Obadiah - Hesed That Defends His People | HESED

So we're now in week four of our Chesed, right?

The Hebrew, getting that back in the throat.

That very phlegmy understanding of the everlasting

love of God. We actually saw the word in Exodus

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

chapter 20. So we see Chesed throughout the Old

Testament. The embodiment of that, obviously,

being Christ. Smallest book of the Bible. That

we are in Obadiah, the minor prophet today, talking

about a Chesed that defends his people. Okay?

And now there's no chapters in Obadiah. It's

only one chapter, so we're going to read a variety

of verses. But I want to ask the question, not

just for you to think about it or reflect on

it. Is there someone in your life, maybe it's

you, and again, this isn't a time to nudge the

person next to you or push the person in front

of you. Don't make it weird. But do you have

people in your life that tend to take things

very personally, very quickly? Just kind of think

about that. Again, don't nod. I've already seen

some people look at each other. That's on you.

But understand that we have kind of a gauge sometimes

in our spirit of when we take things personally.

And some of us, it's kind of a slow cooker. It

takes a lot for us to really get offended. And

sometimes we don't even get up here. We just

kind of keep it low. Some of us wake up offended.

and everywhere in between. I saw way more of

this after I said it last time, so we should

probably just pray, but I will later. But have

we ever thought about God taking stuff personally?

Yeah, the conversation sure changes, doesn't

it? That if God is steadfast and slow to anger,

abounding in steadfast love, the Psalms tell

us that. That's chesed. Does God take things

personally? Well, we just read that I, your God,

am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities. So,

wait, I thought God wasn't supposed to remember

our sins. It's a very interesting conversation,

isn't it? But I want you to look back at the

last week of your life. Would God have taken

something that you thought, something you did,

something you posted, or said? Do you think God

would have taken anything you did personally

this week? The conversation sure changes, right?

Because that is sin. Sin is missing the mark

of what God has intended us to do. God can take

everything that we do wrong personally. And now

I'm going to change the question. When you maybe

get offended by somebody, how quick are you to

forgive them? How quick are you to judge them?

How quick are you to kind of swat that and really

make it a bigger issue, a bigger deal? I'm not

saying that it's not a big deal. I'm not saying

it's a conflict you should avoid. But it's an

interesting take when we talk about God taking

something personally. Because there are moments

in life when injustice, things that we think,

things that offend us, when injustice tends to

feel unbearable in life. Maybe a moment like

someone wronging you. Again, when someone wrongs

you, there's a kind of subjective filter that

that goes through. What might wrong somebody

else might not wrong me or vice versa. How about

when someone takes advantage of you? Interesting

kind of filter for that, engage for that as well.

How about when someone celebrates your pain?

I think that's something I'd probably get offended

by, right? We even saw that in the baptism, right?

Two of the three promised to not beat on Carter

too much, right? But there's that one, right?

That middle born. You know who you are. Or someone

maybe stands by while you suffer. Maybe you're

going through the thick of it and someone just

tends to do nothing. We can take that stuff personally.

The hardest part isn't always the pain itself,

but it's the feeling that no one sees or no one

cares or no one will ever make it right. We see

that a lot in the Holland Donor House in the

sense of brothers that do tend to beat on each

other and do things just to get rise out of each

other. And, you know, they understand if we try

to make everything right, that would be our full

-time job. But how does that feel? When you believe,

no one's going to make the wrongs against you

right. It can be a very hopeless, a very lonely,

very angry place. But here we have Obadiah, the

shortest book in the Old Testament, but it carries

one of the most powerful truths in Scripture.

And it's about God's chesed. That God's chesed

does not just comfort his people, God's chesed

defends his people. Ashley, keep that one up

there. The word that I think we're all going

to disagree on at times is that word defend.

Because if we're being honest and someone wrongs

us, my guess is we go through a little bit of

maybe the five phases of that offense. And a

lot of us like to stay in the anger mode. Right?

I'll liken it because it's easy. Maybe driving

in a car. Someone cuts you off, and if we're

being honest, there's a little part of you that

wishes that God would be more like Zeus and just

annihilate that person with a lightning bolt.

How many want to raise their hand and own that?

Wow, we actually have people. Let me write those

names down. But we kind of want that ultimate

judgment, right? Even if maybe they didn't cut

you off, but they got in your lane 200 yards

in front of you, but you took that as cut off,

and you go, God, take them anyway. We kind of

have our own filter for that. That's not the

kind of defending we're talking about. Because

Hosea taught us that God pursues us when we wander.

Joel taught us that God restores us after devastation.

Amos last week taught us that God reshapes our

lives with... But Obadiah teaches us something

new today. God does not ignore those who harm

his covenant family. He takes it personally.

