Obadiah Part 2 - A Violent Indifference

Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them - Obadiah 1: 10 - 11 (ESV)

Not all sin is created equal. While all sin is equally offensive and wrong in the eyes of God they are not all equal. There is one sin so vile, so pervasive, and so powerful that every person who has ever walked this earth has struggled with it. Not just have they struggled with it, every person has fallen to it. It is the worst sin, the father of all sin, it is the sin that ruined angels. Every sin, every wrong action all root back to this one particular sin. Pride.

C.S. Lewis, who is usually referred to as having had the greatest impact for Christ in the twentieth century, called pride “the great sin.” In his book Mere Christianity, Lewis wrote: “According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind… it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began.”

Yes you heard it right, flea bites. Other vices including unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and so on, are mere “flea bites” – tiny, little offences in comparison to pride. Why? Lewis gives three reasons for labelling pride as the supreme defect. First, because the devil became the devil by pride. Second, because pride is the cause of every other vice. Third, because pride is the complete anti-God (and anti-others) state of mind. Pride is a severely disordered love for self. When it comes to the vices pride is at the very centre. As Lewis says, it is “the essential vice, the utmost evil.”

If you think this sounds like exaggeration, it will help us to know that Lewis is not simply giving us his private opinion but summarising the thinking of great saints through the ages. Augustine and Aquinas both taught that pride was the root of sin. Likewise Calvin, Luther, and many others. Let us make no mistake about it: pride is the greatest sin. It is the devil’s most effective and destructive tool.

We saw part 1 of this sermon series - A State of the Heart, how God despises human pride. We also saw how the Lord clearly tells us about why He hates pride - it fills out hearts and leaves no place for Him, because it equates the person and their sense of self with God Himself. 

The destruction of Edom as a result has been graphically described in verses 5 - 9. As we get into the second part of this sermon series, our portion today focuses on how this same pride on behalf of the Edomites resulted in various wicked schemes. It looks into how the false sense of security and sufficiency that pride gives us beboldens us to sin against God, ourselves and our neighbours. This is because pride acts as the cradle for other sins, since pride manifests itself in many forms. Of these many forms that pride manifests itself in, Obadiah expounds on a few.

Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. - Obadiah 1: 10 (ESV)

Violence is a form of pride. A person resorting to violence cannot afford the humility of uncertainty or ambiguity. In 2006, Roy Baumeister an American psychologist surmised after a lot of research, “Inflated self-esteem increases the odds of aggression substantially. For those aggressive acts that do involve the perpetrators' self-regard, we believe that threatened egotism is crucial…The greatest hostility was reported by people with high but unstable self esteem…Violent criminals often describe themselves as superior to others - as special, elite persons who deserve preferential treatment.”

Edom was no different. Before we delve further into this verse, let us get to know Edom better. 

We saw last week how the nation of Edom was proud because of their perceived security, their wise men and their alliances. But we also need to know that they prospered because of its strategic location on the caravan trade route between Arabia and the Mediterranean and its copper industry near the Ezion-geber or the present day Gulf of Aqaba and seaports built in Eilat and Ezion Geber.

Further, it was situated in the southeast portion of Palestine covering a few of the most fertile areas in Israel. Because of these, the Edomites flourished in agriculture and cattle-raising compared to the other cities that were situated in the barren areas. But they gained most from the taxes they imposed on the caravan traders that passed through their area.

To understand verse 10 though, we need to understand how Edom was as a nation. Gen. 36: 6 - 8 chronicles how Edom began as a nation, after Esau parted ways with Jacob. From there, Edom grew to have 12 dukes, under which Edom became a band of 12 nations; much like the 12 tribes of Israel. We are familiar with the names of each of these 12 nations of Edom, but probably never made a connection back to Edom, because we usually tend not to pay attention to the chapters that deal with genealogy. Let’s see who they are as recorded between Gen. 36: 15 - 41:

