The book has only one chapter and has been split up into 21 verses. It is the shortest book in the Old Testament and is not quoted in the New Testament. However, even the brief appearance of this man has its place. No-one is insignificant to God.
The book is named after the man who received the vision from God. Obadiah means ‘servant of the Lord’ or ‘worshiper of The Lord’; nothing is known for certain about him. There are several men called Obadiah elsewhere in Old Testament but do not seem to refer to this man. The time of writing is also uncertain but seems to be relative to the Edomite attack on Jerusalem (v10-14). Whilst we are not told anything about this man, where he came from or what he did, he is clearly a humble man who was a servant of, and worshipper of The Lord. C.H. Spurgeon used to tell his young trainees to prepare to become weaker and weaker, for sinking lower and lower in self-esteem, for self-annihilation and pray that God will expedite the process. Obadiah seems to be that kind of man and so should we.
Obadiah states that he had a vision (v1) and his words were not his own words but those of God – he continues in v1 “This is what the Sovereign LORD says …”
There were four invasions of Jerusalem on Old Testament history, the latter two are possibly relative to the time of this writing. They were by Jehoash, king of Israel around 790 BC recorded in 2 Kings 14 and 2 Chronicles 25; and by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon in 596 BC. The first of these seems preferable since Obadiah does not refer to the total destruction of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar. There is no reference to the destruction of the temple or captivity of the people to Babylon.
The main object of the short book is God’s judgement upon Edom (v1).
The Edomites were the descendants of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother, older by a few minutes, but cheated out of his birth right by his younger brother, Jacob and his mother’s scheming plot to fool his aging and nearly blind father lsaac.
History.
To get a fuller picture we need to go back to the family and the feud which existed between the twin brothers recorded for us in Genesis chapters 25-36.
When Jacob and Esau were born, they came out of the womb fighting and that conflict continued throughout their lives. It is perhaps an understatement to say that they didn’t get on with each other.
The Lord told their mother Rebekah that ‘two nations were in her womb and one will be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the younger.’ Esau was a hairy man but Jacob a smooth man.
Sometime later, Esau, the older of the twins, when returning hungry from working in the field asked Jacob for some red stew (older versions ‘a mess of pottage’) – the request earned Esau the name Edom which means ‘red’. Jacob, the younger, only gave him the stew after he agreed to sell his birth right to him in exchange for the food. Thus, The Lord’s words were fulfilled – the younger obtained the birth right and the older served the younger.
Sometime later, Isaac, their father who by then was virtually blind, was tricked by Jacob and his mother into giving the blessing to Jacob, which should have been for Esau.
When Esau arrived, just as the ceremony was ending, he pleaded with his father to bless him also, but he was too late (Genesis 27:34-38).
As a result, Esau hated Jacob (v41), and sought to kill him but he postponed the murder probably out of respect for his father because everyone thought his father was about to die. However, he went on to live another 43 years. Rebekah heard Esau’s threat and arranged to send Jacob away to his uncle Laban in Haran thinking Esau’s anger would abate in a few days, but it did not.
in Genesis 28 again as a result of the scheming of his mother Rebekah, Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. Jacob was fully acknowledged as the heir of the promise. lsaac told Jacob to be very careful that he did not take a foreign wife but one of their own people. He sent him to his uncle Laban and told him to take a wife there.
When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob as the heir and after hearing his father tell Jacob not to marry one of the Canaanites, he attempted to humour his parents by going back to part of his father’s family and marrying Mahalath (also referred to as Basemath) the daughter of Ishmael. But this only made matters worse because he went to Ishmael the one whom God had rejected.
Esau showed complete disregard for the covenant promises by marrying two Canaanite women (Genesis 26), and now the daughter of lshmael (Genesis 28) – So Jacob went out from his father’s house to stay with his uncle Laban, for fear of being pursued or even killed by his vindictive brother. He went by lonely and unfrequented paths, which increased the length and dangers of his journey. He arrived at a place called Luz.