God does not ignore those who harm his covenant

family. He takes it personally. So let's dive

in to kind of this. Quick story of Obadiah, right?

The back story, these brothers turned enemies.

To understand Obadiah, we must go back to Genesis,

but let's go to Obadiah 10 and 11. Again, there's

no chapters. Yeah, so harm is coming, he takes

it personally. And so that first point is kind

of the back story, brothers that turned enemies.

Again, it's all in chapter one because there's

only one chapter. Obadiah 10 and 11. Because

of the violence done to your brother Jacob, Shame

shall cover you and you shall be cut off forever.

On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that

strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners

entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem,

you were like one of them. So a little bit of

kind of historical context. Obadiah's prophecy

is directed at Edom, E -D -O -M, the nation descended

from Esau, Jacob's twin brother. So we're going

back to Genesis. This is not just political conflict.

This is family betrayal. Now I say that, and

I know that there's a handful of families in

this church that have felt that directly. Some

that are still within this church. Some that

they know that all too well. You see, for centuries,

Edom refused Israel's passage through their land.

Edom allied with Israel's enemies. Edom harbored

resentment and pride. And Edom awaited for Israel's

downfall. This is history. The breaking point

comes when Jerusalem falls, roughly, we believe,

586 B .C. But instead of helping these related

nations, instead of helping, Edom rejoices, Edom

loots, Edom captures fleeing refugees, and Edom

hands them over to their enemies. Obadiah describes

this with chilling clarity. We just read it,

but Obadiah 11. On the day that you stood aloof,

you were like one of them. This is not just me.

Okay? This is cruel indifference. And what do

we hear God say? God says, I saw it, I remember

it, and I will deal with it. So let's pause there.

It's a pretty big kind of setup there. There's

a lot of hurt, a lot of pain, a lot of rejection,

a lot of breaking of relationship ties. And for

some of us, we know what that feels like. Maybe

not in a grand nation against nation way, but

maybe interpersonally. Maybe in a marriage. Maybe

in a relationship with family. Maybe in a job.

That some of these feelings have been done to

us. Before we get to the restoration, we need

to point out the sin one more time. The sin of

Edom, which was pride, violence, and the very,

very dangerous apathy. And so we see this in

Obadiah verse 3. The pride of your heart has

deceived you, you who live in the clefts on the

rock, in your lofty dwellings who say in your

heart, who will bring me down to the ground?

Edom's downfall begins with pride. It says it

in Proverbs. We believe it even today. Pride

cometh before the? They lived in rocky mountain

fortresses. They believed they were untouchable.

Pride makes people think they are immune to accountability,

that they are beyond judgment, and they are self

-sufficient. Now, some of you are going, time

out, Pastor. Being self -sufficient is a good

thing. Absolutely it is, right? Being tenacious,

being a self -starter, entrepreneur, all of that

good stuff. What this self -sufficiency was is

placing their self -sufficiency over others.

My self -sufficiency is going to be over you

even if it causes you pain. But pride always

produces fruit. The question today is, is it

good fruit or is it bad fruit? So let's look

at the threefold sin of Edom. So the threefold

sin. First, prideful self -trust. They trusted

geographically instead of on God. They trusted

their surroundings. They trusted what they built

up over their trust in Yahweh. Their second sin,

violent participation. They didn't just watch

Israel fall. They joined in on the destruction.

Guilty by association, we hear in our lifetime,

right? Whether that was you as a kid making fun

of the other kid, or being in the group that

made fun of the other kid at school, or... Some

kind of silent coup that goes on at your job

that you don't speak against, even though it's

wrong. Prideful self -trust, violent participation,

and heartless indifference. Church, this is a

tough one. This is a tough one. They exploited

suffering instead of showing mercy. Obadiah lists

their sins in verses 12 to 14, but I'm just going

to give it to you now. Gloating, looting, cutting

off escape routes, and handing survivors over

to enemies. God sees all of this. God knows all

of this. God is offended by it. And he is not

vague about this injustice. We see this in our

next point, Obadiah 15. As you have done, it

shall be done to you. I title this God's Justice.

Obadiah 15. For the day of the Lord is near upon

all the nations. As you have done, it shall be

done to you. Your deeds shall return on your

head. Unfortunately, for Edom and for us, we

hear this at times after we've done something.

What Obadiah, speaking then to now, 2026, is

if you're about to do something, you can stop

and not do it. And this won't apply. But for

a lot of us, you know, growing up, it could be

as small as... Five years old, right? Five years

old in the, let's say, the Venice house, right?

Which one out of the two of you were the cookie

eater that really loved the cookies? Yeah, okay.