1. Eliphaz, one of Esau’s sons, had a son called Amalek. They grew into the nation of the Amalekites. Yes, these are the same Amalekites of the Old Testament who constantly waged war against Israel. It was in one of the many wars against these same people that Moses had to stand with his hands being supported by Joshua and Aaron as he oversaw the battle being fought between the Amalekites and Israel. 2. The Temanites. Another of the sons of Esau, they settled in Timna, the city of wise men from the East. 3. The Midianites. They were conquered and became part of the Edomite kingdom. 4. The Ammonites and the Moabites. Descendants of the Lot and his two daughters after they escaped the divine destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and took refuge in some nearby mountains. Discouraged by the recent destruction which consumed both their fiancés, coupled with the isolation in the caves, the oldest daughter convinced the younger daughter to join her in an incestuous relationship with their father to perpetuate the family lineage. Both daughters conceived sons by their father by getting him drunk. The son of the youngest daughter was named Ammon, father of the Ammonites. The son of the oldest daughter was named Moab, the father of the Moabites. These two tribes were conquered by Edom and later joined forces with the Edomites and became part of their nation. 5. The Amorites. Originally a Canaanite nation, they were conquered and became part of the Edomite kingdom. 6. The Hivites. Originally a Canaanite nation, they were conquered and became part of the Edomite kingdom. 7. The Horites. These were the original people who resided in Petra who after being conquered by the sons of Esau and became part of the Edomite Kingdom. 8. The Korahites. A kingdom from one of the sons of Esau.

Further descendants of Esau and the rest of the 12 dukes of the Edomites include as recorded in 1 Samuel 15 and Psalm 83:

9. The Kenites. A kingdom from one of the sons of Esau. In Numbers 20, we see that the Israelites as they were returning back to the promised land with Moses ask the Edomites for passage through their land. They are refused by the Edomite king. At that time, the Israelite people as they were wandering through the desert were allowed limited passage through Kenite territory despite them being one of the Edomite nations. The reason - Moses’ wife Zipporah is Kenite. Despite this, the Amalekites carry out an attack against the Israelites already tired from their sojourn through the desert wilderness, as recorded in Exodus 17:8-16 and Deuteronomy 25:17-19. It is therefore that later when King Saul is out at war with the Amalekites, he tells the Kenites to flee that country, lest they also be slaughtered with the Amalekites. 10. The Agagites. A remnant kingdom, originally from one of the descendants of Amalek. They became sworn enemies of Israel and Judah from when King Saul chose not to kill every living thing in the war against King Agag as ordered by Samuel. In the book of Esther, Haman who is out to destroy all the Jews is an Agagite. And finally, 11. The Ithrites. A kingdom from one of the sons of Esau.

These 12 nations, together making Edom, continued to be a thorn in the flesh of Israel as a nation. There were many wars fought between Israel and them. But because they were close relatives, the Israelites were forbidden to hate the Edomites (cf. Deuteronomy 23:7). The Edomites however chose not to respect the blood relationship.

This is exactly what made the Edomite treatment of Israel and Judah worse in God’s sight. Because, despite the fact that Edom was already a nation of sorts when the Israelites were still a fledgling community spread across the land, they chose not to help their own when they were conquered and taken captive by Egypt. They further refuse them passage through their land as they are being led out of captivity by Moses. What’s more, despite being their own blood, the Edomites regularly attacked Israel, right from the time they were wandering through the desert and as a result many wars were fought between Israel, Judah and Edom. This was the violence that the Lord is referring to in verse Obadiah 1: 10.

To end this menace, the Bible later records that King Saul attacked the Edomite nations and that King David made them captive 40 years later, even setting up military garrisons on their land. Solomon tried to further make peace with the Edomites by taking many wives from the 12 nations. It didn’t help. The Edomites continued to detest the Israelites and in an uprising after the death of Solomon, the Edomites destroyed the temple of Solomon and fled captivity.

The Edomites record of brutality and aggression against Israel is thus found throughout Scripture. They then went on to make alliances with the other neighbouring nations around Israel and Judah and continued to torment them. It is this continued violence that Obadiah is referring to that Edom continued to wage against Israel. And for this reason they are told that they will be shamed and cut off forever in vs 10.

They waged violence against Jacob and Israel because in their pride, they detested the will of God - that they would serve the house of Jacob. As their pride took on the form of continued violence against Israel as a nation, little did they know that they were writing their own doom with every action of theirs.

On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them - Obadiah 1: 11 (ESV)

Indifference is a form of pride. I think this is by far one of the major causes of marital difficulty. In a major study regarding marital discord in Christian homes, some of the most common statements made were, "Well, he is simply indifferent to me. He doesn't care about me. He ignores me." Or, "She pays no attention to me. She isn't interested in the things that I am interested in." Isn't it strange that these things can be true in Christian homes? And how quickly it comes in after courtship. During the courtship it is, "What are you thinking about? Tell me what you would like?" But after marriage it is recorded to have become, it is, "Where's dinner? Where is the paper? What's on TV? When are we buying that thing?" Why? Because the couple have become indifferent to the other.

