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WHO IS IN CONTROL?
Studies in Obadiah
By Henry Jaegers
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. (Obadiah 1:4)
Until now, the focus of this book has been upon the actions and the attitudes of Esau. Although we may think that Esau's problem stems from his relationship with his brother, the real cause of Esau's problem is his relationship with God.
Both he and Jacob grew up in the home of Isaac the humble servant of God and yet unlike Jacob, this godly quality seems to have had no effect upon him. Esau's profane life was due to his choice to live apart from God and set himself up as God instead. But there is a deeper focus in this book that could go unnoticed especially if we are ignorant of God's ways.
God's ways are always perfect. They cannot be otherwise. God is always a God of love and God. These qualities are always active in the person of God. When we are faithful these positive qualities are reflected toward us and we, in turn, reflect them back being recipients of them. But there are other attributes of God, if we refused to know them and believe them, then we are confronted by His negative qualities when we choose evil and hostility as our life-style. So, what is the point of what I am trying to convey?
To the average person, studying the attributes of God seems nothing more than a boring doctrinal intellectual exercise which has no effect on my life. And if these were just doctrinal teachings or thoughts that men have about God, that would be true. But in order to understand God's ways, we must understand why he acts in certain ways differently than he does in others. The attributes of God are who he is not what he does. They are part of his person and they never go away. They are always active.
For instance, in the case of Esau, God's love and mercy are still active and present but they are not experienced because man has chosen a path that is hostile to God. The actions of men trigger certain attributes of God. When we are penitents over our sin, God's mercy and forgiveness are activated. When we are treated unkindly by others and falsely accused, God's attribute of justice comes into play. But when we are hostile toward God and refuse his sovereignty over our lives, our actions call forth the attributes of judgment which result in our destruction.
We see this exemplified in the first chapter of Romans where it states "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18). The idea that I am trying to convey is that God's wrath, one of his attributes among many, is triggered by men's unrighteousness. Then notice it's not God's mercy, goodness or justice that is revealed. It is the judgment of God that that is activated by the unrighteousness of men.
Now I am introducing a new concept into our study of Obadiah. Something that could be overlooked if we do not understand that the attributes of God are all a composite in the person of God himself. The attributes are who he is not what he does.
As we continue our study in Obadiah, we will intersperse these attributes as is necessary in order to get a fuller idea of the greatness and glory of God as displayed in this so-called book of judgment. (God’s mercy and goodness are also offered as we shall di
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