WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: Remember that God is sovereign – over the whole earth, over nations, communities, families and individuals. Yet he cares for you and looks forward to spending time with you now.

Standing back
There was deep-rooted hostility between the Israelites (the descendants of Jacob) and their neighbours the Edomites (the descendants of Jacob’s brother Esau). The Edomites lived in a mountainous and easily defended kingdom bordering Israel to the south, so they felt secure enough not to get involved when Israel was attacked. They stood back and watched while Israel was destroyed, probably a reasonable tactical decision.

Bad attitude
But it revealed an attitude completely at odds with God’s laws. The Edomites had two basic problems: they were proud – they trusted in their high position to save them – and they failed to love their neighbours.

The Lord was so angry with their attitude and their actions that he vowed to destroy them utterly. So thoroughly, in fact, that it would be as though grape-pickers had completely stripped the vineyard.

Nowhere to hide
Like Habakkuk’s Babylonians, Obadiah’s Edomites seem uncannily contemporary in some ways. They were arrogant, self-satisfied and uncaring. They just didn’t want to get involved.

In fact, they were secretly delighted when bad things happened to their neighbours. And, like many people today, they’d forgotten something crucial: no one can hide from God.

Respond: ‘O Lord, you who see our secret thoughts and deeds, help us to live in the light of your presence. Help us to be generous and peace-loving, honest and holy. Amen.’

http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-08-31