After their breaking down Solomon’s temple and fleeing, the Edomites made their alliances and felt safe in them - against Israel and Judah. Now, not only did they continuously wage violence towards Israel and Judah, but they went to the extent of standing by while Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian forces waged war against Judah, even committing atrocities against defenceless babies and youngsters.

The Edomites sat and watched their relatives be destroyed and they didn’t even care. In fact, they probably believed that the Israelites had it coming. They just turned a “blind eye” to what was going on. This part of the verse "stood aloof," is a description of the Edomite haughtiness. God is emphasising their attitude here. Literally, the phrase in Hebrew reads, "stood apart from in front of them," a roundabout Hebrew way of saying that the Edomites considered themselves too good to stand with them. In other words, because of their pride, they stood off to the side or in front of them, effectively separating themselves from their brother.

Their actions reflected their hearts, saying, in effect, "Do not confuse us with them!" It indicates an attitude of great superiority, of haughty pride and separation. Thus, instead of standing with Israel in her defence, they stood aside like they did in the past and let the enemy do what it would. Edom did not behave as a brother nation should have. Even though the Edomites were not directly engaged in the hostilities against Israel on this particular occasion, this act alone reveals that their loyalties were solidly with Israel's enemy.

Sometimes doing nothing is a great sin. Numbers 32:23 speaks of the sin that will find you out, and the sin it speaks of is the sin of doing nothing. In so doing nothing, their silence portrayed their violent indifference towards the Israelites. It is as a result that Obadiah mentions that Edom behaved like one of the raiding parties in verse 11.

Imagine, your own kin are being robbed, mutilated and killed and you just stand by for the most part. This is what the Edomite nations did. And hence God judges them.

What kind of people does it take to do that? The kind who are damaged beyond measure due to their indifference caused by their pride, to the point they might as well be dead.

We say more when we do nothing than when we do something. In fact, by doing nothing and allowing ourselves to be indifferent, we are committing more violence than by actually perpetrating violence itself - for we display a violent indifference. Elie Wiesel, a holocaust survivor and author is known to have said, “The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.” It is in the same regard that Martin Luther King Jr. would say, “It's not the violence of the few that scares me, it's the silence of the many.”

Now, what are the 2 lessons that the Lord wants us to learn from these 2 verses from Obadiah?

1. Are we willing to follow the Lord’s command no matter what it might be or where it might lead us?

It is easy for us to follow the Lord and say we are living our faith when life is fine and everything we would like it to be. But what do we do when the Lord calls us to follow and obey Him in unfamiliar territory? Or out of our comfort zone? How willing are we to then follow the Lord’s command and direction?

It was not convenient for the Edomites to follow God’s will that they would have to serve their own. So they chose to rebel instead.

We are reminded therefore in Matthew 16: 24 and Luke 9: 23 that we are expected to take up our cross and follow Christ, daily! What is your cross that you are choosing to keep aside?

2. Have we allowed ourselves to become indifferent?

The Lord Jesus warns us against being indifferent in Matthew 25: 41 - 45, “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’” (ESV)

Similarly the main point of the parable of the Good Samaritan is that the Samaritan, from whom the injured Jewish man should expect the least, has chosen not to be indifferent.

A poem called THE SIN OF DOING NOTHING written by early 20th century preacher Charles Swindoll surmises just this very well:

I was hungry and you formed a humanities club and discussed my hunger.

I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel and prayed for my release.

I was naked and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.

I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health.

I was homeless and you preached to me of the spiritual shelter of the love of God.

I was lonely and you left me alone to pray for me.

You seem so close to God; but I am still very hungry, and lonely, and cold.

Today we have another form of indifference - spiritual indifference. This is also referred to as Laodiceanism, cf. the message to the Laodicean church in the book of Revelations 3: 14 - 22 where they are reprimanded for being spiritually lukewarm. The seventh and last of the attitudes within the church, Laodiceanism is the attitude that dominates the era of the end time. It seems more natural to think that this attitude would be the least likely to dominate in such terrible times - because it ought to be obvious that the return of Christ is near. Though it seems contradictory for the church to become lukewarm during such a stimulating period, Christ prophecies that it will occur. 

