God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That is the God that they wanted to destroy and get rid of.
Edom supported the Babylonians in the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of Judah (Obadiah 12-14). They were there to prevent anybody escaping Jerusalem, cutting off any way of escape so that they would stay under the influence of the Babylonians. There is the depth of God’s attitude towards the hostility and the animosity that is deeply a part of the Edomite mind. One lesson in here for us individually is: It is God who is righteous in vengeance.
In Romans 3:5, Paul asked and answered the question: “Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? . . . Certainly not!” Paul continues in Romans 12:19-21: “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. Therefore ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
We need a soft attitude towards the suffering of others. Not an Edomite-like attitude: “They deserve it. Let them have it.” We need to care. We don’t need to be soft towards sin, but we do need to be soft towards sinners, towards the people. “For the day of the LORD upon all the nations is near; As you have done, it shall be done to you; Your reprisal shall return upon your own head” (Obadiah 15).
Ungers Bible Handbook makes this comment: “In verse 15 the prophet links the future with the past in a prediction still unfulfilled, ‘The day of the Lord upon all the nations is near.’ All nations will be judged as to their treatment of Israel, as Edom was.” Edom’s judgment becomes the context of God’s judgment for the nations.
In the final analysis, “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You. For the kingdom is the Lord’s, and He rules over the nations” (Psalm 22:27-28).
An important principal to remember as individuals is that “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you (Matthew 7:2). Our responsibility is to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. We need to leave to God what is God’s to do.
Brian Orchard