(new article this evening)
In Exodus 19:3, God says to Moses, [4] Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
[5] Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
When you exalt yourself like an eagle, who is exalted that way? asks Richard Jordan. You see, the Edomites in Obadiah are using the very terminology in their mind that describes how God protected, then blessed and used the nation Israel.
Isaiah 40:30 says, [30] Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
[31] But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
[31] But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
These folks look at themselves as being on a mission from God, strengthened by divine protection and enablement.
You see, there’s a religious component to their thinking. Obadiah 1:4 says, "Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD."
Who set himself among the stars? Lucifer did. They see themselves as being the leader of a divine campaign under the protection of God, being empowered by Him and being on a mission for God.
That was "the pride of thine heart" that deceived them. It’s this thinking process whereby they’ve been deceived into thinking their God dwells with them and endorses their tactics of attacking Israel.
Folks, there aren’t any atheists; you understand that. All this stuff you read about is a part of the power of darkness. Psalm 119:130 says, "The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple."
What happens when you turn off the light? You create darkness. Paul writes in Romans 1: "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
[22] Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
[23] And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.’
[22] Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
[23] And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.’
That process is exactly what’s going on here. So that perpetual hatred had a spiritual component behind it.
The verse says, "Thou hath exalted thyself as the eagle." One of the things about being exalted as an eagle is an eagle is a bird of prey that dwells on high.
It’s like they’re a bird of prey nestled in these inaccessible heights that only THEY can achieve to. "Among the stars." They see themselves connected with the host of heaven.
Obadiah verses 5-7 describe what’s going to happen to them:
[5] If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes?
[6] How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!
[7] All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him.
[6] How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!
[7] All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him.
In other words, He’s warning Esau, "If men judged you, they’d leave you something." I mean, you can hide something. God says, "But that ain’t gonna happen with me! I’m coming and I’m going to get everything!"
Verse 7 says that all the men of the confederacy deceived them. Their prideful arrogance and vengefulness made them easily manipulated by the confederacy and the people who deceive them prevail against them.
They sit at tables with them, telling them, "You’re good guys and so forth," and the Edomites can’t see they're being taken because they’ve got no wisdom; they don’t have the wisdom to see through the deceit.
They’ve completely rejected the wisdom they would have had from the Abrahamic Covenant that said Israel is going to exist in the land as God’s people. They think, "Well, we can destroy Israel and take possession of the land.’ That’s really been the whole issue all along."
They’ve completely rejected the wisdom they would have had from the Abrahamic Covenant that said Israel is going to exist in the land as God’s people. They think, "Well, we can destroy Israel and take possession of the land.’ That’s really been the whole issue all along."
*****
Here's a passage from another sermon by Jordan:
God Almighty loves freedom. It’s a basic function of His character and His nature. Now if you take a list of theology books about the essence of His deity, you’ll see attributes such as “omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence and eternal life and love and grace and immutability and righteousness.” But you won’t see freedom. It should be there, not just as an attribute, but as a function.
God loves freedom. He loves to just go be Himself— unrestricted, unrestrained, un-held back. Just go be His giving self. The heart of God is a heart of giving. It’s a life of living for others.
God the Father lives for God the Son. Ephesians 1 says He wants His Son to be exalted as the head of all things in the heavens and in the earth.
God the Holy Spirit lives to see Jesus Christ glorified. God the Son lives to glorify the Father. You know what they’re doing—they’re living for each other.
The Divine principle of life is freely living for others. And when you see great Christian activity, you see that giving spirit of God living in His people.
William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army and a great warrior for Christ, was asked on his death bed to send a Christmas message to his troops around the world, and he wrote one word on a telegram: “Others.”
God loves freedom to just go and give. He loves freedom so much that when He made man, He gave man freedom. He was willing to put at risk His eternal purpose and plan, and pleasure and design, in order to vest you and me with liberty and freedom.
What grace does is it exalts freedom and liberty to the highest point possible. We’re not led to be under a performance system that requires some performance from you in order for God, or anyone else, to accept you.
Under a system of grace, there’s an understanding that you don’t live for yourself, and for your own pleasures and desires, but you’re living for another and for His glory. That’s real freedom.
Now, freedom scares people. That’s why it’s so easy to put people under legalism, because if I tell you what to do, who’s responsible?
Folks, the way your life pleases God is not by putting yourself under a performance system, and saying, “Boy, if I go out and win 10 people to Jesus today, God’s going to be happy with me.” Or, “If I give $50,000 to missions this year, God’s going to be happy with me.” That isn’t it.
The way your life is going to make God happy is for you to find out what His pleasure is—what His plan is and what He’s doing, then have that be what you’re doing.
You know how it’s had? Not by a performance system, but by being filled with some wisdom and knowledge. By understanding who we are and understanding the competency that gives us in Christ.
You see, that wisdom makes us confident to handle these things. If you’ve got convictions, you don’t have to make a lot of decisions. A lot of the decisions are made for you by your convictions.