Obadiah 1:10 – For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.

Obadiah 1:11 – In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.

Obadiah 1:12 – But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress.

Obadiah 1:13 – Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity;

Obadiah 1:14 – Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress.

Obadiah 1:15 – For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.

Hello readers, today I am going to be talking about “you shouldn’t have”. I try to keep my blogs as clear as possible, but with multiple thoughts in here, I apologize if there’s a rambling element to it. God’s word is so relevant on all different levels of our life. It’s application has no limit. It is the book of life. How all this relates to where you are at… I pray the Holy Spirit will minister God’s word to your situation of life personally. In recent times I’ve been thinking about this book of the Bible. One chapter. And it’s a chapter that was written concerning the nation of Edom. Edom were Esau’s descendants, and Esau was the brother of Jacob. Esau and Jacob were the two sons of Isaac, who was the son of Abraham.

Well yesterday there was big news. Donald Trump and his wife Melania have Covid 19. And I see on Facebook and through various other mediums… and see people saying that’s great news, they’re wishing harm upon him, rejoicing in the news. This is the same mob that has a cry when rapists and murderers get killed by police. It’s amazing how our hatred of truth, of the Bible, of God, it’s amazing how our rejection of Jesus Christ can make us insane. When you reject truth, when you’re in darkness yourself, your thinking will be upside down. You won’t even see your own hypocrisy. You won’t see you’re guilty of that which you condemn others for. A sound mind comes from Christ, without Christ, you don’t have that. Your life is a living contradiction. Jesus endured such a contradiction of sinners against himself the Bible says. Look at how those jealous, bitter, know it all but knew nothing, proud people accusing him were an exercise in contradiction and hypocrisy.

Remember Barabbas? The Jews wanted him released right… he who was in jail for murder, theft and rebellion. They wanted him released while they wanted Jesus crucified. Why did they want Jesus crucified? We know the real reasons were he was the light, and they were in darkness, we know he exposed their pride, their blindness, their hard hearts. But they prosecuted him based on “righteous”, moral and religious reasons… that is, they wanted him crucified for things like blasphemy and sabbath breaking. Think about it a second. They want one guy killed for doing wrong (who hadn’t done a single thing wrong… while they’re full of wrong themselves!), but another guy who’s done far more wrong released.

And they’re so worried about morality and righteousness… yet they want a murderer released. See how much of a double standard they had? They’re after one guy for “breaking the law”, but want another guy released who did nothing but break the law. This is how insane your hatred of truth and rejection of the Holy Spirit will make you… you won’t even think clearly. You won’t be logically coherent. Edom wasn’t thinking clearly either. The Bible says in Obadiah that they were deceived. Are you deceived? Jesus just began his ministry and the Bible says this… Luke 6:11 – And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus. They were mad. Jesus made them mad. What will make you mad is when the truth comes to you, and you reject it. All that’s left for you are lies. Your life will be madness. Are you mad? Are you not even logically coherent anymore, are you a hypocrite, are you deceived.? You look at what people say, how they behave, and all you see is madness, insanity today. There’s no light, there’s no sound mind, there’s nothing there.

Look, Donald Trump is not Jesus Christ. And he may not be saved. And he may be remarried and the whole show. But if you are a Christian, surely you can see what’s going on in all this. Here is a president who’s done good in a country that has been on a slide for many decades. A president with God consciousness at the very least, a president of a country that was once godly, a light of the nations, but a nation that has become a mess because it’s Christians lost their salt and light. Christians who put away faith. Christians who don’t know what’s going on. The Bible says “my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”. Comments I see and read which show no understanding or comprehension. They hate Trump and don’t even know why. They condemn him and hold him guilty while in the same breath being guilty of what they hold him in contempt for. Jesus said we would know the truth and the truth would make us free. The Bible is the truth. Satan wants to bring you into bondage. One of the many types of bondage is bondage to his lies. To his propaganda. Bondage to deceit. You read and watch the news, and all you are getting is Satan’s narrative. If Satan controls what you know, the information you are getting, he can control what you believe and how you act based on that belief. People’s beliefs today, who should know better, who are pretentious as they come… it shows how easily led they are. There is no wonder the false prophet of Revelation and the beast will have the whole world wondering after them. This world is ripe for deception and delusion, it’s already here.

But all this got me to thinking.. You know, even if you don’t like him, he is the elected president and we are meant to respect the powers that be that are ordained of God, and respect rulers. Despising dignities is mentioned in Jude. You’re in pretty bad company if you’re in with those bad guys in Jude. They’re and ungodly bunch being described in Jude. It’s funny how unforgiving we are of Trump in the smallest detail, while we are very forgiving and willing to overlook others and ourselves. It is funny isn’t it?