So Taylor really loves the cookies. Mom makes

the cookies. Mom says, Taylor, do not eat these

until a certain time. Did Taylor eat the cookies

prior to that time? I appreciate your honesty,

right? You don't know that Riley's the one that

told on you, but understand that that could be

as small as that. You're being told something

to do, you do the opposite, right? Or it could

be someone, another household or another job

as we get older. You hear bad things at the water

cooler, you do nothing about it. Because you

have this weird understanding that snitches get,

wow. That is not at all in the Bible, yet 90

% of you knew what that was. The other 10%, you've

fallen asleep. Why do we live by prison code

in life? Because I'm pretty sure that's where

that comes from. Snitches get stitches, settle

out in the holland on our house, also prison.

Okay? We should not abide by that. What God is

saying here is because of your actions, there

are consequences. I could laundry list, and this

is not me getting high and mighty. My sins can

be in there too, of Christian leaders. Known

Christian leaders in our community that fall

and fall horribly. And there are consequences.

But yet some of us like to think that if I confess

my sins. Pastor, you say it all the time. He

is faithful. He is just. He'll forgive us my

sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Absolutely. But friends, there's still consequences.

There are still consequences. This is the moral

center of this book. God's judgment is not random.

He's not like, and you get the punishment. It's

not like a weird Oprah, okay? It is measured.

It is fitting. It is just. This isn't revenge.

This is righteous reckoning. Here's the thing.

God gets to do the reckoning, not us. And for

a lot of you, you don't like that I just said

that because you want to be the reckoning doer.

But vengeance belongs to the Lord, never us.

God's justice is not opposed to his chesed. God's

justice flows from his chesed. And for some of

us, we can't reconcile that because we want this

hippie -loving Jesus that is never going to have

us go through consequences for our wrongdoings,

for our sin. That's never how it works. That

is never what's in here. That is not how it started

in the Old Testament. God just doesn't look away

through Jesus. No. Is there forgiveness? Absolutely.

Is there restoration? Absolutely. Is there cleansing?

Absolutely. But there are also consequences.

Why is this? Because God loves his people, because

God cares about righteousness, and God refuses

to normalize cruelty. Chesed does not mean God

looks the other way. Chesed means that God steps

in. If you're a parent here this morning, or

an aunt or an uncle, and you know when people

are just going at it, Right? When my boys were

younger, it worked a lot more that all of a sudden

when they were going at it and dad stepped into

the room, things stopped. Right? Now that my

oldest is almost as tall as me, I have to get

on my heels and then I have to enter the room.

And hopefully that stature stops it or the voice

stops it. This is where I wish I was like Dan

Arzma. Right? Dan's got a foot on me. I would

love to walk in a room. How tall are you? What?

He's got a foot and an inch over me. And so I

would love to be able to walk into the room.

But if I walk in on stilts, are you going to

take me seriously? No. You answer that way too

quick, Jack. God steps in. Because why? Next

point. God defends his people and restores their

futures. Obadiah 17. But in Mount Zion there

shall be those who escape, and it shall be holy,

and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

After judgment comes hope. God does not only

punish Edom, but he promises restoration to Israel.

The restoration promises here are huge. It's

deliverance for the remnant, the remnant, always

in the Old Testament being Christ, but this is

the remnant of that temple, of the relationship

with Yahweh. Returning to the land that God gave

them, renewal of the covenant blessing, and future

victory over oppressors. But then the book ends

with a triumphant declaration. And I love this.

Obadiah 21. The kingdom shall be the Lord's.

It is a wonderful reminder that even though we

sin and even though there are consequences for

us that mourn that sin, turn the 180 and follow

after Christ, that there is restoration, that

it all belongs to God. It's all in his kingdom.

That is a good thing for us. Yet for some of

us, when we go through that restoration, we really

want part of that to be, oh, but God, I really

want that pound of flesh. That person really

wronged me. I'll forgive them, but I will never

forget. Forgive and forget, that's not what we're

talking about, right? Because you're also not

called to be a doormat. And so if someone does

something to you and that trust breaks, It may

take a long time to trust that person again.

And that's okay. That's you protecting yourself.

I get that. But holding that on and when that

person does it again, you re -bank that stuff

onto that person. That is not forgiveness. The

kingdom shall be the Lord's, not ours. This is

church language. This is revelation language.

This points beyond Edom to Israel. It points

beyond Israel to the final triumphant of God's

reign. You ever think about that? The new heavens

and the new earth? Who gets the glory in that?

Though we're going to be in our glorified bodies,

and I don't know what that means for some of

you. I don't know what that means for me. Maybe

my glorified body, I am 6 '8". I have no idea.

But the glory becomes God's because it's always

been God's. It's never been ours. Because the

chesed that God gives us preserves us and vindicates

us the way God desires, not ours. Right? Vindication,

we have certain ways we want to be vindicated.