This was where he had his dream of the ladder with angels going up and down from earth to heaven with The Lord standing above it. The Lord spoke to him and gave him the promise which had been given to Abraham, his grandfather, and to Isaac, his father, that the land would be given to him and his descendants and God promised – ‘I will be with you and will keep you wherever you go and bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.’
Jacob said, ‘Surely The Lord is in this place and I did not know it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place, this is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven.’
He renamed it Bethel after his experience there. He called it Beth-el – which means ‘the house of God’. This was indeed a holy place, but if we read Amos’ prophecy, we would see that it had later degenerated to a place of idol worship by that time.
Jacob experiences the leading of God and after serving seven years marries Leah (by his uncle’s trickery) – how our sins return to us? What we sow we reap! And then Rachel after serving his uncle for a further seven years. We haven’t time to go into the domestic tangle which ensued. Jacob and his family flee from Laban because of Laban’s deceit. (Genesis 31).
Laban was as big a trickster as Jacob. Jacob had become prosperous through his own deceit. Laban pursued Jacob and caught him and then, before he left, made a covenant with him (Genesis 31:43-55) by setting up a stone at Mizpah (v49)“Because, he said, “May The Lord watch over between you and me when we are absent one from another. If you afflict my daughters, or if you take other wives besides my daughters …. God is witness between you and me. “” This is often referred to as a Mizpah blessing but, in other words, he was saying ‘I don’t trust you out of my sight, so God will have to watch over what you do.’
The meeting.
ln ch 32- Esau comes to meet Jacob having sent messengers on ahead saying that he meant peace. However, Jacob was afraid and prepared for battle. Jacob reminded God of His promise (if God needed any reminding!!). Jacob is still scheming and plotting regarding his meeting with Esau.
In v22-32 Jacob wrestles with the angel of God at Peniel. His hip was put out of joint causing him to limp, but he asked for a blessing and his name is changed to Israel.
In ch 33 Esau arrives and embraced Jacob and they wept. This was an emotional meeting after 21 years. However, the events that transpired displayed that the unity was short-lived.
At the end of ch 35 we read of the death of lsaac, and we are told that both his sons, Esau and Jacob, buried him. Amazing what does bring people together. By the way – interesting what things are said of people at their funeral. Some have tributes paid to them that they never got when they were alive.
Esau and Jacob and their families initially settled in Canaan, but their families grew so large that the land “Could not support them” (Genesis 36:7); so, Esau moved to the hill country of Seir (v8) and thus leaving Jacob the land of Canaan. Edom was to the south-east of the Dead Sea and Israel mostly to the west of the Jordan river.
This enmity continued until the time of King David when he put them under subjection to Israel (2 Samuel 8:14).
During the reign of Jehoram, Edom revolted (2 Kings 8:20-22; 2 Chronicles 21:8-10) and set up their own king. Therefore, some say that it was probably during this time, about 845 BC, that Obadiah gave his prophecy to the people of Edom.
Their problem.
The Edomites were proud, arrogant people. Most of all they looked down on and hated the people of Israel, the chosen people of God. They were one of Israel’s fiercest enemies. They took great delight in the downfall of Judah and were self-sufficient and felt secure in their own strongholds. They dwelt in Mount Seir, a mountainous region reaching from south of the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Akabah – the territory we now call the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in southern Jordan.
They thought their city was impregnable. Their capital was Sela – the rock city (near the city of Petra, 1000 feet above Petra). People cut this city out of red rock. It was virtually inaccessible, giving them a sense of security and self-sufficiency. Edom’s two chief cities were Bozrah and Sela. It is still possible to see part of it today.
Being high, the mountains surrounded it like a fortress, and this also gave them a false sense of security and pride. But they failed to reckon on God. “Though you ascend as high as the eagle, and though you nest is among the stars, from there I will bring you down.” (v4)
Edom is also called ldumea (Greek). The country was approx. 100 miles long and 40 miles wide. The King’s Highway (Numbers 21:22), an essential caravan route from North Africa to Asia and Europe, passed along it. In fact, two important trade routes went through it and because the people controlled these roads, they got a lot of money. But other people also attacked it.
