Text: Obadiah 1: 1-6
Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.
One of Edom's problems was pride in its own achievements and its ability to defend itself. Daniel Simundson wrote: “Edom has been guilty of misplaced pride, glorying in its own accomplishments, oblivious to the reality that God is in charge and their success or failure is finally in God's able hands. Edom feels secure, deceiving themselves that they are safe in their mountain dwellings, but God has other ideas and will bring them down”.
In our text above God told Edom “the pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock”. Edom's pride / arrogance had deceived them because they supposed that their perceived secured location, powerful allies, their wise men and mighty warriors would keep them safe from any enemy. They were wrong. Maybe they were safe from human invaders, but they were not safe from God's wrath. They had made an enemy of the Lord by doing violence to His people.
Pride comes before a fall. Pride continues to deceive mankind. Are we so proud of who we are and what we have accomplished that we fail to give any thought to the offenses we have committed against God? People seem to think that their good looks, powerful positions, exceptional talents, extraordinary intelligence, wealth or fame will somehow keep them safe from the wrath of God. They, in effect, are saying, who will bring me down to earth? They overlook the message of Obadiah that when God judges a nation, or a person, because of sin, no one can prevent the consequences of His justice. Pride in a man's heart is a seed bed which produces many a foul fruit such as arrogance, contention, selfdeception, etc. These are but a few of the un-tasty fruits which grow on the ugly vine of pride. We must not let pride deceive or destroy us.