Have we allowed ourselves to become physically or spiritually indifferent due to what we have been given and blessed with by the Lord or whom we know? If yes, we need the grace of God to redeem us from our inertia.

Obadiah Part 1 - The State of the Heart

The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, Or of Sela in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?” Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the Lord - Obadiah 1: 3 - 4 (ESV)

Obadiah, the shortest book in the Old Testament, is the pronouncement of doom against an ancient and long-forgotten nation, the land of Edom. But there is more to this book than that. The Scriptures have that beautiful faculty of appearing to be one thing on the surface, but on a deeper level, yielding rich and mighty treasures. That is certainly true of this amazing book of Obadiah.

As I share this message today, it is the first part of 5 sermons on lessons from Obadiah. In this first part today, I will deal with the overview, historical context of the book and the first lesson of five.

Let’s start with understanding who Edom was as a nation. Every nation in the Bible is a lengthened shadow of its founder, and the two men behind the nations Israel and Edom were the twin brothers - Jacob and Esau. Jacob was the father of Israel, and Esau, became the father of the Edomites. The Bible pitts Jacob and Esau in perpetual antagonism. We read in the book of Genesis that even before they were born, they struggled together in their mother's womb. That antagonism marked the lives of these two men as recorded all through the Bible, and, consequently, the lives of their descendants, the two nations of Israel and Edom.

The nations carried on this same conflict, and all the way from Genesis through Malachi there is the threat of struggle and unbroken antagonism between them. We will cycle back to this struggle and antagonism in a bit, but for now, we should keep in mind that in the book of Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, God says, "Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated" - Malachi 1: 2b - 3a (ESV) Why did God say this? The book of Obadiah makes this very question clear to us.

Now, who was Obadiah? Obadiah, whose name means either “servant of Yahweh” or “worshipper of Yahweh” was amongst at least 10 others named “Obadiah” in the Old Testament. As a result there is not enough evidence to connect the author of this minor prophetic book to any of them with certainty. It is further difficult to determine the exact date of the writing, as the book itself does not give any specific indicators, such as the rule of a king. This may be because there was not a king sitting on the throne at the time, which leads many scholars to believe the book was likely written in the mid 580’s B.C; after the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem around 586 B.C., but before the Babylonian conquest of Edom in 583 B.C.

This date would make Obadiah a contemporary of Jeremiah. This may be why Jeremiah seems to quote Obadiah on 9 occasions. For example, Obadiah 1:5 is found in Jeremiah 49:9; Obadiah 1:6 is found in Jeremiah 49:10; and Obadiah 1:8 is found in Jeremiah 49:7.

A second possible date for the writing would be during the invasion of Jerusalem by the Philistines and Arabians during the reign of King Jehoram, sometime between 840 and 825 B.C; although I believe this is less likely, it would mean that Obadiah was quoting Jeremiah. But most historical, literary and archaeological evidence points to the former date and these make Obadiah a contemporary of Jeremiah.

While we do not know for certain who Obadiah was or when he lived, we do know one thing for certain. The purpose of his writing and message. This is where we cycle back to the struggle and antagonism between Israel and Edom. We have seen what Malachi says about Esau and Edom. Similarly, in the New Testament we find that there is a perpetual antagonism within the nature of the Christian. This culminates in Galatians 5:17 where we are told that the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh; they are opposed to one another. 

God being the great illustrator He is, always uses pictures for us so that we can understand the truth more easily, more graphically. We are children in this respect. We like to have a picture. Hence the Lord is always painting a picture for us through the words of the biblical writers. There are certain names and figures, or metaphors and similes that, once used to symbolise a thing, maintain that characteristic and that reference all the way through the Bible, wherever they are used. We know how this is true of certain items, certain material things, like oil. Wherever oil is used symbolically in Scriptures it is a picture of the Holy Spirit. Wine is always a picture of joy in the Scriptures. Leaven is always a picture of evil.  Similarly, God has taken these two men and the subsequent nations that came from them and used them through the Bible as a consistent picture of the conflict between the flesh and the spirit -- Jacob and Esau, Israel and Edom. These two men, Jacob and Esau, and the nations Israel and Edom, always appear as a picture of a struggle between the flesh and the spirit that is going on in our own lives as believers. Esau lusts against Jacob, and Jacob against Esau; the two great principles are irreconcilably opposed to one another.