Whilst I haven’t counted them, I understand the term “Sela” is used 65 times in the Hebrew Bible, usually meaning “rock,” but 6 times it is used as a place name. Approximately five of the references are apparently to a site near Bozrah.
Obadiah makes it clear that the idea of a nation being unconquerable is an illusion! Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
They prided themselves in what they thought was an invincible mountain fortress of Petra (v3), but Obadiah’s words were to come true; they were to become a nation reduced to nothing.
Edom felt so secure that they believed no one could destroy them. Their security, however, was misplaced. God said He would destroy them, and history demonstrates how this occurred.
Their denial and lack of kindness to Israel.
Jacob and Esau had become founding fathers of two separate nations. Jacob’s family went down to Egypt because of the famine to buy food. Joseph had already been sold by his brothers, who hated him, and had eventually become a top man in Egypt. Eventually Jacob was invited to Egypt by Joseph and Jacob’s descendants were in slavery there for 400 years until they were miraculously brought out and began what turned out to be a forty-year journey to Canaan.
The conflict between the two went on and when the Israelites were on their way back from Egypt after being in bondage there, the Edomites refused to allow them to pass through their land. (Numbers 20:14-21). The King of Edom threatened war if they passed through, even on the King’s Highway which was a trade route connecting Egypt to Syria, the main route from south to north. Moses even said they would pay for any food or water which they took, but they were still refused passage, and so they had to make a detour. Moses had been told by God not to make war with Edom. In Deuteronomy 23:7 we read “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother.”
Jephthah repeats the history in Judges 11:17,18 as to how they were refused permission to pass through Edom and skirted around it. The same had happened with the land of Moab. In his song, recorded in Exodus 15, Moses mentions that God will do great things for the Israelites and (v15) “the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed.”
Some years later Psalm 137 records their attitude towards the people of Israel. When the Northern Kingdom of Israel was taken into exile by the Assyrians in 721 BC and the Southern Kingdom of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians in 586BC, Edom looked on and took great pleasure in what was happening to their neighbours. The Psalm even says they stood by and encouraged it – v7 -9 “Raze it! Raze it! …. Happy the one who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock.” (See also Ezekiel 25v12-14; 35v1-15). They cheered on the Babylonians.
They didn’t grieve whenever the Israelites got into difficulties, they gloated over their setbacks, looted their property and betrayed them into the hands of their enemies. “In the day that you stood on the other side – in the day that strangers carried captive his forces. When foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem…. “(v11)
Their actions were not overlooked by Judah, but most of all, they were not overlooked by God Himself for there are more condemnations in Scripture against Edom than any other nation. You may recall one in Amos, but unlike Amos who was told to prophesy against several nations including Israel and Judah, Obadiah’s prophecy is solely against Edom. Some say that Obadiah is a fuller statement, a commentary on the briefer prophecy of Amos.
When was this?
As stated earlier, it is difficult to fix a date – Amos was probably much earlier in that he was around when Israel was taken into exile by the Assyrians 135 years earlier. Jeremiah actually quotes Obadiah’s prophecy, particularly in chapter 49.
An alternative view is expressed by Jerome who makes Obadiah a contemporary of Hosea, Joel and Amos, thus Jeremiah, being later, would be more likely to quote a previous prophet rather than a contemporary. However, others place Jeremiah’s prophecy earlier and thus Obadiah quoting Jeremiah’s previous prophecies. There is, however, a striking similarity between Jeremiah 49:7-22 and Obadiah v1-9.
Whilst the time of writing is difficult to ascertain the message is clear – the people of Edom were continually filled with hatred for Israel. Speaking of these people, Amos 1:11 says, ” Becausehe pursued his brother with the sword, and cast off all pity; His anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever”.
” As a result, Malachi 1:3-4 says that the Lord would utterly destroy the Edomites. They had become the people “…. Against whom the LORD will have indignation forever”.