So we get to Obadiah, and the nation of Edom. Because Obadiah deals with Edom’s judgement. Edom thought they could do whatever they wanted and they’d be fine. They were fortified,  they had a great geographical position, they had alliances with other nations, they even had the high ground. Are you on what you think is high ground in your life? There’s a lot of pride out there today. People who, someone like Trump for instance, is beneath even their contempt. How much high ground are you on in your life? You think you’re amazing. You are the most important thing in your world. Your morality and righteousness excels everyone else. You know better, you think better, you do better. That high ground has you fooled. Your own pride will fool you. THe high ground had them fooled, because of their high ground, they thought they’d never be cut down. They were that high the Bible says they set their nest among the stars. Are you that full of yourself? You’re so high you’re above the stars? You can’t be told anything, you’re so high, you think you’re higher than the most High. Oh yeah, you know what’s right and wrong, you know what’s what, you’re quick to give others a piece of your mind, you know what you’re doing, you’ve got it figured out… but you have no clue at all, just like Edom.

God searched Edom out. And he’s going to search each of us out. People don’t like truth because it searches them out. Why do you think people want God out of thinking, out of society, out of school… out of church. They don’t want to be searched out. Because when we are searched out. it’s ugly. It’s not nearly as pretty as the vain exterior we represent to others. Think of how ugly people, including myself, are. Think of how ugly it is talking about the president’s flaws and wrongs while in the same breath wishing coronavirus kills him. Think of how ugly is it when we point to his remarriage and meanwhile our life is full of sexual perversion, it’s full of lust. Think of how ugly it is when you have no natural compassion on someone who is unwell. What’s God finding when he searches you out? Is he going to find immense hypocrisy. Look, this blog isn’t about Trump, Trump aside, what’s going on in your own life. For as much fault as you find in others, whoever it is, maybe it’s your parents that you blame all your sin on, what’s God finding when he searches you out? Because he can search out what nobody else can, he searches the mind and heart, he knows your sin, your wicked thoughts, he knows every second of your life, what you did, what you think nobody saw or knows. Life is a  searching out process.

Look, there were wise men in Edom, but God said he was going to destroy them and their wisdom. You see, people have their own wisdom. But it’s not wisdom. It’s rubbish. People are high on themselves, they can’t be told because they know it all. Not just know it all, but know better. You think you have understanding. You think you have might. You believe in your own ability and capacity. The world says believe in yourself, the answer lies within us. But we have no might, you’re kidding yourself when you’re so confident in your own strength. You’re confident in the might of your own intellect and understanding… but you’re deceived. And God’s going to rubbish it at the end. Everyone’s a know it all these days. Nobody cares about the Bible, because they know better than the Bible. They know better than what God says. How’s that going to do you in the day of the Lord? Your wisdom will not deliver you, it will flee from you when you realize your entire life is built on vanity and lies.

Why was God so against Edom? God had given Edom a land, a place, an inheritance, a blessing. God had looked after Esau… even though Esau was a bad man. God does us a lot better than we do him. What did Esau really have to complain about? He was the one who made bad decisions in his life… was it God’s fault? We make bad decisions based on our sinful hearts and then blame God when it doesn’t turn out the way we wanted it to. But the truth is, Esau didn’t care for God or the things of God at all. He cared so little for the things of God a bowl of food was worth more. And are you the same? You care more about your next meal than reading your Bible, getting saved, obeying God, repenting, humbling yourself, telling someone about Christ… whatever. Your life is just feeding yourself. You have an appetite, not for God, but for pleasing and serving yourself. Even Christians, they espouse Christ with their lips, but their heart is far from God just as Jesus said.

Edom figured they were strong because they had all the surrounding nations on board. They had majority. You know, the folly of going with the flow, going with the crowd… is that it ultimately won’t help you. Going with the flow, going the broad road… that leads to destruction. We should not follow what everyone is else doing, not do as everyone else is doing, not go where everyone else is going… because that will drop you off in personal destruction. You see, we tend to go where the herd is going. The Bible likens us to sheep for a reason. Edom had alliances and agreements with other nations. You see, you’re on the same page with a lot of other people. You think the same, live the same, do the same… and you think there’s strength in that. But there isn’t. You can do what the world does your whole life, but you’re not going to escape. And newsflash, other people don’t really care about you. This world doesn’t care about you. The relationship is as fickle and subject to change as Edom had with the heathen. They had confidence in other nations, other people… they had confidence in majority, confidence in consensus, confidence in peers… and God turned it on a dime. They went with the flow, they went with the crowd… not with God and truth.

