Actions Have Consequences - Ungodly Actions Result in Destruction

The main message of the book of Obadiah as it is directed to Edom is that God will punish Edom for its violence and pride. This punishment will not be mild, rather, God promised that it will be utter and total destruction.

God promised utter humiliation.
God proclaimed that Edom would be greatly despised among the nations. This shame and despising would be wide spread and known throughout the known world.
God cannot abide the proud person. He will bring that person low; He will humiliate that person until he acknowledges Who God is. Nebuchadnezzar himself experienced this in an extreme form. Having personally taken the credit for the victories that God had given him, God caused him to become insane and to live like an animal until he acknowledged Who God is [Daniel 4].

God promised utter ransacking.
Obadiah stated that normally, even robbers leave some goods behind. However, God declared that this would not happen in Edom’s case. The kingdom of Edom has in effect been wiped off the face the earth. No one except Bible scholars and archeologists even care about the history of the kingdom of Esau. There is nothing left of it except ruins.
When God judges, He judges as is befitting the situation. Edom had been warned and had been told that it would be utterly destroyed. However, Edom never repented of its ways and God thus carried through with His judgment. In like manner, God will carry through with judgment towards us when we walk in sin. We will reap what we sow and if we sow to the flesh, we will reap of the flesh.

God promised utter betrayal.
Edom would be betrayed by those with whom it had formed alliances. The historical record points to the fact that the city of Petra was only overcome because of betrayal within the city itself, opening it up to the invading army.
Just as Edom was betrayed from within by those whom it trusted, so we ourselves, betray ourselves from within. We open ourselves up to temptation by the situations in which we put ourselves, the entertainment choices we make, the friends that we keep, the priorities that we place. We become, as it were, a living counterpart of Edom, opened up to destruction from the inside out.

-----
You have just finished reading Actions Have Consequences - Ungodly Actions Result in Destruction.
Connect with me on Twitter and Pinterest.