Judgement on Edom.
Because of their attitude towards Israel and Judah, God says He will judge Edom. Edom was noted for its wise men, but (v8) God says that he will destroy even the wise men. Also, their mighty men (v9). Their sin was pride and arrogance, and they hated their brothers the descendants of Jacob. God said that because of this “Shame shall cover you and you shall be cut off forever.”(v10).
In 583 BC, 3 years after Judah was taken into exile, Edom was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar.
The statement“But you should not have gazed on the day of your brother in the day of his captivity; Nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; Nor should you have spoken proudly in the day of distress.” (v12) confirms what we read in Psalm 137, that they gloated and rejoiced when their brother was taken into captivity; they spoke proudly, they entered the gate of the city and plundered it. It did not end there – “You should not have entered the gate of My people in the day of their calamity. Indeed, you should not have gazed on their affliction …. Nor laid hands on their substance….” they took advantage of their calamity (v13); and they even cut off the escape of any who tried to avoid being captured and delivered up those who remained “You should not have stood at the cross-roads to cut off those among them who escaped; nor should you have delivered up those among them who remained in the day of distress.” (v14).
God saw Edom’s failure to support Israel and He considered Edom’s failure to seek to help when she was attacked, as violence against her. God’s judgement on Edom is contained in verses 1-14.
God says in v2 “I will make you small among the nations, you shall be greatly despised.” And in v3He says – “The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; you who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?””
In v4 “From there I will bring you down, ‘ says the LORD ‘”. ‘If thieves and robbers come, they leave ‘gleanings’- behind them… You will be left with nothing.’ Unlike men’s armies attacking, when God pronounces judgement, His power is far greater in that He can wipe out a nation completely. The people were proud and arrogant which led them to be self-deceived. Thus, unlike Israel, who will be spared a remnant, Edom will not. God pronounces the deliverance and restoration of Israel (v17-21).
Later history.
During their later history the Nabatean Arabs took over the territory of Edom and drove them from their land. Nabateans were the family of the son of Ishmael (ever the thorn in Israel’s side). The Edomites fled to the area south of the Dead Sea, and in time came to be known as the ldumeans. Idumea covered a larger area of territory to that of the original Edom. Around 120 BC they were conquered by John Hyrcanus of the Maccabees, who forced many of them to embrace Judaism, to be circumcised and to accept the Law of Moses. The Idumeans participated in the rebellion of Jerusalem against Rome and were defeated along with the Jews by Titus in AD 70. It is ironical that the Edomites applauded the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC but died trying to defend it in 70 AD. There is no one left today identified as an Edomite. There are no survivors. This is an amazing contrast to Edom who themselves tried to destroy the survivors of Jerusalem in v14.
Many years later, during the trial of Jesus, we see the final confrontation — Jesus (a descendant of Jacob) stood before King Herod (a descendant of Esau, an Idumean). Herod is thought to be the last of the ldumeans (Edomites). The last Edomites were the Herods in the time of Christ; they maintained their cruel treatment of the Jews to the end. When He was taunted by King Herod, Christ had nothing to say to him (Luke 23:8-9). Today the nation does not exist.
“By 100 AD the people of Edom had become lost to history” (Homer Hailey).
“If you travel today in the region of Edom, you will find nothing but the starkest wilderness and the most isolated emptiness …. it is one of the most formidable, forsaken spots on earth” (Stuart Briscoe).
They will “shall be as though they had never been.” (v16)
There is a poignant prophecy in the book of Malachi 1:4 “Even though Edom has said, “We have been impoverished, But we will return and build the desolate places,” Thus says the Lord of hosts: “They may build, but I will throw down; They shall be called the Territory of Wickedness, And the people against whom the Lord will have indignation forever.”
The Prophet Amos also prophesied that God’s restored people would possess ‘the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name’ Amos 9:12.