Whether it's that person that caught us off 200

yards away. Whether it's that spouse that really

hurt us. Whether it's the job that was taken

away from us. Whether the fact that we're the

last person to have our driveway plowed by the

company we bought or that we paid for. Whatever

it is, that point really didn't land when I can't

say it out loud. But understand that we want

vindication our way. We want to prescribe it.

Why in the world would the vindication of the

Lord be prescribed through a sinful person? It

has to go through the holiness of God. Never

us. Never us. Chesed that preserves and vindicates.

Not only does Obadiah show us, but the Canons

of Dort shows us as well. Grace 101. God's love

is not neutral. Canons 1, 7. God's love flows

from his sovereign, gracious election. That God

pursues, that God's love flows for his people.

That's why his vindication is the right one,

never ours. Because God's vindication doesn't

flow through sinful ideology like ours does.

It flows from who he is. God does not stand in

the distance and watch injustice. He is a covenant

God. He chooses his people and he binds himself

to them. Canons 1 -7 reminds us again God's love

flows from a sovereign, gracious election. God

defends those he has chosen, not because they

are perfect, but because he is faithful. Well,

God, I really wanted them to be more hurt. I

really wanted them to have things taken away

like I did. That might not be how God does it.

And as followers of God, we need to be okay with

that. Grace 201, God preserves his people through

oppression. Canons 5, 3, God preserves believers

so they never fully fall away. Even when Israel

was exiled, humiliated, scattered, and wounded,

God never abandons his covenant people. Remember

the remnant? That remnant is huge. Obadiah reminds

us, you may have been wounded, you may have been

shaken, you may have been outnumbered. but you

are never forgotten. All right, but let's be

honest. There are times that we sit there with

all this other junk going on around us, and we

go, I have been forgotten. God does not see me.

He's not helping me the way I want his help.

I'm sorry. Do you think when I have to reprimand

or punish one of my sons, I look to my other

sons to give me like the Roman emperor thumbs

up or thumbs down? No, because a lot of them

would be like this, and I don't know what to

do with that, okay? No, it's on me and Carrie

as the parents to decide. It is. That's the same

thing with God. Why? Grace 301, God will vindicate

his people. Canons 510, the canons teach that

God renews confidence, restores hope, and assures

believer of the final victory. Obadiah's closing

vision points to Christ. The kingdom belongs

to the Lord. Guess what? His justice will win.

His grace will reign. And God will make all things

right the way God has defined it. Why in the

world would God look through our right? He wouldn't.

He has the right all along. So let's land this

plane. What does Obadiah teach us about living

out Chesed today? First, that God sees every

injustice done to you. All is fair. And every

injustice you have done. That's the flip side.

But the point is, God sees every injustice done

to you. Nothing you suffered has ever been ignored,

wasted, or never has been ignored, wasted, or

forgiven. Right? Nothing you have suffered. It

all is seen by God. God knows it. God's hesed

means to you that your pain matters. That we're

going to have perspective in pain. We should

find perspective in pain and in disappointment.

Your pain matters to God. Second, we must refuse

the sins of Edom. Obadiah is not just about Edom's

sin, but it's about our temptation to gloat.

over others' failures, benefit from someone else's

pain, remain silent when injustice happens, and

choose comfort over compassion. Chesed calls

us to intervene, not speculate. To intervene

the way God would call you to intervene. How

do I know how God's calling me? Read the good

book. Read his word. It will help you. Third,

the church must be a safe place for the wounded.

If God defends his people, then his church must,

must reflect that same heart. Munster Church

must be a place where victims are believed, the

vulnerable are protected, the hurting are embraced,

and injustice is not minimalized. I know, that's

a big set of phrases. But that, if we're going

to say we're a hospital for the sick and a lighthouse

for wayward ships, that's a recognition that

we sit in that as well. Victims are believed,

the vulnerable are protected, the hurting are

embraced, and injustice is not minimized. And

don't you dare make that political, because then

that's your ideology. It is not mine. It is not

this church's. Four, Jesus is the fulfillment

of Obadiah's promise. Where Edom crushed God's

people, Jesus was crushed for God's people. Where

Edom gloated over suffering, Jesus absorbed suffering

to save sinners. Where Edom trusted pride, Jesus

humbled himself unto death. And because of Jesus,

the kingdom has always and will always belong

to the Lord. So friends, in this week, remember

that Chesed fights for you. Hosea showed us a

God who pursues us. Joel showed us a God who

restores us. Amos showed us a God who reshapes

us. And Obadiah shows us a God who defends us.

If you forget anything else, remember this last

slide. God's Chesed means you are never alone

in your suffering. God's hesed means injustice

will not win. And God's hesed means God himself

will fight for you. The final word over your

life is not betrayal. It's not injustice. Not

even loss. Because the kingdom shall be the Lord's.

Let's pray.