The Real Meaning of Life

https://biblehub.com/niv/obadiah/1.htm

Little things matter. If you recall when Abraham lost his faith in God and took matters into his own hands, one little thing has ended up causing problems ever since.

God had promised Abraham he would have many heirs, that he would be the father of a great nation. But his wife Sarah was barren and could not have children. Abraham, or rather Sarah, grew weary waiting on the Lord, lost faith that He would provide, so she urged Abraham to start his “great nation” using their servant Hagar, an Egyptian, as a surrogate mother. And that “little thing” has caused great strife.

God had intended that his son, the one provided when God opened Sarah’s womb, Isaac, to be heir to the nation. But Abraham’s first born was Ishmael, the son of Hagar. And there has been a rivalry ever since. From what I’ve read, the Muslim and Christians both believe in the God of Abraham, but the Muslims feel they are the rightful heirs sinche Ishmael was the first born, despite God’s will.

Two generations later, there is another dispute over the “first born” when twins Jacob and Esau were born. Esau was first-born, but it was God’s intention that Jacob, later renamed Israel, would inherit the land. One day Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew, and in those days, a vow made was sacred. Then when Rebekah and Jacob tricked Isaac into thinking he was Esau, and Isaac gave Jacob Esau’s blessing, Esau was angered. In rebellion, he married a woman from Ishmael’s side of the family, and Esau became leader of a nation called Edom. And Edom was one of the Canaanite countries that worshiped idols and had to be forced out.

An Edomite named Obadiah, who had converted to Judaism, was a minor prophet, one who was hiding prophets from Jezebel who was trying to kill all of them. Obadiah has a one chapter book in the Old Testament.

In his book, Obadiah is telling Edom that they’ve separated themselves from God and what is going to happen because of that. If you’ve been following me for very long, I don’t believe in a wrathful God, I believe in a God that protects us when we’re near, but we lose that protection when we distance ourself from Him. And because Edom has ignored God, they will fall victim to whatever happens to them.

I’ll be honest, I have no idea why this is suddenly in the chronology of the Bible or how it fits in with the time of Jehoshaphat and Ahab. But perhaps as we read on, we will find out. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe it didn’t happen, I just don’t understand why God sent this message at this particular time.

So many repetitive lessons in the Bible. Don’t tell me God is merciless as He gives His children chance after chance after chance to repent. He has given His word, He has sent prophet after prophet, He has urged the Israelites to teach their children well, yet they still fall into sin, exactly as we do today.

Father, forgive of us our sins. Forgive us for being “stiff-necked” and stubborn. The real meaning of life which is to love and obey you is extremely plain and simple, yet we continue to ignore it and instead, allow Satan to rule our lives. Please do not forget us, convict us of our sins so we give pause before we cross that line, and never stop loving and caring for us. Amen.