A man known to some older people in my church, in fact he was a founder member, the late Frederick A. Tatford in ‘Prophet of Edom’s Doom’ says that Obadiah’s prophecy is fulfilled today as there is currently no trace of anyone who may be identified as an Edomite.
The Bible says “Vengeance is mine! I will repay says The Lord” (Romans 12:19) and here in Obadiah v15 we are told that God will do to the Edomites as they did to His people, but He goes further to say that they will be destroyed forever, unlike the people of Israel, from whom there will be a remnant and will be restored and have final triumph.
So, what are the LESSONS OF OBADIAH for us today?
Attitudes to others.
When one shares in “the spoils of wrongdoing,” even though he may not be an instigator of the crime, by “standing aloof” and encouraging the enemy on he becomes “as one of them” (Obadiah 11). By not helping they were just as guilty. We are just as guilty – we find that in Romans 1:32 “….Who knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. “
When someone (even a nation) becomes unjust, cruel and bitter toward someone else …. especially. when they’re God’s family …. they will be punished, and the one wronged will be avenged. God will keep His word.
Obadiah said Edom’s judgement would be complete and appropriate. They would get what they deserved. And in fact, they did.
What we sow, we reap!
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap!” (Galatians 6:7). The Edomites sought to destroy the Israelites and were themselves destroyed (see Obadiah 15). Don’t ever think that we can get away with it … we will reap what we sow – “For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”(Galatians 6:8)
How we must be careful what we do to others, how we treat them, because God will repay us, for God is just and fair. God was going to avenge His people Israel and destroy Edom because of her sins. But, hadn’t Israel sinned, yes, but God had said they would be His people forever. It was because of their persistent sinning and turning away from Him that they were sent into captivity in Babylon, but there would be a remnant who would return, which God would save and build upon in the future. It is not our job to get revenge for whatever reason and however justified we may feel we are.
Pride.
Obadiah is a small book that deals with the sin of pride. “The pride of your heart has deceived you.” (v3) I am not saying that there are categories of sin, but if there were, pride is one of the biggest. The sin is the oldest of all sins. It turned an angel into a devil (Psalms 14:12-15), depopulated heaven when ‘war broke out’ (Revelation 12:9), caused Adam and Eve to be thrown out of Eden (Genesis 3:23), caused Christ to die, keeps hearts closed to His salvation and thereby populates Hell. It is a sin that is even found in this small book of Obadiah (v.2).
Pride deceives and leads to more sin. Proverbs 6:16-19 says “There are six things the Lord hates, yea, seven are an abomination to Him; – A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil. A false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren. “God hates pride – “Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; Though they join forces, none will go unpunished.” (Proverbs 16:5)
Jesus told a parable of the Pharisee and the Publican who both went into the temple to pray (Luke 18:9-14). The Pharisee stood and prayed – God, I thank You that I am not as other men are, even this publican, I do this, that and the other. The publican would not lift his eyes up to heaven, but simply and sincerely prayed …. ‘God be merciful to me a sinner’.
Jesus told this parable to those who trusted in themselves and despised others. I tell you; this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be abased, and everyone who humbles himself shall be exalted. How this is shown to be true with God’s words in this little book of Obadiah. The words of none greater than Our Lord Himself – how we should take careful note of them.
Pride dethrones God and replaces Him with man. “Pride is a vice which cleaves so fast unto the hearts of men, that if we were to strip ourselves of all faults, one by one, we should undoubtedly find it the very last and hardest to put off.” (Thomas Hooker)
Never forget the words of the bible stated more than once “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5; Proverbs 3:34; James 4:6). What a dreadful place to be in when Almighty God opposes us! It is a no-win situation.
The path of sin.
Sin follows a downward path. We saw how Edom progressed in his sins against Judah. At first it was just complacency, but then it was the promotion of evil and finally participation in the evil. It shows us how dangerous complacency is. It doesn’t stop there.
Are we complacent about things?
Are we desensitised to the news?
What about Abortion, violence or bad language on TV, etc.