Anyway, why was God so against Edom? Well it was because of what they did to their brother Jacob. The Babylonians came in and destroyed Jerusalem. They not just rejoiced in it, but they helped them ruin Judah. You know, Jacob was their brother. Even if there were issues there, they were brothers. How do we treat Christian brothers? If you’re saved and someone else is saved, they’re your brother. Fellow countrymen are brothers. What about your siblings? How do we treat our brother? Why do Christians rejoice when other Christians fall? Sure, Jacob had done wrong and got judged, but that was God’s business, God is the judge. But Edom, how about look at yourself first, they would be wiped out completely, while Jacob would repent and be restored. The truth is, we are actually worse than the people we hate. We find fault in others while we are more guilty than they. We should look in our own backyard before finding fault in others and thinking they’re getting what they deserve when if we got what we deserved we’d be worse off than they. There’s something in us that revels in seeing people get what we think they deserve, what they have coming to them. But the Bible says you shouldn’t have.

God cut Edom off forever because they rejoiced when Judah was destroyed. What a lesson from history. This is the Bible’s witness. Does it mean anything to you? The Bible witnesses what God does to those who rejoice in and assist the calamity of others, particularly a brother. In come the Babylonians and they kill, steal, rape, pillage, sack Jersualem. And what did Edom do? They danced up and down. They rejoiced. Hey those guys are getting what they deserve! Come and watch! This is awesome! This is what bitterness toward someone will do to you. Esau never got right with God remember, and even though the brothers made up… he never made up toward God. I never realized this truth until just then. Without getting right with God, there is no getting right with others. You’ll never be truly right with others if you’re not right with God first. Jacob and Esau met, and things appeared to be fixed, it was a fairly cordial greeting and meeting… but Esau never got right with God. He never repented of his sin. And thus, inside, things were never fixed. Bitterness grew… and it was reflected in Edom’s attitude to the children of Israel.

Edom had been waiting for Israel to fall. Hoping for them to fall. Are you hoping for people to fall? Hoping people get what you think they deserve? How many people live like this today, waiting and wanting and hoping for someone to get it, to cop it, to fall, to have trouble and calamity. And you’re gleeful if and when it happens. One thing God hates, amongst many things… is hoping someone falls and rejoicing when they do. God hates when you rejoice in evil on someone else. Proverbs 24:17,18 – Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him. What a couple verses they are. If this is toward your enemy, how much more a brother who is your enemy because you can’t get right with God yourself? So often we can be happy when people who we’ve got an issue with, which is usually because we aren’t right with God ourselves, usually we are the biggest problem in a problem… so often we are happy when someone we don’t like falls. Well Judah fell on hard times. Did they deserve it? Well that was God’s business. We are often such experts in what other people deserve, we don’t see what we deserve, and that we deserve the same or worse. What would you get if you got what you deserved? See, you’re quick to identify what others deserve, but you’re a lot more forgiving and understanding and perceptive when it comes to yourself. But God saw what Edom did.

Edom not only were happy when Jerusalem got destroyed… but they helped destroy! See for all your high ground, and fake double standard pretentious religion and morality, look at your own life and it’s full of sin and wickedness and evil. You accuse others of wrong while you’re doing worse than them. How low was what Edom did. The Bible says they were “as one of them”, that is, they were as one of those strangers and foreigners that had come in killing, destroying, burning, looting. Are you as one of these type of people? You criticize and blame others, but your life is full of wickedness. Really the problem is you. You’re not as special, and noble, and holy, and just, and righteous as you think you are. Look what hatred and bitterness and rejection of God made them do. How often we become what we criticized. So often people blame everyone else right, and they’re more guilty of those who they are blaming. Oh I’m sure they rationalized their helping to destroy Jacob… yeah we’re quick to justify and excuse ourselves. Yeah these guys deserve it. Oh it’s fine if we sin because, you know, we can justify it. It’s amazing how we justify our own wickedness. Could it be the problem in your life is you? You’re as one with the things you find fault in?

The Bible says Edom spoke proudly in the day of distress. Ever seen this happen? They had life made, their life is going pretty well, they’re big and strong and wise and they’re feeling even moreso while Judah is getting destroyed and getting what they deserve. You see, when someone else falls, it makes us puff out that bit more, it makes us feel even more justified about ourselves. Oh yes, they spoke proudly. Oh they puffed their chest out when Jesus was hanging on the cross. Oh yes they felt that bit more righteous. How often someone else’s calamity makes us feel better about ourselves. Oh we’re proud, but God is going down all pride, rest assured. We’ve got nothing to be proud about whatsoever. Stop strutting around like you aren’t the hypocritical, pretentious, joke that you are, and we all are.

