The Daily Walk | 03.16.2026 | Pastor Mike Gibbons | Obadiah 3

Good morning, First Baptist Wimberly.

This is Mike Gibbons.

Welcome to Monday.

Hey, I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but when you prepare a sermon, you always have some leftover nuggets that you just don't have time to get to.

I mentioned the importance of mountains in Scripture yesterday, but didn't really have time to expand on that.

Mountains and hills are referenced over 500 times in Scripture.

Their biblical meaning is often contradictory.

Sometimes they're a symbol of refuge and security, and sometimes they're a place of military conquest and slaughter.

At times they are described as inaccessible, barren, and uninhabited, yet mountains are places where God's people will dwell in abundance.

And mountains are a central symbol in Obadiah.

Edom's territory centered on Mount Seir, a mountainous region south of the Dead Sea.

It had fertile valleys and it had the capital city of Petra, which was nestled within towering mountain walls that were indeed formidable.

The city itself was surrounded by a high ring of mountains with rough, rocky heights reaching as high as 4,700 feet above sea level.

And residents lived in homes that were carved into the rock itself.

But this geographic reality bred spiritual danger.

Because the Edomites lived in the mountains, they trusted in those mountains and in their own strength and power to keep them safe rather than trusting in God.

The seemingly impenetrable mountains and heights of Edom served as an emblem of their pride.

The boast recorded in Obadiah 3, Who Can Bring Me Down to the Ground, reflects a confidence that's rooted entirely in geography rather than faith.

These mountains that they depended upon became the stage for a little divine irony, if you will.

The geography that seemed to guarantee Edom's security becomes the very terrain where God's judgment executes itself.

Mountains thus represent not merely physical elevation, but spiritual deception, the false assurance that human fortifications can withstand divine judgment.

The reversal from Edom's mountain-based pride to Mount Zion's mountain-based deliverance underscores Obadiah's central message: trust in God, not in earthly strongholds.

God alone provides genuine security.

So I'm asking myself today: Am I hiding behind a mountain of pride, self righteousness, or some other sin today?

Confess it now and run to the safety of Mount Zion.

This is Mike Gibbons, and I love being your pastor.