And this is the central theme to understanding Obadiah. Obadiah turns the spotlight first on Esau, who is the man of the flesh, and Edom, the proud nation that came from the flesh, and he answers the question of why God hates Esau. The trouble with Esau is recorded by the prophet in verses 3 and 4: “The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, Or of Sela in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?” Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the Lord.” - Obadiah 1: 3 - 4 (ESV) 

The trouble with Esau is pride. Pride is the root of all human evil, and pride is the basic characteristic of what the Bible calls the flesh that lusts against, wars against, the Spirit. The flesh is a principle that stands at stark contrast to God's purposes in human life and continually defies what God is trying to accomplish. Each of us has this struggle within us, and its basic characteristic is revealed here as pride. This is the number one identifying mark of the flesh.

We see this in Proverbs 6:16 as it reads, “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him” (ESV) And what is number one on the list? Haughty eyes or a proud look. And everything else that follows is a variation of pride. Those that are swift to run after mischief, he that spreads lies and slander and discord among brothers -- all these things are manifestations of that single basic evil, pride. This is the satanic nature which was implanted in the human race; all who are born of Adam have this congenital twist of pride, the independent ego that evaluates everything only in terms of its importance or its unimportance to self. The universe centres around self, the rival god. That is pride. That is Esau; that is Edom. It can appear in our lives in ten thousand ways, but you will find some common expressions of it here in this book of Obadiah.

What was Edom proud of? Let me show you a picture to explain the reason for their pride. The city of Petra was the capital of the nation of Edom. The Edomites boasted in it’s security. This amazing city is approached through a tremendous fissure that runs for a mile or more right through the rock, a narrow file only a few yards wide that brings you at last into an open place where temples have been carved out of the living rock. 

It was difficult to get to the capital city of Petra to say the least. Little of the land was suitable for attacking the nation, but Petra was the pinnacle of their great defence system. This gorge is about a mile long and is on average only about 15 feet wide. In some places two horsemen can barely ride next to each other. The sun is shut out from the place because of the high sandstone cliffs that rise hundreds of feet on both sides of the gorge. At times the sun is blocked out to the extent that it gets dark at noon.

   

From the mountain tops in the region, there is no hint of civilian life in the area, but nestled down in the valley of that land is a gorge that today is known as the valley of Moses.

    

We might recognize this picture from several movies, including Indiana Jones and Transformers. Once you travel through the gorge, it opens up into a level valley of slightly less than one square mile surrounded by many mountains. There are no freestanding homes or buildings here, because everything is carved right out of the rock. The great temple Al-Khazneh is one such building. It is carved right into the face of the cliff and runs about 130 feet high. It has doors that are 25-30 feet high. Now think about an invading army coming into that city. It would be extremely difficult to launch an attack, assuming they could even find the city, and if they did, their entrance into it would be so slow that they could be slaughtered as they entered. This city, accessible only through the narrow canyon within cavernous mountain walls, made it almost impossible to attack and conquer - or so the Edomites thought. 

The Edomites further boasted in their wisdom. The men of Edom – especially of the city Teman – were noted for their wisdom. The phrase men of the East across the Old Testament often refers to men from Edom, and passages like 1 Kings 4:30 declare the great wisdom of the men of the East. As well, Jeremiah 49:7 says of Edom: Concerning Edom. Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished?” (ESV)

The Edomites finally boasted in their alliances and trusted in their allies – their confederacy. They thought that their alliances made them strong, and they were proud because of that strength; which they felt kept them protected enough to do as they pleased and live as they wanted.

It is this city that Obadiah refers to in verses 3, 4 as the people who live in the clefts of the rock, Or of Sela in your lofty dwelling… It is to these people the Lord prophecies that though they soar aloft like the eagle, though their nest is set among the stars, from there they will be brought down. With Obadiah’s prediction coming true in the fifth century B.C. when Edom was removed from Petra, the Edomites would later disappear from history completely, marking the total destruction of one of Israel’s enemies. The Edomites were forced to move south of Israel in an area that would become known as Idumea. In the New Testament, Herod, who commanded the murder of all boys two years old and younger in Bethlehem as recorded in Matthew 2, was an Idumean. 

