One Man’s Problem Another’s Opportunity

One man’s problem Another’s Opportunity

            What is the shortest book in the Bible?  If you said the book of Obediah, you are correct. It contains only 21 verses of prophetic warning to the Nation of Edom. It might help you to Read Obadiah: before we start. That is where this story is taken from and it exemplifies several biblical truths God laid upon my heart.  The people of Edon are descendants of Esau, Jacob was a patriarch of Israel, and they are brothers. They are also grandsons of Abraham. There were jealousy issues between them, because God favored Jacob over Esau, and blessed him. The story begins in vv.1-3, addressing the people of Edon’s pride, arrogance, and jealousy. We know that God hates pride, he tells us that pride comes before destruction and a haughty heart before the fall. Pride was the sin that caused Lucifer to be expelled from Heaven. Esau and his descendants had the same choice we face today. They could accept God’s choice of making Israel his chosen people and support her, and be blessed for doing so, or be jealous and go against her, thereby provoking God’s wrath.

            In vv.4-9, it talks about how the people of Edon’s arrogance misled them into believing they could overpower Israel even knowing God was on their side. Obadiah issues them a prophetic warning that God would use Edon’s allies to execute his judgment and destroy Edon if they didn’t change their thinking. God offered them a chance to repent. Vs. 10-11 talks about when Israel was being attacked and in a weakened state, instead of coming to their aid, Edon joined in on inflicting more pain.

            I am breaking from scripture for a minute, to discuss how this might apply to our lives today. If our neighbor came down with a serious illness, and could no longer work, and he started having financial problems, what kind of neighbor would you be? You could seize the opportunity to buy that adjoining lot between your two properties, at a dirt-cheap price, because he is desperate. You could hurry to the yard sale his wife is having, to try to raise money to keep them afloat, and probably almost steal some great stuff, you don’t even need. Who knows, you may be able to get him to put in a good word for your son to get his old job. According to my Mother, who lived through the Great Depression, the times and most people were different. If a man’s barn burnt down, the whole community would have a barn raising and pitch in and build them a new one. Or if a man was too sick to plow his fields, a neighbor would do it for him, after working in his own fields all day long. But there were those, who profited off other’s misery. And in those days, this was practically an everyday occurrence. People lost their homes and their farms because they just didn’t have any money. Luckily for them, the banks were more than happy to swoop in and re-possess their property for a mere fraction of what it was worth.   Now, I get it, many are thinking, “Well, that’s just business.” And it is exactly that. And if we go back to the property or the yard sale, you can justify that by saying, “If I don’t buy it, someone else will.” All these things are true, but it goes to the motive of your heart. Should we take pleasure in someone else’s pain, even if that someone is your enemy?

            Have you ever heard the term, short-selling as it is referenced to buying or selling stocks? Basically, it means to bet on a stock and the owner’s misfortune, and profit from the stock losing its value. Some land developers use this same strategy by scooping up neighborhoods that have been overtaken by poverty and have fallen into disrepair. The owners lose everything they have invested in their homes because they are practically worthless and the developer gets richer buying them for nothing, investing some money into them, and re-selling the property at a much higher price than what they invested. Instead of being quick to capitalize on other’s pain, why couldn’t we try to help them? If you have enough surplus cash to buy that extra lot, maybe instead of being greedy, you could show kindness. Instead of pouncing on the great deals at the yard sale, why not organize your other neighbors and have a charity neighborhood yard sale to benefit your struggling neighbor? Are we our brother’s Keeper? The answer to that question can be found throughout the entirety of the Bible, but God sums it up by saying we are to love one another just as he loves us.

            Getting back to the scripture, vs,12-16 talks about taking glee in others’ misfortune. Has someone ever wronged you, and then something bad happened to them, and your reaction was, “Good I’m glad that happened, they deserve it. They got what’s coming to them.” Before you answer, think……, have you ever been driving and some idiot cut you off because he was flying, then 2 miles down the road you catch up to him and see that a cop has him pulled over. Don’t you lie,, that smile on your face says it all! We all need to read Proverbs 24:17-18. Deuteronomy 32:35, tells us vengeance is mine, says the Lord. Luke 6:31, tells us to treat others as we want to be treated. And lastly, Mathew 5:44, tells us to love and pray for our enemies.

            The last vs. 17-21 concludes with the description of how Edon’s fall will happen and how it will be utterly destroyed for going against God’s will and allowing pride, greed, and arrogance to take over their hearts and minds. We as a nation should heed the prophetic warnings of this book and others when it comes to our relationship with Israel. We must not fall into the same traps the people of Edon succumbed to, or we will suffer the same destiny. We as Christians and fellow human beings could enrich our lives with the treasure of knowledge presented in this book, by simply applying it to our lives. We should never question God’s wisdom or sovereignty. The Bible tells me, Fear of the Lord, is the beginning of wisdom. We should all be in fear, anytime we think our ways are higher than his ways, or our thoughts are higher than his thoughts.

Scripture of The Day:    John 13:34-35

“A new commandment I give you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”