You know what, these guys joined in the killing, they joined in with all the terrible stuff going on. Rather than helping their brother, they helped destroy him. The ones of Jacob that escaped the city… they cut them off. They had an opportunity to be a blessing, to help out their brother… but they cut off the ones that were escaping. Just picture that, an Israelite fleeing out, someone who has escaped the sword and the raping and fire  and captivity… and Edom is standing there with a sword in his hand rather than an outstretched hand saying here I’ll help, come with me, this way to safety. We can be like this in our Christian walk. People trying to escape, and rather than pointing them to Jesus Christ, rather than being a blessing, we cut them off. We have our chance, a chance from God where what we do truly impacts other people’s lives, we are in a position of responsibility and accountability, the power is in OUR hand to do right or wrong… and we choose evil. This is what God cut off Edom forever for. These guys were looters and murderers, they went in and stole took the possessions from the empty houses. Even if they didn’t kill them themselves the Bible says they delivered them up, so those that escaped they took back to be killed. Even if you don’t do the crime, being accomplice to evil, helping out evil… that makes you just as guilty. Just because you may not be directly responsible doesn’t absolve your guilt.

The Bible says as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee. You know I mentioned Trump because that’s quite big in public knowledge, and maybe you’re happy he’s got coronavirus. Let’s forget all your hypocrisy, and double standards, how gullible and easily led you are, how superficial, how veneer… but the Bible says, you shouldn’t have done this. Edom did exactly what people are doing today in rejoicing over Trump getting coronavirus. People who’s moral indignation is trumped only by their own moral bankruptcy. God wiped Edom out for their sin in how they treated their brother when their brother got judged and destroyed. You think you’re pretty great, you’re high on your own life, but the Bible says they shall be as though they had not been. God is going to have the final say. God is the only one who can wipe out not just someone, but the very remembrance and existence of someone. Pretty scary.

David was in his lowest hour when his son drove him off the throne. And there’s a guy called Shimei who ran alongside at a distance tormenting him all the way, adding insult to injury, accusing him, telling him he was getting what he deserved. You know, there were flaws in David’s life. He had multiple wives, he’d committed adultery and murder… and sure they were all wrong. By the way, how do our lives stand up to examination? I’m sure you have your life more in order than David did right? Would God’s testimony  be of you that you have a heart after his own heart? The truth is we’d be on our high horse and think we are better than David… by the way David did a lot more good than anyone else did…. but it’s more likely we’d be a Shimei, oi David you’re getting what you deserve ya dog… but the truth is, just like with Shimei, although we are hurling the accusations and have the temporary situational advantage of us being ok and the other in strife… we are more spiritually and morally bankrupt than David was. David said in … 2 Samuel 16:12 –  It may be that the Lord will look on mine affliction, and that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day. Maybe your rejoicing in someone’s calamity and distress is only going to bring blessing and favour of God on the life of that person you are so far above. Edom was above everyone, but God brought them low. And God can and will bring us down from our high perch in the stars. That’s God’s word.

What’s going on today is people, Christians included, they have no idea what’s going on. They don’t know up from down. They think they’re wise, they’re proud, but they’re full of sin. They believe lies readily, they’ve forsaken God’s word. They have no ability to see things for what they truly are. One of the things the Bible says that we shouldn’t do is rejoice when someone cops it, even someone we think deserves it. How much less a brother? God is the righteous judge of the earth, and all this, Trump, our own lives, whatever… God is proving each of us, what’s really in our heart, who and what we truly are. Before blaming others, before rejoicing in others falling on hard times… maybe we should look at our own lives, our own lives which are full of sin, full of hypocrisy, maybe we are guilty of that which we hold others accountable for. Don’t commit this “shouldn’t have”. Edom shouldn’t have done what they did on any level. God wiped them out for it… while he brought Jacob back into his city and his land and blessed them. In trying to see others get what you think they deserve, you’ll be the one who ends up being cut off. Your hatred of others, your bitterness, it’s going to turn you into being guilty and not just as bad, but worse, than those you find fault in. Often we hold people accountable for that we which do worse than. The gospel is that Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. When we get saved, and we get right with God, and abide in him, that’ll set everything else in order, turn to him and look, all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved. The last verse of Obadiah speaks of saviors coming out of Mt Zion, you know, rather than being a bitter, envious, jealous, deceived, proud, murderer of a person, you can be a savior, you can be saved and tell others how to be saved. You can be a blessing and a help in the day of distress. You know, in the end, God’s people win. When all is said and done, the truth will stand, and those who believed on Jesus Christ will walk in the kingdom of God. The kingdom is the Lord’s, and it is God who cuts off forever… maybe your enemy is cut off for a time, but you’re going to be cut off forever. Don’t be cut off forever. Don’t commit this shouldn’t have.

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