Obadiah reminds us in verse 3 that “The pride of your heart has deceived you.” Pride is deceptive. Pride makes us think we are independent, self-sufficient, invulnerable. But Pride is based on a lie. The person who yields to the temptation of pride surrenders their capacity to think and feel and act without deception. Pride distorts every area of thought and life. My own conviction is that most of our perplexity regarding moral and theological issues is owing to the distortions caused by our pride, not to the complexity of the issue.

God abominates pride and will bring it down. As Jesus says in Luke 16:15, "For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God." (ESV) Therefore proud nations and proud individuals will reap what they sow. It is therefore in verse 15, Obadiah states “As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head” (ESV). If we choose in our pride to live without God, then He will grant us our independence on the day of the Lord. And He will not be our refuge or our righteousness on that day. And our self-confidence will be like a feather in a hurricane when God's wrath is revealed from heaven (cf. Psalm 76:7).

Edom was living in a false security. In their pride they felt that they did not need God anymore, and they bowed Him out of their civilization. When a mere man, a little creature down here, gets to the place where he says, “I don’t need God,” God says, “That’s what I hate.” The message is clear across the Bible. Those who live in self-intelligence, who pride themselves in their learnings and find their security in what they have, are perverting the literal sense of the Word. Such people will be combated by the Lord Himself because they imagine themselves more intelligent than God Himself and take pride in the same. 

In stark opposition, the thing that characterised the Lord Jesus Christ and marked him as continually opposed to this spirit of self-sufficiency was his utter dependence on the Father. This is of course the way we understand the inner workings of the Trinity. We Christians have to learn that if there is any area of our life where we think that we've got what it takes to do without God, it is in that same area that we are manifesting the flesh, the pride of Edom. 

Their great security couldn’t save Edom, neither could their wisdom and learnings or their alliances. This is what we need to keep in mind when we step into our workplace / college on Monday morning. We may have been a fine Christian on Sunday and all through the weekend, but on Monday morning if we say, "Now I am in charge. I know what to do here. I don't need the Bible. I don't need God. I don't need my religion to help me here. I know exactly how to live my day," we are manifesting this same spirit of Edom, the spirit of self-sufficiency. In many areas of our lives we Christians live as though God were dead, we believe in God, but live as though He were dead, we live without any sense of dependency upon His wisdom and His strength. And therein lies our folly. But God calls us to be different and mirror Him. To be humble in service and devotion to God; knowing nothing is ours. Not what we have, not what we know, not whom we know.

Charles Spurgeon, who is commonly referred to as the prince of preachers from the 19th century is known to have said, “Pride is the maddest thing that can exist; it feeds upon its own vitals; it will take away its own life, that with its blood may make a purple for its shoulders: it sappeth, and undermineth its own house that it may build its pinnacles a little higher, and then the whole structure tumbleth down. Nothing proves men so made as pride. For this they have given up rest, and ease, and repose, to find rank and power among men: for this they have dared to risk their hope of salvation, to leave the gentle yoke of Jesus, and go toiling wearily along the way of life, seeking to save themselves by their own works, and at last to stagger into the mire of fell despair. Oh! man, hate pride, flee from it, abhor it, let it not dwell with thee. If thou wantest to have a madman in thy heart, embrace pride, for thou shalt never find one more mad than he.” You see, for God, The State of the Heart matters. And nothing changes the state of our heart more than pride. It makes us useless to the Lord because our heart is full of ourselves and has no place left for God. It is therefore that the Bible reminds us “Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honour” - Proverbs 18: 12 (ESV). 

I will end today’s reflection with an excerpt of a poem called Human Pride by Karl Marx (the same person who caused the revolution with his Marxist ideology), a poem in which he explains the folly of human pride and he seems to allude that the only way out for our soul is for it to let down it’s pride:

“No giant column soars to Heaven

In a single block, victorious;

One stone on the other meanly woven

Emulates the timid snail laborious.

But the Soul embraces all,

Is a lofty giant flame that glows,

Even in its very Fall

Dragging Suns in its destructive throes.

And out of itself it swells

Up to Heaven’s realms on high;

Gods within its depths it lulls,

Thunderous lightning flashes in its eye.

And it wavers not a whit

Where the very God-Thought fares,

On its breast will cherish it;

Soul’s own greatness is its lofty Prayer.

Soul its greatness must devour,

In its greatness must go down;”

Let us examine our own lives. Is there any area of our lives that we pride ourselves on and find our security in? Is there any part of our lives where we are keeping God out because of our pride? Do we pride ourselves in anything but our being saved through the Lord?