We can became so accustomed to these things that it really doesn’t bother us anymore. How we should be careful what we watch (there is an on/off button), what we look at and what we read (we do have a choice).
Sin can start in the smallest way, but it grows and leads to other greater sins.
How we must be careful – apparently innocent acts are not always so. They may start off small, but the devil is a crafty foe. How often does he say “There’s no harm in this little thing” but sooner or later we become enslaved and addicted, and the end can be fatal?
Leaving God out.
The Edomites had become wise in their own eyes. They were noted for it. Obadiah refers to it in v8 “The wise men from Edom”. They had all the answers; had thought they had need of nothing; God had been left out of the picture. In the Old Testament there is no mention of any Edomite religion or any Edomite gods. The Edomites had no allegiance to a god. This has led many scholars to believe that this unusual people were so self-sufficient, arrogant, and self-satisfied that they wouldn’t even call upon the name of any kind of god. They believed they had all the answers themselves!” (Stuart Briscoe).
Obadiah’s message to Edom was to confront their sin of pride. We clearly see Edom’s pride and consequent humiliation.
We leave God out at our peril.
The ultimate sin of Edom was a clear display of lack of brotherly affection.
Obadiah is the prophet of the consequences of unbrotherly affection. If the first sin was pride, the first murder was that of a brother (Genesis 4:8).
The Edomites could not forget, and would not forgive, family differences of bygone history.
Edom stood by and gloated over the misfortune of a brother nation. “He who mocks the poor reproaches his Maker; He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished”(Proverbs 17:5).
Obadiah points to a significant, yet difficult, truth about humanity’s relationship with God: when people remove themselves from or place themselves in opposition to God’s people, they can expect judgment, rather than restoration.
There is the important lesson about families, particularly disunited families, but that is a subject on its own; but it is certainly something to seriously think about. There is an old saying – ‘The family that prays together, stays together’ There may be some truth in that. Jesus said A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”(John 13:34,35)
Is there a way out?
There is as we see that God promises deliverance to His people in Judah. We must remember that they were probably at that time in exile in Babylon.
- God will punish sin. We are introduced to the Day of the Lord. “The day of The Lord upon all the nations is near” (Obadiah v15). He sees the nations which are mistreating His people, and He will judge them accordingly. It shows us that God is in control.
- God provides a place of escape tor those who would turn to Him — “But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance, And there shall be holiness; The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.” (Obadiah v17).
We must not presume, however, that God will be patient with us forever.
Repentance is absolutely essential.
In Heb 12:12-17 we have some amazing words. In my Bible they are headed ‘Renew your spiritual vitality’ – “Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble-knees, and make straight paths for your feet…… Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see The Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected” for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.”
Esau desired God’s blessings but he didn’t want God, and he wouldn’t come God’s way.
The letter goes on to say v22-28 ” …. You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem…. See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven …., Therefore since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken. Let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear….”
God will protect His own. God is good and He loves us and will take care of us. These assurances are extremely important to living the Christian life. These principles were repeated often in the Old Testament and again in the New Testament. One place we see it in the New Testament is Matt 6:19-34. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus warns them that they ‘cannot serve two masters’ – things and God. The temptation for us is to try to find life in things, because we don’t believe God can, or will take care of us. So, we buy new cars, houses, clothes, etc. to try to find meaning. Or we try to find identity and meaning through our job or business. Or we try to find meaning in our children. We do all these things because we don’t believe that God is in control, and we don’t believe God is good.
But Jesus tells them that God is even in control of the birds and the flowers, so he certainly can take care of us. He also emphasises that God is our Heavenly Father, which means He loves us. And God is good (Jesus contrasts with the evil human fathers in Matthew 7:11).
The Kingdom of the Lord will always ultimately prevail (Obadiah 21) — “And the kingdom shall be the Lord’s”. The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
So, when we face difficulties, it doesn’t mean God is not there or that He doesn’t love us. The difficulties are for our own character building and spiritual development. We can get through them if we believe in God’s sovereignty and goodness.
